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LGCSE History (0184) study materials
LGCSE History (0184) study resources

LGCSE History (0184) practice questions

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Question 1Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A student is investigating the experiences of volunteers who joined the army in 1914. Which of these is a primary source for that investigation?

  1. A school textbook chapter about the volunteers, published in 2010
  2. A television documentary first broadcast in 2005
  3. A letter written in 1914 by a volunteer Correct answer.
  4. A historical novel about the volunteers published in 2018

Explanation

A primary source is produced at the time by someone connected to the events being studied, which the 1914 letter is. The other three were made long afterwards and interpret or reconstruct the past rather than record it directly, so they are secondary sources.

Question 2Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

In source analysis, what is meant by bias?

  1. The information given in the source is factually incorrect
  2. The writer was not present in person when the events happened
  3. The writer presents events from a one-sided point of view Correct answer.
  4. The source was produced many years after the events described

Explanation

Bias is a slant in the way events are selected, worded or emphasised, so that one side is favoured. Bias can exist even when every stated fact is accurate, and absence of the writer does not by itself create bias.

Question 3Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Which piece of information is part of a source's provenance?

  1. Who produced the source, and when and where Correct answer.
  2. How long the source is and how well it is written
  3. How many historians have quoted the source in their books
  4. Whether the information inside the source is accurate

Explanation

Provenance is the origin of a source: its author, date, place, audience and purpose. A historian establishes provenance first, because judgements about accuracy and usefulness depend on knowing where the source came from.

Question 4Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

What does it mean to corroborate a source?

  1. To judge that the source is too biased to be used
  2. To explain the purpose behind the source's creation and audience
  3. To summarise the source's main argument for a reader
  4. To support its account with independent evidence Correct answer.

Explanation

Corroboration means checking a source's account against other evidence that does not derive from it. Independent agreement strengthens confidence, while a single unsupported source remains weaker.

Question 5Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Two sources give different dates for the same event. What is the most appropriate next step for a historian?

  1. Accept the date given in the longer and more detailed of the two sources
  2. Check other independent evidence to see which date is supported Correct answer.
  3. Reject both sources as unreliable and stop using them
  4. Average the two dates to produce a reasonable compromise

Explanation

Disagreement between sources is resolved by testing each claim against further independent evidence, such as diaries, registers or official records. Length and detail are not proof of accuracy, and a compromise date has no evidential basis.

Question 6Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A letter written during a siege by a soldier inside the town is useful evidence of that soldier's state of mind mainly because

  1. It was written while the experience was taking place Correct answer.
  2. Letters are always more honest than diaries kept at the time
  3. Soldiers were trained to record events without emotion
  4. It was later published in a collection of wartime documents

Explanation

A source created during the event can capture feelings, fears and assumptions before later knowledge changes them. This immediacy is what makes it valuable for studying the writer's state of mind, though it does not guarantee accuracy of factual detail.

Question 7Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Which of these is a secondary source about a nineteenth-century epidemic?

  1. A parish burial register kept during the epidemic year
  2. A doctor's notebook from the epidemic year, listing patients
  3. A newspaper report printed while the epidemic was spreading
  4. An article written in 2020 analysing the epidemic Correct answer.

Explanation

A secondary source is produced after the events by someone who interprets or analyses them, often using primary evidence. The 2020 article fits this because its author was not present and is reconstructing the epidemic from other records.

Question 8Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Why do historians ask who a source was written for?

  1. Because sources written for a wide audience contain no bias
  2. Because the audience fixes the date at which a source was made
  3. Because popular sources are always more accurate than private ones
  4. Because writers shape what they say to suit their readers Correct answer.

Explanation

Audience shapes content: a private diary, a government report and a mass-market leaflet each assume different readers and permit different things to be said. Knowing the intended reader helps a historian detect what has been stressed, softened or left out.

Question 9Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A 1917 government poster shows enemy soldiers as savage beasts. Which use of this poster is most appropriate for a historian?

