MEANING AND RELEVANCE OF the time they occurred, or have since been

HISTORY forgotten. A fortiori, the experience of a

generation long dead, most of whom left no
records or whose records, if they exist, have
never been disturbed by the historian s touch, is
Topic: Meaning of History and Historical
beyond the possibility of total recollection. The
Sources
reconstruction o1 the total past or mankind,
although it is the goal of historians, thus
becomes a goal they know full well is
unattainable.
Presentation of Contents
What are "History" and "Historical "Objectivity" and "Subjectivity"
Sources"?
By: Louis Gottschalk Sometimes objects like ruins, parchments, and
coins survive from the past. Otherwise, the facts
of history are derived from testimony and
The Meaning of "History" therefore are facts of meaning. They cannot be
The English word history is derived from the seen, felt, tasted, heard, or smelled. They may
Greek noun utopia, meaning learning. As used be said to be symbolic or representative of
by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, history something that once was real, but they have no
meant a systematic account of a set of natural objective reality of their own. In other words,
phenomena, whether or not chronological they exist only in the observer's or historian's
ordering was a factor in the account; and that mind (and thus may be called "subjective"). To
usage, though rare, still prevails in English in be studied objectively (that is, with the intention
the phrase natural history. In the course or time, of acquiring detached and truthful knowledge
however, the equivalent Latin word scientia independent of one's personal reactions), a
(English science) came to be used more thing must be first be an object; it must have an
regularly to designate non-chronological independent existence outside the human mind.
systematic accounts of natural phenomena; and Recollections, however, do not have existence
the word history was reserved usually for outside the human mind; and most of history is
accounts of phenomena (especially human based upon recollections that is, written or
affairs) in chronological order. spoken testimony.

By its most common definition, the word

history now means "the past of mankind.” A vulgar prejudice exists against "subjective"
Compare the German word for history knowledge as inferior to "objective"
Geschichte, which is derived from geschehen, knowledge, largely because the word
meaning to happen, Geschichte is that which "'subjective has also come to mean "illusory" or
has happened. This meaning of the word history "based upon personal considerations," and
is often encountered in such overworked hence either "untrue" or "biased." Knowledge
phrases as "all history teaches” or “the lessons may be acquired, however, by an impartial and
of history.” judicially detached investigation of mental
images, processes, concepts, and precepts that
are one or more steps removed from objective
It requires only a moment’s reflection to reality. Impartiality and "objectivity," to be
recognize that in this sense history cannot be sure, may be more difficult to obtain from such
reconstructed. The past or mankind for the most data, and hence conclusions based upon them
part is beyond recall. Even those who are may be more debatable; but such data and
blessed with the best memories cannot re-create conclusions, if true, are not necessarily interior
their own past, since in the life of all men there to other kinds of knowledge per se. The word
must be events, persons, words, thoughts, subjective is not used here to imply
places, fancies that made no impression at all at
disparagement of any sort, but it does imply the from a roof-tile, the painting might have been a
necessity for the application o1 spec1a1 Kinds hidden-away relic with not admirers
of safeguards against error. whatsoever; and an infinity of other
suppositions is possible. Without further
evidence the human context of these articles
Artifacts as Sources of History can never be recaptured with any degree of
certainty.
Only where relics of human happenings can be
found a potsherd, a coin, a ruin, a manuscript, a
book, a portrait, a stamp, a piece of wreckage, a
Historical knowledge Limited by
strand of hair, or other archeological or Incompleteness of the Records
anthropological remains- do we have objects
other than words that the historian can study. Unfortunately, for most of the past we not only
These objects, however, are never the have no further evidence of the human setting
happenings or the events themselves. If in which to place surviving artifacts; we do not
artifacts, they are the results of events; if written even have the artifacts. Most human affairs
documents, they may be the results of the happen without leaving vestiges or records of
records of events. Whether artifacts or any kind behind them. The past, having
documents, they are raw materials out of which happened, has perished forever with only
history may be written. occasional traces. To begin with, although the
absolute number of historical writings is
staggering, only a small part of what happened
To be sure, certain historical truths can be in the past was ever observed. A moment’s
derived immediately from such materials. The reflection is sufficient to establish that fact.
historian can discover that a piece of pottery How much, for example, of what you do, say,
was handwrought, that a building was made of or think 1s ever observed by anyone (including
martared brick, that a manuscript was written in yourself)? Multiply your unobserved actions,
a cursive hand, that a painting was done in oils, thoughts, words, and physiological processes
that sanitary plumbing was known in an old by 2,000,000,000, and you get rough estimate
city, and many other such data from direct of the amount of unobserved happenings that go
observation of artifacts surviving from the past. on in the world all the time. And only a part of
But such facts, important though they are, are what was observed in the past was remembered
not the essence of the study of history. The by those who observed it, only a part of what
historian deals with the dynamic or genetic (the remembered was recorded; only a part of what
becoming) as well as the static (the being or the has survived has come to the historian's
become) and he aims at being interpretative attention; only a part of what is credible has
(explaining why and how things happened and been grasped; and only a part of what has been
were interrelated) as well as descriptive (telling grasped can be expounded or narrated by the
what happened, when and where, and who took historian. The whole history of the past (what
part). Besides, such descriptive data as can be has been called history-as-actuality) can be
derived directly and immediately from known to him only through the surviving record
surviving artifacts are only a small part of the of it (history-as-record), and most of history-
periods to which they belong. as-record is only the surviving part of the
recorded part of the remembered part of the
A historical context can be given to them only observed past of that whole. Even when the
if they can be placed in a human setting. That record of the past is derived directly from
human beings lived in the brick building with archeological or anthropological remains, they
sanitary plumbing, ate out of the handwrought are yet only the scholar's selected parts of the
pottery, and admired the oil painting that were discovered parts of the chance survivals from
mentioned above might perhaps easily be the total past.
inferred. But the inference may just as easily be
mistaken, for the building might have been
stable, the piece of pottery might have been
In so far as the historian has an external object In short, the historian's aim is verisimilitude
to study it is not the perished history that with regard to a perished past – subjective
actually happened (history-as-actuality) but the process – rather than experimental certainty
surviving records of what happened (history-as- with regard to an objective reality. He tries to
record). History can be told only from history- get as close an approximation to the truth about
as-record; and history as told Spoken-or- the past as constant correction of his mental
written-history) is only the historians expressed images will allow, at the same time recognizing
part of the understood part or ten credible part that the truth has in fact eluded him forever.
of the discovered part of history-as-record. Here is the essential difference between the
Before the past is set forth by the historian, it 1s study of man's past and of man' s physical
likely to have gone through eight separate steps environment Physics, for example, has an
at each of which some of it has been lost; and extrinsic and whole object to study – the
there is no guarantee that what remains is the physical universe – that does not change
most important, the largest, the most valuable, because the physicist is studying it, no matter
the most representative, or the most enduring how much his understanding of it may change;
part. In other words, the "object" that the history has only detached and scattered objects
historian studies is not only incomplete; it is to study (documents and relics) that do not
markedly variable as records are lost or together make up the total object that the
rediscovered. historian is studying – the past of mankind –
and that object, having largely disappeared,
exists only in as far as his always incomplete
History as the Subjective process of Re- and frequently changing understanding of it can
creation re-create it. Some of the natural scientists, such
as geologists and paleozoologist , in so far as
From this probably inadequate remainder the the objects they study are traces from a perished
historian must do what he can to restore the past, greatly resemble historians in this regard,
total past of mankind. He has no way of doing but differ from them, on the other hand, in so
it but in terms of his own experience. That far as historians have to deal with human
experience, however, has taught him (1) that testimony as well as physical traces.
yesterday was different from today in some
ways as well as the same as today in others, and Once the historian understands his predicament,
(2) that his own experience is both like and his task is simplified. His responsibility shifts
unlike other men's. It is not alone his own from the obligation to acquire a complete
memories interpreted in the light of his own knowledge of the irrecoverable past by means
experience that he must try to apply to the of the surviving evidence to that of re-creating
understanding of historical survivals; it is the a verisimilar image of as much of the past as the
memories of many other people as well, but evidence makes recoverable. The latter task is
one's own memories are abstract images, not the easier one. For the historian history
realities, and one's reconstructions of others’ becomes only that part of the human past which
memories, even when reinforced by can be meaningfully reconstructed from the
contemporary records and relies, are likely to be available records and from inferences regarding
even more abstract. Thus the utmost the their setting.
historian can grasp of history-as-actuality, no
matter how real it may have seemed while t was
happening, can be nothing more than a mental
image or a series of mental images based upon
Historical Method and Historiography
an application of his own experience, real and
Defined
vicarious, to part of a part of a part of a part of
a part of a part of a vanished whole. The process of critically examining and
analyzing the records and survivals of the past
is here called historical method. The
imaginative reconstruction of the past from the
data derived by that process is called help. And so historiography, the synthesizing of
historiography (the writing of history). By historical data into narrative or expositions by
means of historical method and historiography writing history books and articles or delivering
(both of which are frequently grouped together history lectures, is not easily made the subject
simply as historical method) the historian of rules and regulations. Some room must be
endeavors to reconstruct as much of the past of left for native talent and inspiration, and
mankind as he can. Even in this limited effort, perhaps that is a good thing. But since precepts
however, the historian is handicapped. He and examples may help, an effort will be made
rarely can tell the story even of a part of the past to set forth a few of them.
"as it actually occurred," although the great
German historian Leopold von Ranke enjoined
him to do so, because in addition to the probable History of Historical Method
incompleteness of the records, he is faced with
the inadequacy of the human imagination and Historical method, however, not only can be
of human speech for such an 'actual re-creation. made the subject of rules and regulations; for
But he can endeavor, to use a geometrician's over two thousand years it has been.
phrase, to approach the actual past "as a imit." Thucydides, who in the fifth century B.C. wrote
For the past conceived of as something that his famous history of the Peloponesian War,
"actually occurred" places obvious limits upon conscientiously told his readers how he
the kinds of record and of imagination that he gathered his materials and what tests he used to
may use. He must be sure that his records really separate truth from fiction. Even when he
come from the past and are in fact what they invented speeches to put into the mouths of
seem to be and that his imagination is directed contemporaries, he tried to make them as like
toward re-creation and not creation. These the originals as his sources of knowledge
limits distinguish history from fiction, poetry, permitted. He hoped to conform both to the
drama, and fantasy. spirit of the speaker and the letter of the speech;
but since stenographic reports were not
available, he had sometimes to supply the
speaker's words, "expressed as I thought he
Imagination in Historiography
would be likely to express them."
The historian is not permitted to imagine things
that could not reasonably have happened. For
certain purposes that we shall later examine he Since Thucydides' day, many historians have
may imagine things that have happened. But he written, briefly or at length, upon historical
is frequently required to imagine things that method. Outstanding examples are Lucian, Ibn
must have happened. For the exercise of the Khaldun, Bodin, Mably, Voltaire, and Ranke,
imagination in history it is impossible to lay though sometimes their studies have dealt with
down rules except very general ones. It is a the scope rather than the techniques of history.
platitude that the historian who knows With Emst Bernheim's Lehbuch der historichen
contemporary life best will understand past life Methode und de Geschichtsphilosophie (1" ed.,
best. Since the human mentality has not Leipzig, 1889). The modern and more academic
changed noticeably in historic times, present discussion of the subject may be said to have
generations can understand past generations in begun. Since Bernheim's exposition a number
terms of their own experience. Those historians of other textbooks have been published.
can make the best analogies and contrasts – that Although none of them surpass his masterpiece,
is – the widest range of experience, peculiar merits intended for particular kinds of
imagination, wisdom, and knowledge. readers are found in some. Notable examples
Unfortunately, no platitude tells how to acquire are the Langlois and Seignobos volume for
a wide range of those desirable qualities and Frechmen; the Johnson and the Nevins volumes
knowledge or how to transfer them to an for Americans; the Harsin and the Kent
understanding of the past. For they are not booklets for younger students; and the Wolf, the
accumulated alone by precept or example,
industry and prayer, though all of these may
Hockett, and the Bloch and Renouvin books for his sources. The more precise his delimitations
students of specialized fields of history. of persons, area, time, and function, the more
relevant his sources are likely to be (see Chapter
X).
In all of these works and literally dozens of
others like them there is a striking degree of
unanimity regarding the methods of historical
analysis. For our purposes these methods will
The Distinction between Primary and Other
be considered under four headings: (l) the
Original Sources
selection of a subject for investigation; (2)
collection of probable sources of information of Written and oral sources are divided into two
the subject: (3) the examination of those kinds: primary and secondary. A primary
sources for genuineness (either in full or in source is the testimony of eyewitness, or of a
part), and (4) the extraction of credible witness by any other of the senses, or of a
particulars from sources (or parts of sources) mechanical device like the Dictaphone – that is,
proved genuine. The synthesis of the particulars of one who or that which was present at the
thus derived is historiography, about which events of which he or it tells (hereafter called
there is less unanimity among the textbooks. simply eyewitness). A secondary source is the
For purposes of clarity we shall have to treat testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness
analysis and synthesis as if they were discreet that is, of one who was not present at the events
processes, but we shall see that at various stages of which he tells. A primary source must thus
they cannot be entirely separated. have been produced by a contemporary of the
events it narrates. It does not, however, need to
be original in the legal sense of the word
Sources original – that is, the very document (usually
the first written draft) whose contents are the
The historian's problem in choosing a subject subject of discussion for quite often a later copy
and collecting in formation upon it (the latter
or a printed edition will do just as well; and in
sometimes dignified by the Greek name of
the case of the Greek and Roman classics
heuristics) will be discussed in Chapter IV.
seldom are any but later copies available.
Historical heuristics do not differ essentially
from any other bibliographical exercise in so far
as printed books are concerned. The historian,
however, has to use many materials that are not “Original” is a word of so many different
meanings that it would have been better to
in books. Where these are archeological,
epigraphical or numismatical materials, he has avoid it in precise historical discourse. It can be,
to depend largely on museums. Where they are and frequently is, used to denote five different
official records, he may have to search for them conditions of a document, all of which are
important to the historian. A document may be
in archives, court houses, governmental
libraries, etc. where they are private papers not called "original" (1) because it contains fresh
available in official collections he may have to and creative ideas, (2) because it is not
hunt among the papers of business houses, the translated from the language in which it was
first written, (3) because it is in earliest,
muniment rooms of ancient castles, the prized
unpolished stage, (4) because its text is the
possessions of autograph collectors, the records
approved text, unmodified and untampered
of parish churches, etc. having some subject in
mind, with more or less definite delimitation of with, and (5) because it is the earliest available
source of the information it provides. These five
the persons, areas, times, and functions (i.e., the
economic, political, intellectual, diplomatic or meanings of the word may overlap, but they are
not synonymous.
other occupational aspects) involved, he looks
for materials that may have some bearing upon
those persons in that area at that time
functioning in that fashion. These materials are Unfortunately, the phrase "original sources" has
become common among historians, and it is
desirable to define its usage accurately. It is best Primary Particulars Rather than Whole
used by the historian in only two senses – (1) to Primary Sources Sought
describe a source, unpolished, uncopied,
untranslated, as it issued from the hands of the As has been indicated, the historian is less
concerned with a source as a whole than with
authors (e.g., the original draft of the Magna
the particular data within that source. It is easy
Carta) or (2) a source that gives the earliest
available information (i.e. the origin) regarding to conceive of a source essentially primary that
will contain secondary (and therefore less
the question under investigation because earlier
usable) data. The general who writes a
sources have been lost (in the sense that Livy is
communiqué thereby provides a source that
an "original source for some of our knowledge
of the kings of Rome). In using the phrase may be for the most part primary but for many
historians are frequently guilty of looseness. An details secondary, because he must necessarily
depend upon his subordinates for information
effort will be made to use it here only in the two
regarding much that he reports. The newspaper
senses just defined.
correspondents may, like Aeneas, tell about
things "all of which he saw and part of which
he was and yet may also have to depend upon
Primary sources need not be original in either "an official spokesman or "source usually
of these two ways. They need be "original" only
considered reliable" for some of his
in the sense of underived or first-hand as to
information. The careful historian will use all
their testimony. This point ought to be the statements of such military communiqué or
emphasized in order to avoid confusion
newspaper dispatches with equal confidence.
between original sources and primary sources.
On the other hand, should he find, as he
The confusion arises from a particularly
frequently does, that a book that is essentially
careless use of the word original. It is often used
secondary (like a biography or even a work of
by historians as a synonym for manuscript or fiction) contains, for example, personal letters
archival. Yet a moment's reflexion will suffice
or touches of directly observed local color, he
to indicate that a manuscript source is no more
may well use them as first-hand evidence if they
likely to be primary than a printed source, and
are genuine and relevant.
that it may be a copy rather than the "original”.
Even where it is a primary source, it may deal Sources, in other words, whether primary or
with a subject upon which earlier information is secondary, are important to the historian
already available. Hence a manuscript source is because they contain primary particulars (or at
not necessarily "original" in either of the two least suggest leads to primary particulars). The
relevant senses of that word. It should be particulars they furnish are trustworthy not
remembered that the historian when analyzing because of the book or article or report they are
sources is interested chiefly in particulars and in, but because of the reliability of the narrator
that he asks of each particular whether it is as a witness of those particulars.
based on first-hand or second-hand testimony.
Hence it makes small difference to him whether
a document is original in the sense of "as The Document
written by its actual author" or a copy, except in
so far as such originality may aid him to The word document (from docere, to teach) has
determine its author and therefore whether it is also been used by historians in several senses.
primary or, it is secondary, from what more On the one hand, it is sometimes used to mean
independent testimony it is derived. Students of a written source of historical information as
history readily depend upon specialists in contrasted with oral testimony or with artifacts,
