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Essay Questions AND Answers FOR Grade 12 History Learners
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ESSAY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR GRADE 12 HISTORY LEARNERS, PAPER 1 ESSAY QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
THERE ARE THREE ESSAY QUESTIONS, THE CHINA ESSAY, THE INDEPENDENT AFRICA ESSAY AND
THE CIVIL SOCIETY PROTESTS ESSAY.
These notes will give you a structure on how to answer essay history questions. These questions are out of 50 marks because the exam questions are also usually out of 50 marks.
QUESTION 1: CASE STUDY- CHINA
The implementation of Mao Zedong's policies, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, was a dismal failure. Do you agree with this statement? Use relevant evidence from 1958 to 1969 to support your line of argument. [50]
QUESTION 2: INDEPENDENT AFRICA: COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY – THE CONGO AND TANZANIA
Critically discuss how Mobuto Sese Seko (the Congo) and Julius Nyerere (Tanzania) promoted economic, social and cultural developments in their respective countries after the attainment of independence in the 1960s. Support your line of argument with relevant evidence.
QUESTION 3: CIVIL SOCIETY PROTESTS FROM THE 1950s TO THE 1970s: THE CIVIL RIGHT MOVEMENT
Explain to what extent the various forms of protests by the civil rights activists were successful in ensuring that all Americans, regardless of race, were treated equally in the United States of America in the 1960s. Support your line of argument with relevant evidence.
ANSWERS
QUESTION 1: CASE STUDY CHINA
[Plan and construct an original argument based on relevant evidence using analytical and interpretative skills]
SYNOPSIS
Learners are expected to explain whether Mao Zedong's policies of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution were a dismal failure or not. They should refer to Mao Zedong's policies between 1958 and 1969.
MAIN ASPECTS
Leaners could include the following aspects in their response:
- Introduction: Learners should state whether they agree or disagree with the statement. They need to highlight whether Mao Zedong's policies of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution were a dismal failure or not and indicate how they would support their line of argument.
ELABORATION
In agreeing with the statement, candidates could include the following points in their answer:
- Mao’s rise to power, the first five-year plan and the hundred flowers campaign
(BACKGROUND)
- Mao's policies included the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution which was an attempt to entrench communism
The Great Leap Forward:
Mao Zedong's Second Five Year Plan that started in 1958
It aimed to industrialise China to overtake capitalist countries; improve agricultural production to equal western countries
End privatisation
Rural cooperatives were amalgamated into 'People's Communes' (collectivisation)
Forceful amalgamation of farmers into 'people's communes'
Propaganda used to promote production
How the Chinese responded to the Great Leap Forward:
- Owing to bad planning; poor support to peasants; corrupt local officials; high taxation
on farm products, backyard industries produced inferior goods; industries collapsed
It depended on peasants rather than on machinery to industrialise China
It encouraged peasants to set up backyard industries (industrialisation on the countryside)
If learners should state they disagree, they should substantiate their line of argument with relevant historical evidence. [ 50 ]
QUESTION 2: INDEPENDENT AFRICA: COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY – THE CONGO AND TANZANIA
[Plan and construct an original argument based on relevant evidence using analytical and
interpretative skills]
SYNOPSIS
In writing this essay, learners should show how both Mobuto Sese Seko in the Congo and Julius Nyerere in Tanzania promoted economic, social and cultural development after their countries gained independence from colonial rule. Candidates should substantiate their answers with reference to economic, social and cultural policies.
MAIN ASPECTS
Learners could include the following aspects in their response:
- Introduction: Learners should contextualise the question by mentioning that the economies of the Congo and Tanzania were undeveloped at the time of independence. In addition, colonialism had undermined and de-valued African culture and social structures. Leaders of the Congo and Tanzania both promoted economic, social and cultural development within their countries after decolonisation.
