Introduction to History a Level at GCH

Introduction to History A Level at GCH Welcome to History A Level. You have made a great choice! I am sure that you will really enjoy studying History at GCH. We cover a broad range of study, encompassing British, European, African and world history. A full overview of the content and assessment of the course can be found on the school website. A level History is a highly respected qualification and can open doors to a very wide range of different university courses and future careers. You are likely to be very successful taking this course, the A Level results in History at GCH are outstanding! You will find information and instructions about the A Level History transition work in this document. Completing this work will help you to learn about the background to the two History modules you will study in Year 12 and will get you prepared. The more of this you are able to complete, the easier you will find it when you start the course. Reading (and viewing) list We recommend that you read one book for each of the two modules you will study next year to help you prepare for the course. You can find these books online (sometimes at very low prices) or in a library. Here are some recommendations: 1. Apartheid and Reconciliation: South African Politics 1948-1999 Reading list: • Gail Nattrass, A Short History of South Africa (this would be an excellent place to start) • Elleke Boehmer, Nelson Mandela: A Very Short Introduction • Peter Hain, Mandela: His Essential Life • Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela • Leonard Thompson, A History of South Africa (particularly the chapters on 1948-1999) • Alan Paton, Cry, The Beloved Country (historical novel) • Elsa Joubert, The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena (historical novel) Viewing list: • Cry, The Beloved Country (1995 film, on Netflix) • Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (a documentary film about the use of music in the struggle against apartheid) 2. Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII, 1445-1509 Reading list: • Dan Jones, The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors • Thomas Penn, Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England • David Grummit, A Short History of the Wars of the Roses • Miri Rubin, The Hollow Crown: A History of Britain in the Late Middle Ages (particularly the chapters on the 1400s) • Alison Weir, Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses • Conn Iggulden, Wars of the Roses: Stormbird (historical fiction) Viewing list: • The White Queen (TV miniseries, historical drama) • The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (2016 BBC television films: Henry VI parts 1 and 2 and Richard III, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugh Bonneville, Judi Dench) Task 1 - The History of South Africa This work will introduce you to the South Africa course and help to understand some of the important history of the country. There are two videos to watch and a research task. 1 Watch the video ‘The History of South Africa (3000BC - 1879AD)’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOP-oimArag - start 1.14 mins into the video and watch until the end (ignore the random Dutch music in the middle!). Answer the following questions as you watch: • Who were the first people to enter South Africa? • Who displaced the Khoisan? • Who were the first Europeans to see South Africa? • Who founded the first permanent settlement at Cape Town in 1652? • Who were the ‘Boers’? • Who were the next Europeans to arrive in South Africa? • What happened in 1805? • Which tribe emerged in 1818 as the dominant tribe in South Africa, causing the ‘great displacement’? • What aroused British interest in these two regions? • Why did tension grow between the Zulus and the British? 2 Watch the video ‘A Brief History of The Boer Wars’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr8AqCxB0J8 Answer the questions below: • Why did the Dutch establish a base in South Africa? • Why was there was tension between the Boers and the British (ignore the misspelling of slavery on the video!)? • What was ‘The Great Trek’ (1835)? Explain briefly what it was. • As the Boers moved inland, which two republics did they establish? • What started the fighting between the British and the Boers (known as the First Boer War)? • Who won the First Boer War (which ended in 1881)? • Why did the British try to end the independence of the Boer republics (the start of the Second Boer War)? • What tactics did the British use to defeat the Boers? • Who won the Second Boer War (which ended in 1902)? Optional extension: watch this excellent video about the Zulu Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVW6GpjSSgI 3 Research the different languages and ethnic groups of South Africa by reading the information below. Make a list of languages and ethnic groups. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Until 1991, South African law divided the population into four major racial categories: (1.) Black Africans. Black population accounts 75% of the South Africa's entire population. (2.) Whites, who account for about 13% of the population. (3.) Indians, who account for around 3% and (4.) Coloureds (this a racist term in some countries, such as the USA, but not in South Africa where it is used to define a specific ethnic group), who are mixed White and Black descent and account for 9% of the population. Although the South African law of racial categories has been abolished, many South Africans still view themselves according to these categories. The black population consists of several groups: Khoi-San, Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Sotho, Shangaan and Venda, just to name a few. The biggest groups are Zulus (21 %), Xhosas (17 %) and the Sotho (15%). Next smaller minorities are the Tswana, Venda, Ndebele, Swasi, and Pedi, among others. The Khoi-Sans are originally hunter-gatherers who have inhabited the land for a long time. Many political leaders, Nelson Mandela among them, come from the Xhosa. The first Europeans to reach the Cape of Good Hope were Portuguese, arriving in 1488. However, permanent white settlement did not begin until 1652, when the Dutch East India Company established a provisioning station on the Cape. In subsequent decades, many Dutch, and Germans, began to settle in the Cape. They are called Afrikaners and speak Afrikaans, a language closely related to the Dutch language. The majority of the white population, about 60 percent, are Afrikaners and most of the remaining 40 percent are of British descent. The province of Natal is home to about one million Indians, whose forefathers came to South Africa from India to work on the sugarcane plantations. They were brought to South Africa by the British in the 19th century. A smaller group of Indians came voluntarily to engage in trade. Among the non-white peoples, the second largest group is the Coloured community. These are people of mixed race, they are mainly living in the Cape region. They originate from Dutch sailors inter-marrying with the Khoi-San in the 17th century. One of the main characteristics of ethnicity is language. In South Africa, there are at least 35 indiginous languages and, currently, ten official languages. IsiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati and isiNdebele are Nguni languages. Sepedi (Northern Sotho), Sesotho (Southern Sotho) and Setswana (Tswana) are Sotho-Tswana languages. Venda and Tsonga are two other official languages in South Africa. English and Afrikaans are also official languages spoken in South Africa. Task 2 - An introduction to Nelson Mandela and Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika Watch this excellent video of little known stories about the life of Nelson Mandela: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSeqrFa9Oqc Questions to consider (you do not need to write your answers to these questions): 1. This video is from a series about little know stories in history - do you think that it is important to learn about little known stories when studying the past? 2. Can you think of any other examples of little known stories that you have learned about? If not, perhaps watch one or two other of the videos on this series (Inherit South Africa). They are absolutely excellent - I highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB_PgzkhcOs and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gan5VwOKSU. So good. 3. The video ends by drawing a connection from what happened to Mandela to a point about education that the narrator thinks we can learn for the present day - do you think that studying history is useful for teaching us about the present? 4. Nelson Mandela is sometimes used as an example of an individual whose own actions and decisions directly caused major changes in history. Think about the history you have studied up to now, can you think of any examples of individuals who have shaped the course of history? Watch this video about the South African national anthem - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG5UeGs4cLc Listen to the anthem being sung in South Africa a couple of years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtg_KtjrIV8 Wow, incredible. Questions to consider (you do not need to write your answers to these questions): 1. How important do you think it is important to learn about social history, such as music and the lives and actions of ordinary people, when studying history? 2. More or less important than learning about the lives and actions of political leaders? Task 3 - The Hundred Years’ War: An Introduction Listen to the podcast (skip past the first two and a bit minutes, unless you want to hear Dan Snow’s small daughter interrupting him!), a conversation between the historian Dan Snow and the lawyer and historian Lord Jonathan Sumption, focusing on the Hundred Years’ War: https://play.acast.com/s/dansnowshistoryhit/7c3467b2-bb1d-4cc3-9e9b-f6a76b08550c.

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