editorial skills and archival techniques to pictorial survivals, and archeological remains.
publish collections of manuscripts and are On the other, it is sometimes reserved for only
willing to use them in printed form. official and state papers such as treatises, laws,
grants, deeds, etc. Still another sense is
contained in the word documentation which as
used by the historian among others, signifies
any process of proof based upon any kind of document, no matter how thoroughly the author
source whether written, oral, pictorial, or strove to be impartial and detached, must
archeological. For the sake of clarity, it seems exhibit to a greater or lesser extent the author's
best to employ the word document in the last, philosophies and emphases, likes and dislikes,
the most comprehensive meaning, which 1s and hence betrays the author's inner personality.
etymologically correct, using written document Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the
and official document to designate the less Roman Empire, Johann Gustav Droysen's
comprehensive categories. Thus document Geschichte Alexanders des Grossen or
becomes synonymous with source, whether Hippolyte Taine's French Revolution may be
written or not, official or not, primary or not. regarded as secondary, third-person accounts of
remote history, or they may be (and indeed have
been) regarded as autobiographical writings of
The Human and the "Personal" Document Gibbon, Droysen, and Taine. Scholarly reviews
of scholarly books ought to be among the least
The human document has been defined as "an likely places to hunt tor personal reactions
account of individual experience which reveals (except, as sometimes happens with the best
the individual's actions as a human agent and reviews, the reviewer deliberately sets out to
as a participant in social life." The personal present his own point of view); and yet how
document has been defined as "any self- often private philosophies, attitudes, likes, and
revealing record that intentionally or dislikes are unintentionally betrayed by the
unintentionally yields information regarding most sober reviewers! Whether a documents is
the structure, dynamics and functioning of the to be examined for what it reveals about its
author's mental life." The first definition is by a subject or for what it reveals about its author-
sociologist and emphasizes experience… In whether, in other words, it is a third-person or a
“social life” as an element of the human first- person document thus depends upon the
document. The second definition is by a examiner's rather than the author's intention.
psychologist and emphasizes "the author's
mental life" as an element of the personal For the same reason the term personal
document have been used interchangeably. The document is to the historian synonymous with
two kinds of documents seem to have one the term human document. These terms were
essential characteristic in common; a human, invented by social scientists. The historian is
personal reaction to the events with which they not likely to employ them. To him they appear
deal. To both sociologist and psychologist it is tautalogous. All documents are both human and
the degree of subjectivity in these documents personal, since they are the work of human
that distinguishes them from other documents. beings and shed light upon their authors as well
The best examples seem to be documents as upon the subjects the authors were trying to
written in the first person -like autobiographies expound. Sometimes, indeed, they betray the
and letters - or documents written in the third author's personality, private thoughts, and
person but describing human reactions and social lite more revealingly than they describe
attitudes like newspaper accounts, court the things he has under observation. Here, too,
records, and records of social agencies. a document's significant may have greater
relationship to the intention of the historian than
To the historian the difference between first- to that of the author. Sometimes the historian
person and third-person documents is not of may learn more about the author than the author
major significance. That is true for at least three intended that he should.
reasons. (1) Often an apparently third-person
document is in fact first-person (as, for Topic: The Problem of Authenticity and
example, the Mémoires of Lafayette or The Credibility
Education of Henry Adams). (2) Genuinely
third-person documents in so far as they are
"historicable" must ultimately rest on first-hand Chapter VI
observation (whether by the author or by Excerpt from "The Problem of
someone consulted by the author). (3) Every Authenticity, or External Criticism"
 by Louis Gottschalk bathtub, or of Alexander Woollcott's mocking
letter of endorsement of Dorothy Parker's
husband (of which he never sent the original to
So far it has been assumed that the documents ice supposed addressee, although he did send
dealt with have been authentic. The problem of the carbon copy to the endorsee). The Memoires
authenticity seldom concerns the sociologist or of Madame d' Epinay are a striking example of
psychologist or an anthropologist, who fabrication of a whole book that has beguiled
generally has a living Subject under his eye, can even respectable historians.
see him as he prepares his autobiography and
can cross-examine him about doubtful points.
Even in the law courts the question of Sometimes quite genuine documents are
authenticity of documents becomes difficult intended to mislead certain contemporaries and
problem only on rare occasions, when the writer hence have misled subsequent historians. A
or witness to the writing cannot be produced. statement supposed to be that of Emperor
But for historical documents those occasions Leopold II's views on the French Revolution
are not rare. They are in fact frequent for misled Marie Antoinette and subsequently even
manuscript sources; and if doubt as to the most careful historians until it was exposed
authenticity arises less often for printed in 1984 as a wishful statement of some French
sources, it is because usually some skilled emigrés. In days when spies are expected to
editor has already performed the task of open mail in the post, writers of letters would
authenticating them. occasionally try to outwit them by turning their
curiosity to the advantage of the one spied upon
rather than to that of the spy or his employer.
And when censors might condemn books to be
Forged or Misleading Documents
burned and writers to be imprisoned, authors
Forgeries or documents in whole or in part could hardly be blamed if they sometimes
without being usual, are common enough to signed others names to their work. For instance,
keep the careful historian constantly on his it is hard to tell whether some works actually
guard. "Historical documents" are fabricated written by Voltaire are not still ascribed to
for several reasons. Sometimes they are used to others. It is thus possible to be too skeptical
bolster a false claim or title. A well-known about a document which may be genuine
example is the Donation of Constantine, which though not what it seems. Bernheim has
used to be cited on occasion to bolster a theory provided a list of documents that were once
that popes had a wide territorial claim in the hypercritically considered unauthentic bur are
west. In 1440 Lorenzo Valla proved, chiefly by now accepted. Perhaps it was hypercriticism of
means of anachronisms of style and allusion, this kind that led Vincent Starrett to write his
that it had been forged. At other times verse entitled “After Much Striving for Fame”
documents are counterfeited for sale.
Counterfeit letter of Queen Marie Antoinette It would be rather jolly, I think,
used to turn up frequently. A Philadelphia To be the original authority
autograph dealer named Robert Spring once On some obscure matter of literature or
manufactured hundreds of skilful forgeries in faith
order to supply the demand or collectors. A Upon which, in one's leisure,
recent notorious example of forgery was the One had jotted down an inaccurate
"correspondence" of Abraham Lincoln and Ann pamphlet
Rutledge, palmed off on the Atlantic Monthly And forever there after
in 1928. To be quoted by all post- Vincentian
borrowers
In a pertinacious footnote.
Sometimes fabrication is due to less mercenary
considerations. Political propaganda largely
accounts for protocols of the Elders of Zion, a Occasionally misrepresentations of the nature
"document” pretending to reveal a ruthless of printed works result from editor‘s tricks. It is
Jewish conspiracy to rule the world. Sometimes still a matter of dispute which of many writings
historical "facts" are based only on some attributed to Cardinal Richelieu were in fact
practical joke, as in the case of H.L. Mencken's written or dictated by him, and little of the so-
much cited article on the "history" of the called Mémoires de Jean de Witt and Testament
politique de Colbert were in fact Written by particularly of proper names and signatures
John de Witt and Colbert. The memoirs (because too good or too bad or anachronistic),
attributed to Condorcet and to Weber, foster- reveals a forgery, as would also unhistoric
brother of Marie Antoinette, and several works grammar.
ascribed to Napoleon l are by others than their Anachronistic references to events (too early or
alleged authors. Even issues of daily too late or too remote) or the dating of the
newspapers have been manufactured long after document at a time when the alleged writer
the dates they bear. The Moniteur furnishes could not possibly have been at the place
some good examples. Several diaries have been designated (the alibi) uncovers fraud.
made up by others from his writings. The Sometimes the skillful forger has all too
Circumstances of The forgery or carefully followed the best historical sources
misrepresentation of historical documents may and his product becomes too obviously a copy
often themselves reveal important political, in certain passages, or where, by skillful
cultural, and biographical information - but not paraphrase and invention, he is shrewd enough
about the same events or persons as if they were to avoid detection in that fashion, he is given
genuine. away by the absence of trivia and otherwise
unknown details from his manufactured
account. Usually, however, if the document is
Tests of Authenticity where ought to be- for example, in a family’s
archives, or among a business firm's or lawyer's
To distinguish a hoax or misrepresentation from papers, or in governmental bureau’s records
genuine document, the historian has to use tests (but not merely because it is in a library or in an
that are common also in police and legal amateur’s autograph collection) - its
detection. Making the best guess he can of the provenance (or its custody, as the lawyers call
date of the document, he examines the materials it), creates a presumption or its genuineness.
to see whether they are not anachronistic: paper Garbled Documents
was rare in Europe before the fifteenth century,
and printing was unknown, pencils did not exist A document that in its entirety or in large part
there before the sixteenth century; typewriting is the result of a deliberate effort to deceive may
was not invented until the nineteenth century, often be hard to evaluate, but it sometimes
and India paper came only at the end of that causes less trouble than does the document that
century. The historian also examines the ink for is unauthentic only in small part. For such parts
signs of age or for anachronistic chemical are usually the result, not of studied falsehood,
composition. Making his best guess of the but of unintentional error. They occur most
possible author of the document, he sees if he frequently in copies of documents whose
can identify the handwriting, signature, seal, originals have disappeared, and are generally
letterhead, or watermark. Even when the due to that kind of error of omission, repetition,
handwriting is unfamiliar, it can be compared or addition with which anyone who have ever
with authenticated specimens. One of the made copies soon becomes familiar.
unfulfilled needs of the historian is more of Sometimes they are the result, however, not of
what the French call "isographies - dictionaries carelessness but of deliberate intention to
of biography giving examples of handwriting. modify, supplement, or continue the original.
For some period of history, experts using Such a change may be made in good faith in the
techniques known as dictionaries of biography first instance, care being exerted to indicate the
giving examples or handwriting for some differences between the original text and the
period of history, experts using techniques glossary or continuations, but future copyist are
known as paleography and diplomatics, first often less careful or more confused and make
systematized by Mabillon in the seventeenth no such distinctions.
century, have long known that in certain regions
at certain times handwriting and the style and This problem is most familiar to classical
form of official documents were more or less philologists and Bible critics. For they seldom
conventionalized. Seals have been the subject have copies less than eight centuries and several
of special study by sigillographers, and experts stages of reproduction removed from the
can detect faked ones. Anachronistic style original-that is to say, copies of copies of copies
(idiom, orthography or punctuation) can be and sometimes copies of translations of copies
detected by specialists who are familiar with of translations of copies, and so0 on. The
contemporary writing. Often spelling,
philologists give to this problem of establishing By a similar method one can even guess the
an accurate text the name textual criticism, and contents, at least in part, of a “father”
in Biblical studies it is also called lower manuscript even when no full copy of it is in
criticism. The historian has borrowed his existence. The historian Wilhelm von
technique from philologist and Bible critics. Giesebrecht, a student of Ranke, attempted to
reconstruct a text that he reasoned must be the
ancestor of several eleventh-century chronicles
The Restoration of Texts in which he had noted striking similarities. By
The technique is complicated but can be briefly adding together the passages that appeared to be
described. The first task is to collect as many "descended" from an unknown chronicle, he
copies of the dubious text as diligent search will made a guess as to its contents. Over a quarter
reveal. Then they are compared. It is found that of a century later the ancestor chronicle was in
some contain words or phrases or whole fact found and proved to be extensively like
passages that are not contained in others. The Giesebrecht's guess.
question then arises: Are those words, phrases
or passages additions to the original text that
have found their way into some copies, or are Identification of Author and of Date
they omissions from the others? To answer that
question it is necessary to divide the available Some guess of the approximate date of the
copies into one or more "families" - that is, document and some identification of its
groups of texts which closely resemble each supposed author (or, at least, a surmise as to his
other and therefore seem to be derived, directly location in time and space and as to his habits,
or indirectly, from the same master copy. Then attitudes, character, learning. associates, etc.)
by a comparison of the texts within each family obviously form an essential part of external
an effort is made to establish the comparative criticism. Otherwise it would be impossible to
age of each in relation to the others. If the prove or disprove authenticity by
members of the same family are largely copied anachronisms, handwriting, style, alibi, or other
from each other, as this arrangement in families tests that are associated with the author's milieu,
frequently shows, the oldest one is all personality, and actions. But similar knowledge
probability (but not necessarily) the one nearest or guesses are also necessary for internal
the original. This process is continued for all the criticism, and therefore the problem of author-
families. When the copy nearest the original in identification has been left for the next chapter.
each family is discovered, a comparison of all Having established an authentic text and
of these "father" copies will usually then reveal discovered what its author really intended to
words and passages that are in some but not in say, the historian has only established what the
others. Again the question arises: Are those witness's testimony is. He has yet to determine
words and passages additions to the copies that whether that testimony is at all credible, and if
have them or omissions from the copies that do s0, to what extent. That is the problem of
not? The most accurate available wordings of internal criticism.
the passages added or omitted by the respective
copyists are then prepared. Changes in Chapter VII
handwritings, anachronisms in style, grammar,
orthography, or factual detail, and opinions or The Problem of Credibility, or Internal
errors unlikely to have been those of the Criticism
original author frequently reveal additions by a The historian first aims in the examination of
later hand. When the style and contents of
testimony to obtain a set of particulars relevant
passages under discussion may be attributed to
the author, it is safe to assume that they were to some topic or question that he has in mind.
parts of his original manuscript but were Isolated particulars have little meaning by
omitted by later copyist; and when they cannot themselves, and unless they have a context or
be attributed to the author, it is safe to assume fit into a hypothesis they are of doubtful value.
that they were not parts of his original But that is a problem of synthesis, which will be
manuscript. In some cases, a final decision has discussed later. What we are now concerned is
to await the discovery of still more copies. In the analysis of documents for credible details to
many instances the original text can be be fitted into a hypothesis or context.
approximately or entirely restored.
What is Historical Fact? rarely disputed. They are easily observed, easily
recorded (it not self-evident, like the Pantheon
In the process of analysis the historian should
and Chinese literature), involve no judgments
constantly keep in mind the relevant particulars of value (except with regard to the antiquity of
within the document rather than the document
Chinese literature), contradict no other
as a whole. Regarding each particulars he asks:
knowledge available to us, seem otherwise
Is it credible? It might be well to point out again logically acceptable, and avoiding
that what is meant by calling a particular
generalization, deal with single instances.
credible is not that it is actually what happened,
but that it is as close of what actually happened Even some apparently simple and concrete
as we can learn from a critical examination of statements, however, are subject to question. If
the best available sources . This means no one disputes the historicity of Socrates, there
verisimilar at a high level. It connotes 1s less agreement regarding Moses and earlier
something more than merely not being figures of Hebrew folklore. If no one doubts
preposterous in itself or even than plausible and that Michael Angelo sculptured his "Moses, a
yet is short or meaning accurately descriptive few still think that Shakespeare's plays were in
of past actuality. In other words, the historian fact written by Francis Bacon. Doubt regarding
establishes verisimilitude rather than objective concrete particulars is likely to be due,
truth. Though there is a high correlation however, to lack of testimony based on first-
between the two, they are not necessarily hand observation rather than to disagreement
identical. As far as mere particulars are among the witnesses. In general, on simple and
concerned, historians disagree relatively concrete matters where testimony of direct
seldom regarding what is credible in this special observation is available, the testimony can
sense of "conforming to a critical examination usually be submitted to tests of reliability that
of the sources. It is not inconceivable that, in will be convincing either pro or con to most
dealing with the same document, two historians competent and 1mpartial historians. As soon as
of equal ability and training would extract the abstractions, value judgments, generalizations,
same isolated "facts" and agree with each and other complexities enter into testimony the
other's findings. In that way the elementary data possibility contradiction and debate enters with
of history are subject to proof. them. Hence, alongside the multitude of facts
generally accepted by historians, exists another
multitude debated (or at least debatable) by
A historical "fact" thus may be defined as a them.
particular derived directly or indirectly from
historical documents and regarded as credible
after careful testing in accordance with the The Interrogative Hypothesis
canons of historical method. An infinity and a
In analyzing a document for its isolated facts,"
multiple variety of facts of this kind are
the historian should approach it with a question
accepted by all historians: e.g., that Socrates
or a set of questions in mind, The questions may
really existed; that Alexander invaded India,
that the Romans built the Pantheon; that the be relatively noncommittal. (E.g Did Saul try to
Chinese have an ancient literature (but here we assassinate David? What were the details of
Catiline’s life? Who were the crusading
introduce a complexity with the word ancient,
companions of Tancred? What was the date of
which needs definition before its factual quality
Erasmus birth? How many men were aboard De
can be considered certain); that pope Innocent
Grasse's fleet in 1781? What is the correct
III excommunicated King John or England, that
spelling of Siėyes? Was Hung Hsui-chun' an a
Michael Angelo sculptured "Moses"; that
Christian?) It will be noted that one cannot ask
Bismarck modified the dispatch from Ems of
even simple questions like these without
King Williams secretary; that banks in the
United States in 1933 were closed for four days knowing enough about some problem in history
to ask a question about it and if one knows
by presidential proclamation; and that "the
enough to ask even the simplest question, one
Yankees” won the “World Series” in 1949.
already has some idea and probably some
Simple and fully attested "facts" of this kind are
hypothesis regarding it, whether implicit or Grasse s Crew, or a single phrase the motives of
explicit, whether tentative and flexible or Wilson's denial. In detailed investigations, few
fformulated and fixed. Or the hypothesis may documents arc significant as a whole; they
be full-fledged, though still implicit and in serve most often only as mines from which to
interrogative form (E g.: Can the Jews be held extract historical ore. Each bit of ore, however,
responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus? Did the may contain flaws of its own. The general
medieval city develop from the fair? Why did reliability of an author, in other words, has
Anabaptists believe in religious liberty? How significance only as establishing the probable
did participation in the American Revolution credibility of his particular statements. From
contribute to the spread of liberal ideas among that process of scrupulous analysis emerges an
the French aristocracy? Why did Woodrow important general rule: for each particular of a
Wilson deny knowledge of the "secret document, the process of establishing
treaties”?) In each of these questions a certain credibility should be separately undertaken
implication is assumed to be true and further regardless of the general credibility of the
clarification of it is sought on an additional author.
working assumption.

