LESSON 2:
DISTINCTION
BETWEEN PRIMARY
AND SECONDARY
SOURCES
In conducting any historical research, different sources of
information are required to gain extensive knowledge on a
particular topic.
Some researchers rely on written sources while other
choose to make use of oral sources.
In this day and age, the proliferation of fake news is
evident in both print and digital media platforms.
Thus it becomes more apparent that sources of texts
should be scrutinized for their credibility.
The historian’s most important research tools are
historical sources.
In general historical sources can be classified between
primary and secondary sources.
HISTORICAL
SOURCES
Primary Sources - are those produced at
the same time as the event, period or
subject being studied.
The 1986
Constitutional
Commission
The 1986 constitution commission his
primary source can include:
The draft
constitution
Minutes of the
commission
Newspaper clippings
Eyewitness accounts of the commission
delegates
PRIMARY
SOURCES
1.These people are either participants or eyewitnesses to the event.
2. Photographs that may reflect social conditions of historical realities and everyday life.
3. Material evidence of the pre-historic past like cave drawings, old syllabus and ancient writings.
4. Statistical tables, graphs and charts
5. Cartoons for political expression or propaganda.
6. Old sketches and drawings that may indicate the conditions of life of societies in the past.
7. Oral history or recordings by electronic means of accounts of eyewitnesses or participants.
Secondary Source - are those sources used by the
author who used primary sources to produce
the materials.
Secondary sources are historical sources which
studied certain historical subject
Teodoro Agoncillo's Revolt of the Masses: The Story
of Bonifacio and the Katipunan published in 1956.
Agoncillo used primary sources with his research like documents
and interview with the veterans of the Revolution
The primacy of primary over secondary
sources has always been recognized . This
due to the fact that a primary source provides
better and more accurate historical details compared to
secondary source.
The authenticity and reliability of primary
sources
should be scrutinized before they are used.
Cases of forgery and mislabeling are
common in Philippine historiography.
Who allegedly forged the signature of Gen.
Ubano Lacuna that led to the captivity of
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo
An example of forgery in historical documents is the story of the great
forger , Roman Roque
The supposed autobiography of Josephine
Bracken which asserts her marriage to Rizal under
catholic rites was badly forged
Historian and students of history need thoroughly scrutinize these historical sources to avoid deception
and to come up with the historical truth.
Historian should be able to conduct an external and internal criticism of the source.
EXTERNAL
CRITICISM
The practice of verifying the authenticity
of the evidence by examining its physical
characteristics
Consistency with the historical characteristics
of the time when it was produced and the
materials used for the evidence .
EXAMPLE
:
Quality of
paper
Type of
ink
Language
used
INTERNAL
CRITICISM
The examination of the truthfulness of evidence by looking at
the author of the source.
It looks at the content of the source and examines the
circumstances of its production
Looks at truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking
at the author of the source, its context, the agenda behind of its
creation, the knowledge which informed it and intended purposes
EXAMPLE
:
Japanese Declaration of
War
The authenticity of the code
One of the scandalous cases of was debunked due to the lack
deception in the Philippine of evidence to prove that the
history is the hoax Code of code existed in the Precolonial
Kalantiaw Philippine Society
Ferdinand Marcos also claimed that he was a decorated
World War II soldier who led a guerilla unit called “Ang
Maharlika”.
This was widely believed by students of history and
Marcos had war medals to show.
Alfred
McCoy
This claim was disproven when historian
counterchecked Marcos's claim with the war
records of the United States
These cases prove how deceptions can propagate without
rigorous historical research.
The task of the historians is to look at the available
historical sources and select the most relevant and
meaningful for history and for the subject matter that he is
studying.
NEXT LESSON MODULE 2 :
MGA GUNITA NG HIMAGSIKAN
(EMILIO AGUINALDO)
