Scottish Higher Higher History Syllabus

Higher History syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Higher History in Scottish Higher, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Scottish History

   4 topics

   • The Wars of Independence (1249-1328)
     • The succession problem and the Great Cause
     • Wallace, Bruce and the path to independence
   • The Treaty of Union (1689-1740)
     • Worsening relations with England
     • Arguments for and against union
   • Migration and Empire (1830-1939)
     • Immigration to Scotland
     • The Scottish emigrant experience and impact of the Empire
   • The Impact of the Great War (1914-1928)
     • Scots on the Western Front
     • Social, political and economic change at home
2. 2

   British History

   4 topics

   • Britain 1851-1951: The Growth of Democracy
     • Reform Acts and the widening franchise
     • The campaign for women's suffrage
   • The Development of the Welfare State
     • Liberal reforms 1906-1914
     • Labour reforms 1945-1951
   • Changing Roles and Status of Women
   • Assessing the Extent of Democracy by 1951
3. 3

   European and World History

   4 topics

   • Germany 1815-1939
     • Growth of nationalism and unification
     • The rise of the Nazis to power
   • The USA 1918-1968
     • Prosperity, prejudice and the Depression
     • The Civil Rights Movement
   • Free at Last? Civil Rights in the USA
   • Appeasement and the Road to War 1918-1939
4. 4

   Historical Skills

   4 topics

   • Evaluating the Usefulness of Sources
     • Origin, purpose and content
     • Recall of wider context
   • Comparing Sources
     • Points of agreement and disagreement
   • Assessing How Fully a Source Explains an Issue
   • Constructing Extended Essay Responses

Higher History flashcards for Scottish Higher

21 of 58 cards from the Higher History deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In the Wars of Independence, what event in 1286 triggered the Scottish succession crisis?

   The death of King Alexander III (he fell from his horse). His heir, the 'Maid of Norway' Margaret, died in 1290, leaving no clear successor and creating the disputed succession known as the 'Great Cause'.

2. What was the 'Great Cause' (1291-1292) and how was it resolved?

   It was the legal contest for the vacant Scottish throne. Edward I of England was invited to arbitrate; in 1292 he chose John Balliol as king, but only after Balliol acknowledged Edward as feudal overlord of Scotland.

3. Why is John Balliol nicknamed 'Toom Tabard' ('empty coat')?

   After his failed rebellion, Edward I publicly humiliated him in 1296 by stripping the royal insignia from his tabard, symbolising the loss of his kingship and Scotland's subjugation.

4. What two battles mark the rise and fall of William Wallace's military leadership?

   Victory at Stirling Bridge (1297), where Scots defeated an English army crossing a narrow bridge, and defeat at Falkirk (1298), where English longbowmen broke the Scottish schiltrons.

5. What was a 'schiltron' in the Wars of Independence?

   A tightly packed defensive formation of foot-soldiers bristling with long spears, used by the Scots to resist cavalry. It was effective against horsemen but vulnerable to archers, as shown at Falkirk.

6. What act in 1306 made Robert Bruce's seizure of the throne especially controversial?

   He killed his rival John Comyn (the 'Red Comyn') in the Greyfriars church at Dumfries — a sacrilegious murder on holy ground that led to his excommunication before his coronation as King Robert I.

7. Why was the Battle of Bannockburn (1314) decisive in the Wars of Independence?

   Robert Bruce's forces decisively defeated Edward II's much larger English army near Stirling, securing Scottish independence in practice and greatly strengthening Bruce's position as king.

8. What was the Declaration of Arbroath (1320) and what did it assert?

   A letter from Scottish nobles to the Pope asserting Scotland's independence and the right to resist any king who subjected them to England, famously stating they fight 'not for glory, nor riches... but for freedom alone'.

9. Which 1328 treaty formally ended the first War of Independence, and what did it recognise?

   The Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton (1328). England recognised Scotland as an independent kingdom and Robert the Bruce as its rightful king.

10. Going into the 1707 Union, name two key economic pressures pushing Scotland toward union with England.

    The catastrophic failure of the Darien Scheme (the colony at Panama) which bankrupted many investors, and English trade barriers (e.g. the Alien Act 1705) that threatened Scottish exports and access to English markets.

11. What was the Darien Scheme and why was it significant for the Union?

    A 1690s attempt to found a Scottish colony at Darien (Panama). Its failure cost Scotland a huge share of its capital, exposed Scottish economic weakness, and made union with wealthier England more attractive.

12. What was the Alien Act of 1705 and its effect on Anglo-Scottish relations?

    An English law threatening to treat Scots as aliens and ban key Scottish exports (cattle, linen, coal) unless Scotland negotiated union or accepted the Hanoverian succession. It pressured Scotland into Union talks.

13. Name two arguments used AGAINST the Treaty of Union in Scotland.

    Loss of Scottish parliamentary sovereignty/independence, and fear that English economic interests would dominate; also popular anger expressed in riots and the view that nobles were bribed ('the Equivalent') to vote for union.

14. What was 'The Equivalent' in the 1707 Union settlement?

    A sum of around 398,000 pounds paid by England to Scotland, partly to compensate Darien investors and offset Scotland's share of English national debt — critics saw part of it as bribery of pro-union politicians.

15. In the Migration and Empire topic, name two 'push' factors driving Highland Scots to emigrate in the 19th century.

    The Highland Clearances (eviction of tenants for sheep farming) and the potato famine of the 1840s, plus general rural poverty and lack of land.

16. Which immigrant groups were the largest to settle in Scotland between 1830 and 1939?

    The Irish (the largest group, especially Catholics fleeing famine), followed by smaller communities of Italians, Lithuanians (often called 'Poles'), and Jewish immigrants.

17. What jobs and economic role did Irish immigrants typically fill in 19th-century Scotland?

    Low-paid, hard labour: building canals, railways and roads ('navvies'), coal mining, and work in textile mills. They were often resented as competition driving down wages.

18. What economic role did Italian immigrants become especially associated with in Scotland?

    Catering and food: ice-cream parlours, cafes, and fish-and-chip shops, which became a distinctive and widely accepted part of Scottish urban life.

19. Give two ways Scots abroad (the diaspora) contributed to the British Empire.

    As engineers, doctors, missionaries and administrators; and through emigrant labour and capital in places like Canada, Australia and New Zealand — Scots were prominent in jute, shipping, and colonial governance.

20. How did jute link Dundee to the British Empire?

    Dundee imported raw jute from Bengal (India) and processed it into sackcloth and rope, earning the city the nickname 'Juteopolis'; the trade tied Scottish industry directly to imperial India.

21. In 'The Impact of the Great War', what was the human cost of WWI for Scotland?

    Scotland suffered disproportionately high casualties — roughly 100,000+ Scottish dead — owing to high enlistment rates and the concentration of Scots in frontline infantry regiments.

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