Putting the hypothesis in interrogative form is

Identification of Author
more judicious than putting it in declarative
form if for no other reason than that it is more As has already been pointed out, some
noncommittal before all the evidence has been
identification of the author is necessary to test a
examined. It may also help in some small way
document’s authenticity. In the subsequent
to solve the delicate problem of relevance of
process of determining the credibility of its
subject matter (see Chapter X below), since
only those materials are relevant which lead particulars, even the most genuine of
directly to an answer to the question or indicate documents should be regarded as guilty of
that there is no satisfactory answer. deceit until proven innocent. The importance of
first establishing the author's general reliability
is therefore obvious. Where the name of the
The Quest for Particular Details of author can be determined and he is a person
Testimony about whom biographical data are available,
identification is a relatively easy task. Because,
As has already been pointed out, every
in most legal and social science investigations,
historical subject has four aspects - the
the witness or the author of a document is
biographical, the geographical, the
personally known and available to the
chronological, and the occupational or
investigator, that question generally presents no
functional. With a set of names, dates, and key-
words in mind tor each of these aspects, the insurmountable difficulties to lawyers and
historical investigator combs his document for social scientists.
relevant particulars or “notes”, as he is more
The historian, however, is frequently obliged to
likely to call them). It is generally wise to take
use documents written by persons about whom
notes on relevant matter whether or not it at first
appears credible. It may turn out that even false nothing or relatively little is known. Even the
or mistaken testimony has relevance to an hundreds of biographical dictionaries and
understanding of one’s problem. encyclopedias already in existence may be of
no help because the author's name is unknown
Having accumulated is notes, the investigator or, if known, not to be found in the reference
must now separate the credible from the works. The historian must therefore depend
incredible. Even from his "notes" he has
upon the document itself to teach him what it
sometimes to extract still smaller details, for
can about the author. A single brief document
even a Single name may reveal a companion of
may teach him much if he asks the right
Tancred, a single letter the correct spelling of
Sieyes, a Single digit the exact number of De questions. It may, of course, contain explicit
biographical details, but to assume that would
be begging the question. Even where it is
relatively free from first-person allusions, much
may be learned of the author's mental processes Even a hasty examination will suffice to make
and personal attitudes from it alone. clear that the author, at the time of writing, was
planning to use it as a speech ("we are met, what
Let us take the usual text of Lincoln's we say here"), that he wrote English well, that
Gettysdurg Address, and assume for the same his address was a funeral oration ("we have
of example that we have no knowledge of it come to dedicate portion of that field as a final
except for what its own contents may reveal: resting place"), that he was probably a
prominent citizen, that he presumably was an
American ("our fathers," "this continent," "new
nation," four score and seven years ago"), that
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers
brought forth on this continent, a new he was an advocate of liberty and equality (or at
nation, conceived in Liberty, and least desired his hearer to think so), that he lived
during the American Civil War, that he was
dedicated to the proposition that all men
are created equal. speaking at Gettysburg, or possibly Vicksburg
("great battlefield," "four score and seven years
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, ago), and that he wanted his side in the war to
testing whether that nation, or any nation be thought of as fighting for democracy
so conceived and so dedicated, can long ("government of the people, by the people, for
endure. We are met on a great battle-field the people"). If we forget the controversy
of that war. We have come to dedicate a among historians as to whether the words under
portion of that field, as a final resting place God were actually delivered or were only
for those who here gave their lives that that afterward inserted, we may assume that he
nation might live. It 1s altogether fitting subscribed, or wished to appear to subscribe, to
and proper that we should do this. the belief in Supreme Being.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate- From a short document, it would thus appear, it
we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow- is possible to learn much about the author
this ground. The brave men, living and without knowing who he was. In the case of the
dead, who struggled here, have Gettysburg Address a trained historian would
consecrated it, far above our poor power to probably soon detect Lincoln's authorship, if it
add or detract. The world will little note, were unknown. But even if he had never heard
nor long remember what we say here, but of Lincoln, he would be able to tell that, in
it can never forget what they did here. It is attempting to judge the truth of the particulars
for us the living, rather, to be dedicated stated in that address, he would have to consider
here to the unfinished work which they it as probably a public exhortation by a
who fought here have thus far so nobly prominent antislavery Northerner after a major
advanced. It is rather for us to be here victory over the Confederate States in the
dedicated to the great task remaining American Civil War. Many documents, being
before us-that from these honored dead we less modest and less economical of words than
take increased devotion to that cause for the Gettysburg Address, give their authors
which they gave the last full measure of away more readily.
devotion-that we here highly resolve that
these dead shall not have died in vain- that
this nation, under God, shall have a new Determination of Approximate Date
birth of freedom-and that government of
the people, by the people, for the people It would be relatively easy, even if the
shall not perish from the earth. Gettysburg Address were a totally strange
document, to establish its approximate date. It
was obviously composed tour-score and seven probably will be found more expedient to
years after the Declaration of Independence, restrict the latter term to his conscious
hence in 1863. But few strange documents are philosophy or philosophies of life in so far as
so easily dated. One has frequently to resort to they can be divorced from personality traits and
the conjectures known to the historian as the biases of which he may or may not be aware.
terminus non-post quem (“the point not after
which"). These termini, or points, have to be General Rules
established by internal evidence by clues given
In a law court it is frequently assumed that all
within the document itself. If the date 1863
the testimony of a witness, though under oath,
were not implicit in the Gettysburg Address,
is suspect if the opposing lawyers can impugn
other references within the speech could point
his general character or by examination and
obviously to the beginning of the American
Civil War as its terminus non ante quem and cross-examination create doubt or his veracity
since the war was obviously still going on when in some regard. Even in modern law courts the
the document was composed, its terminus non old maxim falsus in uno, jaisus in omnibus
post quem would be the end of the Civil War. tends to be overemphasızed. In addition,
Hence its date could be fixed approximately, hearsay evidence is as a general rule excluded;"
even if the first sentence had been lost, as certain kinds of witnesses are "privileged" or
somewhere between 180l and 1861; and if we unqualified" and therefore are not obliged to
were enabled by other data to guess at "the great testify or are kept from testifying: and evidence
battlefield,” we might even narrow that margin. obtained by certain means regarded as
Some documents might not permit even a transgressing the citizen’s rights-such as "third
remote guess of their termini, but where the degree," drugs, wire-tapping, or lie-detector –
author is known, one has at least the dates of his are ruled out or some courts. The legal system
birth and death go by.
of evidence, Says James Bradley Thayer, "is not
concerned with nice definitions, or the exacter
academic operations of the logical faculty. . . Its
The Personal Equation
rules. . . are seeking to determine, not what is or
This analysis of the Gettysburg Address (under is not, in its nature, probative, but rather,
the false assumption that its authorship is passing by that inquiry, what among really
unknown) indicates the type of question the probative matters, shall, nevertheless, for this or
historian asks of both anonymous and avowed that practical reason, be excluded, and not even
documents. Was the author an eyewitness of the heard by the jury. Courts of law, in the Anglo-
events he narrates? If not, what were his sources Saxon system at least, go on the assumption that
of information? When did he write the it one side presents all the permissible
document? How much time elapsed between testimony in its favor and if the other side
the event and the record? What was his purpose
presents all the permissible testimony in its, the
in writing or speaking? Who were his audience
truth will emerge plainly enough for judge and
and why? Such questions enable the historian to
answer the still more important questions: Was jury from the conflict or harmony of the
the author of the documents able to tell the testimony, even if some kinds of testimony are
truth; and if able, was he willing to do so? The not permissible; and possibly where much and
ability and the willingness of a witness to give recent testimony is available, the innocent
dependable testimony are determined by a suffer less often by such an assumption than the
number of factors in his personality and social guilty escape.
situation that together are sometimes called his
personal equation," a term applied to the
correction required in astronomical
The historian, however, is prosecutor, attorney
observations to allow for the habitual
for the defense, judge, and jury all in one. But
inaccuracy of individual observers. The
personal equation of a historian is sometimes as judge he rules out no evidence whatever if it
also called "his frame of reference”, but it is relevant. To him any single detail of
testimony is credible even if it is contained in a narrative skill, etc. the ability to estimate
document obtained by force or fraud, or is numbers is especially subject to suspicion.
otherwise impeachable, or is based on hearsay The size of the army with which Xerxes
evidence, or is from an interested witness invaded Greece in 480 B.C. was said by
provided it can pass four tests: Herodotus to have numbered 1,700,000 but
it can be shown to have been considerably
1. Was the ultimate source of the detail less by the simple computation of the length
(the primary witness) able to tell the
of time it would have taken that many men
truth?
2. Was the primary witness willing to tell to march through the Thermopylae Pass
the truth? even unopposed. More recently by a similar
3. Is the primary witness accurately computation doubt was thrown upon the
reported with regard to the detail under veracity of a newspaper report from
examination? Moscow that one million men, women, and
4. Is there any independent children paraded through the Red Square in
corroboration of the detail under
celebration of the thirty-second anniversary
examination?
of the October Revolution (November 7,
1949) in five and one-half hour
Any detail (regardless of what the source or demonstration, for it would require more
who the author) that passes all four tests is than fifty persons a second to march abreast
credible historical evidence. It will bear past a given point to complete a parade of
repetition that the primary witness and the one million in five and one-half hours. With
detail are now the subjects of examination, not some notable exceptions, such as the
the source as a whole. Domesday Book of William the Conqueror,
historians have been warned against using
Ability to Tell the Truth any source of numbers before the end of the
(1) Ability to tell the truth rests in part upon the Middle Ages. The careful keeping of vital
witness's nearness to the event. Nearness is statistics was a relatively late innovation or
here used in both a geographical and a the end of the eighteenth and the beginning
chronological sense. The reliability of the of the nineteenth century. Previous to that
witness's testimony tends to vary in time tax rolls and incomplete parish records
proportion to (a) his own remoteness from of baptisms, marriages, and burials were the
the scene in time and space, and (b) the best indications. Even battle casualty
remoteness from the event in time and space statistics before the nineteenth century are
of his recording of it. There are three steps suspect, and historians still disagree on the
in historical testimony: observation, cost in human life of wards up to and
recollection, and recording (not to mention including those or Napoleon I, and, in some
the historian's own perception of the instances, beyond.
witness's record). At each of these steps
(3) Degree of attention is als0 an important fact
something of the possible testimony may be
in the ability to tell the truth. A well-known
lost. Geographical as well as chronological story, no less illustrative if it be apocryphal,
closeness to the event affects all three steps tells of a psychology professor who
and helps to determine both how much will
deliberately staged a fight in his classroom
be lost and the accuracy of what is retained.
between two students, which led to a free-
(2) Obviously all witnesses even if equally for-all. When peace was restored, the
close to the event are not equally competent professor asked each member of the class to
as witnesses. Competence depends upon write an account of what had happened.
degree of expertness, state of mental and There were, of course, conflicting
physical health, age, education, memory, statements among the accounts, but, what
 was most significant, no students had clergymen. lf medieval architects,
noticed that the professor in the midst of the landowners, Soldiers, or merchants had
pandemonium had taken out a banana and written more, they might have asked and
had peeled and eaten it. Obviously the entire answered different kinds of questions and
meaning of the event rested upon the given writings of our own intellectuals
unnoticed act, it was an experiment in the should prove to be the major source for
psychology of attention. Because each future accounts of our age, future historians
student's interest had been fixed upon his will be misled into thinking that intellectuals
own part in the drama, each had given an had a greater influence upon human affairs
erroneous interpretation of what had in our time than they actually have. This sort
occurred. Magicians similarly depend upon of circular argument must be especially
their ability to divert attention from things guarded against when an effort is being
they are doing to perpetuate some of their made to ascribe unsigned writings to a
tricks. The common human inability to see supposed author, for it is easy to assume that
things clearly and whole makes even the the ideas of the writings are characteristic of
best of witnesses suspect. the supposed author if those very articles are
the basis of the assumptions regarding the
(4) We have already discussed the danger of the author's characteristics.
leading question (p. 104). Such questions,
by implying the expected answer, make it (6) One almost inescapable shortcoming of the
difficult to tell the whole truth. Lawyers also personal document is its egocentrism. It is to
count the hypothetical question ("Supposing be expected that even a modest observer will
you did agree with me, would you act as tell what he himself heard and what he
1?"), and the argumentative or "loaded" himself did as if those details were the most
question ("Have you stopped beating your important things that were said and done.
wife?") and the coached answer as Often it is impossible for him to tell his story
belonging to kindred categories. Such in any other terms, Since that is the only way
questions are especially liable to be he knows it. This observation is a more or
misleading If they have to be answered less inevitable corollary of the caution with
"Yes" or "No." Allport gives a striking regard to attention discussed above. The
illustration of the kind of misinformation famous speech of the Comte de Mirabeau
that can be derived from the witness whose after Louis XVľ's Royal Session of June 23,
narrative is circumscribed by the questioner. 1789, provides a pat illustration of how
He mentions an investigator who *secured easily such egocentrism may mislead the
fifty topical autobiographies, forcing all historian. Mirabeau (though speaking in the
writers to tell about radicalism and third person) told how he has said something
conservativism in their lives," and who from about the necessity of force: "For we shall
those biographies almost (but fortunately leave our seats only by the power of the
not quite) came to the conclusion that bayonet." He failed to mention that several
"radicalism-conservativism constitutes one others were expressing a similar
of those first-order variables of which all determination at about the same time,
personalities are compounded."10 though probably in more moderate
language. Therefore, historians trusting too
(5) In the last instance the investigator barely confidently to Mirabeau's testimony have
missed reasoning n a circle -from premise sometimes made him the heroic center of a
back to premise again. It has been contended desperate crisis, still it 1s more probable that
also that one of the reasons why religious he was not so conspicuous or the situation so
problems and events receive so much dramatic as he implied.
attention in the history of the Middle Ages is
that its principal sources were written by
In general, inability to tell the truth leads to unfavorable, it may be designated odium
errors of omission, rather than commission, or ira. The Latin words are derived from a
because of lack of completeness or lack of declaration by Tacitus that he would write
balance n observation, recollection, or history since ira studion (thereby setting a
narrative. Such errors may give a picture that is standard that few historians, including
out of perspective because it subordinates or Tacitus, have been able to achieve).
fails to include some important things and Studium and odium, bias for and bias
overemphasızes those it does include. against, frequently depend upon the
witnesses' s social circumstances and may
operate in a fashion of which he himself
Willingness to Tell the Truth may not be aware. it becomes important to
the historian to know what the witness's
The historian also has to deal with documents Weltanschauung (or "frame of reference")
whose authors, though otherwise competent to may be, as well as his religious, political,
tell the truth, consciously or unconsciously tell social, economic, racial, national, regional,
falsehoods. There are several conditions that local, family, personal, and other ties (or
tend especially toward untruthfulness and personal equation). Any of these factors
against which the experience of mankind has may dictate a predilection or a prejudice
armed lawyers, historians, and others who deal that will shade his testimony with nuances
with testimony." that otherwise might have been absent.

(1) One of the most elementary rules in the (3) The intended hearers or readers of a
analysis of testimony is that which requires document, it has already been remarked (p.
the exercise of caution against the 90), play an important part in determining
interested witness. A witness's interest is the truthfulness of a statement. The desire
obvious when he himself may benefit from to please or to displease may lead to the
perversion of the truth or may thereby coloring or the avoidance of the truth.
benefit some one of some cause dear to Speakers at political rallies and at
him. Certain kinds of propaganda are banquets, writers of wartime dispatches
perhaps the worst examples of deliberate and communiqués, makers of polite letters
perversion of truth out of a desire to benefit and conversation are among the numerous
a cause. In the seventeenth century the producers of documents that may subtly
word propaganda was applied to Catholic pervert fact for that reason. Akin to and
missionary word without disparagement. often associated with interest and bias,
Since the nineteenth century, however, it which are often socially determined, this
has been used more or less derogatorily to motive is nevertheless different from them,
designate any kind of concerted movement being usually personal and individual. It
to persuade and the instruments of such may occasionally stand alone as an
persuasion. The word may be modem, but explanation of prevarication.
propaganda and its methods have been
(4) Literary style sometimes dictates the
familiar since efforts were first made to
sacrifice of truth. Epigrams and
influence public opinion.
notoriously- slogans of war and politics
(2) Often the benefit to be derived from a (“L ètat c'est moi", *The Old Guard dies
perversion of the truth is subtle and may but never surrenders), if properly
not be realized by the witness himself. In discredited in the interests of accuracy and
such a case the cause of prevarication truthful reporting, would be robbed
probably is bias. If the witness's bias is pithiness and color. Authors of
favorable to the subject of his testimony, it autobiographies and letters, especially
is frequently designated studium. If it is when they write for private amusement,
 may feel tempted to state as fact what is commission, and societies are sometimes
only hearsay or tradition or even fiction; required by their articles of incorporation
and frequently narrators and reporters or constitutions to meet periodically, but
(especially of they hope for large when their numbers are small, the minutes
audiences) seek to appear omniscient ot their meetings may be much more
rather than to use the less Vigorous word, formal than the actual meetings.
the less striking phrase, the ifs and buts, the
there-is-some-reason-to- believe and the it (6) Closely akin to this category are the many
is perhaps-safe-to-say of more precise instances of inexact dating of historical
discourse. documents because of the conventions and
formalities involved. For example, the
The anecdote is especially suspect. Much too official text of the Declaration of
often it is a subsequent invention to throw Independence is dated “In Congress, July
into humorous or striking relief some 4, I776.” To the unwary reader it would
spectacular figure or episode. The more appear that those who signed it were
apposite the anecdote, the mode dubious it present and did so on that day. In fact, the
is likely to be without corroboration. And formal signing took place on August 2,
yet the existence of an especially pat 1776, some members did not sign until a
anecdote has a historical significance of its still later date. Some medieval rulers used
own as showing the sort of thing believed to date documents as of certain towns
of or imputed to the subject. A well-known though they were not at those towns on the
Italian proverb describes such anecdotes as dates indicated. The modern official's and
felicitous (ben trovato) even if untrue. businessman's habit of sending letters on
office stationery regardless of where they
(5) Laws and conventions sometimes oblige may be or of dictating but not reading their
witnesses to depart from strict veracity. letters, which are signed by a rubber stamp
The same laws of libel and of good taste or a secretary, may make it very difficult
that have encouraged the hiding of the for future biographers to trace their
"resemblance to persons now living or itineraries. Bank checks, having the city of
dead” in fiction and moving pictures have the bank's location printed on them, may
precluded complete accuracy in some also prove misleading as to the signer's
works of history. Some of the notorious whereabouts.
inaccuracies of Jared Aparks as a historian
were due to his writing of living characters (7) Expectation or anticipation frequently leads
from testimony by living witnesses who a witness astray. Those who count on
requested him not to use certain data. revolutionaries to be bloodthirsty and
Etiquette in letters and conversation, conservatives gentlemanly, those who
conventions and formalities in treaties and expect the young to be irreverent and the
public documents require politeness and old crabbed, those who know Germans to
expressions of esteem that are obviously be ruthless and Englishmen to lack humor
false or empty. A successful comedy, generally find bloodthirsty Germans and
James Montgomery's Mothin but the Truth humorless Englishmen. A certain lack of
(1916), was written around the valiant precision is found in such witnesses
effort of a young man to go through a because their eyes and ears are closed to
whole day without saying anything that fair observation, or because, seeking, they
was untrue; it nearly cost him all his find; or because in recollection, they tend
friends. Religious concepts like the to forget or minimize examples that do not
Christian Scientist's interpretation of the confirm their prejudices and hypotheses.
ideas of evil, disease, and death may lead (This sort of attitude is only a special kind
to misunderstanding. Corporations,
 of bias and might be regarded merely as a event or era, it is necessary to consult multiple-
subdivision of Paragraph 2 above.) -and often contradictory--sources.

Secondary – materials that are written with the

benefit of hindsight and materials that filter
Topic: A Guide for Using Primary primary sources through interpretation or
Source or Original Source Documents evaluation. Books commenting on a historical
incident in history are secondary sources.
Political cartoons can be tricky because they
A Guide for Using Primary Source or
can be considered either primary or secondary.
Original Source Documents
Minnesota Humanities Center Note: One is not more reliable than the other.
Valuable information can be gleaned from both
types of documents. A primary document can
Origin, Purpose, Value and Limitation (OPVL)
tell you about the original author’s perspective;
is a technique for analyzing historical
a secondary document can tell you how the
documents. It is used extensively in the
primary document was received during a
International Baccalaureate curriculum and
specific time period or by a specific audience.
testing materials, and is incredibly helpful in
teaching students to be critical observers. It is Other questions must be answered beyond
also known as Document Based Questions whether the source is primary or secondary and
(DBQ). will give you much more information about the
document that will help you answer questions
OPVL can be adapted to be used in any grade.
in the other categories.
Younger students can answer more concrete,
factual questions about a document, while older • Who created it?
students have more capacity for abstract • Who is the author?
reasoning, placing documents in historical • When was it created?
context, and drawing conclusions. • When was it published?
Origin: • Where was it published?
• Who is publishing it?
In order to analyze a source, you must first • Is there anything we know about the
know what it is. Sometimes not all of these author that is pertinent to our
questions can be answered. The more you do evaluation?
know about where a document is coming from,
the easier it is to ascertain purpose, value and This last question is especially important. The
limitation. The definition of primary and more you know about the author of a document,
secondary source materials can be problematic. the easier it is to answer the following
There is constant debate among academic questions.
circles on how to definitively categorize certain
Purpose:
documents and there is no clear rule of what
makes a document a primary or a secondary This is the point where you start the real
source. evaluation of the piece and try to figure out the
purpose for its creation. You must be able to
Primary – letter, journal, interview, speeches,
think as the author of the document. At this
photos, paintings, etc. Primary sources are
point you are still only focusing on the single
created by someone who is the “first person”;
piece of work you are evaluating.
these documents can also be called “original
source documents. The author or creator is • Why does this document exist?
presenting original materials as a result of • Why did the author create this piece of
discovery or to share new information or work? What is the intent?
opinions. Primary documents have not been • Why did the author choose this
filtered through interpretation or evaluation by particular format? •Who is the intended
others. In order to get a complete picture of an
 audience? Who was the author With a primary source document, having an
thinking would receive this? incomplete picture of the whole is a given
• What does the document “say”? because the source was created by one person
• Can it tell you more than is on the (or a small group of people?), naturally they
surface? will not have given every detail of the context.
Do not say that the author left out information
unless you have concrete proof (from another
If you are teaching at the high school level, try source) that they chose to leave information out.
to steer students away from saying “I think the
document means this...” Obviously, if students Also, it is obvious that the author did not have
are making a statement it is coming from their prior knowledge of events that came after the
thinking. Help them practice saying “The creation of the document. Do not state that the
document means this...because it is supported document “does not explain X” (if X happened
by x evidence.” later).

Value: Being biased does not limit the value of a

source! If you are going to comment on the bias
Now comes the hard part. Putting on your of a document, you must go into detail. Who is
historian hat, you must determine: Based on it biased towards? Who is it biased against?
who wrote it, when/where it came from and What part of a story does it leave out? What
why it was created...what value does this part of the story is MISSING because of parts
document have as a piece of evidence? This is left out?
where you show your expertise and put the
piece in context. Bring in your outside • What part of the story can we NOT tell
information here. from this document?
• How could we verify the content of the
• What can we tell about the author from
piece?
the piece? • Does this piece inaccurately reflect
• What can we tell about the time period anything about the time period?
from the piece? • What does the author leave out and
• Under what circumstances was the why does he/she leave it out (if you
piece created and how does the piece know)?
reflect those circumstances? • What is purposely not addressed?
• What can we tell about any
controversies from the piece? This is again an area for you to show your
• Does the author represent a particular expertise of the context. You need to briefly
‘side’ of a controversy or event? explain the parts of the story that the document
• What can we tell about the author’s leaves out. Give examples of other documents
perspectives from the piece? that might mirror or answer this document.
• What was going on in history at the What parts of the story/context can this
time the piece was created and how document not tell?
does this piece accurately reflect it?

