The Historical Method
and its Importance
Historical Method includes historical criticism and the definition of Historical Sources. The historical method is like the Scientific Method, except that the historians have already given the information.
HISTORICAL METHOD
SCIENTIST
witnesses the actual event
can repeat an experiment
tries to be as objective as possible
HISTORIAN
cannot recreate the event
sees not the event, but remains of the event
draws subjective conclusions
BENEFITS OF HISTORICAL METHOD
1
It helps us in finding solutions for contemporary problems.
It provides an understanding of the trends that have happened before.
It provides an understanding of the trends that have happened before.
It gives the reevaluation of the historical data and facts already presented.
2
3
4
HISTORICAL METHOD
I. THE HISTORIAN SELECTS A SUBJECT FOR INVESTIGATION
III. THE PAST- THE EVIDENCE
IV. THE PRESENT-THE HISTORIAN
IV. WRITES A HISTORY
Every creator has a point of view or bias (multiple perspectives).
Every historian has a point of view or bias (multiple perspectives).
REMAINS
ORAL
REPORTS
PHYSICAL
VISUAL
DOCUMENTS
WRITTEN
DOCUMENTS
BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE
VALUES
BELIEFS
BIASES AND
PREJUDICES
INTERPRETATIONS
OF HISTORY
II. APPLIES THE HISTORICAL APPROACH
THE HISTORIAN SELECTS THE
SUBJECT FOR INVESTIGATION
SUBJECT FOR INVESTIGATION
"The historian is part of the present and therefore subject to the values, the needs, and the concerns of his society. Consequently, the questions he asks about the past are frequently ones that reflect present interests . . . Indeed it is the responsibility of the historian to describe a community's past in terms that are meaningful to the present.“
Ramsay Cook, The Craft of History
THE HISTORIAN APPLIES THE
HISTORICAL METHOD
II. THE HISTORIAN APPLIES THE
HISTORICAL METHOD
"History is not the past . . . History is the distillation of evidence surviving from the past. Where there is no evidence there is no history."
Oscar Handlin, Truth in History
COLLECTS EVIDENCE
1
II. THE HISTORIAN APPLIES THE
HISTORICAL METHOD
ANLAYSES EVIDENCE
2
"I read as widely as possible because it pays to be skeptical and never to form an opinion based on a single source of information . . . Readers owe it to themselves to look at events from more than one point of view."
Stephen Hume, The Sun, 31 July 2003
II. THE HISTORIAN APPLIES THE
HISTORICAL METHOD
SELECTS EVIDENCE
3
“The historian cannot tell us every fact of what happened in the past; he inevitably selects from a great number of events and facts the ones he thinks are important."
Norman F. Canton and Richard I. Schneider, How to Study History
II. THE HISTORIAN APPLIES THE
HISTORICAL METHOD
ORGANIZE EVIDENCE
4
"I discovered the fascination of reconstructing history from the records left by the men who made it, fitting it together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle."
C. P. Stacey, A Date with History
II. THE HISTORIAN APPLIES THE
HISTORICAL METHOD
INTERPRETS EVIDENCE
5
"Two historians, working with the same historical materials and agreeing on basic facts, can arrive at two entirely different explanations for the same event."
David Bercuson and Douglas Wertheimer
THE PAST - THE EVIDENCE
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
PHYSICAL REMAINS
1
"I never realized that there was history too, close at hand, beside my very own home. I did not realize that the old grave that stood among the brambles at the foot of our home was history."
Stephen Leacock
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
VERBAL REPORTS
2
"A man's character is revealed by his speech.“
Menander
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
VISUAL DOCUMENTS
3
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
VISUAL DOCUMENTS
3
A. PAINTINGS
“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.”
Pablo Picasso
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
VISUAL DOCUMENTS
3
B. POSTERS
"The intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it."
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1935
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
VISUAL DOCUMENTS
3
C. PHOTOGRAPHS
"While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph."
Lewis Hine
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
VISUAL DOCUMENTS
3
D. FILMS
"Hollywood surely would have been foolish to attempt to do the American cowboy or the winning of the West realistically."