  1. As evidence that the whole public believed the government's message
  2. As evidence of the exact number of casualties suffered by the enemy
  3. As evidence of the image the government wanted the public to accept Correct answer.
  4. As evidence that the enemy's soldiers really did behave in the brutal way shown

Explanation

A propaganda poster is reliable evidence of what its producers wanted people to think, and of the techniques they thought would persuade. It cannot be treated as a factual description of the enemy or as proof of what audiences actually believed.

Question 10Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Two soldiers in the same battle give different accounts of what happened. What is the most likely explanation?

  1. They saw the fighting from different places and feared different things Correct answer.
  2. One of the two soldiers must have invented the whole of his account
  3. One of the two accounts must be a deliberate forgery
  4. Soldiers were not allowed to describe battles accurately

Explanation

Eyewitnesses occupy different positions, see fragments of a large event and notice what matters for their own survival and unit. Differences of this kind are expected and do not by themselves prove that anyone lied.

Question 11Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A detailed diary kept by a wealthy merchant never mentions the poor of his city. What should a historian conclude?

  1. The poor did not exist in that city at that time
  2. The merchant was forbidden by law to write about poverty
  3. The diary reflects the merchant's own interests, not the whole city Correct answer.
  4. The diary is a forgery because it leaves out important people

Explanation

Silences in a source usually reveal the author's concerns, routines and social world rather than an absence of people. A historian treats the diary as evidence of the merchant's outlook and looks elsewhere for the experience of the poor.

Question 12Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A historian records an interview in 1990 with a woman recalling her childhood in a 1920s mining village. What is the main limitation of this testimony?

  1. A recorded interview is less trustworthy than a written account
  2. Oral testimony cannot be used by historians of the twentieth century
  3. Her memory of details may have faded over the decades Correct answer.
  4. She was too young in the 1920s to remember anything at all

Explanation

The value of oral history lies in personal experience and reflection, but the long gap between the 1920s and 1990 makes precise details vulnerable to decay and reshaping. Historians therefore check names, dates and events against documents while still valuing the remembered experience.

Question 13Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A general publishes a memoir after the war defending his decisions in a failed campaign. What should a historian be most cautious about?

  1. The reputation of the company that printed the memoir
  2. His detailed description of the terrain over which the attack was made
  3. His wish to justify his own conduct during the campaign Correct answer.
  4. His use of formal military vocabulary throughout the book

Explanation

A memoir written after failure has an obvious purpose: to explain and defend the author's choices. That purpose can shape what is emphasised, blamed or omitted, so the account must be checked against contemporary records and other participants.

Question 14Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A document said to date from 1650 refers to a railway timetable. What is the most reasonable conclusion?

  1. The reference was added by a careless modern printer and changes nothing
  2. Railways were far more common in 1650 than historians previously thought
  3. The word 'railway' meant something different, so the date is secure
  4. The document is probably not from the date it claims Correct answer.

Explanation

Anachronism, meaning a detail that could not have existed at the stated date, is a standard test of authenticity. A railway timetable in a supposedly 1650 document is strong grounds for doubting the date until further evidence explains it.

Question 15Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Most surviving court records from a town concern property disputes between wealthy families. What does this suggest to a historian studying crime there?

  1. Wealthy families were more likely to commit crimes than the poor
  2. Poorer residents of the town committed no crimes of any kind
  3. Surviving records may not reflect the lives of poorer residents Correct answer.
  4. The town's courts dealt only with cases about property

Explanation

Records survive unevenly, and disputes involving property and wealth are more likely to be written down and preserved. The historian must therefore treat the archive as a filter that may have removed the experiences of poorer people, rather than a complete picture.

Question 16Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A wartime propaganda film exaggerates victories and hides losses. How can a historian still use it?

  1. By ignoring it, because unreliable sources have no value at all
  2. As evidence of the message the government wanted civilians to accept Correct answer.
  3. By counting its scenes to work out real casualty numbers
  4. By treating its battle scenes as accurate records of the fighting

Explanation

A source can be unreliable as a factual record and still be valuable as evidence of attitudes, intentions and methods of persuasion. The film is reliable evidence of official messaging, and it becomes more useful when compared with censored reports and private reactions.

Question 17Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Two newspaper articles from the same city quote the same official report word for word. Why is one of them not independent corroboration of the other?