It helps if you know the context of the

document and can explain what the document
helps you to understand about the context.
Limitation:

This is probably the hardest part. The task here

is not to point out weaknesses of the source, but
rather to say: at what point does this source
cease to be of value to us as historians?
Topic: History of the Philippine Islands Antonio de Morga
by Antonio de Morga
Chapter 8
Antonio de Morga wrote his scholarly work
In various parts of this island of Luzon are
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the
Philippine Islands) which was published in found a number of natives black in color. Both
1609 in Mexico. It is a primary source that was men and women have woolly hair, and their
read and annotated by Dr. Jose Rizal. This book stature is not very great, although they are
contains Morga's personal experiences and strong and robust. These people are barbarians,
documentation from eye-witnesses of the and have but little capacity. They possess no
events in the country. In contrast to the religious fixed houses or settlements, but wander in
chronicles, the book is known to be the first bands and hordes through the mountains and
history of the Philippines to be written by a rough country, changing from one site to
layman. Filipino historians, then and now, find another according to the season. They support
it as a valuable document accounting the state themselves in certain clearings, and by planting
to Filipinos’ socio-economic, political, and rice, which they do temporarily, and by means
religious beliefs before the coming of the of the game that they bring down with their
Spaniards. However, some narratives of Morga
bows, in the use of which they are very skilful
are often distorted facts with erroneous
and certain. [217] They live also on honey from
conceptions about Pre-Hispanic Filipino
cultural practices. His writing is a good the mountains, and roots produced by the
example of how colonial history has presented ground. They are a barbarous people, in whom
the Pre-Hispanic time as a period of "darkness one cannot place confidence. They are much
or backwardness” to justify Spanish conquest given to killing and to attacking the settlements
and Filipino's conversion to Christianity. of the other natives, in which they commit
many depredations; and there is nothing that
As an eye-witness, Antonio de Morga was can be done to stop them, or to subdue or pacify
primarily a lawyer who joined the government them, although this is always attempted by fair
Service in 1580. Thereafter, he was appointed or foul means, as opportunity and necessity
in 1593 as Lieutenant Governor in Manila, the demand.
second most powerful position ii the colony,
next only to the Governor General of the The apparel and clothing of these natives of
Philippines. In 1598, he resigned this post to Luzon before the entrance of the Spaniards into
assume the office of oidor or Judge in the the country were generally, for the men, certain
Audiencia (Ocampo, 1998). short collarless garments of cangan, sewed
together in the front, and with short sleeves, and
The following text is an excerpt of Sucesos de
reaching slightly below the waist; some were
las Islas Filipinas of Antonio de Morga
blue and others black, while the chiefs had
particularly focused on Chapter 8. It discusses
the economic system, antiquity, customs, and some red ones, called chinanas. [218] They also
government, both during the period of their wore a strip of colored cloth wrapped about the
paganism and after their conquest by the waist, and passed between the legs, so that it
Spaniards. For present-day Filipinos, chapter covered the privy parts, reaching half−way
eight, according to Ambeth Ocampo (1998), is down the thigh; these are called bahaques. [219]
the most interesting because it gives a They go with legs bare, feet unshod, and the
description of the prehispanic Filipinos, or head uncovered, wrapping a narrow cloth,
rather the indios, at the Spanish contact. This called potong [220] just below it, with which
same chapter was indispensable for Rizal, not they bind the forehead and temples. About their
only for its ethnographic value but more so in necks they wear gold necklaces, wrought like
helping him reconstruct the prehispanic
spun wax, [221] and with links in our fashion,
Philippines which Rizal wanted to present to his
some larger than others. On their arms they
countrymen.
wear armlets of wrought gold, which they call
calombigas, and which are very large and made
History of the Philippine Islands in different patterns. Some wear strings of
precious stonescornelians and agates; and other
blue and white stones, which they esteem The superiority of these chiefs over those of
highly. [222] They wear around the legs some their barangai was so great that they held the
strings of these stones, and certain cords, latter as subjects; they treated these well or ill,
covered with black pitch in many foldings, as and disposed of their persons, their children,
garters. [223] and their possessions, at will, without any
resistance, or rendering account to anyone. For
There were no kings or lords throughout these very slight annoyances and for slight occasions,
islands who ruled over them as in the manner of
they were wont to kill and wound them, and to
our kingdoms and provinces; but in every
enslave them. It has happened that the chiefs
island, and in each province of it, many chiefs
have made perpetual slaves of persons who
were recognized by the natives themselves. have gone by them, while bathing in the river,
Some were more powerful than others, and each or who have raised their eyes to look at them
one had his followers and subjects, by districts
less respectfully and for other similar causes.
and families; and these obeyed and respected
[312]
the chief. Some chiefs had friendship and
communication with others, and at times wars The natives' laws throughout the islands were
and quarrels. [310] made in the same manner, and they followed
the traditions and customs of their ancestors,
These principalities and lordships were
without anything being written. Some
inherited in the male line and by succession of
provinces had different customs than others in
father and son and their descendants. If these some respects. However, they agreed in most,
were lacking, then their brothers and collateral
and in all the islands generally the same usages
relatives succeeded. Their duty was to rule and
were followed. [314] There are three conditions
govern their subjects and followers, and to
of persons among the natives of these islands,
assist them in their interests and necessities.
and into which their government is divided: the
What the chiefs received from their followers chiefs, of whom we have already treated; the
was to be held by them in great veneration and
timaguas, who are equivalent to plebeians; and
respect; and they were served in their wars and
slaves, those of both chiefs and timaguas.
voyages, and in their tilling, sowing, fishing,
and the building of their houses. To these duties The slaves were of several classes. Some were
the natives attended very promptly, whenever for all kinds of work and slavery, like those
summoned by their chief. They also paid the which we ourselves hold. Such are called
chiefs tribute (which they called buiz), in saguiguilires; [315] they served inside the
varying quantities, in the crops that they house, as did likewise the children born of
gathered. The descendants of such chiefs, and them. There are others who live in their own
their relatives, even though they did not inherit houses with their families, outside the house of
the lordship, were held in the same respect and their lord; and come, at the season, to aid him
consideration. Such were all regarded as nobles, in his sowings and harvests, among his rowers
and as persons exempt from the services when he embarks, in the construction of his
rendered by the others, or the plebeians, who house when it is being built, and to serve in his
were called timaguas. [311] The same right of house when there are guests of distinction.
nobility and chieftainship was preserved for the These are bound to come to their lord's house
women, just as for the men. When any of these whenever he summons them, and to serve in
chiefs was more courageous than others in war these offices without any pay or stipend. These
and upon other occasions, such a one enjoyed slaves are called namamahays, [316] and their
more followers and men; and the others were children and descendants are slaves of the same
under his leadership, even if they were chiefs. class. From these slaves saguiguilirs and
These latter retained to themselves the lordship namamahays are issue, some of whom are
and particular government of their own whole slaves, some of whom are half slaves,
following, which is called barangai among and still others one−fourth slaves. It happens
them. They had datos and other special leaders thus: if either the father or the mother was free,
[mandadores] who attended to the interests of and they had an only child, he was half free and
the barangay. half slave. If they had more than one child, they
were divided as follows: the first follows the are very useful to them and necessary for the
condition of the father, free or slave; the second cultivation of their property. They are sold,
that of the mother. If there were an odd number traded, and exchanged among them, just as any
of children, the last was half free and half slave. other mercantile article, from one village to
Those who descended from these, if children of another, from one province to another, and
a free mother or father, were only one−fourth likewise from one island to another. Therefore,
slaves, because of being children of a free father and to avoid so many suits as would occur if
or mother and of a half−slave. These half slaves these slaveries were examined, and their origin
or one−fourth slaves, whether saguiguilirs or and source ascertained, they are preserved and
namamahays, served their masters during every held as they were formerly.
other moon; and in this respect so is such
condition slavery. The marriages of these natives, commonly and
generally were, and are: Chiefs with women
In the same way, it may happen in divisions chiefs; timaguas with those of that rank; and
between heirs that a slave will fall to several, slaves with those of their own class. But
and serves each one for the time that is due him. sometimes these classes intermarry with one
When the slave is not wholly slave, but half or another. They considered one woman, whom
fourth, he has the right, because of that part that they married, as the legitimate wife and the
is free, to compel his master to emancipate him mistress of the house; and she was styled
for a just price. This price is appraised and ynasaba. [318] Those whom they kept besides
regulated for persons according to the quality of her they considered as friends. The children of
their slavery, whether it be saguiguilir or the first were regarded as legitimate and whole
namamahay, half slave or quarter slave. But, if heirs of their parents; the children of the others
he is wholly slave, the master cannot be were not so regarded, and were left something
compelled to ransom or emancipate him for any by assignment, but they did not inherit.
price.
The dowry was furnished by the man, being
The usual price of a sanguiguilir slave among given by his parents. The wife furnished
the natives is, at most, generally ten taes of nothing for the marriage, until she had inherited
good gold, or eighty pesos; if he is namamahay, it from her parents. The solemnity of the
half of that sum. The others are in the same marriage consisted in nothing more than the
proportion, taking into consideration the person agreement between the parents and relatives of
and his age. the contracting parties, the payment of the
dowry agreed upon to the father of the bride,
No fixed beginning can be assigned as the [319] and the assembling at the wife's parents'
origin of these kinds of slavery among these
house of all the relatives to eat and drink until
natives, because all the slaves are natives of the
they would fall down. At night the man took the
islands, and not strangers. It is thought that they
woman to his house and into his power, and
were made in their wars and quarrels. The most there she remained. These marriages were
certain knowledge is that the most powerful
annulled and dissolved for slight cause, with the
made the others slaves, and seized them for examination and judgment of the relatives of
slight cause or occasion, and many times for
both parties, and of the old men, who acted as
loans and usurious contracts which were current mediators in the affairs. At such a time the man
among them. The interest, capital, and debt, took the dowry (which they call vigadicaya),
increased so much with delay that the [320] unless it happened that they separated
borrowers became slaves. Consequently all
through the husband's fault; for then it was not
these slaveries have violent and unjust
returned to him, and the wife's parents kept it.
beginnings; and most of the suits among the
The property that they had acquired together
natives are over these, and they occupy the was divided into halves, and each one disposed
judges in the exterior court with them, and their
of his own. If one made any profits in which the
confessors in that of conscience. [317] other did not have a share or participate, he
These slaves comprise the greatest wealth and acquired it for himself alone.
capital of the natives of these islands, for they
The Indians were adopted one by another, in The contracts and negotiations of these natives
presence of the relatives. The adopted person were generally illegal, each one paying
gave and delivered all his actual possessions to attention to how he might better his own
the one who adopted him. Thereupon he business and interest.
remained in his house and care, and had a right
Loans with interest were very common and
to inherit with the other children. [321]
much practiced, and the interest incurred was
Adulteries were not punishable corporally. If excessive. The debt doubled and increased all
the adulterer paid the aggrieved party the the time while payment was delayed, until it
amount adjudged by the old men and agreed stripped the debtor of all his possessions, and he
upon by them, then the injury was pardoned, and his children, when all their property was
and the husband was appeased and retained his gone, became slaves. [323]
honor. He would still live with his wife and
there would be no further talk about the matter. Their customary method of trading was by
bartering one thing for another, such as food,
In inheritances all the legitimate children cloth, cattle, fowls, lands, houses, fields, slaves,
inherited equally from their parents whatever fishing−grounds, and palm−trees (both nipa
property they had acquired. If there were any and wild). Sometimes a price intervened, which
movable or landed property which they had was paid in gold, as agreed upon, or in metal
received from their parents, such went to the bells brought from China. These bells they
nearest relatives and the collateral side of that regard as precious jewels; they resemble large
stock, if there were no legitimate children by an pans and are very sonorous. [324] They play
ynasaba. This was the case either with or upon these at their feasts, and carry them to the
without a will. In the act of drawing a will, there war in their boats instead of drums and other
was no further ceremony than to have written it instruments. There are often delays and terms
or to have stated it orally before acquaintances. for certain payments, and bondsmen who
intervene and bind themselves, but always with
If any chief was lord of a barangai, then in that very usurious and excessive profits and
case, the eldest son of an ynasaba succeeded
interests.
him. If he died, the second son succeeded. If
there were no sons, then the daughters Crimes were punished by request of the
succeeded in the same order. If there were no aggrieved parties. Especially were thefts
legitimate successors, the succession went to punished with greater severity, the robbers
the nearest relative belonging to the lineage and being enslaved or sometimes put to death. [325]
relationship of the chief who had been the last The same was true of insulting words,
possessor of it. especially when spoken to chiefs. They had
among themselves many expressions and words
If any native who had slave women made which they regarded as the highest insult, when
concubines of any of them, and such slave
said to men and women. These were pardoned
woman had children, those children were free,
less willingly and with greater difficulty than
as was the slave. But if she had no children, she
was personal violence, such as wounding and
remained a slave. [322] assaulting. [326]
These children by a slave woman, and those Concubinage, rape, and incest, were not
borne by a married woman, were regarded as
regarded at all, unless committed by a timagua
illegitimate, and did not succeed to the
on the person of a woman chief. It was a quite
inheritance with the other children, neither were
ordinary practice for a married man to have
the parents obliged to leave them anything.
lived a long time in concubinage with the sister
Even if they were the sons of chiefs, they did of his wife. Even before having communication
not succeed to the nobility or chieftainship of
with his wife he could have had access for a
the parents, nor to their privileges, but they
long time to his mother−in−law, especially if
remained and were reckoned as plebeians and
the bride were very young, and until she were
in the number and rank of the other timaguas.
of sufficient age. This was done in sight of all
the relatives.
Single men are called bagontaos, [327] and girls These girls were taken to such men, and the
of marriageable age, dalagas. Both classes are latter were paid for ravishing them, for the
people of little restraint, and from early natives considered it a hindrance and
childhood they have communication with one impediment if the girls were virgins when they
another, and mingle with facility and little married.
secrecy, and without this being regarded among
the natives as a cause for anger. Neither do the In matters of religion, the natives proceeded
more barbarously and with greater blindness
parents, brothers, or relatives, show any anger,
than in all the rest. For besides being pagans,
especially if there is any material interest in it,
without any knowledge of the true God, they
and but little is sufficient with each and all.
neither strove to discover Him by way of
As long as these natives lived in their paganism, reason, nor had any fixed belief. The devil
it was not known that they had fallen into the usually deceived them with a thousand errors
abominable sin against nature. But after the and blindnesses. He appeared to them in various
Spaniards had entered their country, through horrible and frightful forms, and as fierce
communication with them---and still more, animals, so that they feared him and trembled
through that with the Sangleys, who have come before him. They generally worshiped him, and
from China, and are much given to that viceit made images of him in the said forms. These
has been communicated to them somewhat, they kept in caves and private houses, where
both to men and to women. In this matter it has they offered them perfumes and odors, and food
been necessary to take action and fruit, calling them anitos. [329]

The natives of the islands of Pintados, Others worshiped the sun and the moon, and
especially the women, are very vicious and made feasts and drunken revels at the
sensual. Their perverseness has discovered conjunction of those bodies. Some worshiped a
lascivious methods of communication between yellow−colored bird that dwells in their woods,
men and women; and there is one to which they called batala. They generally worship and adore
are accustomed from their youth. The men the crocodiles when they see them, by kneeling
skilfully make a hole in their virile member near down and clasping their hands, because of the
its head, and insert therein a serpent's head, harm that they receive from those reptiles; they
either of metal or ivory, and fasten it with a peg believe that by so doing the crocodiles will
of the same material passed through the hole, so become appeased and leave them. Their oaths,
that it cannot become unfastened. With this execrations, and promises are all as above
device, they have communication with their mentioned, namely, May buhayan eat thee, if
wives, and are unable to withdraw until a long thou dost not speak truth, or fulfil what thou
time after copulation. They are very fond of this hast promised,and similar things.
and receive much pleasure from it, so that,
There were no temples throughout those
although they shed a quantity of blood, and
receive other harm, it is current among them. islands, nor houses generally used for the
worship of idols; but each person possessed and
These devices are called sagras, and there are
very few of them, because since they have made in his house his own anitos, [330] without
any fixed rite or ceremony. They had no priests
become Christians, strenuous efforts are being
made to do away with these, and not consent to or religious to attend to religious affairs, except
their use; and consequently the practice has certain old men and women called catalonas.
been checked in great part. [328] These were experienced witches and sorcerers,
who kept the other people deceived. The latter
Herbalists and witches are common among communicated to these sorcerers their desires
these natives, but are not punished or prohibited and needs, and the catalonas told them
among them, so long as they do not cause any innumerable extravagancies and lies. The
special harm. But seldom could that be catalonas uttered prayers and performed other
ascertained or known. ceremonies to the idols for the sick; and they
believed in omens and superstitions, with which
There were also men whose business was to
the devil inspired them, whereby they declared
ravish and take away virginity from young girls.
whether the patient would recover or die. Such
were their cures and methods, and they used Such historical interpretation was a good way
various kinds of divinations for all things. All of justifying the Filipinos' conversion to
this was with so little aid, apparatus, or Christianity to save them from the snares of the
foundation which God permitted, so that the devil.
preaching of the holy gospel should find those
of that region better prepared for it, and so that Excerpts from History of the Philippine
those natives would confess the truth more Province of the Society of Jesus
easily, and it would be less difficult to withdraw Pedro Chirino, S.J.
them from their darkness, and the errors in
which the devil kept them for so many years. But, since the devil, heartless waster of holy
They never sacrificed human beings as is done comforts, does not sleep while our Fathers were
in other kingdoms. They believed that there was hunting these beasts, rushed at the least turn of
a future life where those who had been brave one’s eyes to sow the bad seed among the best
and performed valiant feats would be rewarded; of our wheat, namely, in the village of San Juan
while those who had done evil would be del Monte. Though all there had been baptized
punished. But they did not know how or where and the Christians were many and very good,
this would be. [331] the same Christians gave notice of the spark of
idolatry, which voraciously was devouring our
harvest. To better appreciate it, it will first be
Topic: History of the Philippine good t superstitions in a separate chapter. Then
Province of the Society of we shall describe what was happening in
Jesus by Pedro Chirino, S.J. Taytay and how it was ended.

