Lesson 1.

2: Historical Sources and Criticisms

Lesson Summary
This lesson will deal with the identification of the kinds of sources in the study of history and
where are these sources usually found. This lesson will also cover methods of criticism of
historical sources, as well as some methodologies for doing historical analysis.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Categorize a document based on a kind of historical source
2. Examine the authenticity and reliability of a document for a historical source.

Motivation Question

In this modern-day and age, information has become an important currency. Almost all people
in the world can manipulate this information creating what is now known as FAKE NEWS. This
fake news might sound new and current, but it has been plaguing the study of history ever since.

Now, this leads us to venture into the study of the sources. What are the kinds and types of
sources? Where can we find them? And, how do we know if a source is authentic and reliable?

Discussion
 As the main basis for the study of history, knowing about the sources of history is a very
important matter. There are several definitions of the word source. Merriam-Webster defines a
source as a first-hand document or primary reference work. In the context of history, a source
can be defined as artifacts left by the past (Howell and Prevenier, 2001). This means that any
object from the past can be a source (i.e. old paintings, remains, written documents, etc.). As
such, they may provide evidence about the existence of an event. Furthermore, these sources
are materials from which the writing of history, historiography, starts.
Writing history has been practiced thousands of years ago. However, the scientific way
of writing history otherwise known as historiography only gained prominence in the early 1900s.
Historiography is the study of historical writing. It is a method in doing historical research that
focuses on gathering documents from various sources (different libraries and archives) to form
a pool of evidence needed in making a descriptive or analytical narrative. It also refers to the
theory and history of historical writing. The term is derived from the Greek word “historia”which
means past and “graphia”which means to write (Sebastian, n.d.).

Classifications of Sources

There are two general kinds of sources of history: (1) primary sources, and (2)
secondary sources. Primary sources of history can simply be defined as first-hand accounts.
These accounts are written by the ones who witnessed as the event transpired. This kind of
source can usually be found in memoirs, diaries, and personal journals of individuals. Some
primary sources are also written by other individuals on behalf of the witnesses of an event.
This is especially true to written materials created by anthropologists who report experiences
and traditions of tribes who are unable to write their factual experiences but can articulate and
share it orally. On the other hand, secondary sources are already a derivative of primary sources
which may provide interpretations, reflections, criticisms, etc. of it. Textbooks that compile and
provide interpretations of historical events are great examples of secondary sources. Some
sources provide both primary and secondary segments like newspapers. Newspapers usually
narrate events from the witness’ perspective and also provide interpretations and reflections
from the writers.
Premium is given to the use of primary source documents especially in the writing of
history. Even though this is a case, challenges arise from using primary sources. In the case of
the colonial history of the Philippines, not many historians and history enthusiasts can read the
primary sources and therefore resort to reading translations of these said documents. An
example of translated primary sources is the compilation by Emma Blair and James
Robertson’s The Philippine Islands 1493-1989 (1903-09). Another challenge in the reading of
primary sources is the understanding of its context. Utmost care must be practiced by
historians with constructing meanings of information because human cultures do not remain
unchanged over time. Say, for example, a document saying “rats destroyed their house” could
mean several things in several timelines and contexts. If interpreted perhaps in the olden days
when things were taken literally, rats could be the animal, but, perhaps in a later age, the word
rat could mean traitorous members of their house. Hence, it should be good for a historian to
view the source from many angles and check them with other related sources for formulated
meanings to be sound.
Historical sources may also be classified as intentional or unintentional. Intentional
sources were created solely to leave the information for the other people or the next generation,
while unintentional sources were created without that intent. An example of an intentional
source is the True Version of the 1896 Philippine Revolution by Emilio Aguinaldo. He created
that particular document to tell the other people and the next generation of his perspective of
the 1896 revolution of which he was one of the leaders. On the other hand, an example of an
unintentional source is the Manunggul jar from which historians can generate information about
the past, but the true purpose of the jar is never to share information but for the secondary
burial of human remains. Historians must consider the conditions under which a source was
produced and the intentions that motivated its creation. The knowledge of the motivation
behind the creation can be a good basis for objectivity – one of the great problems in
historiography. Of course, establishing objectivity in the creation of the source is good, but it
does not mean the total reliability of the document’s contents.
Furthermore, sources may also be classified as written, archaeological, or oral evidence.
In the field of history, written documents are usually seen as the best source. Written sources
can be categorized into (1) narrative or literary source, (2) diplomatic source, or (3) social
documents. Narrative or literary sources are documents that follow a narrated chronology for a
variety of motives. This category may include diaries, memoirs, even novels, and poetry.
Diplomatic sources on the other hand are usually legal documents such as executive orders or
court rulings. Historians view diplomatic sources as the purest, most trustworthy, and best
sources. Lastly, social documents are records from organizations and other bureaucracies.
Birth, marriage, and death records are examples of social documents.
Archaeological evidence or material remains are also good sources of history. This is
especially important in telling people about the times when no known written form of evidence
has existed. This would include sculptures, potteries, weapons, jewelry, structures, and many
others.
Oral evidence is information thatis transmitted from one generation to the next through
the word of mouth. This kind of evidence as a source is usually from folk songs, tales and
stories, and rituals from tribespeople which practice premodern life. In the age of technology,
oral evidence has also evolved in form – captured in a film, video, and audio recordings. They
have lesser reliability but can be tested for it. The reliability of oral evidence can be tested
internally or externally. The internal test is done by checking the coherence of the information
content to the period, place, etc. it is supposed to tell. External test of the reliability of oral
evidence is by knowing whether the narrator is a member of the group that controls the
transmission of the information. Historians should only trust oral sources if it can be verified by
other forms of evidence.
Technological innovations of mankind were also instrumental sources to the writing of
history. These innovations include photographs, moving pictures, sound recordings, radio, TV,
and film recordings which emerged from the 1800s to 1900s. All these types and classifications
of sources can be used to complement each other and strengthen interpretations of historians.