  1. Both come from one source, so they may share its errors Correct answer.
  2. Newspapers published in the same city always agree with each other
  3. Only books, and never newspapers, can corroborate evidence
  4. Articles written during wartime are automatically unreliable

Explanation

Corroboration requires sources whose evidence arises independently, so that a single mistake cannot be duplicated. Two articles copying the same report are really one source with two outlets, and any error in the original will appear in both.

Question 18Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A statesman writing in 1950 describes a decision of 1914 as 'obviously doomed from the start'. What should a historian note about this judgement?

  1. It should be rejected outright because the writer was not present in 1914
  2. It proves that people in 1914 also expected the decision to fail
  3. It is reliable because the writer was an experienced and senior statesman
  4. It may be shaped by knowledge of how events later turned out Correct answer.

Explanation

A writer working after the outcome knows what happened, and this knowledge can make a past choice seem more obvious than it was at the time. Historians therefore distinguish between what was knowable in 1914 and what hindsight has added.

Question 19Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A 1930s photograph shows a smiling crowd at a factory opening, and the photographer was employed by the factory owner. Which interpretation is best supported?

  1. The photograph proves that every worker there was content
  2. The photograph shows that the crowd was unaware of the photographer's presence
  3. The photograph is worthless because the owner commissioned it
  4. The photograph shows a moment framed to present the opening favourably Correct answer.

Explanation

Photographs record a chosen instant, a chosen angle and a chosen subject, and here the photographer's employer had an interest in positive publicity. The image is therefore good evidence of how the opening was presented, not of general contentment.

Question 20Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A government inspection report calls conditions in a factory satisfactory, while a petition signed by 300 workers calls them dangerous. Which approach is most appropriate?

  1. Discard both sources, since they contradict each other completely
  2. Ask how each source was made and what its writer wanted Correct answer.
  3. Accept the petition, since it carries far more signatures than the report does
  4. Accept the report, since government inspectors had expert training in factory conditions

Explanation

Contradictory sources are evaluated by examining how each was produced, who wrote it, for whom, and with what purpose, then testing claims against further evidence. Neither official status nor the number of signatures removes the need for that analysis.

Question 21Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Two armies' records give very different casualty totals for the same battle. What is the best explanation?

  1. Battlefield medicine was too primitive for accurate record keeping
  2. One of the armies must have deliberately destroyed its own records
  3. The armies may have counted different things, such as dead and missing Correct answer.
  4. Casualty figures published by armies are always invented

Explanation

Casualty totals vary because categories differ: killed, wounded, missing, captured and later dying of wounds are counted in different combinations. Comparing figures therefore requires finding out what each list actually included before treating the difference as deception.

Question 22Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Two historians using the same evidence reach different conclusions about a strike. What is the most likely reason?

  1. Only one interpretation of an event can rest on real evidence
  2. They emphasise different evidence and ask different questions Correct answer.
  3. Historians cannot properly study events that people still remember
  4. One of the two historians must have falsified the evidence

Explanation

Historians select from a large body of evidence and frame different questions, so the same documents can support different emphases and judgements. Both interpretations can be evidence-based, and the historian's task is to test each against the sources.

Question 23Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A 1912 newspaper claims that 'our readers overwhelmingly oppose the strike', based on letters received. Why should a historian treat the claim cautiously?

  1. Public opinion about strikes did not exist in 1912
  2. The strike was far too small for any newspaper to report it
  3. Letter writers chose themselves, so they may not represent all readers Correct answer.
  4. Newspapers in 1912 did not print letters from their readers

Explanation

People who write to a newspaper are self-selecting and may be unusually angry, organised or literate, so their views need not match those of the wider readership. The letters are still useful evidence of what some readers thought and of what the editor chose to print.

Question 24Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

In source analysis, what does the provenance of a document describe?

  1. The main argument that the document puts forward
  2. Its origin, authorship and ownership history Correct answer.
  3. The amount of detail the document contains about events
  4. The number of copies of the document that survive

Explanation

Provenance covers where, when and by whom a source was created, and who has owned or kept it since. It is established before the content is assessed closely, because it shapes how much weight the content can bear. Details of argument or quantity of information belong to content analysis, not provenance.