Antonio de Morga and Father Pedro Chirino are Chapter 15 - The Pagan False Religion,
the early chroniclers who wrote about the pre- idolatries, and sacrifices of the Filipinos
hispanic Filipinos. However, they differ in
writing because Pedro Chirino was more Although on climbing to the dark peak of so
religious-accounting the functions, roles and much blindness of idolatry, I find so much
achievements of Spanish missionaries. Since confusion of very vile, abominable things
his focus is on ecclesiastical history, his characteristic of their creator, and on digging
narrative is more on church history and contains into the wall of this infernal cave, I uncover
a lesson purposely reinforcing Christianity and something frightful that made my hair stand on
developing religious vocation. On the other end, seeing so many beetles, stupid, loathsome,
hand, the writing of Morga is more secular or that came only from hell, with the light of faith
general history, he being a lay writing about his as our guide, we shall put them in order so that
experiences in the Philippines. we may praise before the all powerful God all
who on opening the eyes, found ourselves
To Filipino historians, the writings of Chirino bathed with the eyes of faith, and commiserate
was more of a chronicle of a missionary priest with those who, blind in their darkness love it
rather than a history of the Philippines. His obstinately, miserably buried in it, unaware of
writing is another primary source showing the their miserable situation, nor take into account
darkness or backwardness of the early Filipinos the evil that oppresses and tyrannizes them. We
as well as their advancement or enlightenment shall then discuss, first, what pertains to the
after their Conquest and conversion to wrong belief the Filipinos had of the divinity of
Christianity. their idols, then their priests, the ministers of
their abominable sacrifices, their sacrificial
The following text is an excerpt of History of rites, and the excesses and barbaric vulgar
the Philippine Province of the Islands of the Superstitions.
Society of Jesus of Pedro Chirino. Chapter 15
describes the Filipinos pagan false religion, I. The Idols to which the Filipinos Attribute
idolatries and sacrifices while Chapter 12 Divinity
narrates the Filipinos' concept of usury and
slavery. The text highlights that the prehispanic Although all these islanders, especially the
Filipinos had no religion, at least from the eyes Tagalogs as the more reasonable people, had,
of western culture and evangelical Christianity. like the ancient philosophers, some hints of a
supreme god whom they used to call
"Bathalang Maykapal" which means God the going as far as to offer something which they
Creator, or Maker, they had no knowledge of let on the rock or crag itself when passing by.
him, for they imagined him to be enveloped and Both quite ancient idolatrous practices for we
hidden n clouds, as he was for them with the find them condemned by one of the ancient
black cloud of paganism. Like other idolaters, councils and the most ancient Saints, and
they had better knowledge of created things, furthermore, by God himself.
considering them divine, and offering them
impious sacrifices, according to the role and Many times I saw in the river of Manila a rock
work which to each one they assigned. As the which for many years was an idol of this
ancients Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans to unfortunate people. It scandalized and gave
their Jupiter, Mercury, Minerva, Venus, Saturn, occasion to serious evils, until the Augustinian
Mars, and the outer false gods, so they first Fathers who live close by in their holy zeal
adored these others, animals and birds, like the broke it into pieces and in its place put up a
Egyptians; the sun and the moon, like the Cross.
Assyrians. They attribute special divinity to the
rainbow, as though learned from the Poets, who Sailing around Panay Island, I saw on a rock at
made it the messenger of the gods. the point they call “Naso” near Potol plates and
other clay utensils, which navigators were
The Tagalogs gave the name “Bathala” to a offering. On Mindanao island, between Canela
bluebird as big as the thrush, which in Castile and the river, a sharp point protrudes above a
we call “avejuruco”. The crow they adored, like dangerous and deep coast. On these points the
the ancients, as god Pan or the goddess Ceres, sea always suddenly becomes agitated, and
but naming it “Mavlupa”, which means lord of risky and hard to round. As it is very high, they
the soil. They deeply venerated the crocodile. In used to shoot arrows aimed with such force that
all their thinking, whenever they saw him in the they were embedded on the rock itself, as a
water, they addressed it “Nono”, grandfather. sacrificial offering to the gods to allow them to
With tender affection, they prayed to him not to sail by. With my eyes I saw that, enraged at
cause them harm, and for this reason, they such a cursed superstition, the Spaniards set
offered something from what they brought in them on fire, and burned an uncounted number;
boat, which they threw into the water. There but in less than a year there were embedded
was a catalonan who was so intimate with one again more than 4,000 arrows so they appeared
of them in the Manila river, that she treated it to us who were sailing by- hence, they called it
like a domestic pet, which not only awaited “Punta de las Flechas” [Arrow Point].
what she gave it to eat, but allowed her to touch
it and be anointed with her oils. Not difficult for Only the rivers they failed to adore, like the
Aristotle, who says that these beasts can be Parthians and Persians, who in reverence
tamed like the others who eat flesh, and Strabo refrained from spitting in them or washing their
affirms that there were tame geese in Egypt hands in their waters. The Filipinos, on the
adored more than in the Philippines, and to other hand, do not drink from the river,
surprise of foreigners the priests fed them with although its water is very good, repelled both by
their own hands. There was no old tree to which the number of persons without exception
they attribute divine powers, and it was a bathing in it and the numberless and various
sacrilege to think of felling them for any reason- services to which it is applied. For drinking,
misuse of the eastern Indios born of their they make use of the various holes they dig on
appreciation of the tree's age or the big size, or, the riverbank itself, which at a shallow depth
more correctly, of diabolic astuteness, which in provides the water they need, like the Egyptians
our own beginnings made war against us with when their river turned into blood.
the tree. Pliny in his time affirms people having
also made use of this aberration, in this They also used to adore individual idols
barbarity exceeding those who were content inherited from their elders, which the Visayans
with raising their altars and putting their used to call “diwata”, the Tagalogs “anito”.
statuettes under the shadow of their saintly They had idols for their fields, whose
prophets, zealous for God's honor. permission they asked when crossing without
risk; an anito for the crops, to whom they
What else? The very stones, peaks, crags, and recommended that they be fertile, and besides
headlands of seashores and river they adored, sacrifices, left there food to eat, anito for water,
from whom they asked for ran for their crops; even the diabolical fables of the barbarians
anito for the sea, to whom they recommended make the man an aggressor, the woman modest
their fishing and navigation, anito for their palm and shy. These people strictly hold on to this
trees, from whom they asked protection from when arranging marriages, considering it the
rats and birds which destroyed their crops; anito greatest insult for a woman to initiate the
for infants, to whom they offered at birth; and discussion, or anyone on her behalf, even if she
anito when these began to suck. Among these dies unmarried. Anyway, since the counsel of
they included their ancestors, men and women, the fishes and the birds, which affirmed they
whom they invoked first in their foils and were married without dispensation, was
dangers. They kept small idols as souvenirs, unsatisfactory, they appealed to one of the gods,
rather badly sculpted of stone, wood, gold, bone namely, the earthquake, on whose advice they
or ivory, which they called “likha” or “larawan” married and had several children. From these
just as the devil propagated the false worship of several brothers descended the various races of
his Pluto, Pan, Neptune, Nundina, and the other peoples and states. They said that angered at
infernal monsters, with which he has tyrannized having so many idle and profitless sons in the
the world, though with changed names. house, like the eagles, the two agreed that,
pretending anger, the father, intending to punish
They also included among their god all who them with a stick in his hand, something they
died by the knife, those devoured by the never had known, drove them away. Some
crocodile, or killed by some lightning, whose escaped to the clothes room, others to the closet
souls they said climbed to heaven by the in the house, and from these they say the chiefs
rainbow, which they call “Balangao”. Many descend; others fled outside, and these are the
times during their funerals they sacrificed freemen, whom they call “timawa”; still others
slaves to serve them in a paradise of their to the kitchen and under the house, and these
dreams, a superstition which seems similar to are the slaves, and finally others to other points,
that of the Greeks and Romans, and even of the and these are the different nations. A story to
ancient Scots and other nations, who deeply entertain, not badly put together and spread
honor those who died in war, of whom Cicero around.
wrote much.
They had their own version of the flood, glory,
As the beginning of the earth, they had only the punishment, and the other life, hostile demons
sky and water, and a kingfisher between the before whom they trembled and tremble very
two. Tired of flying and finding nowhere to much. All quite erroneous, in none with
perch, he decided to provoke war between sky verisimilitude, just as the ancient gentiles with
and the water. It ended with the victory of theirs, for some describe them in one way,
heaven, which kept the water at a distance, others another, such that one can see they are all
allowing it reach only to the shoulders, and lies and legends without beginning or end. I
filled it with islands and rocks, thus allowing shall add only one example here as a brief
the kingfisher to satisfy its desire for a perch to chapter of one which Fr. Cristobal Jiménez sent
build its nest. me from Visayas in April 1560. It says:

I have collected important matters of the errors

Like Estatius producing his arcades from ashen of these pagans spread in 130 islands, where they
and laurel trunks, the Filipinos drew the first say their dead proceed. There they laugh and
man from a big bamboo, which we said grow sing, the old become young and live a special
all over the east. It was only of two nodes, but life. The trees, whose roots are chains, bear
floating on the water, it reached the feet of the already ripe fruit, utensils, bells, and "pánicas"
kingfisher standing on the shore. Irritated that it are of gold; the sand on the riverbank unhusked
should touch its feet, for even the kingfishers rice; there is a sea of milk for the children and
have a sense of their own dignity and could another of “linugao” for the old. They lived and
avenge insults it cracked [the bamboo] open died, return to life, and they die so many times as
with its beak. From one node a man came out, to become Iike very tiny ants. There is a sea of
from the other a woman. A serious controversy blood, on whose shore are rosebushes, which for
followed recognized by many arbiters, for the that reason are called colored. There are islands
woman refused to be married to the man, her so thick with bones that these are the only
brother. So natural is the women's decency that firewood used, and the pots used for cooking are
skulls. Our race they say descends from a bamboo. Here they kept their clothes and other
bamboo. The monkey came out of a second handicrafts, to cover the mystery of their
bamboo or node, and so is quite like man. And intamous outhouse. But as some coverts
as the bamboo grew, they developed and other informed me, they are really dedicated to the
animals appeared. All men die because they anito, even if they did not sacrifice there, and it
disobeyed Laon, the greatest of the gods, by served only to make them claim it as their own,
killing the fish which entertained him. And all, like the rest of their possessions. For that reason
young and old die, because when they shook the they maintained in it something they valued,
tree of the delicious fruit, the small and big fruits particularly a rooster, like the ancient pagans.
fell.
What else shall I add? I will never end. Let They then had to have an outhouse, out of their
this suffice, that Your Reverence may need to pass by it when going on a journey, as
laugh, when your tasks allow you. Elias said on the others. We had them taken
down, until not one was left.
Thus far, Father Jiménez, who adds words of
the region, assuming that he was writing to The Visayans, too, had at the entrance to their
someone who would understand them. And villages a rather bad small bamboo outhouse,
although there are only five of them, I want to which served as a place for sacrifice. In other
mention them for the pleasure of whoever may places, these are scattered in the forests, hidden
read this: isines are pieces of cotton cloth; from the ministers of justice, especially after the
panicas, golden earrings; linugao, rice with faith arrived. In general, however, it was rare to
milk or oil; tacorongas are flowers similar to have a common temple, unlike the ancient
colored marshmallow plants. Their tale of the pagans, nor did they come for celebrations by
small size to which the soul is reduced at the law or tradition. They had no special place for
end of so many Pythagorean transmigrations sacrifice which they offered for the entire
corresponds to the error of the Japanese who community; but each one individually offered a
offer viaticum to the souls because they are sacrifice for his intention or whim on the village
small and delicate, otherwise they will die of or on the fields. They elected for it a minister,
exhaustion before reaching Paradise, a three male or female- there were a number of them
days' hike. And while we mention it once, it out of devotion or desire. They invited all from
reappears in all of these errors. their village and other from around according to
the solemnity of the sacrifice and the resources
It will be clear that, in their time, Saint Justin of the one offering it. I saw in Mindanao in one
Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, place attached outside of houses bamboo
Eusebius of Caesarea, and, in our time, the galleries wrought not badly; but, yes, inside,
Mexicans and Peruvians, the learned Fr. José de badly sculpted idols of spongy pole, like
Acosta of our Society, mentioned it, all of wrought bamboo. In front I saw an earthen pot
whom agree in a certain way with our Catholic with some embers and a little smoke, which
truth, covered and darkened by falsehood, like must have been of the sacrifice.
an erased image of which nothing remains
except some outlines and traces. Their errors, II. The Ministers of Their Sacrifices
then, for some are predispositions towards the
faith, for others are blocks. Some are based on Although they had no temples or feast day, they
the truth shining and brightening their dark had priests, male and female, whom the
shadows; others are blinded with so much light Tagalogs call "catalonan," the Visayans
after keeping their eyes on the darkness of their “babaylan”. He, or she, was one who with
lies, like the stubborn pharaoh with the lights of greater shrewdness yielded to the devil to be
his magicians. fooled by him, or deceive the blinded people.
Fr. Antonio Sedeño related that when he was in
They had no special temples, like the Parthians Florida, he exposed before the natives one of
and Persians, no public days of general these cheats who had been deceiving them, by
festivities common among the ordinary people. claiming he could cure them by placing reed on
We saw in Tanay only that many houses had the most painful spot the patient felt and
another small one, like a small bamboo tower, through the mouth drew out from the opposite
a bit quaintly built. From the main house they part the air inside. Then he spat out three
pass to it through a short bridge, also of pebbles he claimed came from the body and
were the cause of the sickness. Father once curious to know what would happen- sickness,
successfully made him spit out the pebbles a battle, a journey, or a voyage- people no
before applying the reed and in this way longer respected them; nor, except for this
uncovered the falsehood. reason only, were they esteemed among them,
unless besides, they have power or wealth, as
In Eastern India there were some beans the we said.
Portuguese say are from Malacca, and are the
physicians' Anacard. One of these, cut by a III. The Barbarity of Their Sacrifices
knife point and brought near the flame of a
candle, throws off sparks, ashes, and flames Since the honor of the catalonans and
when it starts burning. These leading cheats babaylans did not come from respect and
need nothing more to make them believe that in reverence, their sacrifices are not offered out of
those flames they see the spirits which tell them devotion or religion, but out of curiosity to
as much as they lie, which, since they are know want would result and in passing, if one
barbarians, people easily believe. would benefit by regaining one's health. Many
times, then, if the catalonan did not ask for it,
By this scheme, other used to concoct a people did not remember to offer it, although
thousand tricks on the simple Filipinos, ordinarily it was considered a matter of honor.
especially in times of sickness, which afflict Hence, when they note that the sickness begins
and worry them very much. Then, they would to weaken, they called their catalonan and
want the cure, and the one who brings or asked for a sacrifice to see if the sickness was
promises it they esteem, trust, adore, and give deadly or not. The leaders again built a house
all they have. Actually, there are, however, purposely for this sacrifice, big and spacious
some who have a special link with the devil, according to their possibilities. Since many
who assists and provides with a very special came to help and the materials were readily at
help, speaks to them through their idols or hand, it was quickly finished.
anitos, pretending they are their dead whom
they adore. At other times, they cause them to The patient was moved in when the house was
utter things that frighten and scare those finished, the catalonan came and a slave had to
present. be sacrificed (they used to kill as many as
More than twenty years after writing this, it three), or instead, a sea turtle, which abounds
came to my notice, around 16l6, that on the here in the east, or also mollusks, gigantic, big
island of Bohol some poor women used to as shields, and had the best sea eggs. With no
deceive sick people, in order to earn some pay, altar or anything like it, they placed the offering
by telling them a particular leaf of a tree or a beside the patient, for the bed is merely a mat
reed inside them was causing the sickness, of palms that they call "banig" Distributed on
which they would remover to cure them. They the floor, they placed as many as the number of
carry it hidden, and touching the sick, they guests small tables without a table cloth as is
showed it, telling them they had removed it customary in this Archipelago, but with
from the body. This happened to someone with different dishes. After the catalonan had killed
an injured foot. After saying what caused it, the the hog, she anointed the patient and those
woman soon showed a piece of bamboo which present with its blood. Then taken out for
she claimed she had taken out and after paying skinning and cleaning, it served as the first dish.
her, the patient could be cured. Then the leg Speaking through her teeth, with her mouth still
started to become painful and developed a hard full of the meat, she opened and examined in
scar, with such great pain that for two months everyone's view the entrails, like the ancient
the patient cried out with pain. She finally augurers of Tuscany, of whom the perceptive
became lame, but at her own cost, realizing how Pacuvius said he knew more of others’ entrails
little they benefit from such lies. than their own. Next, the devil took hold of her
like the ancient Pythonesses, or she pretended it
This despicable dignity is preserved by teaching with grimaces and movements of hands and
the office out of friendship or blood ties, or feet, frothing in the mouth, and returning to
leaving it as an inheritance. But it was a herself she declared the patient would live or
profession and means of earning for lazy people die. If the first, they continued eating and
who live on someone else's sweat. Hence, after chanting the epic stories of the patient's
the occasion has passed, when they were rather ancestor; or to honor the anito, for whom the
feast is held, and danced until they collapsed. If old women who acted as sponsor. These offered
death, they migrated the prospect of death by them with their hands food and drink on the
praising the sick, now chosen by the anito to plate and glass, a Galatian ceremony. The
make him one of them, because of his good groom is from their mothers, not even the wise
qualities, while entrusting themselves to him Athenians from their legitimate sisters,
once he was in his Kingdom, and a thousand something rather unworthy of intelligent
other lies and flatteries, with which the people. Let us not admire the Incas of Peru who
unfortunate person could swallow death. His consider this a noble thing, and let us keep in
relatives and friends the catalonan commanded mind that the Filipinos are a more intelligent
to honor him, naturally, as an anito and consider people that the Incas and Athenians.
him one, while giving him more food and drink
in the short time that remained for him to live.
And if in effect he dies, as could happen by Chapter 12 - Usury and Slavery among the
auto-suggestion, they proceeded in the manner Filipinos
we shall describe when we talk of their burials.
Whatever happened, the catalonan left with no With the other vices common among these
moderate profit. Besides the offering and the nations, effect of idolatry the source and abyss
fee for her work all who came in and all who so among them, one is insatiable greed, mentioned
wished, offered some gold, some rice, some by the evangelist Saint John among the three
cotton, some chicken, threads, cloth as well as that tyrannize the world. This makes them
other fruits and vegetables of the land. unmindful of the natural affection we owe one
another, uncaring of others in times of need,
Identical practices were held for war and without a guarantee of profit, when one's food
journeys, to know the result, following in detail on traveling was consumed, as indicated.
the catalonan's tricks, like Ahab, the King of
Israel, his false prophets. But even without But in lending, the father his son, a son his
reason or need, although for a few times, others mother or brother, and much less their relatives,
used to do the same thing out or pure boasting they would not be able to come to their aid, even
and vanity. These great public festivities they when they saw them in extreme and utter need,
called “feast of the great god”, to honor without guarantee of double repayment. If one
although without knowing him, like the failed to pay on the deadline, or before, unless
Athenians who used to celebrate it under a roof it had been agreed beforehand, the debtor
of leaves next to the house which the chief fixed became a slave. It was the same when they
as he wanted, put up even if only temporarily, ransomed someone from enemies’ hands.
covered as in the old days with palm leaves, Hence, what the captive won was enslavement
completely surrounded by tapestries in their under his relative, brother or son, and after him
styles, like those of the Moors, the whole thing his descendants.
sewn together from several varicolored pieces.
When those of the village and invented guests Many enslaved themselves, like good buoys for
from the area had come together the catalonan galleys, offering themselves to some leading
ordered that the most beautiful and best dressed person for a moderate price. Others who failed
girl to perform the duty of dancing and piercing to obtain enough for the dowry enslaved
the hog with a lance, which was cut into pieces themselves to his future wife. Since it is the
and distributed like consecrated bread. Even custom for the firstborn son to belong to the
with other hogs were killed, and they ate it with father, he has to be the mother's slave, and so on
other dishes, this was the one most liked and with the third and the fifth, and the rest
taken reverently; although, as always, there was accordingly, and not only the mother but also
more drinking, accompanied by music and her brothers, too, unless they were ransomed, as
dancing. we shall see later. Since the second son, the
fourth and so on belonged to the mother, they
Marriage likewise is solemnized with a were therefore free like her, and lords of the
sacrifice. Once the union is agreed on the dowry father and his other brothers. But if the son is
given, the catalonan and the hog came like the the only one, or the third, of the last of so many
practice in Tuscany. The ceremonies we children, half belonged to the father and other
described are performed, while the spouses are to the mother, and therefore was a half-slave.
seated in their room in the presence of a pair of This same arrangement was followed when
divorced, and when a slave married a free single judge emancipated more than 2,000 in
women, or, slave of several masters- today one Visayan province. He was the accountant
there are many- and they served by turns for Bustamante, visiting the province in the
months, or as their masters allowed. Catholic King's name, in 1581.
Although the number of slaves is not as big as
They also enslaved through tyranny and those of the Hebrews, Persians, and Romans,
cruelty, in revenge or as penalties for trifles, but who had them in the thousands, and even of our
which they made pretexts for damages, or as if Castilians in the sugar and livestock farms in
they were, most of the time falsely, dishonesty, these Indies, since these slaves of the Filipinos
abusively, in the manner of the impious Jezebel. are so deared but cruelly treated, 100 slaves of
any single master would be excessive.
For picking up grain in the field, a root or fruit
in an orchard, or some fish in the pen, snare, or It is true that slaves were, as in the old days,
net: or if one spoke to anyone or to his wife were almost on an equal footing with their
strongly, or spoke a word that did not sound masters. They carry out the commands and sit
proper, or, if while quarreling in one’s house a at table beside them, as if they had read about it
leading man was passing by and overheard an in Seneca. Many have a house and dwelling,
injurious word; if chaff from the mortar when wife, children, and property, like the slaves of
pounding rice fell on someone; if in front of that the ancient Germans. I have known one, like
house the knot of the mantle his wife was Zyba, Jonathan's slave, almost as rich, with his
wearing loosened, or the wind blew away what own slaves, like his master.
the women use as a hat, if someone
unsuspecting pass by while one was bathing- on Still, despite this, they take it bad not enjoying
these and other uncounted serious and quite freedom, which is worth more than all the gold
atrocious cases of this style and these there is. Still, there are more vassals than slaves,
circumstances, they deprived other miserable and hence are called “aliping namamahay”
people of their freedom with the tyranny of the among the Tagalogs, “namamalay” among the
Neros, enslaved them and their children, and Visayans. Their only obligation is to serve
many times their wives and relatives. annually with the certain amount of their
harvests, accompany the chief on his war
They say of the King of Borno, which is in the campaigns, after which the master and the
interior of Ethiopia near the sources of the slaves share the half of the booty each, and in
Niger River, that he greatly values the African peace time they are at his summons, They also
horses which in Rome are esteemed and known aided greatly in constructing and repairing the
as barbarian, and offers for one 15.20 slaves house, sometimes with the crops, something
eager for battle against the surrounding nations. they do only for a meal, they could not be sold,
Our Filipinos, with fewer horses and without but are inherited. But if the heir was of or
the possibility of war, kept them indoors. Can transferred to another village, he could not
there be a worse evil than to lodge a guest from bring them there.
another village or from one own, principal or
timawa, and while feasting, depart from his The true slaves, among Tagalogs called
house and leave him alone with his wife in order “sagigilid” and among Visayans “halom” were
to trap him thus, that he was soliciting her; or, the war captives, or those condemned in
provoke him to anger and impose a penalty or punishment, or made by depts., born as slaves
enslave him? in the house, and these could be sold. But the
last considered as relatives, they never sold.
In their fights, they also captured those they They kept them in the house, and what they
could. Since these were so ordinary, although earned belonged entirely to the master, which
cruel acts were more often, the slaves were determined the random price, for which they
uncounted, not of distant nations, but of their made savings.
own regions and villages, and even of their
relatives, against all divine and human law. If the master sired a child with his slave, she
Idolatry is so heartless. They valued them was freed and the infant became an heir, as is
much, kept them, after gold, as their greatest discussed in its place. But if the slave woman
aches. Hence, there was, and today there is a belongs to another, the infant remains a slave, if
principal with 100, 200, or even 300 slaves. A the father refuses to acknowledge and raise it,
while the master pays its mother a half- tael of colonial restraints. Morally, it echoes moral
gold in compensation for lost service due to her lessons about freedom, equality and
pregnancy, otherwise, the infant remains a participation as well as social or collective
slave. justice.