W.R. Robinson
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
VISUAL DOCUMENTS
3
E. CARICATURE
"Good editorial cartooning must shock and question.”
Ed Franklin
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
A. DIARIES
“What an odd thing a diary is: the things you omit are more important than those you put in.”
Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman Destroyed
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
B. MEMOIRS
"To write one's memoirs is to speak ill of everybody except oneself."
Henri Philippe Petain, Observer, 26 May 1946
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
C. AUTHOBIOGRAPHIES
"Autobiographies written after the lapse of years . . . are open to mistakes resulting from faulty recollection, limited opportunity to observe, and ego serving misinterpretations."
Oscar Handlin
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
D. LETTERS
"A letter shows the man it is written to, as well as the man it is written by."
Lord Chesterfield
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
E. NEWSPAPER
"Journalists have the power to reveal or conceal."
Winnipeg Museum of Human Rights, Holodonor film
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
F. BOOKS
"Textbooks can be used to spur the investigation of a key historical question or to provide context before an investigation . . . Treat the textbook as just another piece of historical evidence and move on."
Bruce A. Lash
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
G. ADVERTISING
"Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper."
Thomas Jefferson, 1819
III. THE PAST – THE EVIDENCE
4
WRITTEN DOCUMENTS
I. STATISTICS
"Look behind statistics! Find out how they're made up and on what definition they are based. Don't take them at face value.“
Ben Solomon
THE PRESENT - THE HISTORIAN
IV. THE PRESENT – THE HISTORIAN
"Study the historian before you begin to study the facts."
- Edward. H. Carr
IV. THE PRESENT – THE HISTORIAN
1
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
"Part of where you are is where you've been.“
Margaret Atwood
IV. THE PRESENT – THE HISTORIAN
2
PERSONAL VALUES AND BELIES
"The historian has a heart, and no rules can prevent his emotions from influencing his work."
Thomas Chapais
IV. THE PRESENT – THE HISTORIAN
3
BIASES AND PREJUDICE
"The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.“
William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
IV. THE PRESENT – THE HISTORIAN
4
INTERPRETATIONS OF HISTORY
"The historian ought to work and to think with the benefit of his personality. If he tries to be 'neutral' . . . he sacrifices part of what it means to be human.“
Abbé Lionel Groulx, Memoirs
THE HISTORIAN WRITES HISTORY
V. THE HISTORIAN WRITES HISTORY
"What use is research in history if the researcher cannot make his results clear and interesting to the reader?“
C. P. Stacey, A Date with History
CONTEXT VS. CONTENTS
CONTENT
the central point or meaning of a primary source
CONTEXT
the historical situation in which the primary source was produced. Context is basically what makes content meaningful
CONTENT
the historical situation in which the primary source was produced. Context is basically what makes content meaningful
CONTEXT
the central point or meaning of a primary source
To understand better the difference between the two, think of this analogy: if the content is information, context is knowledge.
The author’s perspective, or viewpoint, is how the author feels about the subject. To determine the author’s view, you need to ask the following questions:
AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE
1. What is the author’s purpose?
2. What is the author’s opinion or attitude about the subject?
3. What is the author’s purpose for expressing this opinion or attitude?
The students will be group into 6. Each group will be assigned to different topics:
Group 1. Antonio Pigafetta’s First Voyage Around the World
Group 2. Juan de Plasencia’s Customs of the Tagalogs
Group 3. Andres Bonifacio’s Dekalogo ng Katipunan
Group 4. Emilio Jacinto’s Kartilla ng Katipunan
Group 5. Emilio Aguinaldo’s Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan
Group 6. Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista’s The Act of Declaration of Philippine Independence
Group 7. Alfred McCoy’s Political Caricature of the American Era
Group 8. Commission on Independence’s Filipino Grievances Against Governor Wood
Group 9. Corazon Aquino’s Speech Before the US Congress
ACTIVITY
Directions:
Read and discuss the assigned topic as a group. After doing so, they will analyze the content and context of the primary source posted to them with the Primary Source Analysis Worksheet's help.