HISTORICAL METHOD

Historical Sources
Historical Criticism

Ma. Florina Orillos-Juan, Ph.D.

Department of History
De la Salle University Manila
ma.florina.orillos-juan@dlsu.edu.ph
Reminder

 This powerpoint presentation may be

used as a reference but please make the
necessary acknowledgment and
documentation of your source.

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Outline of Discussion

I. History as Reconstruction
II. The Historical Method
III. Historical Sources [Written and Non-
written; Primary and Secondary]
IV. Historical Criticism [External and
Intenal]

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Introduction: History as Reconstruction

 thehistorian is many times removed

from the events under investigation

 historians rely on surviving records

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Introduction: History as Reconstruction

 “Onlya part of what was observed in the

past was remembered by those who
observed it; only a part of what was
remembered was recorded; only a part of
what was recorded has survived; only a
part of what has survived has come to the
historian’s attention.”
 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
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Introduction: History as Reconstruction

 “Only a part of what is credible has been

grasped, and only a part of what has been
grasped can be expounded or narrated by
the historian.”

 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

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Historian

 Fallible and capable of error

 Biases – personal, political, religious,
personal idiosyncracies
 Each has his own frame of reference – a
set of interlocking values, loyalties,
assumptions, interests and principles of
action
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Different Interpretations

 From a political opponent: “I wonder if he’s

as good as he is in Malacañang”
 An LP loyalist: “Good for him, he deserves
a break from his everyday work”
 A clergyman: “As a role model for all
Filipinos, he shouldn’t be photographed
doing that”
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Actual Caption of the Photo

 Greece's new Finance Minister Yanis

Varoufakis (R) greets the outgoing finance
minister Gikas Hardouvelis after a hand-
over ceremony in Athens on January 28,
2015

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/photos/greeces-finance-minister-yanis-varoufakis-r-greets-outgoing-photo-

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
074446293.html
History is not fiction

 Historicalaccounts must be based on all

available relevant evidence
 A version of the past that can’t be
supported by evidence is worthless

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What is the Historical Method?

 Agreed ground rules for researching and

writing academic research or
professional history

 Core
protocols historians use for
handling sources

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What is the Historical Method?

 Historians
have to base their accounts
on source materials

 Historiansneed to be able to locate and

organize the relevant sources on which
they will base their account
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What is the Historical Method?

 Historians
have to verify sources, to
date them, locate their place of origin
and identify their intended functions

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In short, the Historical Method is…

 Theprocess of critically examining and

analyzing the records and survivals of
the past

 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

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Historical Sources
 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 an Introduction to Historical Method

 Tangible remains of the past

 Anthony Brundage, Going to Sources

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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
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Non- written Sources
 Oral history
 Artifact
 Ruins
 Fossils
 Art works
 Videorecordings
 Audiorecordings
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What are Primary Sources?
Testimony of an eyewitness

A primary source must have been

produced by a contemporary of the
event it narrates

Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History 20

What are Primary Sources?
A primary source is a document or
physical object which was written or
created during the time under study.

These sources were present during an

experience or time period and offer an
inside view of a particular event.
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http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.h
What are Primary Sources?
Primary sources provide first-hand
testimony or direct evidence
concerning a topic under investigation.
They are created by witnesses or
recorders who experienced the events
or conditions being documented.

http://www.yale.edu/collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html
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What are Primary Sources?

These sources are created at the time

when the events or conditions are
occurring, it can also include
autobiographies, memoirs, and oral
histories recorded later.

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http://www.yale.edu/collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html l
What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are characterized by

their content, regardless of whether
they are available in original format, in
microfilm/microfiche, in digital format,
or in published format.

http://www.yale.edu/collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html

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Four Main Categories of Primary
Sources
1. Written sources
2. Images
3. Artifacts
4. Oral testimony
l

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Primary Sources: Written Sources

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Primary Sources: Images

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Primary Sources: Images

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Primary Sources: Images

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Primary Sources: Images

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Primary Sources: Artifacts

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Primary Sources: Artifacts

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Primary Sources: Artifacts

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Primary Sources: (Documented) Oral
Testimony
“My first day was a scary one. There was a
patient whose earlobes were so long…he
had no nose, only two holes on his face,
and no fingers, only the palm of his
hands…the other patients were in
different stages of deformity.”

Sr. Maria Luisa Montenegro, SPC 1940

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What are Secondary Sources?

A secondary source interprets and

analyzes primary sources. These sources
are one or more steps removed from
the event.
Secondary sources may have pictures,
quotes or graphics of primary sources in
them.
http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html
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What are Secondary Sources?

Examples:
History textbook
Printed materials (serials, periodicals
which interprets previous research)

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Practical Example/Worksheet

Topic: Tejeros Convention

Primary Source: Santiago Alvarez’
account
Secondary Source: Teodoro Agoncillo’s
Revolt of the Masses

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What is Historical Criticism?

In order for a source to be used as

evidence in history, basic matters about
its form and content must be settled

1. External Criticism

2. Internal Criticism

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What is External Criticism?

The problem of authenticity

To spot fabricated, forged, faked

documents

To distinguish a hoax or misrepresentation

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Tests of Authenticity

1. Determine the date of the document to

see whether they are anachronistic
e.g. pencils did not exist before the 16th
Century
2. Determine the author
e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
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Tests of Authenticity

3. Anachronistic style
e.g. idiom, ortography, punctuation
4. Anachronistic reference to events
e.g. too early, too late, too remote
5. Provenance or custody
e.g. determines its genuineness
 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History 41
Tests of Authenticity

6. Semantics – determining the meaning of

a text or word
7. Hermeneutics –determining ambiguities

 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

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What is Internal Criticism?

The Problem of Credibility

Relevant particulars in the document – is
it credible?

Verisimilar – as close as what really

happened from a critical examination of
best available sources
 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History 43
Tests of Credibility

1. Identification of the author

e.g. to determine his reliability; mental
processes, personal attitudes
2. Determination of the approximate date
e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

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Tests of Credibility

3. Ability to tell the truth

e.g. nearness to the event, competence of
witness, degree of attention
4. Willingness to tell the truth
e.g. to determine if the author consciously
or unconsciously tells falsehoods
 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
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Tests of Credibility

5. Corroboration
i.e. historical facts – particulars which rest
upon the independent testimony of two or
more reliable witnesses
 Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

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Three Major Components to
Effective Historical Thinking

1. Sensitivity to Multiple Causation

2. Sensitivity to Context
3. Awareness of the interplay of
continuity and change in human
affairs

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Sensitivity to Multiple Causation

 Everyevent or situation is the product

of multiple causes or factors, short-
term or long-term

 Inquiryinto all relevant condition and

circumstances that determine the
direction of human affairs
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 Sensitivity to Context
 consciousness about how other times and
places differ from our own

 Bridging the cultural and temporal gap

 Interpretingthe past using values and beliefs

of the past (historical mindedness)
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Continuity and Change

 Therecan be “history” only when there

is change

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