As big fish devour the small, so, too, the slaves

Understanding the Kartilla is a great source of
destroyed one another, if anyone among them
Filipino moral consciousness. It provides a
wants a good master, all one did was to escape
meaningful insight on the Filipinos' idea on
from the old master and take refuge in the house
to another, who, even at a loss, could be sold at what constitutes a good society and the ideal
a lower price, even if perhaps one could be individuals living in it. It is also a rich source of
solve higher. ethical values in educating the Filipinos toward
broader societal goals that are essential in
A Slave, if due to debt, redeemed himself by changing the Philippines for the better. Thus,
merely paying the usurious double rate on the the Kartilla of Emilio Jacinto is presented in this
deadline. Otherwise, the debt doubled by the reading.
month, until it lasts for a year. Like other
nations, they marked the month by the moon, as The next reading is entitled Kartilla of the
well as by the trade or southwest winds seasons, Katipunan by Jim Richarson. It presents the
planting, harvesting, or gleaning times. At the importance, teachings, and metaphors used by
end of the year, if the principal and the interest
Emilio Jacinto in developing the ethical and
are paid, the slave is free; it not, there is no other
solution than to be hereditary slaves, in this moral fibers of the katipuneros. It also defines
manner. the ideals of the Katipunan as an organization
and its model of a good person and society.
Ransom for hereditary slaves is 10 gold taels,
equivalent to 80 reales de echo, besides half of
The Kartilla of Katipunan
the slave's more or less house jewelry. One had
Jim Richarson
to give half of everything, even if only one out
of two pots, a price perhaps not cheaper than
Taught in schools and debated in universities,
that of the Romans. To make this payment, the
slave prepared a banquet for his master, even if the Kartilya is the best-known of all Katipunan
texts. Making manifest the KKK's principles
several come like flies to honey. The ransom is
and teachings, it was printed as a
paid during the meal, and witnesses from those
small pamphlet for new members. It is the only
present attest that the master was satisfied and
document of any length set in print by the
grants the poor slave his desired freedom.
Katipunan prior to August 1986 that is known
to be still extant.
Topic: The Kartilla of Katipunan

Emilio Jacinto, the so-called the "Brains of the The earliest reference to the Kartilya yet found
Katipunan" crafted the Kartilla as he believed is in the minutes of a Supreme Assembly
in the necessity and value of a guidebook in meeting held in December 1895, which say the
instructing and helping new recruits to accept manifesto (pahayag) will be priced at 4 kualta
and embody the ideals of the KKK. The per copy. Whether it is the KKK branches or the
guidebook provided a code of conduct with individual recruits who are to be the charged
fourteen "teachings" in which the members of this amount is not clear, and nor is it known
the society are required to read and to live by. whether the title phrase – “To those who want
The Kartilla was basically an intellectual and to join this Katipunan" – truly means potential
moral foundation for the katipuneros. Its recruits, or in practice should be taken to mean,
ultimate goal was to create an egalitarian "To those who have joined this Katipunan". If
society and develop a morally upright Filipino copies were sold to potential as well as actual
recruits, needless to say, there was a heightened
nation. Intellectually, its teachings provide
higher ideals of reasons as well as a new mental risk they might fall into the wrong hands.
paradigm for the Filipinos in creating and
defining a nation for themselves free from
The Kartilya was still in use during the first between the "Programa Masonica" and the
phase of the revolution, and Bonifacio was "Codigo Masonico". And the Kartilya, finally,
planning to print more copies shortly before he like the document used in the lodges, asks
was killed." it may still have been used during neophytes to pledge their allegiance to the
the second phase of the revolution, for a version associations' objectives and to affirm with their
survives in the Philippine Insurgent Records signature that they are becoming members of
that is stamped with the seal used by Artemio their own free will (ninais ng loob ko).
Ricarte in 1899. This version contains basically
the same text as is transcribed here, but it bears There are also parallels between the content of
a different title -"Final Declaration on the two documents. Recruits to the lodges were
Admission to the Katipunan (Katapusang advised that masonry considera como
pamamanayag sa pagpasok sa K.)- and it omits hermanos todos łos hombres; that they should
the famous footnote that says "the word renounce todos los vicios; and should defender'
Tagalog means all those born in this al oprimido. Within the katipunan, said the
archipelago." Kartilya, "all are equal and true brethren."
Members had to renounce disorderly habits"
Authorship of the Kartilya has always been and to "defend the oppressed".
credited to Emilio Jacinto, and there is little
doubt this attribution is sound: it dates back to Other influences may be identified more
the Sensacional memoria of Isabelo de los tentatively. The admonitions to regard a woman
Reyes, whose sources included several senior as a "helpmate" rather than a "plaything", and
KKK veterans, and it has never been to "have due regard to her weakness " may he
challenged. Bonifacio, the story goes, had biblical in origin. The adage that "honorable
originally intended that his “Decalogue” should man's word in his bond" may be traced back to
be printed and handed to new recruits, but then Cervantes; and the thought that "time lost is lot
read Jacinto's Kartilya and decided it was forever" may have come from Benjamin
superior. The two texts, though, are not really Franklin. One precept is perhaps taken from
comparable. Bonifacio seeks only to enumerate Rizal. A "life which is not dedicated to a great
the duties of Katipunan members, Jacinto idea is useless," declares Rizal's fictional
couches his primer, four times as long rather as insurrectionist Simoun in El Filibusterismo: “It
a statement of aspirations and ethical values. is a pebble lost in the field, when it should form
Bonifacio lists ten obligations, Jacinto presents part of some building”. Life which is not
twelve "guiding principles and fourteen consecrated to a lofty and sacred cause" Jacinto
"teachings." writes, varying in the metaphor, "is like a tree
without shade, if not a poisonous weed"
In its structure the Kartilya resembles the
declaration used in Manila's masonic lodges, a To emphasize Enlightenment influences on
declaration that had presumably been written in Katipunan thinking, some say, effaces the
Spain around 1889, when the grand order to originality of documents like the Kartilya,
which the lodges were affiliated – the Gran which may be found in the nuances of their
Oriente Espanol – had been founded by Miguel Tagalog and their resonance with the native
Morayta. The Kartilya is addressed "To those psyche, familial bonds, folk Christianity,
who want to join the Katipunan'"; the masonic indigenous dissident traditions, and so on. Such
document to los profanos que deben inscribirse arguments may be true up to a point, but often
en la Sociedad. The preamble of the Kartilya they seem nebulous, reliant more on wishful
echoes the masonic document's stated purpose, assertion than on substantiating chapter and
which is to ensure that candidates fully verse. The Tagalog words that resound loudest
understand the association's objectives before in the Kartilya, beyond doubt, are the
making a commitment they might later repent. equivalents of the Enlightenment's defining
The division in the Kartilya between principles watchwords: Liberty (Kalayaan), equality
(layon) and teachings (aral) broadly parallels (lahat ng tao y magkakapantay), Fraternity
the division in the Gran Oriente's manifesto (kayong lahat ay magkakapatid), Reason
(Katuiran), Progress (kagalingan), and nguni't panahong nagdaan na'y di namuli pang
Enlightenment itself (Kaliwanagan). Most, magdadaan. Value of time
perhaps all, of these Tagalog events had already (Don't waste lime; lost wealth may be
been employed by ilustrado writers like Rizal recovered, but time lost is lost forever.)
and Del Pilar before KKK was founded. The
8. Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi, at kabakahin ang
revolutionary originality of the katipunans lay
umaapi.
on its idiom, but in its objectives and its deeds.
(Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor.)
Mga Aral nang Katipunan ng mga A.N.B. 9. Ang taong matalino'y ang may paiingat sa
(Teachings of the Katipunan of the Sons of the bawat sasabihin, at matutong ipaglihim ang
People) dapat ipaglihim.
(An intelligent man is he who takes care in
1. Ang kabuhayang hindi ginugugol sa isang everything he says and keeps quiet about whal
malaki at banal na kadahilanan ay kahoy na must be kept secret.)
walang lilim, kundi damong makamandag.
(A life that is not dedicated to a great and 10. Sa daang matinik ng kabuhayan, lalaki ay
sacred cause is like a tree without a shade, or a siyang patnugot ng asawa't mga anak; kung
poisonous weed.) ang umaakay ay tungo sa sama, ang
palulunguhan ng iaakay ay kasamaan din.
2. Ang gawang magaling na nagbubuhat sa (Along the thorny path of life, the man leads the
pagpipita sa sarili, at hindi sa talagang nasang way and his wife and children follow. If the
gumawa ng kagalingan, ay di kabaitan. leader goes the way of perdition, then so do
(A good deed lacks virtue if it springs from a those who are led.)
desıre for personal profit and not from a sincere
desire to do good.) 11. Ang babai ay huag mong tignang isang
bagay na libangan lamang, kundi isang katuang
3. Ang tunay na kabanalan ay ang pagkakawang at karamay sa mga kahirapan nitong
gawa, ang pagibig sa kapua at ang isukat ang kabuhayan; gamitan mo ng buong pagpipitagan
bawat kilos, gawa't pangungusap sa talagang ang
Katuiran. kaniyang kahinaan, at alalahanin ang inang
(True charisty resides in acts of compulsion, in pinagbuhata’t nagiwi sa iyong kasangulan.
love for one's fellow men, and in making true (Do not regard a woman as a mere plaything,
reason the measure of every move, deed, word.) but as helpmate and partner in the hardships of
this existence. Have due regard to her
4. Maitim man at maputi ang kulay ng balat, weakness, and remember the mother who
lahat ng tao'y magkakapantay; mangyayaring brought you into this world and nurtured you in
ang isa' y higitan sa dunong, sa yaman, sa your infancy.)
ganda....; ngunit di mahihigtan sa pagkatao.
(Be their skin dark or pale, all men are equal. 12. Ang di mo ibig na gawin sa asawa mo, anak
One can be superior to another in knowledge, at kapatid, ay huag mong gagawin sa asawa,
wealth, and beauty...but not in being.) anak, at kapatid ng iba.
(What you would not want done to your wife,
5. Ang may mataas na kalooban inuuna ang puri daughter, and sister, do not do to the wife,
sa pagpipita sa sarili; ang may hamak na daughter, and sister of another.)
kalooban inuuna ang pagpipita sa sarili sa puri.
(A person with a noble character values honor 13. Ang kamahalan ng tao y wala sa pagkahari,
above self-interest, while a person with an wala sa tangus ng ilong at puti ng mukha, wala
ignoble character values self-interest above sa pagkaparing kahalili ng Dios wala sa mataas
honor.) na kalagayan sa balat ng lupa, wagas at tunay
na mahal na tao, kahit laking gubat at walang
6. Sa taong may hiya, salita'y panumumpa. nababatid kundi ang sariling wika, yaong may
(An honorable man's word is his bond.) magandang asa, may isang pangungusap, may
dangal at puri; yaong di napaaapit di nakikiapi,
7. Huag mong sasayangin ang panahun, ang yaong marunong magdamdam at marunong
yamang nawala'y magyayaring magbalik lumingap sa baying tinubuan.
 Christianity in the Philippines. Geographically,
(A man s worth does not come from him being it challenges the “accuracy” of Spanish
a king, or in the height of his nose and the narratives about the Philippines spaces and
whiteness of his face, or in him being priest, a places and their movements between the places.
REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD, or his exalted In March 1998, however, the disputed issue was
position on the face of this earth. Pure and truly officially settled when the National historian
noble is he who, though born in the forest and Institute (NHI) declared Limasawa to be the site
able to speak only his own tongue, behaves of the first catholic mass. Despite the foregoing
decently, is true to his word, has dignity and verdict, the pro-Masao group has not stopped
honor, who is not an oppressor and does not from asserting its claim until today. But as a
abet oppressors, who knows how to cherish and Filipino, what is the significance of this first
look after the land of his birth.) Eucharistic celebration issue? The value of this
controversy rest on the fact that the conduct of
14. Paglaganap ng mga aral na ito at the first Holy Mass is associated with the
maningning na sunikat ang araw ng manal na introduction of Christianity on Philippines soil.
Kalayaan dito sa kaabaabang Sangkalupuan, at Historically, it corrects geographical distortion
sabugan ng matamis nyang liwanag ang contained in the Philippine historiography.
nangagkaisang magkalahi't magkakapatid ng
ligaya ng walang katapusan, ang mga ginugol
na bunay, pagud, at mga tiniis na kahirapa y Butuan or Limasawa? The site of the first
labis nang nalumbasan. Kung lahat ng ito'y Mass in the Philippines;
mataruk na ng nagiibig pumasuk at maakala A Reexamination of Evidence
niyang matutupad ang mga tutungkuin, Miguel A, Bernad
maifatala ang kaniyang ninanasa sa kasunod
nito. Here is a controversy regarding the site of the
(When these doctrines have spread and the first Mass ever celebrated on the Philippine soil.
brilliant sun of beloved liberty shines on these Pigafetta tells us that is was held on Easter
poor Islands, and sheds its sweet light upon a Sunday, the 31st of March 1521, on an island
united race, a people in everlasting happiness, called “Mazaua.” Two native chieftains were in
then the live lost, the struggle and the suffering attendance: the Rajah of Mazaua and the Rajah
will have been more than recompensed.) of Butuan. After the Mass the party went up a
little hill and planted a wooden cross upon the
summit. The subject of controversy is the
Unit III “ONE PAST BUT MANY identity of this place with Pigafetta called
HISTORIES”: CONTROVERSIES AND “Mazaua” there are two conflicting claims as to
CONFLICTING VIEWS IN PHILIPPINE its identity; one school of thought point top the
HISTORY little island south of Leyte which on the map is
called Limasawa; the other school rejects that
claim and point instead to the beach called
TOPIC: The site of the first Mass in the Masao at the mouth of the Agusan River in the
Philippines northern Mindanao, near what was then the
village (now the city) of Butuan. In this paper
we shall try to reexamine and reassess the
The site of the First Mass in the Philippines is evidence for these two claims. And we shall
one of the historical controversies in Philippine begin with the Butuan tradition.
historiography. Two competing schools of
thought provide different evidences on where
the seed Christianity was planted. According to I. The Butuan Tradition
the first school of thought, the first mass The Butuan claims rests upon a tradition that
happened in Limasawa Island in the Province of was almost unanimous and unbroken for three
Leyte. As claimed by the second school of centuries namely the 17th, the 18th and the 19th.
thought. It was celebrated in Mazaua Butuan, The monument was brick pillar on which was a
Agusan del Norte. marble slab that contained an inscription which
be translated as follow.
People debating on the first mass story find it as
a religious and geographical matter.
Religiously, it marks the birthplace of
To the Immortal Magellan” the People of was nearby. The barbarians [chief] lived up to
Butuan with their Parish Priest and the Spaniard our men’s expectations, providing them with
resident therein, to commemorate his arrival the food they needed… Magellan contented
and the celebration of the First Mass on this site himself with having them do reverence to the
on the 8th of April 1521. Erected in 1872, under cross which is erected upon a hillock as a sign
the District Governor Jose Ma. Carvallo. to future generations of their alliance… the
solemnity with which the cross was erected and
The monument was erected apparently at the the deep piety shown by the Spaniards, and by
instigation of the parish priest of Butuan, who the native following the example of the
at the time was a Spanish friar of the Order of Spaniards, engendered great respect for the
Augustinian Recollects. The date given for the cross.
first Mass (8 April 1521) may be an obvious
error, or it may be clumsy and anachronistic
attempt to translate the original date in terms of The Evidence for Limasawa
the Gregorian calendar. In any case that We now come to the evidence in favor of
monument is a testimonial to the tradition that Limasawa. The evidence may be outlined as
remained vigorous until the end of the 19 th follows:
century, namely, that Magellan and his 1. The evidence of Albo’s logbook
expedition landed at Butuan and celebrated 2. The evidence of Pigafetta
there the first mass ever offered in Philippine a. Pigafetta’s testimony
soil. regarding the route
b. The evidence of Pigafetta map
The other Jesuit writer of the mid-17th century c. The two native kings
was Father Francisco Combès S.J. (1620-1665) d. The seven days at “Mazaua”
who, like Colin, had lived and worked as a e. An argument from omission
missionary in the Philippines, and whose 3. Summary of the evidence of Albo and
Historia de Mindanao y Jolo was printed in Pigafetta
Madrid in 1667, two years after the author’s 4. Confirmatory evidence of the Legaspi
death and five years after Colin’s work was Expedition
published. Combès History of Mindanao was
also reissued 230 years afterwards in a I. The evidence of Albo’s logbook
handsome edition edited by Wenceslao Retana
assisted by father Pastells. In his account of Francisco Albo joined the Magellan
Magellan voyage, Combès give a somewhat expedition as a pilot (“contramaestre”)
different version of the route take by the in Magellan’s flagship “Trinidad”. He
Discoverer. Here is his account: was one of the eighteen survivors who
returned with Sebastian Elcano on the
The first time that royal standard of the Faith “Victoria” after having
were seen to fly in this island (of Mindanao) circumnavigated the world. Albo began
was when the Archipelago was first discovered keeping his own diary – merely only a
by the Admiral Alonso (sic) de Magallanes. He log-book - on the voyage out, while
followed a new and difficult route [across the they were sailing southward in the
pacific], entering by the Strait of Siargao, Atlantic along the coast of South
formed by that island and that of Leyte, and America. Off Brazil. His account of
landing at the island of Limasawa which is at their entry into Philippine waters (or, as
the entrance of that Strait. Amazed by the it was then called, the archipelago of
novelty and strangeness of the [Spain] nation san Lazaro… may be reduced to the
and the ships. Barbarians of that island following points:
welcomed them and gave them good 1. On the 16th of March (1512) as they sailed in
refreshments. a westerly course from the Ladrones, they
While at Limasawa, enjoying rest and saw land towards the northwest; but owing
good treatment, they heard of the River of to many shallow places they did not
Butuan, whose chieftain was more powerful. approach it. They found later that its name
His reputation attracted our men thither to see was Yunagan.
for themselves or be disillusioned, their 2. They went instead that same day southward
curiosity sharpened by the fact that the place to another small island named Suluan, and
 there they anchored. There they saw some
canoes but these fled at the Spaniard’s The most complete account of the Magellan
approach. This island was at 9 and two – expedition is that by Antonio Pigafetta
third degree North latitude. entitled Primo viaggio intomo al mondo
3. Departing from those two island, they sailed (First Voyage around the World). Like
westward to an uninhabited island of Gada Albo, he was a member of the expedition
where they took in a supply of wood and and was therefore an eyewitness of the
water. The sea around that island was free principal event which he describes,
shallows. (Albo does not give the latitude of including the first Mass in what is now
this island, but form Pigafetta’s testimony, known as the Philippine Archipelago., but
this seems to be the “Acquada” or which Magellan called the islands of Saint
Homonhon, at 10 degree North latitude Lazarus. Of Pigaffeta’s work there are two
4. From that island they sailed westward excellent English Translation, one
towards a large island named Seilani which Robertson (from Italian) and another by
was inhabited and was known to have gold. Skelton (from French)
(Seilani – or, as Pigafetta calls it “Ceylon” –
was the island of Leyte.) (a) Pigafetta’s Testimony Regarding the Route
5. Sailing southward along the coast of that The route taken by the Magellan expedition
large island of Seilani, they turned may be reconstructed if we follow Pigafetta;s
southwest to small island called “Mazava.” account day by day. Here is a summary of his
That island is also at a latitude of 9 and two account.
– thirds degrees north. 1. Saturday, 16 March 1512. – Magellan’s
6. The people of that island of Mazava were expedition sighted a “high lnad” named
very good. There the Spaniards planted a “Zamal” which was some 300 league
cross upon a mountain - top , and from there westward of Ladrones (now the
they were shown three island to the west and Maraian) Island.
southwest, where they told there was much 2. Sunday, March 17. “The following
gold “they showed us how the c=gold was day” after sighting Zamal Island, they
gathered, which came in small pieces like landed on “another island which was
peas and lentils. uninhabited” and which lay “to the
7. From Mazava they sailed northward again right” of the above-mentioned Island of
toward Seilani they followed the coast of “Zamal.” (To the right here would
Seilani in a northwesterly direction, mean on their starboard going south or
ascending up to 10 degrees of latitude where southwest.) They set up two tents for
they saw three small island. the sick members of the crew and had a
8. From there they sailed westward some 10 sow killed for them. The name of this
leangues, and they saw three islets, where Island was “Humunu” (Homonhon).
they dropped anchor for the night. In the This island was located at 10 degrees
morning they sailed southwest some 12 North latitude.
leagues, down to a latitude of 10 and one - 3. On that same day (Sunday, March 17)
third degree. There they entered a channel Magellan named the entire archipelago
between two island, one of which was called the “Island of Saint Lazarus”, the
”Matan” and the other “Subu” reason being that it was the Sunday in
9. They sailed down that channel and turned the Lenten season when the Gospel
westward and anchored at the town (la villa) assigned the Mass and liturgical Office
of Subu where they stayed many days and was the eleventh chapter of St. John,
obtained provisions and entered into a which tells of the Raising of Lazarus
peace-pact with the local king. from the dead.
10. The town of Subu was on an east – west 4. Monday, 18 March. – In the afternoon
direction with the island of Suluan and of their second day on that island, they
Mazava. But between Mazava and Subu, saw a boat coming towards them with
there were so many shallows that the boats nine men in it. A exchange of gifts was
could not go westward directly but had to go effected. Magellan asked for food
(as they did) in a round-about away. supplies, and the men went away,
promising to bring rice and other
The Evidence from Pigafetta supplies in “four days”.
5. There were two spring of water on that in his own boat. Their route took them
island of Homonhon. Also they saw past five “Islands”: namely: “Ceylon,
there some indication that there was Bohol, Cnighan, Baibai, and
gold in these islands Consequently Gatighan.”
Magellan renamed the island and called 13. At Gatighan, They sailed westward to
it the “Watering Place of Good Omen” the three islands of the Camotes
(Acqauda la di bouni segnialli). Groups, namely. Pora, Pasihan and
6. Friday, 22 March - at noon the native Ponson. (Pigafetta calls the “Polo,
returned. This time they were in two Ticobon, and Pozon.”) Here the
boats, and they brought food supplies. Spanish ships stopped to allow the king
7. Magellan’s expedition stayed eight of Mazaua to catch up with them, since
days at Homonhon: from Sunday, 17 the Spanish ships were much faster
March, top the Monday of the than the native balanghai – a thing that
Following week, 25 March. excited the administration of the king
8. Monday, 25 March. – In the afternoon, of Mazavua.
the expedition weighed anchor and left 14. From the Camotes Island they sailed
the island of Homonhon. In the (south-westward) toward to “Zubu”.
ecclesiastical calendar, this day (25 15. Sunday, 7 April. – At noon on Sunday,
March) was the Feast-day of the the 7th of April, they entered the
Incarnation, also called the feast of the harbour of “Zubu” (Cebu). It had taken
Annunciation and therefore “Our them three days to negotiate the
Lady’s Day.” On this day, as they were journey from mazaua northward to the
about to weigh anchor, an accident Camotes Island and then southward to
happened to Pigafetta: he fell into the Cebu.
water but was rescued. He attributes his
narrow escape from death as a grace
obtained through the intercession of the
Blessed Virgin Mary on her feast-day. (b) The evidence of Pigafetta’s Map
9. The route taken by the expedition after
leaving Homonhon was toward the Both the Ambrosian and the Nancy
west southwest, between four islands: codies of Pigafetta’s narrative are
namely, Cenalo, Hiunanghan, Ibusson illustrated with maps, or more
and Albarien.” Very probably precisely, diagrams or sketches.
“Cenalo” is a misspelling in the Italian Pigafetta was no cartographer and his
Manuscript for what Pigafetta in his map has probably no value as
map calls “Ceiolon” and Albo called navigational charts. But they are
“Seilani.”: namely the island of Leyte. extremely useful in helping to identify
”Hiunanghan” (a misspellinh of the island which he mentions in the
Hiniunangan) seemed to Pegafetta to narrative, and they help to establish the
be a separate island, but it is actually on relative positions (and even the relative
the mainland of Leyte (i.e “Ceylon”). sizes) of those island.
On the other hand, Hibuson (Pigafetta’s
Ibusson) is an island of Leyte’s South One such map (Blair and Robertson,
Trip. vol. 33) shows the Irge island of Samar
10. Thursday. 28 March. – In the morning (in the map it is spelt Zzamal) and the
of Holy Thursday, 28 March, they smaller island of suluan, Abarien,
anchored off an island where the Hiunangan, and “Humunu”
previous night they had/ (Homonhon), which is also describe as
11. They remained seven days on Mazaua “Aguada ly boni segnaly.”
Island. What they did during those
seven days, we shall discuss in a A second map (BR 33) is really
separate section bellow, entitled “seven adouble map. One map shows the
Days at Mazaua.” island of Mindanao or Maguindanao
12. Thursday, 4 April. – They left Mazaua, (the map spell it Mamgdanao). It shows
bound for Cebu. They were guided on the northern shore a deep
thither by the king of Mzaua who sailed indentation which is recognizably
 Panguil Bay. To the west of that is was a visitor to Mazaua. His territory
“Cippit”. To the extreme east, was Butuan, which was in another
bordering on the Pacific, are Butuan, island:
Calagan, and Benasan (spelt in the map
Butuam. Calagam, Benasam). The (d) Seven Days at Mazaua
other map shows the southern tip of In that island of “Mazaua” – which
Zamboanga, the island of Basilan, and according to both Pigafetta and Albo
the Sulu archipelago. was situated at a latitude of and two-
thirds degree north - the Magellan
A third map (BR33) is the one most expedition stayed a week. “We
pertinent to our present investigation, remained there seven days,” says
because it shows the island of Mazaua Pigafetta. What did they do during
(the map spells it Mazzana) in relation those seven days?
to the “island of “Ceilon” and “Baibai” Was it possible (as some writers have
(i.e Leyte) and to those of Bohol, suggested) that the expedition left
Gatighan and the three island of the Mazaua, went south to Butuan, offered
Camotes group (in the map called Nass there, and thened to Mazaua
Polon, Pozon and Tocobob). before, proceeding to Cebu?

