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YEAR 6: DID POWER MOVE TO THE PEOPLE? (6 lessons)
Contents Include:
Peterloo
The Great Reform Act
Ireland
The Potato Famine
Home Rule
Suggested Teacher Resources:
The Young Oxford History of Britain & Ireland, pages
308-317
The Houses of Parliament have resources on the working of
Parliament, votes for
women, and an illustrated timeline about the history of
Parliament.
For events in Ireland, show clips from The Story of Ireland
(2011).
http://www.parliament.uk/education/teaching-resources-lesson-plans/what-is-parliament-whiteboard-resource/http://www.parliament.uk/education/teaching-resources-lesson-plans/votes-for-women-part1/http://www.parliament.uk/education/teaching-resources-lesson-plans/votes-for-women-part1/http://assets.parliament.uk/education/houses-of-history/main.html
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Lesson 1. Old Corruption
Britain has been a democracy for one hundred years. Before that,
the great majority of the British population had no say in
politics. The first great reforms to
the British political system occurred in 1832, and it is known
as the ‘Great Reform Act’. For these first two lessons, pupils
study how the electoral system
worked before 1832. It was widely criticised for involving only
3% of the population; corruption; not giving MPs to new industrial
towns; forcing people to
vote in public; allowing votes to be bought, and so on. Pupils
should first study what was wrong with the system, so they can
understand the reforms.
See pages 142-143 of What Your Year 6 Child Needs to Know.
Learning Objective Core Knowledge Activities for Learning
Related Vocabulary Assessment Questions
To understand why British politics needed to be reformed in
1832.
In Britain, at least every five years, the different areas of
Britain vote for a politician to represent them in the House of
Commons in Parliament.
Before 1832 in Britain, only 3% of the country (usually the most
wealthy) were able to vote.
People were not allowed to vote in private, and could therefore
be intimidated. In addition, many large industrial towns did not
have a single Member of Parliament to represent them.
Ensure that the pupils understand the essential process of an
election, and the key vocabulary. This includes vote, election,
Parliament, Member of Parliament, and constituency. A role play of
an election, with pupils acting out the different parts, should
help to remindthem.
Look at the famous Hogarth cartoon, ‘The Polling’, and analyse
what it is saying about the corruption of elections before 1832
(resource 1). Write a personal account of an election during the
eighteenth, based upon the image in ‘The Polling’.
right to vote election corruption government Member of
Parliament House of Commons
What was wrong with British politics before 1832?
What sort of people were allowed to vote?
What sorts of changes do you think needed to happen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humours_of_an_Election#mediaviewer/File:William_Hogarth_031.jpg
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1. The Polling
During the eighteenth century, elections in Britain were
notoriously corrupt. There was widespread anger with this
situation, and it was
criticised in a series of paintings by the famous artist William
Hogarth. This is one of the most famous, entitled ‘The Polling’,
showing the bad
behaviour taking place at a polling station on election day.
Look at the image here and here, and see which of the following
features you can locate.
An insane man is carried
up to vote by a group of
people. He is clearly not
in the right state of mind
to place a vote, but is
being encouraged to do
so anyway.
An injured army veteran tries to vote,
but first he has to swear an oath on the
bible. He is doing this with a hook (as
he lost his hand) but he is told that his
oath does not count. Two lawyers are
getting into an argument about
whether this should be permitted.
A man who is close to dying is
carried towards the polling station
so that he can vote. The group of
people are trying to keep him alive
just long enough so that he can
place his vote. Behind him is a blind
man and a man on crutches.
Flags of the two
rival political
parties. Blue
represents the
Tory party, and
Orange represents
the Whig party.
The different parties count
their votes to see how many
they have won, and the Tory
candidate looks worried. On
the bridge, wealthy freemen
on their horses and carriages
queue up to vote.
A woman in a carriage is sad because her
carriage has broken down and the
coachmen are doing nothing to solve this
problem about it apart from gambling.
The woman is supposed to symbolise
‘Brittania’, so the message is that Britain
is broken and nobody will fix it.
The election clerk, who
should be policing the
election day polling, has
fallen asleep. Nearby,
another man draws a
cartoon of the Tory
candidate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humours_of_an_Election#mediaviewer/File:William_Hogarth_031.jpghttp://www.soane.org/collections_legacy/the_soane_hogarths/an_election
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Lesson 2. Demands for change
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, ’radicals’ in England
began to demand widespread changes to the political system. This
was in part inspired by
the French Revolution, and the ruling aristocrats of England
were afraid that if no changes were made, they may experience the
same bloody revolution as
the French. During this period, the Peterloo massacre took
place, where eleven radicals were killed, and 500 were injured, for
listening to a speech by Henry
Hunt. In the light of this tragedy, demands for freedom of
speech, political rights, and increased liberty began to grow
amongst the people of England.
See pages 143 of What Your Year 6 Child Needs to Know.
Learning Objective Core Knowledge Activities for Learning
Related Vocabulary Assessment Questions
Why were radicals demanding a change to English politics?
