Scottish National 5 (Nat 5) History Syllabus

Why were early factories and coal mines dangerous workplaces in this period?

Long hours, unguarded machinery, child labour, poor ventilation, gas explosions and flooding in mines, and no safety regulation led to frequent injury, illness, and death.

What did the Factory Act of 1833 introduce?

It banned children under 9 from working in textile factories, limited working hours for older children, and introduced factory inspectors to enforce the rules.

What were the main causes of disease in rapidly growing industrial towns?

Overcrowding, poor sanitation, contaminated water, and lack of sewerage spread diseases such as cholera and typhoid; the 1842 Chadwick Report linked dirt to disease.

How did the railways transform Britain in the 19th century?

They enabled fast, cheap transport of goods and people, boosted trade and industry, created jobs, allowed fresh food distribution, and stimulated tourism and standard national time.

In The Making of Modern Britain (1880-1951), what did Booth and Rowntree's social surveys reveal about poverty?

They showed that around 30% of people lived in poverty, often due to causes beyond their control such as low wages, illness, old age, and unemployment, not laziness.

Name two Liberal Reforms (1906-1914) and the group each was meant to help.

Free school meals (1906) and medical inspections for children; Old Age Pensions (1908) for the elderly; the National Insurance Act (1911) for the sick and unemployed.

What was the significance of the Beveridge Report (1942)?

It identified the 'Five Giants' (Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, Idleness) and proposed a comprehensive welfare state, forming the blueprint for post-war reform.

List the 'Five Giants' identified in the Beveridge Report.

Want (poverty), Disease (poor health), Ignorance (poor education), Squalor (poor housing), and Idleness (unemployment).

What major institution was created by the Labour government in 1948, and who led it?

The National Health Service (NHS), providing free healthcare at the point of use, championed by Health Minister Aneurin (Nye) Bevan.

In The Atlantic Slave Trade (1770-1807), describe the three legs of the 'Triangular Trade'.

Leg 1: manufactured goods from Britain to Africa; Leg 2 (Middle Passage): enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas; Leg 3: plantation goods (sugar, tobacco, cotton) back to Britain.

What was the 'Middle Passage'?

The brutal sea voyage transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas, marked by overcrowding, disease, abuse, and high death rates.

How did the slave trade benefit British ports such as Glasgow, Liverpool and Bristol?

They grew wealthy from shipping, trading slave-produced goods (sugar, tobacco, cotton), and related industries; merchants ('Tobacco Lords' in Glasgow) made fortunes.

Name two methods enslaved people used to resist slavery.

Active resistance such as revolts, escape, and sabotage; passive resistance such as working slowly, breaking tools, feigning illness, and preserving their own culture and religion.

Name two leading figures in the British abolitionist movement.

William Wilberforce (led the parliamentary campaign) and Thomas Clarkson (gathered evidence); Olaudah Equiano, a formerly enslaved man, wrote an influential autobiography.

What did the 1807 Act achieve, and what did it NOT do?

The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807 banned the buying and selling of slaves in the British Empire, but it did NOT free existing enslaved people; slavery itself was abolished in 1833.

In Hitler and Nazi Germany (1919-1939), why was the Treaty of Versailles (1919) resented in Germany?

It forced Germany to accept blame (War Guilt Clause), pay heavy reparations, lose territory and colonies, and limit its armed forces, fuelling anger Hitler exploited.

What was the Munich Putsch (1923) and its outcome for Hitler?

Hitler's failed attempt to seize power in Munich; he was arrested and imprisoned, where he wrote Mein Kampf, and afterward switched to gaining power legally.

How did the Reichstag Fire (1933) help Hitler consolidate power?

He blamed the Communists and used it to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending civil liberties and arresting opponents, paving the way for the Enabling Act.

What did the Enabling Act (March 1933) allow Hitler to do?

It let Hitler make laws without the Reichstag or President for four years, effectively giving him dictatorial powers and ending democracy in Germany.

What was the Night of the Long Knives (1934)?

A purge in which Hitler ordered the murder of SA leaders (including Ernst Röhm) and other rivals, removing threats and securing the loyalty of the army and SS.

Name two methods the Nazis used to control the German people.

Propaganda (controlled by Goebbels) and terror via the SS and Gestapo (secret police); also censorship, the Hitler Youth, and control of education.

What were the Nuremberg Laws (1935)?

Anti-Jewish laws that stripped Jews of German citizenship and banned marriage or relationships between Jews and non-Jewish Germans, formalising persecution.

In The Cold War (1945-1989), what was the 'Iron Curtain'?

A term popularised by Winston Churchill describing the political and ideological divide separating communist Eastern Europe from the capitalist West.

What was the Truman Doctrine (1947) and the Marshall Plan?

The Truman Doctrine pledged US support to countries resisting communism (containment); the Marshall Plan provided US economic aid to rebuild Western Europe and resist communism.

What triggered the Berlin Blockade (1948-49) and how did the West respond?

The USSR blockaded West Berlin's land routes to force the Allies out; the West responded with the Berlin Airlift, flying in supplies until Stalin lifted the blockade.

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)?

A 13-day standoff when the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba; the US under Kennedy imposed a blockade, and Khrushchev agreed to remove them, bringing the world close to nuclear war.

What was the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)?

It symbolised the collapse of communist control in Eastern Europe and the effective end of the Cold War, leading to German reunification.

In Free at Last? Civil Rights in the USA (1918-1968), what were the 'Jim Crow' laws?

State and local laws in the Southern USA that enforced racial segregation of black and white people in schools, transport, and public facilities.

What sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56), and who led it?

Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger; Martin Luther King Jr. helped lead the year-long boycott, which ended bus segregation in Montgomery.

Name the 1954 Supreme Court case that ruled school segregation unconstitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine and declared segregated schools unconstitutional.

Contrast the approaches of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X / the Black Power movement.

King advocated non-violent, peaceful protest and integration; Malcolm X and Black Power favoured black self-reliance, separatism, and self-defence 'by any means necessary'.

What two major laws resulted from the civil rights campaigns of the 1960s?

The Civil Rights Act 1964 (banned discrimination in public places and employment) and the Voting Rights Act 1965 (banned barriers like literacy tests to black voting).

When Evaluating Sources, what four key things should you assess about a source's value?

Authorship/origin (who made it and when), purpose (why it was made), content (what it says/its accuracy), and audience; weigh how these affect its reliability and usefulness.

What is the difference between a primary and a secondary source?

A primary source is created at the time of the event by someone present (e.g. a letter, photo, diary); a secondary source is created later by someone analysing the event (e.g. a textbook).

When Evaluating a Source, what does considering 'provenance' mean?

Examining the source's origin: who wrote/created it, when, where, and why, in order to judge how reliable and useful it is as evidence.

In a 'Compare the Sources' question, what should you identify between two sources?

Points of agreement and disagreement (overall viewpoint and specific details), comparing what each source says about the issue and supporting it with quoted evidence.

When Comparing Sources, why is it not enough to simply quote each source separately?

You must explicitly link the sources by explaining how a point in one matches or contradicts a point in the other, showing the connection rather than describing them in isolation.

In a 'Using Recall and Context' question, what does 'recall' mean?

Bringing in your own background knowledge about the topic that is NOT mentioned in the source, to add extra valid points and support your answer.

For a source-based answer using recall and context, how do you achieve full marks?

Combine relevant points taken directly from the source with accurate recalled knowledge from outside the source, ensuring both are clearly developed and relevant to the question.