NCEA Level 2 History flashcards

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

Focusing question

A narrow, answerable question that directs an inquiry, such as how a specific event changed a named group or institution in New Zealand.

Primary source

Material created at the time of an event by a participant or witness, such as a letter, photograph, minute book, or oral recording, used as direct evidence.

Secondary source

A later interpretation of an event that draws on primary evidence, such as a textbook, documentary, or museum panel, useful for context and debate.

Provenance

The origin and history of a source, including its author, date, place of creation, and chain of custody, which informs judgements about reliability.

Corroboration

Confirmation of a claim by independent evidence from a different source, which strengthens confidence that the claim is accurate and reliable.

Bias

A systematic slant or distortion in a source arising from its author's purpose or position, which does not automatically make the source false or useless.

Perspective

A viewpoint shaped by a person's role, class, ethnicity, gender, and circumstances at the time, differing from bias because it is a standpoint rather than a distortion.

Presentism

Judging past people by present-day values without accounting for what they knew and believed at the time, which weakens historical interpretation.

Underlying cause

A long-term condition or tension that makes an event possible, such as economic pressure or constitutional dispute, distinct from an immediate trigger.

Immediate trigger

The short-term event that sets off a larger development, such as a specific decision, strike, or incident that precipitates wider conflict.

Unintended consequence

An outcome of an event or policy that was not foreseen or planned by those involved, often revealed only by later evidence and analysis.

Counterfactual reasoning

Asking what would likely have happened without a particular factor, used to test whether a cause was necessary or sufficient for an event.

Change and continuity

The paired analysis of what altered and what stayed the same across a period, and for which groups, when assessing an event's effects.

Public memory

How a society later remembers and commemorates an event through monuments, place names, curricula, and anniversaries, itself evidence of contested significance.

Treaty of Waitangi

Signed on 6 February 1840, its Maori and English texts differ in meaning, particularly over kawanatanga and rangatiratanga, shaping later Crown-Maori relations.

Waitangi Tribunal

Established in 1975 to hear claims about Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, producing reports that are important evidence for examining Crown-Maori relations.

Raupatu

Land confiscation following the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s, a central process in Maori land loss and in later treaty settlement redress.

1951 waterfront dispute

A 151-day industrial conflict involving the Waterside Workers' Union and the National government, which reshaped unionism and industrial law in New Zealand.

Springbok tour 1981

A rugby tour that divided New Zealand society over apartheid sport, prompting nationwide protest, cancelled matches, and debate about sport and politics.

Rogernomics

Economic liberalisation from 1984 under the fourth Labour government, including deregulation and corporatisation of state assets, with lasting effects on employment and inequality.

Rainbow Warrior bombing

The 1985 sinking of a Greenpeace ship in Auckland by French agents, which killed Fernando Pereira and shaped New Zealand's independent foreign policy.

Oral history

A recorded interview capturing personal experience and meaning, valuable where written records are scarce, requiring consent, accurate transcription, and careful attribution.

Significance criteria

Stated standards for judging importance, including numbers affected, depth and durability of change, contemporary recognition, and relevance to later events.

Turning point

An event that reverses an existing trend or sets a new direction, used as evidence that a development was historically significant rather than incidental.

Kawanatanga

A Maori term used in the Treaty text for governance, contested in meaning and central to debates about Crown authority and Maori autonomy.

Rangatiratanga

A Maori term for chieftainship or authority, used in the Treaty's Maori text and central to claims about Maori self-determination and autonomy.

Native Land Court 1865

A court that individualised Maori land title, enabling sales and having long-term consequences for Maori land retention and community structures.

Command words

Instruction verbs such as describe, explain, and examine that specify the depth of response required, with examine demanding analysis of several factors.

Analytical paragraph

A paragraph structured as a claim, specific evidence with dates and names, and an explanation linking the evidence to the claim being argued.

Correlation and causation

The distinction between two things occurring together and one bringing about the other, which must be argued with evidence of a mechanism.

Local to national significance

The argument that a local event or place matters nationally because its effects spread through legislation, migration, or public debate, explained by a stated mechanism.

Digitised primary source

An original document or image reproduced online, which should be verified against the page image because searchable text may contain OCR errors.