Many people during the nineteenth century began demanding that
British politics be reformed. They were often known as
‘radicals’.
They wanted more people to be given the vote, and for elections
to become more fair and less corrupt.
Henry Hunt was a leading radical, and at one of his speeches in
Manchester, a group of soldiers killed 11 people and left 500
injured. The event, which happened in 1819, was known as
Peterloo.
Read through Samuel Bamford’s account the Peterloo massacre
(resource 2), and use it as evidence to write a newspaper report
about the attack in St Peter’s Field, Manchester (resource 3).
This is an informative, short video about the Peterloo
Massacre.
Ask pupils to devise a list of six reforms to British politics,
based on what they learned last lesson, which would make it more
fair and honest.
Peterloo massacre radical
What happened at Peterloo?
Why were the radicals at Peterloo listening to henry Hunt?
What sort of demands would people have made for the reform of
British politics?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-ln4p4mWu0
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The radical Samuel Bamford described the attack on the crowd at
St. Peter's Fields on the 16th
August, 1819.
The cavalry, waving their sabres over their heads; and then,
slackening rein, and striking spur into
their steeds, they dashed forward and began cutting the people.
"Stand fast," I said, "they are
riding upon us;" The cavalry were in confusion; they evidently
could not, with the weight of man
and horse, penetrate that compact mass of human beings; and
their sabres were plied to cut a
way through naked held-up hands and defenceless heads. "Shame!"
was shouted then "break!
break!" they are killing them in front, and they cannot get
away." On the breaking of the crowd
the yeomanry wheeled, and, dashing whenever there was an
opening, they followed, pressing and
wounding. Women and tender youths were indiscriminately sabred
or trampled.
A number of our people were driven to some timber which lay at
the foot of the wall of the
Quakers' meeting house. Being pressed by the yeomanry, a number
sprung over the balks and
defended themselves with stones which they found there. It was
not without difficulty, and after
several were wounded, they were driven out. A young married
woman of our party, with her face
all bloody, her hair streaming about her, her bonnet hanging by
the string, and her apron weighed
with stones, kept her assailant at bay until she fell backwards
and was near being taken; but she
got away covered with severe bruises.
In ten minutes from the commencement of the havoc the field was
an open and almost deserted
space. The hustings remained, with a few broken and hewed
flag-staves erect, and a torn and
gashed banner or two dropping; whilst over the whole field were
strewed caps, bonnets, hats,
shawls, and shoes, and other parts of male and female dress,
trampled, torn, and bloody. Several
mounds of human flesh still remained where they had fallen,
crushed down and smothered. Some
of these still groaning, others with staring eyes, were gasping
for breath, and others would never
breathe again.
2. The Peterloo Massacre
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2. The Peterloo Massacre
The Times
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Lesson 3. The 1832 Great Reform Act
The Great Reform Act was the first time that the British
political system was significantly reformed to suit the demands of
the modern age. For this reason it
is remembered as having been ‘great’, but it did not actually
bring in a very significant change. The amount of people with the
right to vote in Britain only
rose from 3% to 5%. However, the act was ‘Great’ as it can now
be seen as Britain’s first step on the road towards becoming a
democracy. In short, anyone
who lived in a property worth more than £10 was given the right
to vote. In addition, fast growing industrial cities were given
representation in Parliament.
See pages 144 of What Your Year 6 Child Needs to Know.
Learning Objective Core Knowledge Activities for Learning
Related Vocabulary Assessment Questions
To decide whether the Great Reform Act was an important change
to British politics.
The Great Reform Act allowed anyone who lived in a property
worth more than £10 to vote. This was only 650,000 people – a
fraction of the population.
The Great Reform Act was passed by an aristocrat called Earl
Grey.
Although it was not a very big change, it was seen as the first
‘step’ on the road towards democracy.
Draw a timeline of the important changes in voting, leading all
the way to democracy, using the dates detailed on page 144 of What
your Year 6 Child Needs to Know (resource 4).
Consider three reasons why the Great Reform Act was passed (the
previous system was corrupt; the people of Britain were becoming
angry; there could have been a revolution) and decide which was
most important.
reform Earl GreyGreat Reform Actcorruptdemocracy
What changes were made to British politics by the Great Reform
Act?
Who had the right to vote after the Great Reform Act?
Why was the Great Reform Act seen as an important stage in
political history?
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4. Changes in the vote
1800
1832
1838
1867
1872
1884
1918
1928
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4. Changes in the vote
1800
1832
1838
1867
1872
1884
The vote is very unevenly spread
around Britain, and the
qualification to vote is different
depending on where you live.
People want this to be reformed. The Great Reform Act give
the
vote to all men who own a house
costing £10 or more. This accounts
for around 650,000 people. William Lovett writes the
People’s
Charter, demanding that all men
should have the vote, and the vote
should be carried out in secret. The Second Reform Act
enlarges
the electorate from 1 million to 2
million voters. Male lodgers, and
small landowners in the
countryside, were given the vote. The Secret Ballot Act is
passed,
allowing people to vote in secret.
