Lesson 2: Historical Method and Primary Sources

HISTORY AS RECONSTRUCTION

1. The Past

2. Events observed by someone.

1. A part of what was observed in the past was remembered.

2. A part of what was remembered in the past was recorded.

3. A part of what was recorded in the past was survived.

4. A part of what was survived has come to the historian’s attention.

5. The Account

HISTORIOGRAPHY

The study of the various approaches to historical method, the actual writing of history, and primarily, the various interpretations of historical event.

SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

1. Accidentalist

2. Historicist

3. Structuralist

4. Annales School

5. Intentionalist

6. Marxist

7. Hegelian

8. Post Modernist

ACCIDENTALIST

A school of thought that subscribes to the idea that behind every historical event are accidents which served as driving force. The focus is more on why the event happened.

Examples:

• Magellan’s accidental rediscovery of the Philippines during the First Voyage Around the World.

• A mosquito bite prevented Trotsky being fit enough to seize control of the USSR.

HISTORICIST

A school of thought with a scientific approach to history pioneered by von Ranke. Based on the objective study of primary sources. Believed that the study of such sources would allow a reconstruction of history “wie es eigentlich gewesen ist” — as it actually was.

Example:

• Method in Creating History (Positivism)

  • The Positivists rely on the use of sources for accurate and complete visualization of the past.

STRUCTURALIST

A school of thought that believes in the role of political and military structures in shaping history. This school of historiography emphasize that historical events happened due to the existing political and military structures.

Example:

• City States of Italian Renaissance

• Absence of Church allowed Renaissance to flourish

ANNALES SCHOOL

A school of thought that promoted a new form of history by studying the lives of ordinary people and inquiries into climate, demography, agriculture, commerce, technology, transportation, and communication, as well as social groups and mentalities.

Trivia:

• Named after the journal Annales of Economic and Social History

INTENTIONALIST

The school recognizes the roles played by key individuals in history as they were influenced by their intentions and personalities thus, they acted on a particular circumstance which led to the unfolding of history.

Example:

• Hitler’s master plan created and caused the Holocaust.

MARXIST

Economic forces are the main driving force in historical change. Karl Marx relied heavily upon statistical data to show that exploitation and class conflict drove history in this school of thought.

Example:

• Studies of the Peasant’s Revolt which focus on prices of bread and declining wages.

• American Revolution

HEGELIAN

Intellectual movements and the progress of ideas are the driving forces in historical change according to this school of thought. Hegel viewed history as a relentless advancement towards freedom. Studies of ideas such as the Renaissance are often Hegelian in character.

POST MODERNIST

As a school of historiography, this is strongly influenced by Foucault when he disputed that all sources are biased, incomplete, and language itself has no fixed meaning, therefore the past cannot be known. It also subscribes to the belief that all interpretations of history are valid.

HISTORICAL METHOD

• Refers to the use of primary historical data to answer a question.

• The process of critically examining and analyzing the records and survivals of the past. (Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History)

HISTORICAL CRITICISM

Also known as the evaluation of documents.

Aims:

1. Find out whether a document or idea is acceptable as authentic or not.

2. Eliminate errors and to know the truth.

In order for a source to be used as evidence in history, basic matters about its form and content must be settled.

EXTERNAL CRITICISM

Authenticates evidence and establishes texts in the most accurate possible form.

• Lower Criticism and Test of Authenticity

1. Determine the date of the document to see whether they are anachronistic.

2. Determine the author.

3. Anachronistic style

4. Anachronistic reference to events

5. Provenance or custody

6. Semantics - determining the meaning of a text or word

7. Hermeneutics - determining ambiguities

Checklist:

1. Who wrote the document?

2. For what purpose was the document written?

3. When was the document written?

4. Where was the document written?

5. Under what conditions was the document written?

INTERNAL CRITICISM

Evaluate the accuracy and worth of the data contained therein.

• Higher Criticism and Test of Credibility

Verisimilar - as close as what really happened from a critical examination of best available sources.

1. Identification of the author

2. Determination of the approximate date

3. Ability to tell the truth

4. Willingness to tell the truth

5. Corroboration

(Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History)

Checklist:

1. Is the real meaning of the statement different from its literal meaning?

2. How did the author report?

3. What was the intention of the author in reporting?

4. Are there inner contradiction in the document?

5. Does the document contain bias of any sort?

HISTORICAL SOURCES

An object from the past or testimony concerning the past on which historians depend in order to create their own depiction of that past. (Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable Sources and Introduction to Historical Method)

• Tangible remains of the past. (Anthony Brundage, Going to Sources)

1. Written Sources

2. Non Written Sources

WRITTEN SOURCES

1. Published materials

• Books, magazines, journals

• Travelogue

• Transcription of speech

2. Manuscript [any handwritten or typed record that has not been printed]

• Archival materials

• Memoirs, diary

NON WRITTEN SOURCES

• Oral history

• Artifacts

  • Ceramics, tools, metal objects (coins, personal adornment)

• Ruins

• Fossils

• Artworks

• Media recordings

  • Audio and video

PRIMARY SOURCE

Are contemporary accounts of an event, written by someone who experienced or witnessed the event in question.

Examples:

1. Autobiography, Diary, Memoirs

2. Letters, Speeches, Manuscripts

3. Artifacts

4. Photographs, Posters

5. Audio or video recordings

Four Main Categories:

1. Written sources

2. Images

3. Artifacts

4. Oral testimony

SECONDARY SOURCE

Describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate, summarize, and process primary sources.

Examples:

1. Biographical works

2. Magazine and News articles

3. Literature reviews

4. Textbooks

5. Commentaries

REPOSITORIES OF PRIMARY SOURCES

1. Archives

2. Library

3. Historical Society

4. Museum

5. Special Collection

ARCHIVES

• (Repository) The documentary by-product of human activity retained for their long-term value.

• Records can come in a wide range of formats including written, photographic, moving image, sound, digital, and analogue.

• Example: Pambansang Sinupunan ng Pilipinas (National Archives of the Philippines)

LIBRARY

• (Repository) A collection or group of collections of books and/or other print or nonprint materials organized and maintained for use.

• Examples:

  • Bicol University Library

  • Pambansang Aklatan ng Pilipinas (National Library of the Philippines)

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

• (Repository) An organization that seeks to preserve and promote interest in the history of a region, a period, or a subject.

• Example: Kapisanang Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas (Philippine Historical Association)

MUSEUM

• (Repository) A non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates, and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study, and enjoyment.

• Example: Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas (National Museum of the Philippines)

SPECIAL COLLECTION

• (Repository) Library and archival materials in any format (e.g. rare books, manuscripts, photographs, institutional archives) that are generally characterized by their artifactual or monetary value, physical format, uniqueness or rarity, and/or an institutional commitment to long-term preservation and access (King, 2018).

• Items are fragile, rare, and valuable.

• Example: Albert and Shirley Small Special Collection at University of Virginia