Readings in Philippine History Practice Exam

Educational flashcards covering the meaning of history, historical methodology, source criticism, and 16th to 19th-century Philippine history.

Historia

An Ancient Greek word meaning inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation, or an account of one’s inquiries.

Herodotus

Known as the Father of History; he defined history as the systematic inquiry and recording of past events, especially the actions of people and societies.

Thucydides

Author of the History of the Peloponnesian ($400\,BC$), who viewed history as a critical and factual account based on evidence rather than myths.

Ibn Khaldun

Author of Muqaddimah ($1317$), he defined history as the study of human society, examining social, political, and economic causes.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Author of The Prince ($1532$), he believed history is the key to understanding human nature, predicting the future, and learning practical lessons of politics and war.

Edward Gibbon

Author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ($1776$), who described history as little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

Leopold von Ranke

The Father of Modern History who aimed to describe events as they actually happened based on empirical evidence.

Marc Bloch

Author of The Historian’s Craft ($1949$), he defined history as the science of people in time, focusing on human societies and their changes.

Edward Hallet Carr

Author of What is History? ($1961$), he defined history as an unending dialogue between the past and the present.

Teodoro Agoncillo

A famous historian who argued history must be told from a Filipino point of view and is filtered through the passions and prejudices of the historian.

Zeus Salazar

He defined history as a meaningful narrative shared by people, for the people, distinguishing between Western record-keeping and Filipino meaningful memory (Kasaysayan).

Reynaldo Ileto

He defined history as a recorded collective struggle of the masses and emphasized history from below that disrupts official stories.

Renato Constantino

A historian who focused on the taong-bayan, stating Philippine history should be written based on the struggles of the people.

Primary Source

A firsthand account from a witness who was present at the event and experienced it through the senses.

Secondary Source

An account written after an event that analyzes or interprets sources from people who witnessed it.

Source Criticism

A subset of the historical method focused on evaluating the authenticity, reliability, and context of individual documents.

External Criticism

An evaluation focusing on the origin and authenticity of a source, including authorship, date, localization, and physical characteristics.

Internal Criticism

An evaluation dealing with the content and credibility of a source, including objectivity, context, and corroboration.

Historical Revisionism

A positive reinterpretation of a past event or presentation of new narratives based on newly discovered facts.

Historical Distortion

A negative occurrence where historical narratives are changed to suit a personal agenda involving disinformation and lies.

Jose E. Marco

A writer and forger known for creating infamous hoaxes like the Code of Kalantiaw and La Loba Negra.

Code of Kalantiaw

A supposed legal code allegedly written in $1433$ by Datu Kalantiaw of Negros, debunked by William Henry Scott in $1965$.

Sa Aking Mga Kabata

A poem about love for native language first attributed to Jose Rizal in $1906$ but debunked by Virgilio Almario in $2011$.

Dean Worcester

The US Secretary of the Interior ($1901$ to $1913$) who used manipulated photography to reinforce the image of Filipinos as primitive.

Antonio Pigafetta

A Venetian scholar and explorer who wrote Primo Viaggio Intorno AI Mondo ($1524$), the account of the Magellan expedition.

Battle of Mactan

A conflict that took place on April $27$, $1521$, between the forces of Ferdinand Magellan and Lapu-lapu.

Pintados

The term used for Visayan inhabitants due to their tattooed bodies; they were known as a warlike and wealthy people.

Sakra

A practice among Pintados men involving the piercing of their genitals.

Juan de Plasencia

A Spanish Franciscan missionary who wrote Las Costumbres de los Tagalog ($1589$) and the Doctrina Christiana ($1593$).

Aliping Namamahay

A status of Tagalog slave who lived in their own house (may sariling bahay).

Aliping Saguiguilid

A status of Tagalog slave who lived in the master's house (sa gilid nakatira).

Pandot

A Tagalog celebration during which a place of worship called a simbahan was constructed near the house of the datu.

Galleon Trade

A trade route connecting China, Philippines, Mexico, and Spain that ended in $1815$, leading to the diversification of Philippine commerce.

Peninsulares

Spaniards born in Spain who held the highest social status in the Spanish colonial social hierarchy.

Insulares

Also known as Creoles, these were pure-blooded Spaniards born in the colonies.

Mestizos de Sangley

People of mixed Chinese and Filipino ancestry in the Spanish colonial social hierarchy.

Suez Canal

Opened in $1869$, it connected Europe and Asia, resulting in the influx of liberal ideas and culture to the Philippines.

GOMBURZA

The collective name for the three Filipino priests—Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora—executed following the Cavite Mutiny.

Illustrados

A social class of Filipinos with high educational backgrounds, often descendants of the principales, who emerged in the $19$th century.