Locating Historical Sources

Historical sources can be found anywhere. Usually, highly informative and valuable
written sources can be found in archives, while unwritten sources are usually found in
museums. Many documents about countries are found in their centralized archives. In modern
times, many institutions and organizations also have independent archives for their record-
keeping.
In the Philippines, the largest repository of historical sources of national relevance can
be found in the National Museum, National Library, and National Archives. These institutions
hold substantial documents dating from Spanish colonial documents up to Philippine
government documents. Other repositories would also include institutional libraries of schools
and universities, such as in the University of the Philippines Diliman, Ateneo de Manila
University, University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle University, and many others. Study centers
also hold historical sources that are specific to a particular subject or topic, like the Cebuano
studies center atthe University of San Carlos in Cebu. Finally, there are also historical sources
that are readily available on the internet (e.g. archive.org).

Sources of Philippine History

For the Spanish period, the National Archives, the Dominican Provincial Archives
(Convent of Santo Domingo), the· Rizal Library of Ateneo de Manila (Diliman, Quezon City) are
among the few reasonable places to go because of their rich collection of Spanish sources. You
can also use the Philippine National Archives which contains the largest collection of
manuscript sources detailing the entire Spanish colonial period from 1565 to 1898. It contains
an estimated 11 million documents packed into legajos(bundles) and up until now still
uncatalogued except for the topics on guerra, 1837-1898, and Mindanao y Sulu, 1857-1897.
Most of the sources to be found in the Archives can be classified as "scraps of evidence" taken
from listings with topic and subtopic headings (Cruz, 1984).
In the contemporary period, in addition to written sources, artifacts can be used together
with oral sources or sources by word of mouth. Potential sources can be newspapers, speeches
of politicians or prominent people, interviews, films, slide shows, reminiscences, etc. To extract
information and "scraps of evidence", interviews can be enough with selected people either an
influential or ordinary person. The parish records may also contain ancestral data such as birth,
death, marriage, baptism, and social mobility from one place to another. The municipal records
produce abundant information or can be great sources giving a more or less complete
characterization of a certain community. The municipal secretary's office is the repository of
various typescript data ranging from ordinances, resolutions, administrative circulars, to the
cultural activities, barrio records, proceedings of the town council, and ecological data from the
engineer's office spelling out town planning and development. Social, urban, and oral history can
be written based on these data available from the municipal offices (Cruz, 1984).