Question 25Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Which statement best describes what historians mean by bias in a source?

  1. The source presents events from a particular viewpoint Correct answer.
  2. The source has been deliberately forged by its author
  3. The source was produced many years after the events
  4. The source contains a factual mistake

Explanation

Bias is a slant or perspective that shapes what a source includes, stresses or leaves out, and it is often unconscious rather than dishonest. A biased source can still be accurate on many points and remains valuable evidence of its author's attitudes. Errors, hindsight and forgery are separate problems that are judged differently.

Question 26Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

In history, an interpretation is best described as which of the following?

  1. A document held in a national archive
  2. An evidence-based explanation open to challenge Correct answer.
  3. A source produced at the time of the events
  4. A fact that no historian disputes

Explanation

An interpretation is a reasoned account of the past built from evidence, which other historians can test and dispute. It differs from a source, which is raw material, and from an established fact, which is not seriously contested. Interpretations change as new evidence or new questions appear.

Question 27Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A historian studies a tax record from a famine year and notes the food shortage, unrest and censorship at the time it was made. Which concept is the historian applying?

  1. Textual criticism
  2. Historical context Correct answer.
  3. Anachronism
  4. Citation practice

Explanation

Historical context means the circumstances surrounding a source's creation, such as war, hunger or censorship, which can shape what it says and why. Establishing context helps the historian read the source as its author intended and judge its reliability. Textual criticism and citation are different procedures.

Question 28Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Which of these best describes a contemporary source?

  1. One that survives in a national archive
  2. One produced during the period being studied Correct answer.
  3. One produced by a professional historian
  4. One that has been translated into the historian's language

Explanation

A contemporary source was created while the events under study were happening or shortly afterwards, by people living at the time. Its value lies in closeness to the events, though closeness does not guarantee accuracy. Who wrote it, where it is kept and what language it is in are separate questions.

Question 29Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A census lists 412 textile workers in a town in 1871, while a novel set in the same town describes 'thousands' of mill hands. A historian wants the number of workers. Which choice is soundest?

  1. Use the census, compiled systematically for that purpose Correct answer.
  2. Reject both, since neither can be completely accurate
  3. Average the two figures to reach a fair compromise
  4. Use the novel, because novels often capture the mood of an age

Explanation

Different sources suit different questions, and a count compiled for administrative purposes is stronger evidence of numbers than a literary description. The novel remains useful for attitudes and atmosphere. Averaging unrelated figures or discarding everything is not a recognised historical method.

Question 30Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A factory owners' association publishes figures showing that wages rose every year from 1900 to 1910. What is the most important caution for a historian using these figures?

  1. Wage figures are never used by economic historians
  2. The reporting body had an interest in the result Correct answer.
  3. The figures are printed rather than handwritten
  4. The figures cover too long a period to be useful

Explanation

When the body producing evidence has a stake in the conclusion, its figures need independent checking against other sources such as tax records or trade union data. Interest does not automatically make figures false, so the historian tests rather than dismisses them. The format or time span of the data matters far less.

Question 31Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A satirical magazine prints a cartoon in 1890 mocking a prime minister as a puppet. Which use of the cartoon is most appropriate?

  1. As evidence of the prime minister's private opinions
  2. As evidence of how some contemporaries viewed him Correct answer.
  3. As proof that the prime minister was controlled by others
  4. As a reliable record of the prime minister's policies

Explanation

A political cartoon is produced to persuade and amuse, so it is strongest as evidence of the cartoonist's and readers' attitudes, and of the language of public debate. It cannot by itself prove the truth of the claim it makes about its subject. Its exaggerations are the point, not a flaw to be corrected.

Question 32Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

An inspector visits a mine for a single day and reports that conditions are 'generally satisfactory'. Which limitation matters most to a historian?

  1. The report is too short to contain any facts
  2. A one-day visit may not reflect normal conditions Correct answer.
  3. The inspector used formal language throughout
  4. The report was written by hand rather than typed

Explanation

A single visit gives a snapshot that may miss seasonal work, shift patterns or conditions the mine owner had time to prepare for. This limits how far the report's conclusion can be generalised. Handwriting, register and length are surface features that do not determine evidential value.

