Humanities Exam

Question 1

What were the factors affecting the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 1

The factors were political, economic, social, and technological (PEST) factors.

Question 2

How did the economy change in 1760?

Answer 2

In the early 19th century, Britain experienced a dramatic population increase and the Industrial Revolution, leading to the growth of industries such as textiles, iron, and steel production. The coal industry was also essential for steam trains. Traditional agriculture and cottage industries were replaced by mechanized manufacturing, leading to increased efficiency in production. Capitalism, which was the idea of private ownership, became the dominant economic system, and the growth of factories and industries allowed greater investments from entrepreneurs and investors and created the capitalists classes.

Question 3

Define Urbanisation:

Answer 3

Urbanisation is the increase in the population of people relocating to towns or cities to find work or housing. In terms of the Industrial Revolution, this affected the economy and technological advances, such as selective breeding to increase meat and wool production.

Question 4

What change in perspective did the Industrial Revolution bring to economics?

Answer 4

There was a new approach to economic management known as laissez-faire, a French term meaning “let do”, whereby individuals had more freedom to conduct their own business rather than being dictated by government policies.

Question 5

What positive effects did the Industrial Revolution bring?

Answer 5

Laissez faire- individuals had freedom for their own business

Advance in economic thinking- Bank of England ensured there was capital for investment and low-interest rates

Capitalism- private individuals and companies own property and goods, rather than the government, generate greater revenue by exporting goods. Coal= more steam engines and reduced energy
costs.

Advances in technology- cottage industry and the innovation of spinning jenny and the important innovation of steam engines.

Question 6

What was the effect of revolutionising transport?

Answer 6

Revolutionising transport meant that roads and canals and other modes of transports would be developed, leading to greater movement of people and goods. The British set up turnpike trusts to address poorly built roads and provide funds to build new roads, and developing canals meant that heavy goods such as coal could be transported across the country rather than via the coast.

Question 7

What were the key dates of Federation?

Answer 7

The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was presented to British Parliament in 1900, and was passed on 5th July, 1900.
On January 1, 1901, the Constitution of Australia began, with new territories and states combining to become the Commonwealth of Australia.
In 1908, it was decided Australia’s capital will be Canberra.

Question 8

Define Terra Nullius:

Answer 8

A Latin phrase meaning ‘nobody’s land’, used to deem Australia uninhabited and gave Britain the rights to seize and occupy and impose laws to the nation.

Question 9

What was the White Australia Policy Act?

Answer 9

Australia’s leaders saw immigration as an issue of paramount importance, as non-white immigrants would steal Australian jobs, so they enacted the Immigration Restriction Act in 1901 to seal the entrance of immigrants. It consists of an immigration officer selecting any European language and offering the applicant to translate it into English, a method that was deemed biased and was in place for 60 years, until the relaxation of WWII. Another aspect of the White Australia Policy Act came about in blackbirding, where plantation owners from Queensland’s sugar and cotton industry kidnap or coerce Islanders to work for them- also known as the Pacific Islander Labourer Act in 1901. It was also to stop Japan military invasion in WWII.

Question 10

End of WW1 key dates

Answer 10

WWI official ending: 11th November, 1918, due to an armistice by Germany
Treaty of Versailles: 28th June 1919
Russia exit war: 3rd March, 1918

Question 11

Alliances of WWI

Answer 11

There were 2 main alliances, the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance.

Triple Entente- France, Britain, and Russia
Triple Alliance- Germany, Austro-Hungary, and Italy.

Question 12

Elaborate on the Treaty of Versailles:

Answer 12

Germany was held responsible for the war, and paid reparations to the Allies as compensation. They lost land to France and Poland, and their military was reduced to 100,000 soldiers. Moreover, the War Guilt Clause was the main reason for the Treaty of Versailles.

Question 13

Explain Child Labour during the Industrial Revolution.

Answer 13

Many mill owners employed child labour as they were a cheap source of labour, and could fit under machines to repair breaks. The children used were usually “apprentices,” orphans who were sent to work by factory owners, and they had few rights. They suffered physical deformities while working in the mines and were treated like slaves in hazardous factories. In 1833, the British government passed the Factory Act which improved conditions for children working in factories, such as an age restriction and time limit for work, however many still suffered malnutrition and diseases.

Question 14

What was Charles Darwin’s challenge to the church?

Answer 14

In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, a book specifying the theory of evolution that the English clergy saw as a threat to British society. His observations on the Galapagos Islands helped him formulate his ideas regarding evolution, which was that different species evolved to suit their environment, also known as ‘natural selection,’ challenging the Christian ideology that God created plants and animals.

Question 15

Reasons For Federation

Answer 15

Defense: Other colony development leads to concern for safety as an outpost of the European Empire, Fear of China and Japan’s invasion of Australian wealth, General Sir James Bevan Edwards said a united force could protect Australia and strengthen the army.

Immigration: In the 19th Century, people wanted the British heritage of colonies, and were concerned that non-white labor could compete with colonies for their jobs. There was also the extension of gold fields in the 1850s, which Australia wanted to preserve as internal wealth.