ELABORATION
ECONOMIC
The Congo and Tanzania inherited single-product from their respective colonisers; The Congo embraced a capitalist economic system, whereas Tanzania adopted a socialist economic model. Both struggled to develop their economies
At independence, the Congo and Tanzania lacked a vibrant manufacturing industry
The Congo aimed to industrialise the economy and develop a manufacturing base (largely failed); whereas Tanzania built on its agricultural base, villagisation policy and Ujamaa (faced opposition from independent African farmers)
The Congo relied heavily on foreign aid and expertise from the early 1960s; whereas Tanzania attempted to be self-sufficient and rejected neo-colonialism
Both countries remained reliant on the export of agricultural products and minerals
Mobutu and Nyerere nationalised land and industry to distribute wealth equally
Neither the Congo nor Tanzania had oil reserves so both suffered economic crisis when oil prices rose in the 1970s
Both Mobutu (1970s) and Nyerere (1980s) decided to privatise sectors of the economy due to an economic crisis
Both countries took loans from foreign countries and organisations; from the 1960s the Congo received financial aid from the capitalist west; while from the 1980s Tanzania was forced to take World Bank loans and was subjected to structural adjustment policies
The Congo's economy was characterised by elitism and nepotism, whereas Tanzania reduced corruption of government officials through a 'Leadership Code'
The economy of the Congo produced vast differences in wealth between rich and poor, while Tanzania attempted to minimise economic inequality
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
Education and language
Colonial education promoted Eurocentric values
Under colonialism few African children received more than a primary education. The Congo and Tanzania had a few qualified technicians and engineers
Children were taught European history and languages and western knowledge was privileged over African knowledge Education in Tanzania
Nyerere promoted the use of Swahili (a common language spoken by most Tanzanians) over English
Between 1961 and 1981 illiteracy in Tanzania dropped from 80% to 20%. But as few resources given to tertiary education. Primary school enrolments rose
Structural adjustment in the 1980s resulted in drastic cuts made in social spending resulting in lack of textbooks, desks and teachers
Nyerere (Tanzania) wrote a pamphlet 'Education for self-reliance' (1967) – he expanded primary education in rural areas and focussed on basic literacy Education in the Congo
In the Congo at independence there were 14 university graduates and therefore after independence, the higher education system was expanded
Between 1960-1974 primary education in the Congo rose from 1 million to 4 million
French remained the language of instruction in the Congo
AFRICANISATION
In Tanzania: Villagisation – Nyerere, promoted 'traditional' community values through Ujamaa ('familyhood') villages; Tanzanians were encouraged to focus on agriculture, traditional values and becoming self-reliant. Tanzanians worked the land communally rather than producing cash crops for export
In the Congo: Zairianisation: Mobuto promoted African beliefs and culture through his policy of authenticity.
Mobuto encouraged people to wear African clothing, play and listen to African music and eat African food
Mobuto renamed many towns and cities in the Congo with African names (e. Leopoldville became Kinshasa
CLOTHING
- Mobutu and Nyerere adopted Kwame Nkrumah and Maoist style of dressing
forced to order federal marshals to protect Freedom Riders; Tough new legislation introduced by federal order 1 November 1961 officially desegregated all interstate public facilities
Demonstrations and Marches:
Birmingham 1963: (Mass demonstrations, including a children's march were met with violent and vicious reaction from police (water cannons, dogs, etc. all used to terrorise non-violent protestors) President Kennedy stated on TV that 'racial segregation' was a 'moral issue' which 'had no place in American life'. On 10 May 1963, the city's businesses and municipality announced that municipal facilities would be desegregated. Attacks and murders of African Americans in the city continued (Medgar Evans, Bombing of 16th Street Baptist church)
March on Washington 1963: (250 000 people took part in a non-racial, non-violent march on Washington to demand full equality and jobs; Martin Luther King Jnr gave 'I have a dream speech').
Selma-Montgomery marches (March 1965): (To demand that African American be allowed to register to vote (only 2% of black people were registered voters due to intimidation and racist attacks) – after three attempts, brutal police attacks on nonviolent demonstrators (Bloody Sunday) and mass support from across the country they reached Montgomery. President Johnson was pressurised to pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act)
Freedom Summer (1964) – (Thousands of activists and volunteers (more than 70 000 students many from northern states, local SNCC, CORE and NAACP activists) worked to register African Americans in Mississippi and teach in Freedom Schools (literacy, history); Activists and volunteers were met with violence from white segregationist mobs and police officers; 1964 (2 July) Civil Rights Act passed – barred discrimination and segregation in employment and all public facilities
1965 (6 August) Voting Rights Act passed – (outlawed obstacles (such as literacy tests, poll taxes) to voting which had been put in place to prevent black people registering as voters; CRM achieved equality before the law
Any other relevant response
Conclusion: learners should tie up their argument with a relevant conclusion, if learners can state they agree to a lesser extent, they should substantiate their line of argument with relevant evidence. [50]