From a comparison of these maps, the The answering must be sought in

following inferences seems justified: Pigafetta’s day-by-day account of
1. Mazaua (Mazzana in the map) is a those seven days. Here is the summary
small island which lies off the of his account:
southwest tip of the large island of 1. Thursday, 28 March. – In the morning they
Ceilon (Southern Leyte), and is to the anchored near an island where they had seen a
east of the island of Bohol. It lies near light the night before. A small boat (boloto)
passage between bohal and the westen came with eight native, to whom Magellan
coast of “Ceilon” (Leyte). threw some trinkets as presents. The native
2. The island of Mazaua in Pigafetta’s paddled away, but two hours later two larger
map, therefore lies in a position boats (balanghai) came, in one of which the
roughly equivalent to the actual native king sat under an awning of mats. At
position of the island of Limasawa. Magellan’s invitation some of the natives went
3. In no way can Mazua be identified with up the Spanish ship, but the native king
Butuan, which is situated in another remained seated in his boat. An exchange of
and much larger island (which we now gifts was effected. In the afternoon of the day,
call Mindanao), the same island in the Spanish ship[s weighed anchor and came
which “Calagan”, “Cippit”, and closer to shore, anchoring near the native king’s
“Mamgdanao” are also located. village. This Thursday, 28 march was Thursday
in Holy week: i.e Holy Thursday.
(c) The Two Kings 2. Friday, 29 march. – “Next day. Holy Friday,”
Magellan sent his slave interpreter ashore in a
There is confirmation evidence in the small boat to ask the king if he could provide
presence of two native “kings” or the expedition with food supplies, and to say
rajahs at Mazaua during the Magellan that they had come as friend and not as enemies.
visit. One was the “king” of Mazaua – In reply the king himself came in a boat with six
who later guided the Magellan or eight men, and this time went up Magellan’s
expedition to Cebu. The other was a ship and the two man embraced. Another
relative (“one of his bother” as exchange of gift was made. The native king and
Pigafetta says), namely the king of his companions returned ashore, bringing with
rajah of Butuan. them two members of Magellan’s expedition as
guest for the night. One of the two was
Of this latter individual, Pigafetta says Pigafetta.
that he was “one finest looking man” 3. Saturday, 30 March. – Pigafetta and his
that he had seen in those parts (We shall companion had spent the previous evening
have more to say about him later). At feasting and drinking with the native king and
the moment, the relevant fact is that he his son. Pigafetta deplored the fact that,
 although it was Good Friday, they had to eat The Legazpi Expedition
meat. The following morning (Saturday) There is confirmatory evidence from the
Pigafetta and his companion took leave of their documents of the Legazpi expedition, which
hosts and returned to ships. sailed into the Philippine water in 1565, forty-
4. Sunday, 31 March. – “Early in the morning of four years after Magellan. One of the places that
Sunday, the last of March and Easter day”, Legazpi and his pilots were anxious to visit was
Magellan sent the priest ashore with some men precisely Mazaua, and to this end they inquired
to prepare for the mass. Later in the morning about “Mazaua” from Camotuan and his
Magellan landed with some fifty men and mass companions, natives of the village of the
was celebrated, after which a cross was Cabalian at the southeaster end of the island of
venerated. Magellan and the Spaniards returned Leyte, guided by these native, the Legazpi ships
to the ship for the noon – day meal, but in the rounded the island of “Panae” (Panaon), which
afternoon they returned ashore to plant the cross was separated from Leyte by a narrow strait,
on the summit of the highest hill. In attendance and anchor4ed off “Mazaua” –---- but they
both of the mass and at the planning of the cross found the inhabitants to be hostile, aparrently as
were the king of Mazaua and the king of a result of Portuguese depredations that had
Butuan. occurred in the four-decade interval between
5. Sunday, 31 March. – On that day same the Legazpi and the Magellan expedition.
afternoon, whi9le on the summit of the highest
hill, Magellan asked the two kings which ports IV. The Geography of “Mazaua”
he should go to in order to obtain more
abundant supplies of food than were available The question may be asked: If “Mazaua” is the
in that island. They replied that there were three little island of Limasawa, why did Magellan go
ports to choose from: Ceylon, Zubu and there? Why go to an insignificant little island;
Calagan. Of the three, Zubu was the port with why not instead to the larger island? The answer
the most trade. Magellan then said that he must be sought in geography. He was coasting
wished to go to Zubu and to depart the southward down the eastern coast of Leyte
following morning. He asked for someone to (Albo’s “Seilani”; Pigafetta’s “Ceylon”) with
guide him tither. The king replied to the pilots Hibuson Island on his left. This took him down
would be available “any time.” But later that to the southern tip of Panaon. The wind was
evening the kings od Mazaua changed his mind blowing westward from the pacific. It was late
and said that he would himself conduct march and April in this part of the Philippines,
Magellan to Zubu but that he would first have the east wind is strong. It is what the people of
to bring the harvest in. he asked Magellan to Limasawa call the “Dumagsa”, the east wind.
send him men to help with the harvest. Sailing with the wind, Magellan’s vessels
6. Monday, 1 April. – Magellan sent men ashore would find themselves going west or southwest,
to help with the harvest, but no work was done toward the island of Limasawa. Having seen a
that day because the two kings were sleeping of light on the island one night, they deeded the
their drinking bout of the night before. following day to anchor off it.
7. Tuesday, 2 April, and Wednesday, 3 April. – It is unfortunately that in the controversy that
Work on the harvest during the “next two has arisen between the supporters of Butuan
days.” Tuesday and Wednesday, the 2nd and 3rd and those Limasawa, this question of
of April. geography has been given little notice.
If the island of Limasawa is the “Mazaua” of
(e) An Argument from Omission Pigafettaand and the “Masava” of Albo, why
If “Mazaua” were Butuan, or in the vicinity then is now called Limasawa? Were Pigafetta
if Butuan, ther is a curios omission in and Albo wrong? Or were the historian and
Pigafetta’s account which would be map-maker wrong from the 17th century
difficult to explain. Butuan is a riverine onward?
settlement. It is situated on the Agusan We do not have the answer to that question.
River. The beach called Masao is in the Except to state that in the southern part of
delta of the river. If the Magellan Leyte, the island is istill refrred to by the
expedition were at that delta, and if the fisherfolk as “Masaoa”, not Limasawa.
Mass were celebrated there, why is there no
mention of the river? V. Why Then the Butuan Tradition?
How then did the strong three-century tradition Revolution of 1898. Among all accounts,
in favour of Butuan arise? Here we are in the however, John N. Schumacher (1972), who
realm of conjecture, but a number of reasons made an extensive reexamination of the
could be adduced to account for the tradition. primary and secondary sources of the event,
First, it must be remembered that the tradition points two valid and reliable documents. One is
is based on second-hand information. One that of Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de Tavera,
author repeats (and often distorts) what a Filipino scholar and researcher and the other
previous author have written, and is in turn is that of Jose Montero y Vidal, a prolific
copied (and distorted) by subsequent authors. In Spanish historian.
such a chain, one author making a mistake
could easily start a tradition that could last three According to Schumacher, "the account of
centuries. Pardo de Tavera, prescinding from the
A second reason is suggested by Pastells. emotional anti-friar tone that pervades it, gives
Magellan and his men got to know the rajah of evidence of being the most reliable, even
Butuan at Masaua. According to Pigafetta. That though fairly general, account except for its
rajah was at Masaua only on a visit. But it is failure to recognize that De la Torre had also
easy to see how the fact that Magellan had been suspicious of the Filipino reformists. That
known the rajah of Butuan could be of Montero, apart from its anti-Filipino tone and
misunderstood by later historians as meaning its supposition of a revolutionary conspiracy,
that he had known him at Butuan. contains the most details and, to all
There is a third reason. It must be remembered appearances, most reliable account of the actual
that the Butuan Tradition, while erroneous as to course of the revolt itself, as well as of the
the site of the first Mass, is not entirely without execution of the three priests."
validity. Magellan expedition, Magellan’s
death, visited several places Mindanao, very In this context, the following accounts of
probably including Butuan. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, Jose Montero y viu
and the Official Report of Governor Izquierdo
Issues for Discourse on the Cavite Munity of 1872 were considered
1. Will Butuan lose its historical and for this reading. These persons have different
cultural value if the first mass not interpretations about the mutiny because they
happened in it? Why?
interpreted it for different purposes. Each of
2. Do you think it was beneficial or
them used their own their reference in
detrimental for the Filipino to be
Christianized by the Spaniards? Why? analyzing the event and every reader is enjoined
to discriminate closely claims and supporting
evidences.
TOPIC: THE CAVITE MUTINY
Spanish Version of the Cavite Mutiny of
1872
The Cavity Mutiny is one of the events in the
By Jose Montero y Vidal
annals of Philippine history that had numerous
controversies. Differing accounts in reference
The Spanish version of the Cavite Mutiny of
to this event show that each account presents
1872 was written by the Spanish historian, Jose
different sides of the story. Significantly, the
Montero y Vidal, in his book entitled Historia
accounts were written those who lived at the
General de Filipinas (Madrid, 1895, Vol. III, pp
time of the event (first-hand accounts) and
566-595. This narrative of Montero y Vidal,
those who had received their information from
normally a good historian, was so woefully
contemporaries of the events or who, because
biased that Dr. T.H. Pardo de Tavera
of their relationship to such men (second-hand
commented that he, "in narrating the Cavite
accounts).
episode, does not speak as a historian; he speaks
as a Spaniard bend on perverting the facts at his
Reexamining whose "story" is more credible
pleasure; he is mischievously partial"
and reliable about the Cavite Mutiny is very
Unsupported by positive documentary
important and critical as this event resulted to
evidence, this Spanish historian exaggerated the
the martyrdom of the three priests
mutiny of a few disgruntled native soldiers and
(GOMBURZA) and ushered in the Philippine
laborers into a revolt to overthrow Spanish rule
- a seditious movement and involved the and these meetings were usually attended by the
innocent Filipino patriotic leaders including curate of Bacoor (Cavite), the soul of the
Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora, Jose Ma. movement, whose energetic character and
Basa, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Joaquin Pardo de immense wealth enabled him to exercise a
Tavera, and others. Montero y Vidal's version strong influence.
of the Cavite episode of 1872 in English
translation follows: The garrison of Manila, composed mostly of
native soldiers, were involved in this
With the establishment in Spain of a conspiracy, as well as a multitude of civilians.
government less radical than the one that The plan was for the soldiers to assassinate their
appointed La Torre, the latter was relieved from officers, the servants, their masters, and the
his post. His successor D. Rafael de lzquierdo, escort of the Captain-General at Malacańang, to
assumed control of the government of these dispose of the governor himself. The friars and
islands April 4, 1871. The most eventual other Spaniards were later to have their turn.
episode in his rule was the Cavite Revolt of The pre-concerted signal among the
1872. conspirators of Cavite and Manila was the
firing of rockets from the walls of the city. The
The abolition of the privileges enjoyed by the details having been arranged, it was agreed that
laborers of the Cavite arsenal of exemption the uprising was to break out in the evening of
from the tribute was, according to some, the the 20th of January, 1872. Various
cause of the insurrection. There were, however, circumstances, however, which might well be
other causes. considered as providential, upset the plans, and
made the conspiracy a dismal failure.
The Spanish revolution which overthrew a
secular throne; the propaganda carried on by an In the district of Sampaloc, the fiesta of the
unbridled press against monarchical principles, patron saint, the Virgin of Loreto, was being
attentatory of the most sacred respects towards celebrated with pomp and splendor. On the
the dethroned majesty; the democratic and night of the 20th, fireworks were displayed and
republic books and pamphlets; the speeches and rockets fired into the air. Those in Cavite
preachings of the apostles of these new ideas in mistook these for the signal to revolt, and at
Spain; the outbursts of the American publicists nine thirty in the evening of that day two
and the criminal policy of the senseless hundred native soldiers under the leadership of
Governor whom the Revolutionary government Sergeant La Madrid rose up in arms,
sent to govern the Philippines, and who put into assassinated the commander of the fort and
practice these ideas were the determining wounded his wife.
circumstances which gave rise, among certain
Filipinos, to the idea of attaining their The military governor of Cavite, D. Fernando
independence. It was towards this goal that they Rojas, dispatched two Spaniards to inform the
started to work, with the powerful assistance of Manila authorities of the uprising but they were
a certain 7 of the native clergy, who out of spite met on the way be a group of natives belonging
toward the friars, made common cause with the to the Guias established by La Torre, who put
enemies of the mother country. them instantly to death. At about the same time,
an employee of the arsenal, D. Domingo
At various times but especially in the beginning Mijares, left Cavite in a war vessel for Manila,
of the year 1872, the authorities received arriving there at midnight. He informed the
anonymous communications with the commandant of Marine of what had occured,
information that a great uprising would break and this official immediately relayed the news
out against the Spaniards, the minute the fleet at to Governor Izquierdo.
Cavite left for the South, and that all would be
assassinated, including the friars. But nobody Early the next morning two regiments, under
gave importance to these notices. The the command of D. Felipe Ginoves, Segundo
conspiracy had been going on since the days of cabo, left for Cavite on board the merchant
La Torre with utmost secrecy. At times, the vessels Filipino, Manila Isabela I and Isabela
principal leaders met either in the house of the II. Ginoves demanded rendition and waited the
Filipino Spaniard, D. Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, whole day of the 21st for the rebels to surrender,
or in that of the native priest, Jacinto Zamora, without ordering the assault of their position in
order to avoid unnecessary shedding of blood.
After waiting the whole day in vain for the On the 3rd of April, 1872, the Audience
rendition of the rebels, Ginoves launched an suspended from the practice of law the
assault against the latter's position, early in the following men: D. Jose Basa y Enriquez, D.
morning of the 22nd, putting to the sword the Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, D. Antonio Ma.
majority of the rebels and making prisoners of Regidor, D. Pedro Carillo, D. Gervacio Sanchez
the rest. On the same day an official and D. Jose Mauricio de Leon.
proclamation announced the suppression of the
revolt. Izquierdo had requested the sending to Manila
of Spanish troops for the defense of the fort as
As a result of the declarations made by some of most of these found here were natives. In
the prisoners in which several individuals were pursuance of Izquierdo's request, the
pointed out as instigators, Don Jose Burgos and government, by decree of April 4, 1872,
D. Jacinto Zamora, curates of the Cathedral, D. dissolved the native regiment of artillery and
Mariano Gomez, curate of Bacoor (Cavite), ordered the creation of an artillery force to be
several other Filipino priesis, Antonio Maria composed exclusively of Peninsulares. The
Regidor, lawyer and Regidor of the latter arrived in Manila in July, 1872. On the
Ayuntamiento, D. Joaquin Pardo Tavera, occasion of the arrival of the troops, the Sto.
Consejero de Administración, Pedro Carillo, Domingo Church celebrated a special mass at
Gervacio Sanchez and Jose Mau de de Leon, which high officials of the government, the
lawyers Enrique Paraiso and Jose and Pio Basa, religious corporations, and the general public,
employees, and Crisanto Reyes, Maximo attended, upon invitation by the Governor and
Paterno and several other Filipinos, were Captain-General of the Philippines.
arrested.
The council of war, which from the beginning Filipino Version of the Cavite Mutiny of
look charge of the causes in connection with the 1872
Cavite uprising, passed the sentence of death on Dr. Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera
forty-one of the rebels. On the 27th of January
the Captain-General fixed his "cumplase" on The Filipino version of the bloody incident of
the sentence. On the 6th of the following month, Cavite in 1872 was written by Dr. Trinidad H.
eleven more were sentenced to death, but the Pardo de Tavera, Filipino scholar, scientist, and
Governor General, by decree of the day historical researcher. According to him, this
following, commuted this sentence to life incident was merely a mutiny by the native
imprisonment. On the 8th, the sentence of death Filipino soldiers and laborers of the Cavite
was pronounced on Camerino and ten years arsenal against the harsh policy of despotic
imprisonment of eleven individuals of the Governor and Captain-General Rafael de
famous "Guias de la Torre," for the Izquierdo (1871-1873) which abolished their
assassination of the Spaniards who, on the night old-time privileges of exemption from paying
of January 20th, were sent to Manila to carry the annual tribute and from rendering the polo
news of the uprising. (forced labor). The loss of these privileges was
