NCEA L1 History flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Primary source

Material produced at the time of an event by someone involved or present, such as a diary, letter, newspaper report, photograph, or official record. It offers direct evidence but reflects its maker's position.

Secondary source

A later account or interpretation built from primary evidence, such as a history book, documentary, or museum display. Its value depends on the quality of the sources and research behind it.

OPCVL analysis

A method asking about a source's origin, purpose, content, value, and limitation. It moves analysis beyond simply describing what the source says to judging what it can reliably show.

Provenance

The origin of a source: who made it, when, where, for whom, and in what circumstances. Provenance determines how much weight the evidence can carry in an argument.

Corroboration

Checking one source's claims against independent sources of different types. Agreement strengthens a claim; disagreement signals the need to investigate further before reaching a conclusion.

Reliability versus usefulness

A source may be unreliable on facts yet useful as evidence of attitudes, propaganda, or intentions. Historians separate the question of accuracy from the question of what the source can evidence.

Silences in evidence

The absence of certain voices from the record, such as women, workers, or Māori in official documents. Silences are themselves evidence of who held power to record and preserve information.

Private versus public source

A diary or letter is private and may be candid; a speech, newspaper, or poster is public and shaped by audience. Knowing which type helps explain tone, emphasis, and omission.

Historical significance

The argued importance of an event or context, justified by its consequences, scale, depth over time, or continuing relevance. Significance must be reasoned and evidenced, not assumed.

Consequence test

A way to judge significance by explaining what changed, for whom, how quickly, and whether the change persisted. Broad and lasting change indicates greater significance.

Turning point

A moment after which conditions differ substantially from before. Claiming a turning point requires evidence of the situation before and after, and identification of what specifically changed.

Presentism

Judging past people by present-day values without acknowledging the period's own norms. Historians can use present concerns but should state which lens they are applying.

Depth of significance

The extent to which a context lasted across generations and shaped structures such as law, land ownership, or language. Longer, deeper effects generally support stronger significance claims.

Contested significance

The situation where different groups assign different importance to the same event. An answer should state whose significance is being explained and support it with evidence.

Causal chain

A linked sequence from trigger to medium-term development to long-term outcome. It shows how specific events connect to wider consequences rather than treating change as sudden or unexplained.

Contemporary relevance

The way a historical context still shapes current law, land, language, or identity. Continuing effects are part of an argument for significance today.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

The Māori-language treaty signed on 6 February 1840, granting kāwanatanga to the Crown and guaranteeing rangatiratanga to rangatira. Its wording differs significantly from the English text.

Rangatiratanga

Chiefly authority and self-determination, guaranteed to rangatira in the Māori text of Te Tiriti. It remains central to debates about Māori autonomy and Treaty settlement.

Kāwanatanga

Governorship or government, the authority granted to the Crown in the Māori text of Te Tiriti. It is narrower than the 'sovereignty' claimed in the English text.

Mana

Prestige, authority, and spiritual power held by people and groups. Loss or restoration of mana is a recurring theme in accounts of Treaty breaches and settlement.

Kaitiakitanga

Guardianship and stewardship of land, water, and environment, grounded in whakapapa relationships. It has legal recognition, including in the Resource Management Act 1991.

Whakapapa

Genealogy and descent linking people to ancestors and to land. It underpins Māori claims to whenua and shapes how historical continuity is understood.

Native Land Court

A court established in 1865 that converted customary Māori title into individual, transferable titles. It became a major mechanism of land alienation in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Waitangi Tribunal

A body established in 1975 to investigate Crown breaches of Te Tiriti. Its reports interpret evidence and recommend action but are not binding court judgments.

Perspective

A viewpoint shaped by a person's position, culture, class, gender, and interests. Explaining a perspective requires showing the reasons and circumstances that produced it.

Empathy in history

Explaining why past people acted as they did using their own stated reasons and values, without endorsing their actions. It is an interpretive skill, not an emotional judgement.

Dominant perspective

The viewpoint most represented in the surviving record, often that of officials, settlers, or the literate and powerful. Identifying it reveals whose voices are marginalised.

Marginalised voice

The perspective of a group largely absent from official records, such as Māori, women, or workers. Historians seek it through petitions, oral testimony, and court records.

Changing perspectives

The way individuals and societies reinterpret events over time as values and experience shift. Comparing contemporary and later views shows how memory of a context evolves.

Evidence of perspective

Statements or actions showing what someone believed, drawn from speeches, letters, petitions, or testimony. Assumptions about a whole group are not evidence of a perspective.

Comparing perspectives

Setting two viewpoints on the same event side by side and explaining the different circumstances behind each. This shows understanding of a context rather than taking sides.

Limits of one voice

A single letter or speech represents one person's view, not an entire iwi, class, or nation. Claims about group perspectives need multiple independent sources.