Introduction: History as Reconstruction  Agreed ground rules for researching

and writing academic research or

 the historian is many times removed
professional history
from the events under investigation
 Historians have to verify sources, to
 historians rely on surviving records
date them, locate their place of
 “Only a part of what was observed in origin and identify their intended
the past was remembered by those functions
who observe it; only a part of what
 Core protocols historians use for
was remembered was recorded; only
handling sources
a part of what was recorded has
survived; only a part of what has  Historians have to base their
survived has come to the historian’s accounts on source materials
attention.”
 Historians need to be able to locate
 “Only a part of what is credible has and organize the relevant sources
been grasped, and only a part of on which they will base their account
what has been grasped can be
 The process of critically examining
expounded or narrated by the
and analyzing the records and
historian,”
survivals of the past
 Fallible ( capable of error…capable
In short, the Historical Method is…
of making mistakes )
 The process of critically examining
 Biases – personal, political,
and analyzing the records and
religious, personal idiosyncrasies
survivals of the past
 Each has his own frame of
Thus, it involves
preference – a set of interlocking
values, loyalties, assumptions,  Selection of Subject
interests and principles of actions
 Collection of Sources
History is not fiction
 Examination of Genuineness
 Historical accounts must be based on
all available relevant evidence  Extraction from Sources

 A version of the past that cannot be Historical Sources

supported by evidence is worthless  Source – an object from the past or
 The reconstruction of the total past testimony concerning the past on
of mankind, although it is the goal of which historians depend in order to
historians, thus becomes the goal create their own depiction of that
they know full well is past.
UNATTAINABLE. Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable
What is Historical Method? Sources an Introduction to Historical
Method
Tangible remains of the past  These sources were present during
an experience of time period and
 Anthony Brundage, Going to
offer an inside view of a particular
Sources
event.
Written Sources
 Primary sources provide first-hand
1. Published materials testimony or direct evidence
concerning a topic under
 Books, magazines, journals investigation. They are created by
 Travelogue witnesses or recorders who
experienced the events or conditions
 transcription of speech being documented.
2. Manuscript [any handwritten or  These sources are created at the
typed record that has not been time when the events or conditions
printed] are occurring, it can also include
 Archival materials autobiographies, memoirs, and oral
histories recorded later.
 Memoirs, diary
 Primary sources are characterized
Non- written Sources by their content, regardless of
 Oral history whether they are available in
original format, in
 Artifact microfilm/microfiche, in digital
 Ruins format, or in published format.

 Fossils Four Main Categories of Primary

Sources
 Art works
1. Written sources
 Video recordings
2. Images
 Audio recordings
3. Artifacts
What are Primary Sources?
4. Oral testimony
 Testimony of an eyewitness
What are Secondary Sources?
 A primary source must have been
produced by a contemporary of the  A secondary source interprets and
event it narrates analyzes primary sources. These
sources are one or more steps
 A primary source is a document or removed from the event.
physical object which was written or
created during the time under  Secondary sources may have
study. pictures, quotes or graphics of
primary sources in them.
Examples:
  History textbook 6. Semantics – determining the
meaning of a text or word
 Printed materials (serials, periodicals
which interprets previous research) 7. Hermeneutics – determining
ambiguities
What is Historical Criticism?
What is Internal Criticism?
 In order for a source to be used as
evidence in history, basic matters  The Problem of Credibility
about its form and content must be
 Relevant particulars in the document
settled
– is it credible?
 1. External Criticism
 Verisimilar – as close as what really
 2. Internal Criticism happened from a critical examination
of vast available sources
What is External Criticism?
Test of Credibility
 The problem of authenticity
1. Identification of the author
 To spot fabricated, forged, faked
documents e.g. to determine his
reliability; mental
 To distinguish a hoax or
processes, personal attitudes
misrepresentation
2. Determination of the approximate
Test of Authenticity
date
1. Determine the date of the document
e.g. handwriting, signature,
to see whether are anachronistic
seal
th
e.g. pencils did not exist before the 16
3. Ability to tell the truth
Century
e.g. nearness to the event,
2. Determine the author
competence of
e.g. handwriting, signature, witness, degree of attention
seal
4. Willingness to tell the truth
3. Anachronistic style
e.g. to determine if the author
e.g. idiom, orthography, punctuation consciously or
unconsciously tells falsehoods
4. Anachronistic reference to events
5. Corroboration
e.g. too early, too late, too
remote i.e historical facts –
particulars which rest
5. Provenance or custody upon the independent testimony of
e.g. determines its two or more reliable witnesses
genuineness
Three Major Components to Effective
Historical Thinking

1. Sensitive to Multiple Causation

2. Sensitive to Context
3. Awareness of the interplay of
continuity and change in human
affairs
Sensitivity to Multiple Causation
 Every event or situation is the
product of multiple causes or factors,
short-term or long-term
 Inquiry into all relevant condition
and circumstances that determine the
direction of human affairs
Sensitivity to Context
 consciousness about how other times
and places differ from our own
 Bridging the cultural and temporal
gap
 Interpreting the past using values and
beliefs of the past (historical
mindedness)
Continuity and Change
 There can be “history” only when
there is change