naturally resented by the soldiers and laborers.
The same council on the 15th of February, Some of them, impelled by volcanic wrath, rose
sentenced to die by strangulation the Filipino in arms on the night of January 20, 1872, and
priests, D. Jose Burgos, D. Jacinto Zamora, and killed the commanding officer of the Cavite
D. Mariano Gomez, and Francisco Saldua; and Arsenal and other Spanish officers. This was
Maximo Inocencio, Enrique Paraiso and easily suppressed by the Spanish troops which
Crisanto de los Reyes to ten years were rushed from Manila. This turbulent
imprisonment. Early in the morning of the incident, which was magnified by the Spanish
seventeen of February, an immense multitude officials and friars into a revolt for Philippine
appeared on the field of Bagumbayan to witness independence, is narrated by Pardo de Tavera,
the execution of the sentence. The attending as follows:
force was composed of Filipino troops, and the
batteries of the fort were aimed at the place of The arrival of General Izquierdo (1871-1873)
execution, ready to fire upon the least sign of was the signal for a complete change in the
uprising. Gomez was executed first, then aspect of affairs. The new governor soon made
Zamora, then Burgos, and lastly, Saldua. it clear that his views were different from those
of La Torre - that there would be no change in even the entire troops became disaffected. On
the established form of government - and he at the night of January 20, 1872, there was an
once announced that he intended to govern the uprising among the soldiers in the San Felipe
people "with crucifix in one hand and a sword fort, in Cavite, and the commanding offer and
in the other." other Spanish officers in charge of the fort were
assassinated. Forty marines attached to the
His first official act was to prohibit the founding arsenal and 22 artillerymen under Sergeant La
of a school of arts and trades, which was being Madrid took part in this uprising, and it was
organized by the efforts and funds raised by believed that the entire garrison in Cavite was
natives of standing in the community, but the disaffected and probably implicated. But if the
founding of which did not tally with the views few soldiers who precipitated the attack
of the religious orders. Governor Izquierdo believed they would be supported by the bulk
believed that the establishment of the new of the army and that a general rebellion against
school was merely a pretext for the organization Spain would be declared in the islands, they
of a political club, and he not only did not allow were deceived. When the news of the uprising
it to be opened but made a public statement was received in Manila, General Izquierdo sent
accusing the Filipinos who had charge of the the commanding general to Cavite, who
movement. All of those who had offered their reinforced the native troops, took possession of
support to ex-Governor La Torre were classed the fort, and put the rebels to the sword.
as personas sospechosas (suspects), a term that Sergeant La Madrid has been blinded and badly
since that time has been used in the Philippine burned by the explosion of a sack of powder
Islands to designate any person who refused to and, being unable to escape, was also cut down.
servilely obey the wishes and whims of the A few of the rebels were captured and taken to
authorities. The conservative element in the Manila and there was no further disturbance of
islands now directed the governmental policy, the peace or insubordination of any kind.
and the educated Filipinos fell more and more
under the displeasure and suspicion of the This uprising among the soldiers in Cavite was
governor. used as a powerful lever by the Spanish
residents and by the friars. During the time that
The peace of the colony was broken by a certain General La Torre was chief executive in the
incident which, though unimportant in itself, Philippine Islands the influential Filipinos did
was probably the origin of the political agitation not hesitate to announce their hostility to the
which, constantly growing for thirty years, religious orders, and the Central Government in
culminated in the overthrow of the Spanish Madrid has announced its intention to deprive
sovereignty in the Philippine Islands. From the friars in these islands of all powers of
time immemorial the workmen in the arsenal at intervention in matters of civil government and
Cavite and in the barracks of the artillery and of the direction and management of the
engineer corps has been exempt from the university. Moret, the colonial minister, had
payment of the tribute tax and from obligation drawn up a scheme of reforms by which he
to work certain days each year on public proposed to make a radical change in the
improvements. General Izquierdo believed the colonial system of government which was to
time opportune for abolishing these privileges harmonize with the principles for which the
and ordered that in the future all such workmen revolution ' in Spain had been fought. It was due
should pay tribute and labor on public to these facts and promises that the Filipinos
improvements. This produced great had great hopes of an improvement in the
dissatisfaction among the workmen affected affairs of their country, while the friars, on the
and the men employed in the arsenal at Cavite other hand, feared that their power in the colony
went on a strike, but, yielding to pressure and would soon be completely a thing of the past.
threats made by the authorities, they
subsequently returned to their labors. The mutiny in Cavite gave the conservative
element - that is, those who favored a
The workmen in the Cavite arsenal were all continuation of the colonial modus vivendi - an
natives of that town and of the neighboring opportunity to represent to the Spanish
town of San Roque. In a short while the Government that a vast conspiracy was afoot
dissatisfaction and discontent with the and organized throughout the archipelago with
government spread all over that section and the object of destroying the Spanish
sovereignty. They stated that the Spanish members of the administrative council, P.
Government in Madrid was to blame for the Mendoza, curate of Santa Cruz, Guevarra,
propagation of pernicious doctrines and for the curate of Quiapo, the priests Mariano Sevilla,
hopes that had been held out from Madrid to the Feliciano Gomez, Ballesteros, Jose Basa, the
Filipino people, and also because of the lawyers Carillo, Basa, Enriquez, Crisanto,
leanings of ex-Governor La Torre and of other Reyes, Maximo, Paterno, and many others were
public functionaries who had been sent to the sentenced to life imprisonment on the Marianas
Philippine Islands by the Government that Islands. The Government thus secured its object
succeeded Queen Isabella. The fall of the new of terrorizing the Filipino people, but the
rulers in Spain within a few days, as well as punishments meted out were not only unjust but
other occurrences, seemed to accentuate the were from every point of view unnecessary, as
claims made by the conservative element in the there had not been the remote intention on the
Philippine Islands regarding the peril which part of anyone to overthrow the Spanish
threatened Spanish sovereignty in the islands; it sovereignty. On the contrary, the attitude of
appeared as though the prophecies were about Moret, Labra, Becerra, and other high officials
to be fulfilled. The Madrid authorities were not in the Madrid Government had awakened in the
able to combat public opinion in that country; breasts of the Filipinos a lively friendship for
no opportunity was given nor time taken to the home government, and never has the ties
make a thorough investigation of the real facts which bound the colony to Spain been as close
or extent of the alleged revolution; the as they were during the short interval between
conservative element in the Philippine Islands the arrival of General La Torre and the time
painted the local condition of affairs in somber when General Izquierdo, in the name of the
tints; and the Madrid Government came to home government, was guilty of the atrocities
believe, or at least to suspect, that a scheme was mentioned above, of which innocent men were
being concocttu throughout the islands to shake made victims.
off Spanish sovereignty. Consistent with the
precedents or their colonial rule, the repressive A careful study of the history and documents of
measures adopted to quell the supposed that time brings to light the part which the
insurrection wer strict and sudden. No attempt religious orders played in that sad drama. One
appears to have been made to ascertain whether of the results of the so-called revolution of
or n0t u innocent suffered with the guilty, and Cavite was to strengthen the power of the friars
the only end sought appeared to be to inspire in the Philippine Islands in such manner that the
tero in the minds of all by making examples of Madrid Government, which up to that time had
a certain number, so that none in the uui should contemplated reducing the power of the
attempt, nor even dream of any attempt at religious orders in these islands, was obliged
secession. not only to abandon its intention, but to place a
yet greater measure of official influences at the
Many of the best known Filipinos were service of the friars, and from that time they
denounced to the military authorities, and were considered as an important factor in the
they,the sons of Spaniards born in the islands preservation of the Spanish sovereignty in the
and men of mixed blood (Spanish and Chinese), colony.
as well as the Indians of pure blood, as the
Philippine Malays were called, were persecuted This influence was felt throughout the islands,
and punished without distinction by the military and not only were the friars taken into the
authorities. Those who dared to oppose confidence of the Government, but the Filipino
themselves to the friars were punished with people looked upon the religious orders as their
special severity; among others may be real masters and as the representatives,
mentioned the priests Burgos, a half-blood powerful and unsparing, of the Spanish
Spaniard, Zamora, a half-blood Chinaman, and Kingdom.
Gomez, a pure-blood Tagalog, who had
vigorously opposed the friars in the litigation But there were other results following upon the
over the curacies in the various provinces. The unfortunate policy adopted by Governor
three priests mentioned were condemned to Izquierdo. Up to that time there had been no
death by a military court-martial, and Antonio intention of secession from Spain, and the only
M. Regidor, a lawyer and councilman of aspiration of the people was to secure the
Manila, Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, lawyer and material and educational advancement of the
country. The Filipino people had never blamed
the Spanish nation for the backward condition Official Report of Governor Izquierdo on
in which the islands existed, nor for the the Cavite Mutiny
injustices committed in the islands by the Rafael Izquierdo
Spanish officials; but on the contrary it was the
custom to lay all the blame for these things on Governor General Rafael Izquierdo reported to
the individual officers guilty of the Spanish Minister of War, dated Manila,
maladministration, and no attempt had been January 23, 1872, blaming the Cavite Mutiny
made to investigate whether or not the evils on the native clergy, some local residents,
under which the islands suffered were due to intellectuals, and even El Eco Filipino, a
fundamental causes. The persecutions which Madrid-based reformist newspaper.
began under Governor Izquierdo were based on Significantly, he calls the military mutiny as
the false assumption that the Filipino people "insurrection", an "uprising", and a
were desirous of independence, and although "revolution". The textof the report is as follows:
this was an unfounded accusation, there were
many martyrs to the cause, among whom were From the summary of information received-that
found many of the most intelligent and well-to- is, from the declaration made before the fiscal it
do people, without distinction of color or race seems definite that the insurrection was
or nationality, who were sentenced to death, to motivated and prepared by the native clergy, by
imprisonment, or were expatriated because they the mestizos and native lawyers, and by those
were believed to aspire to the independence of known here as abogadillos. Some are residents
these islands. The fear which the people felt of of Manila, others from Cavite, and some from
the friars and of the punishments meted out by the nearby provinces.
the Government was exceeded only by the
admiration which the Filipino people has for The instigators, to carry out their criminal
those who did not hesitate to stand up for the project, protested against the injustice of the
rights of the country. In this manner, the government in not paying the proVinces for
persecutions to which the people were their tobacco crop, and against the usury that
subjected served as a stimulus and an educative some (officials) practice in (handling)
force, and from that time the rebellion was documents that the Finance department gives
nursed in secret and the passive resistance to the crop owners who have to sell them at a loss.
abuses of the official power became greater day They encouraged the rebellion by protesting
by day. what they called the injustice of having obliged
the workers in the Cavite arsenal to pay tribute
No attempt was made to allay the ill-feeling starting January 1 (1872) and to render personal
which existed between the Filipinos and the service, from which they were formerly
Spaniards, especially the friars, caused by the exempted.
mutiny in Cavite and the cruel manner in which
the punsihment was meted out. Many years To seduce the native troops, they resorted to
would have been necessary to heal the wounds superstitions with which the indios are so prone
felt by the large number of families whose to believe; persuading them that the Chief of
members were made the victims of the unjust State (hari) would be an ecclesiastic and the rest
sentences of the military courts-martial. or the clergy who baked the uprising would
Nothing was done by the Government to blot celebrate daily for its success. Thus the
out the recollection of these actions; on the rebellion could not fail because God was with
contrary, it appeared to be its policy to them; and those who would not revoltmthey
continually bring up the memory of these would kill immediately. Taking advantage of
occurrences as a reminder to the mal-contents the ignorance of those classes and the
of what they had to expect; but the only thing propensity of the Indio to steal, they offered (to
accomplished was to increase the popular those who revolted) the wealth of the Spaniards
discontent. It was from that time that every and of the regular clergy, employment and
disagreement between the Spaniards and ranks in the army; and to this effect they said
Filipinos, however trivial, was given a racial or that fifteen native batallions would be created,
political character; everytime a friar was in which the soldiers who revoltea would have
insulted or injusred in any way, it was claimed jobs as officers and chiefs. The lawyers and
to be an act of hostility to the Spanish nation.
abogadillos would direct the affar's of military governor of Cavite and the
government of the administration and of justice. commanders of Regiment 7 took very timely
precautions; they knew how to keep the soldiers
Up to now it has not been clearly determined if loyal (although these hadd been compromised)
they planned to establish a monarchv or a and behaved with valor and gallantry, obliging
republic, because the indios have no word in the rebels to take refuge in the fort of San
their language to describe this different form of Felipe.
government, whose head in Tagalog would be
called hari; but it turns out that they would place Such is your Excellency, the plan of the rebels,
at the head of the government a priest; and there those who guided them, and the means they
were great probabilities nay, a certainty that the Counted upon for its realization. For a long time
head selected would be D. Jose Burgos, or D. now, through confidential information and
Zacinto Zamora parish priests of S. San Pedro others ofa vaguer character, I have been told
of Manila. that since 1869- taking advantage of a group
tnat had left behind plans for an uprising, but
All the Spaniards, including the friars, would be was carried out because of the earthquake of
executed except for the women; and their 1862 there existed in Manila a junta or center
belongings confiscated. Foreigners would be that sought and found followers; and that 4s a
respected. pretext they had established a society for the
teaching of arts and trades. Months ago I
This uprising has roots, and with them were Suspended it indirectly, giving an account to
affiliated to a great extent the regiments of Your Excellency in my confidential report No.
infantry and artillery, many civilians and a large 113 dated August 1, (1871) to which Your
number of mestizos, indios and some Excellency has not yet replied.
illustrados from the provinces.
It has also been said that this center or junta
To start the revolution, they planned to set fire received inspiration from Madrid, where
to the district of Tondo. Once the fire was set newspapers of advanced ideas flourish; to
and while the authorities were busy putting it sustain them subscriptions are (locally)
out, the regiment of artillery with the help of the solicited; in effect, newspapers such as El Eco
part of the infantry would seize Fort Santiago of Filipino were sent here from Madrid, which
this Capital (they would then) uo cannons to were distribted by persons now imprisoned,
inform the rebels of Cavite (of their success). whose articles thundered against everything
The rebels in Cavite counted on the artillery that be found here.
detachment that occupied the fort and on the
navy helped by 500 natives led by the pardoned As in the case of my worthy predecessor, I have
leader Camerino. This person and his men, continously received anonymous letters, but
located at the town of Bacoor and separated because I was confident that I could put down
from the fort of San Felipe by a small arm of the and punish any uprising, I gave no credit to
sea, would cross the water and reach the fort these reports) in order not to cause alarm; and
where they would find arms and ammunition. instead continued a vigilant watch whenever
possible within the limited means at my
The rebels (in Cavite) made the signals agreed command. I had everything ready (for any
upon by means of lanterns, but the native untoward possibility), taking into account the
civilians (in Bacoor) although they tried it, limited peninsular force which composes the
failed because if the vigilance of the (Spanish) army.
navy that had placed there a gunboat and armed
vessels.

Loyalists who went to arrest the parish priests

of Bacoor found an abandoned vessel loaded
with arms, including carbines and revolvers.

The uprising should have started in Manila at

midnight abetted by those in Cavite, but the
rebels of this city went ahead of time. The civil-