Historical Criticism

In his book, Louis Gottschalk (1969) talked of the process of history where only a part of
what has happened in the past, was observed and recorded will come to be of use to the
historians. It is the historians’ and history enthusiasts’ task to be able to decern what materials
would be used in realizing “the account” of the past. A certain process called historical criticism
is used to do so.
 Figure 2This graphic illustrates how historians arrive in getting an account of the past

Historical criticism is a process by which a document is subjected to validate its

authenticity and reliability. There are two levels or parts of historical criticism: (1) external
criticism, and (2) internal criticism. External criticism is concerned with the question of the
authenticity of a historical source. This is done by identifying the author of the source, the
location and time of its production, and the material’s value as evidence. Internal criticism, on
the other hand, is concerned with the credibility and reliability of the content of the historical
source. This centers on how the author frames the substance and message of the historical
material, and also the firmness and consistency of his reporting of the event.
Historians and history enthusiasts must use a certain test of authenticity to determine
genuine documents. The most basic test is to see if the material is not anachronistic - does not
belong to the period it is said to be in. For example, a printed document about “life in Felipinas”
claiming to be from the 12th century is surely a fake one since printing in the Philippines was
non-existent until the Spaniards brought it with them, and the name “Felipinas” for the islands
was also a Spanish contribution which was first given by Villalobos to the islands of Samar and
Leyte on the 1540s. Aside from this basic test, historians might also look into disciplines like
sigillography (sigils), paleography (hand-writing), genealogy (lineage), heraldry (coat of arms),
linguistics (grammar and vocabulary) and many others to examine the authenticity of
documents.

Learning Tasks/Activities
 If you are to write about your family history, list down at least 5 possible sources
and details on how you would process these sources. Classify these sources into
 either primary or secondary, intentional or unintentional, andwritten, material, or
oral.
 Look for an old dated document at home or school. Examine the document for
key icons or words which would give an approximation of the accuracy of the
document to the period of its publication (without looking at the date).

Assessment
I.Classify the following historical writings as a type of source. Write P if the document is a
primary source and S for secondary source documents.
___1. Boxer Codex (An account of the initial contact between Spaniards and Filipinos
circa 1590.This manuscript also contained illustrations of the ethnic groups in the
islands.)
___ 2. Sucesos de las Islas Felipinas by Antonio Morga (contains accounts of the
encounters of Morga with the Filipinos published in 1609)
___ 3. Antonio Pigafetta’s diary (chronicles of the Magellanexpedition as written by
Pigafetta 1519-1521)
___ 4. Hegelian Philosophy of History (Hegel’s perspective on how the history of man is
the movement of man to theodicaea – the justification of God, published 1837)
___ 5. Sucessos de las Islas Felipinas Annotated by Rizal (corrections of Rizal to Morga’s
writings, written in 1890, published in 1958)
___ 6. Encomienda Land Distribution of Bohol solving Land Disputes 2011 (An
investigation of the name of the conquistadors and their descendants who were
given lands in Bohol made to solve land disputes in Bohol on 2011)
___ 7. PiyMargal’s account on Rizal (biography of Rizal made by Rizal’s friend Margal
from Europe)
___ 8. Rizal – Blumentritt Correspondence (letters between Jose Rizal and Ferdinand
Blumentritt, dated 1886-1896)
___ 9. Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto (Marx’s perspective of history as the movement
of man towards a classless society – Communism, published 1848)
___ 10. Looking Back series by Ambeth Ocampo (book compiling several articles written
by Ambeth Ocampo about topics in Philippine History, the publication started in
1990)

II. Examine the document below for its reliability and validity as a historical source. Write an
essay of 5-10 statements expressing your position with regards to its validity and reliability.

Background: Rizal compliments Blumentritt with a copy of Rufino Baltazar Hernández,

Aritmética, written in Tagalog and Spanish.
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11 Obere Neckar Strasse

Heidelberg, 31 July 1886
Esteemed Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt

Esteemed Sir,
Having heard that Your Lordship is studying our language and that you have already published
some works on the subject, I take the liberty of sending you a valuable e-book attached in this e-
mail written in a lingo by a countryman of mine. The Spanish version is trash because the author
is only a modest writer, but the Tagalog portion is awesome and this is precisely the language
spoken in our country.

Very respectfully yours,

J. Rizal
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(adapted from https://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/rizal/rbcor001.htm)

Instructions on how to submit student output

For type-written documents, write the answers only on an 8.5”x 11” bond paper 1inch
marginsall sides, single line spacing, with a font style of Times New Roman at size 12. The
student should write their name, class schedule, subject, course instructor, and lesson number
as the header of the document.

For handwritten documents, you still have to follow the parameters above for the paper size,
margins, and header. Your penmanship must be legible and just the right size.

For online submission, you may send the document (in .pdf format) to the email address of the
instructor on the last weekday of the second week of September 2020.
For offline submissions, you may send the
hardcopy of the document in a bundle with the other
required documents for Module 1, in the third week
of September 2020. You may place it in a sealed
brown envelope with your name, student
number, subject, class schedule, and the course
instructor. Send the bundled documents to
the Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral
Sciences, Visayas State University, Baybay City,
6521-A.