Question 33Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

Consider the sentence: 'The new factory was a disaster for the town.' Which feature makes this a statement of opinion rather than fact?

  1. It uses fewer than ten words
  2. It refers to a place rather than a person
  3. It contains a judgement others could dispute Correct answer.
  4. It is written in the past tense

Explanation

The word 'disaster' embeds an evaluation of whether the outcome was good or bad, and people could reasonably judge the factory's effects differently. Factual statements can be tested against evidence; judgements depend on criteria and values. Tense, subject matter and length do not decide the question.

Question 34Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A newsreel of a royal visit shows only cheering crowds and no empty streets. What is the best explanation for the absence of empty streets?

  1. Footage was selected and edited before release Correct answer.
  2. The camera operator arrived too early to film
  3. Film of that period could not record crowds
  4. No one came to see the royal visit

Explanation

Newsreels were compiled for entertainment and often for a patriotic or celebratory effect, so camera operators filmed selectively and editors cut what was shown. Absence of empty streets therefore reflects production choices rather than necessarily the reality of the day. The remaining footage still shows how the event was presented to audiences.

Question 35Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A collection of 200 letters survives from a town, all written by members of one merchant family between 1850 and 1860. What is the main limitation of this collection?

  1. Ten years is too long a period to study
  2. The letters are handwritten and hard to read
  3. Letters were not a common form of communication
  4. It probably does not represent other inhabitants Correct answer.

Explanation

Surviving evidence is often skewed towards the literate and wealthy, so a single family's correspondence cannot stand for the whole town. A historian would look for other voices, such as court records or workers' petitions, before generalising. Legibility and period length do not affect representativeness.

Question 36Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A woman writes in her diary the evening after a riot; thirty years later she describes the same riot in a memoir. For details of the crowd's movements, which is usually the stronger evidence, and why?

  1. Neither, because personal writing is always unreliable
  2. The memoir, because published accounts are checked by editors
  3. The diary, because it was written soon after the events Correct answer.
  4. The memoir, because she had more time to think it through

Explanation

Memory fades and is reshaped by later experience, so a record made close to the events is generally more dependable for concrete detail. The memoir still has value for how she later understood the riot and for her reflections. Publication and editorial checking do not guarantee accuracy of recollection.

Question 37Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A historian uses an English translation of a speech delivered in another language. What is the main risk?

  1. Translations cannot be used as historical evidence
  2. Nuances of the original wording may be lost Correct answer.
  3. The speech will have been shortened by the translator
  4. The original speech will no longer exist

Explanation

Translation involves choices, and tone, idiom and ambiguity in the original may not carry across. A careful historian consults the original text or compares translations when the precise wording matters. Translations remain usable evidence, but with that caution in mind.

Question 38Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A diary contains one claim that a historian can prove false. What is the soundest response?

  1. Accept the remaining claims because most of it is likely true
  2. Assume the author intended to deceive readers throughout
  3. Discard the whole diary as worthless
  4. Check the other claims independently Correct answer.

Explanation

A single error shows that the source is not reliable in every respect, but it does not settle whether the author was careless, misinformed or deliberately misleading. The other claims need testing against independent evidence before any are accepted. The diary may also remain useful as evidence of the author's beliefs and experiences.

Question 39Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

A historian argues that a single memoir by a mill worker 'proves what all workers thought'. What is the main weakness of this argument?

  1. One person's account cannot establish a general view Correct answer.
  2. The memoir was written after the factory closed
  3. The worker was too young to remember the events
  4. Memoirs are always written for money and so are false

Explanation

A single life story is one case, and workers differed by trade, region, age and politics, so generalising from it is unsafe. The memoir is still valuable as evidence of that individual's experience and of how one worker made sense of it. Wider generalisations require many voices or other types of evidence.

Question 40Historical skills and source analysis (evidence, interpretation, bias, reliability)

In 1930 a government changed how it counted the unemployed, and the recorded total fell sharply. Before comparing the 1929 and 1931 figures, what should a historian do first?