Transport- make a united railway system
National Identity- everyone was given fair opportunities (egalitarianism), also promoting nationalism, and defending for whole country’s interests.
Trades- tariffs to tax goods that crossed borders, a currency for Australia.

Question 16

What was the impact of the Stolen Generation?

Answer 16

From the federation up until the 1970s, many First Nations children were assimilated into church missions in an attempt to make them fit in ‘white society’. The Aboriginal Protection Act was a form of genocide carried out by the state government to remove fair-skinned Aboriginals by adopting them into white families. Much of this assimilation was undermined by the belief that First Nations people were incapable of surviving on their own, and young boys were prepared for menial labour and girls were prepared for domestic labour. The policy of child removal impacted the children as they were taken from a young age and often endured raids by police, and also transgenerational trauma as they were forced to stop speaking their own language and practises.

Question 17

Significance of frontier wars:

Answer 17

The significance of the frontier wars was that as the European colonies expanded, the resistance between First Nation people grew, such as taking back livestock, burning crops, and attacking colonists. This created conflict between the colonists and First Nations People, now known as the Frontier Wars, which lasted from 1788 to the 1930s.

At the start, Governor Arthur Phillip established good relations with the First Nations people, but it didn’t prevent colonists from appropriating land, raiding their homes, and sexually abusing the people. This turned into a vicious cycle of violence and massacre towards the perpetrators. Many massacres were acts of genocide, such as the Myall Creek Massacre in 1838, in which Wererai people were raped and burned alive for their race and not necessarily their act of resistance. What was unusual about that Massacre was that it resulted in persecution and colonists used more discreet forms of killing after that, such as poisoning.

Question 18

Consequences of the Industrial Revolution:

Answer 18

The Industrial Revolution put a strain on the environment, such as the clearing of land and air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels. Deforestation was a consequence, as forests were cleared for timber and factories to make way for urban development. It also leads to land degradation, which leads to problems such as erosion and loss of habitat, and increases the chance of natural disasters such as flooding.
The negative impact of air pollution was that it created smog during the 1800s, leading to car accidents, human respiratory problems, and the death of animals at the market. Earth’s climate is also changing due to air pollution and carbon dioxide, leading to global warming and rising sea levels due to the melting of glaciers.
During the Industrial Revolution, there was a lack of proper sanitation, and water pollution was the main cause of dangerous epidemics of diseases such as cholera. Waste from industries also contaminated water.

Question 19

What was the effect of Technology in WWI?

Answer 19

War at Land: Development of artillery- machine guns and motars.
One of the most destructive weapons at the Western Front, even if a soldier wasn’t impacted by the shell, they would be killed by flying shrapnel. No Man’s land was riddled with barbed wires and bomb craters, trapping soldiers and killing them. Tanks also represented a new danger, as they were heavily armored and capable of causing significant damage. They were modified after trench warfare to fit the terrain. Other new weapons included poison gas and flamethrowers, with mustard gas burning the eyes and lungs of soldiers who could not escape its radius. Gas killed many soldiers and left survivors with lifelong injuries.

War at Air: Aircraft became vehicles of war, as they were used to fly over enemy territories to spy on their plans and military strategies. The first airplane was invented in 1903 by Americans, and at first, it was used on more reconnaissance missions than war, so aircraft never fought each other. In mid-1915, planes mounted machine guns to assist in battle, and Germany used zeppelins, airships that used hydrogen for lift, to conduct bomb raids on Britain.

War at sea: Naval arms race between Britain and Germany- Battleships came in direct conflict once, during the Battle of Jutland in June 1916, where German and Britain ships sank. British ships implemented a naval blockade to stop supplies from reaching Germany via the North Sea. Germany responded with faster U-boats and submarines, and attacked civilian ships.

Question 20

Women Suffrage:

Answer 20

During the 19th Century, women had limited rights, and society dictated that a women’s role was domestic life- staying at home, doing the dishes and providing for children. It was also that many men did no believe that women had the intellectual capacity to understand politics and re too emotional. Women began to campaign for suffrage in Britain, also known as the right to vote, and the ones that used violent actions were recognised as suffragettes. As comparison, Australian suffragists used non-violent actions to campaign, and are closely associated with the temperance movement, where they campaign to stop drinking collectively. In 1894, South Australia became the first place in the world to pass legislation allowing women to vote and stand for parliament.

Question 21

Conscription Debate

Answer 21

The number of recruitments declined as the war went on and casualty rates increased, thus resulting in conscription created by the Australian government and Prime Minister Billy Hughes by 1916 as a shortage of men volunteering to enlist. The conscription was passionate and heated on both sides, as some argued Australia had a moral duty to support England, and if the war was lost then Germany might invade Australia. The union movement argued against conscription because jobs would be taken by women or foreigners, adding to their incapability of work. Australian Irish Catholics also opposed the idea of conscription and war, partly because England use Ireland’s land at that time, and also other religious beliefs.