The causes and consequences (effects, impacts) of historical events are of primary interest for historians, and this relationship
is an important part of the History curriculum. Therefore, it is important to think about effective ways of teaching these concepts. Figuring out why a historical event happened can be complicated, as there are often a range of different causes. Similarly, there are always multiple consequences of an event. One way of understanding causes and consequences is through categorising them. Here are three categories students can use to support their understanding. Long-term Short-term Underlying (specific to causes) Catalyst/trigger (specific to causes) Ongoing (specific to consequences) Ideological Political Social Economic Positive Negative This can be analysed using Christine Counsell’s criteria: Remembered Resulting in change Remarkable Revealing Resonant Vocabulary: Encourage students to play around with words as they seek to develop their understanding of causation. The following are synonyms that students could use to describe different types of causes. exacerbate encourage This led to… underpin drive allow further develop In addition discourage influence latent foundation This nurtured prevent preceding deter origins incite beginning element This was the source This bred underlying nevertheless support permit trigger reflect birth contribute subsequently motivate however fundamentally spark consequently impede erupt significantly This compelled The root of bring about principally When analysing consequences, it’s good to bring in ideas relating to change and continuity. This is particularly the case for the 3.6 Achievement Standard that uses the broad term ‘impacts’ and asks students to consider meaningfully the changes and / or continuities that resulted from a trend. See Analysing change and continuity guide. Kaupapa/Purpose: This activity helps students understand that there are often multiple causes for any one event. In this case the event is the death of a camel named Alphonse. After reading the story students Story: Once upon a time there was a camel (called Alphonse). For various reasons (relating to an unfortunate accident during his birth) the camel had severe back problems. This was not the end of his misfortune, however, because he also had an evil, exploitative owner (called Frank, the Camel Killer). Frank had hated camels ever since he experienced a nasty incident in his childhood involving a camel’s hoof and his rear end. He was very bitter and hadn’t
trusted camels since. Frank regularly overloaded his camels before taking them on gruelling and totally unnecessary round trips up and down mountains on his way to deliver goods to his customers. These customers, shockingly, were completely indifferent to these frequent and gross violations of the rights of camels, and even found Frank and his antics vaguely endearing. On top of it, Alphonse was sometimes his own worst enemy. Camels are very proud creatures, and he would act tough in front
of his camel friends, and on his rare breaks he would show off how much he could carry. Plenty of camels had died doing similar work to that of Alphonse and his friends. After a particularly nasty few weeks when camels were keeling over left, right, and centre, the camels decided to form a union to defend their rights and protect them from evil owners. However, when it comes down to it, camels are selfish creatures who don’t trust each other. They were more worried about looking after
themselves than about working together, and the union soon fizzled out. One Friday, Frank loaded up Alphonse and his poor exploited fellow creatures for yet another gruelling and totally unnecessary round trip up and down the mountains. He had piled and piled and piled up the goods onto Alphonse’s back and was taking a break and reflecting smugly on his handiwork, chewing a straw. On a whim he decided to add the straw he had been chewing to Alphonse’s load. Alphonse groaned obligingly and
eyed his owner with disgust. He keeled over and died of radical and irreversible back collapse. Kaupapa/Purpose: Jenga is a great game to play to get students excited about causation and the idea of perspectives in historiography. A Giant Jenga set works best, but if you don’t have one of these the classic Jenga set works fine.
How to cite this page'Cause and consequence', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/te-akomanga/historical-concepts/cause-consequence-analysis, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 2-Nov-2021 RELATED TO CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE: ANALYSISRelated contentWhat is the relationship between cause and effect in history?In historical terms, every event has a cause, and is itself the cause of subsequent events, which may therefore be considered its effect(s), or consequences.
What are some examples of cause and effect?For example, a man offends his neighbor by insulting him (the cause). His neighbor becomes angry (the effect and the next cause) and he in turn tells his friends (the next effect and cause). His friends also become angry (another effect and cause) and tell their friends (another effect and cause).
Why is cause and consequence important in history?Historians are like detectives; they try to understand what happened in the past, and why it happened. The concepts of cause and consequence address who or what influenced events to occur and what the repercussions of those events were.
What is cause and effect relationship in research?What Is A Cause-And-Effect Relationship? In a cause-and-effect relationship, one event leads to another event. In research, it is the study of the effect one variable has on another. The event or variable that acts as the cause can have one or more effects.
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