  1. Add the two figures together and divide by two
  2. Check whether the definition changed Correct answer.
  3. Ignore the figures and rely on newspaper reports instead
  4. Assume the fall reflects real improvement in employment

Explanation

Statistical series are comparable only when the same definitions and methods are used across the years, so a change in counting rules can create an apparent trend that never happened. The historian would seek the original definitions and, where possible, a consistent series. Newspapers are themselves shaped by editorial choices and are no substitute for examining the figures.

Question 41Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

Which group is generally regarded as the earliest inhabitants of the area that is now Botswana?

  1. Herero pastoralists
  2. San hunter-gatherers Correct answer.
  3. Ndebele warriors
  4. Tswana cattle keepers

Explanation

Archaeological evidence and oral traditions place San hunter-gatherers in southern Africa long before farming and herding communities arrived. They lived by hunting, gathering and using seasonal water sources across the Kalahari and hardveld.

Question 42Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

Which activity formed the main basis of wealth and social status in Tswana chiefdoms?

  1. Gold mining
  2. Cattle keeping Correct answer.
  3. Rice cultivation
  4. Deep-sea fishing

Explanation

Cattle provided milk, meat, hides, transport and bridewealth, and ownership measured a family's standing. Large herds were held by chiefs and wealthy households, while agriculture supplemented the diet.

Question 43Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

What is the Tswana term for the public assembly or traditional court where disputes are heard?

  1. Kgotla Correct answer.
  2. Moraka
  3. Boswa
  4. Mophato

Explanation

The kgotla is the open meeting place and court in a Tswana community. The kgosi presides over it, and adults discuss matters affecting the morafe.

Question 44Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

In Tswana society, what was bogadi?

  1. Bridewealth from the groom's family Correct answer.
  2. A military regiment
  3. A rain-making ceremony
  4. A form of tribute collected by the chief

Explanation

Bogadi was the cattle or goods transferred from the groom's family to the bride's family. It sealed the marriage alliance and gave the bride's family a stake in the union and its children.

Question 45Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

What was the title of the ruler of a Tswana morafe?

  1. Kgosi Correct answer.
  2. Moruti
  3. Ngaka
  4. Induna

Explanation

A morafe was a Tswana chiefdom led by a kgosi, who combined political, judicial and ritual authority. The kgosi ruled with advisers and the kgotla assembly.

Question 46Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

Which site in eastern Botswana is an important Early Iron Age settlement dated to roughly 700–1300 CE?

  1. Mapungubwe Hill
  2. Khami ruins
  3. Toutswemogala Correct answer.
  4. Domboshaba Hill

Explanation

Toutswemogala Hill near Palapye has thick layers of cattle dung and remains of a large settlement, showing early farming and herding in Botswana. It gives its name to the Toutswe tradition.

Question 47Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

In Tswana culture, what does pula primarily symbolise?

  1. Cattle colour
  2. Rain and blessing Correct answer.
  3. Iron working
  4. Ancestral burial ground

Explanation

Pula means rain, a precious resource in semi-arid Botswana, and it stands for blessing and good fortune. It appears in the national motto and in greetings.

Question 48Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

Which missionary society established stations among Batswana communities in the early nineteenth century?

  1. The London Missionary Society Correct answer.
  2. The Franciscan missionary order
  3. The Jesuit missionary order
  4. The Dutch Reformed Church

Explanation

The London Missionary Society sent workers such as Robert Moffat and David Livingstone to southern Africa. LMS stations among the Batswana became centres of literacy and religious change.

Question 49Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

Sechele I was the kgosi of which Tswana chiefdom?

  1. Bangwato
  2. Bakwena Correct answer.
  3. Bakgatla
  4. Bangwaketse

Explanation

Sechele I ruled the Bakwena at Kolobeng and later Molepolole in the mid-nineteenth century. He was baptised by David Livingstone and dealt with Boer and other pressures.

Question 50Botswana and Southern Africa before colonial rule

Which Tswana ruler travelled to Britain in 1895 to oppose Cecil Rhodes's plans and became known for his diplomacy?

  1. Bathoen I
  2. Montshiwa
  3. Sechele I
  4. Khama III Correct answer.

Explanation

Khama III of the Bangwato joined Bathoen I and Sebele I in a deputation to Britain in 1895. They argued against transfer of their territories to the British South Africa Company.