history of the filipino people by teodoro a agoncillo

In the book, Agoncillo contradicted many historians’ belief that the Philippine Revolution was led by elites and so-called ilustrados (or “the educated ones”), such as José Rizal or Gregorio del Pilar. We can see how this approach operates in The Revolt of the Masses – arguably his masterpiece – when he turned a prevailing historical narrative on its head. On the contrary, it’s a breathtaking journey to the past, colored by the literary prose and personality of the historian.īut more importantly, he saw history’s critical task of raising citizens who can think for themselves and learn from the nation’s collective mistakes. “I do not know of any such unhuman historian,” he declared.įor Agoncillo, history is no mere calendar nor bullet points. In writing history, Agoncillo advised historians not to deny their humanity, but to rather embrace it. According to him, all historians are humans, and humans possess “passion, prejudices, and emotion” that influence even the best of their works. He denounced the idea of the “objective” historian. National Scientist Teodoro Agoncillo “The Filipino point of view”Ĭentral to his methodology was the need to rewrite history from “the Filipino point of view,” while sticking to the facts. Later, he became its Department Chair, transforming its curriculum to train succeeding generations of high-caliber Filipino historians. He lamented the department’s “deadness” for its failure to produce historical research that would aid in nation-building, at a time when the country was still recovering from the collective trauma brought about by two world wars and centuries of colonization. In 1958, he joined the faculty of the UP Department of History. As a historianīy the 1950s, he started to focus on writing about the Spanish era and the Philippine Revolution. Before that, he spent more than 20 years as a Tagalog writer and poet. It could be said that he kicked off his career in history quite a bit late, at around 46 years old. He finished his Bachelor’s in Philosophy (1934) and Master’s in History (1939) at the University of the Philippines (UP). He was a relative of Filipino diplomat Felipe Agoncillo, who attempted (but failed) to persuade the US to accept the newly founded republic’s legitimacy Marcela Agoncillo, who was one of the three women who sewed the Philippine flag and first President Emilio Aguinaldo. Beginningsīorn on Novemin Lemery, Batangas, Agoncillo came from a family that was much involved in the 1896 Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War. The late historian’s equal emphasis on rigorous scientific inquiry and creative imagination forever changed the way we look at our own history, while securing him a controversial spot in the said field. For National Scientist Teodoro Agoncillo, however, the answer is both.

History of the filipino people by teodoro a agoncillo