CAPE HISTORY Unit 1

Past paper questions 2005-2009

Abolition of slavery
2005 Assess the strategies used by the british Abolitionsits against the institution
of slavery.
2006 Assess the view that the economic decline of the plantation system in the
colonies which became British before 1793 was a MAJOR factor leading to the
abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean.

2008 Assess the factors that contributed to the abolition of the trans-Atlantic trade
in Africans to the Caribbean.

2009 Discuss the view that the disintegration of the system of enslavement was
the result of forces from within as well as from outside the Caribbean.
(Misc) Slave Systems: Character and dismantlement
1.
Explain why the slave populations in the Caribbean generally did not
reproduce themselves.
2.
Explain why the Caribbean slave populations on sugar plantations generally
did not increase by natural means.
3.
To what extent were the roles of female slaves in Caribbean plantation
society determined by their enslaved status?
4.
Explain how the economic systems that were developed by enslaved people
in the Caribbean contributed to their survival.
5.
Assess the importance of the cultivation and marketing of provisions for the
enslaved people in the Caribbean.
6.
Explain ways in which enslaved womens experiences were determined by
their gender.
7.
Examine the reasons why European indentured labour gave way to African
slavery in the Caribbean in the 17th century.
8.
Discuss reasons for the high mortality rate among enslaved Africans in the
Caribbean during the 18th century.
Haiti 1804-1825
2005 Discuss the view that internal instability and external hostility undermined
the new Haitian state between 1804 and 1825.
2007 Discuss the view that the first TWO decades of haitis independence were
marked by instability at home and antagonism from abroad.
2009 The challenges faced by Haiti in creating a free society after independence
were due mainly to external factors. Discuss this statement ith reference to the
period 1804-1825.

Cuba

2007 Discuss the factors that led Fidel catsros nationalist movement of 1959 to
move steadily towards communism by 1970.
2008 Discuss the view that closer relationships between Cuba and the Englishspeaking Caribbean countries brought both benefits and political tensions between
1974 and 1983.
2008 Examine the view that Fidel castros rise to political power in Cuba began with
the July 26 Movement and was consolidated by 1961.

Peasantry
2006 Discuss the factors that assisted the rise of the peasantry in the post-slavery
Caribbean up to 1900.

Workers Rebellion
2005 A conflict between the old order and new circumstances. Discuss this view
with reference to ONE of the following workers rebellions;
-Labour protest, ST. Vincent, 1862
-Morant bay Rebellion, Jamaica, 1865
Confederation Riots, Barbados, 1876

2008 Social, economic and political factrs were at the root of the labour protests in
the Caribbean in the second half of the nineteenth century.
With reference to this statement, explain the causes and consequences of ONE of
the following labour protests:
(1) 1862 Labour Protest ( St. Vincent)
(2) 1865 Morant bay Rebellion ( Jamaica)
(3) 1876 Confederation Riots ( Barbados)

Integration
2006 Explain why the movement towards political integration in the british
Caribbean after 1945 did not achieve its objectives.
2009 Discuss the movements towards regional integration in the British Caribbean
between 1947 and 1974.

Immigration
2008 Assess the extent to which Indian indentured labourers experienced
exploitative working conditions in the British Caribbean between 1860 and 1917.