This frees voters from being
intimidated into voting in a
particular way. The Third Reform Act allows all
men who own houses to vote.
Many ordinary, working class men
such as farmers and miners, can
now vote in elections.
1918
The Representation of the People’s
Act gives the vote to all men over
the age of 21, and married women
over the age of 30.
1928
The second Representation of the
People’s Act gives the vote to all
women on the same basis as men.
Finally, there is equality between
the sexes in England.
(comp.)
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Lesson 4. Ireland as a British colony
For much of its history, the British tried to invade and control
their neighbour. Ireland became a British colony during the reign
of Henry VIII, and went on to
be controlled by a ruling class of Protestant settlers from
England and Scotland. These settlers regularly clashed with the
native, Catholic population of
Ireland, and the Irish were oppressed and kept poor under
Protestant rule. This led to a rebellion in 1798, led by an Irish
rebel named Wolfe Tone, which was
brutally put down by the British. To prevent any more
rebellions, the Act of Union was passed, making Ireland no longer a
separate colony, but part of Britain.
See pages 145 of What Your Year 6 Child Needs to Know.
Learning Objective Core Knowledge Activities for Learning
Related Vocabulary Assessment Questions
To know that in the past, Ireland was a British colony.
Ireland had been a colony of Britain since the reign of Henry
VIII.
In 1798, there was a rebellion in Ireland against British rule,
led by a man called Wolfe Tone. He invited the French army to
invade and help fight for Irish independence.
Wolfe Tone’s rebellion was unsuccessful, and as a result, the
Act of Union was passed in 1800. This meant that Ireland was no
longer a colony, but was actually a part of the United Kingdom.
Create a timeline of Irish history under British rule (resource
5).
Study the development of the Union Jack through the different
Acts of Union, as the St Patrick’s Cross was added to the Union
Flag to make the Union Jack as we know it today (resource 6).
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland colony Catholic
emancipation
When did the British first come to rule Ireland?
Who rebelled against British rule in 1798? Why?
What was the consequence of Wolfe Tone’s failed rebellion?
Why did Britain want Ireland to be part of the Union instead of
a colony?
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1. Irish history Timeline
1500s
1640s
1798
1800
1829
1845
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1. Irish history Timeline
1500s
1640s
1798
1800
1829
1845
Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth
send Protestant settlers to
colonise Ireland. They mostly
settle in the northeast of the
country, called Ulster. Oliver Cromwell crushes an Irish
rebellion against Protestant rule
following the English Civil War. An
estimated 200,000 Irish people are
killed or die of disease. Wolfe Tone, an Irish rebel,
invites
the French army to help him in a
war of independence. He wants
Ireland to be freed from British
rule.
Wolfe Tone’s war of independence
fails, and he is killed by the British.
The Act of Union is passed, making
Ireland part of the United
Kingdom. Irish Catholics are given the right
to vote and stand as Members of
Parliament.
Ireland suffers from a dreadful
potato famine, and one million
people die of starvation, with
another million emigrating to
countries such as America.
(comp.)
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6. The Development of the Union Jack
+ Colour in the flags with red and blue, in order to see how the
St George’s Cross (England), the St Andrew’s Cross (Scotland), and
the
Cross of St Patrick (Ireland) combined to make the Union Jack
(Britain).
= + + =
St George’s Cross St Andrew’s Cross Union Jack (1714)
St George’s Cross St Andrew’s Cross Cross of St Patrick
Union Jack (1801)
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Lesson 5. The Irish Potato Famine
The Irish Potato famine is the most shocking event in the
history of Britain and Ireland. Ireland’s population was heavily
dependent on the potato, which was
cheap and easy to grow in the English soil. However, in 1846 a
‘blight’ or ‘disease’ hit the Irish potato crop, causing the
potatoes to rot in the ground. The
people of Ireland were suddenly without their main food source,
and over a million people starved to death between 1856 and 1852.
Comparisons can be
made with the Great Famine in India thirty years later, as the
British were accused of standing by and not doing enough to feed
their starving colony.
See pages 145 of What Your Year 6 Child Needs to Know.
Learning Objective Core Knowledge Activities for Learning
Related Vocabulary Assessment Questions
To understand what happened in the Irish Potato famine.
The Irish potato famine lasted from 1845 to 1852, and killed an
estimated one million people.
The Irish population depended on the potato as a key part of
their diet, so when a disease killed many of them off, they were
vulnerable to starvation.
Many attacked the British for not doing enough to relieve the
Irish during the famine, and blamed British rule for the
deaths.
Compose a letter from an Irish survivor of the famine to the
British Prime Minister at the time (Lord John Russell) explaining
what has happened in Ireland. Explain what more could have been
done to relieve the Irish people.
This is a summary of the famine from the BBC. This is a short
video from Discovery Education, this from the BBC, and this is the
Irish Famine Memorial in Dublin. Show pupils images of the many
’ghost towns’ that were left abandoned due to the whole population
dying or emigrating, such as Slievemore, see here and here.
Famine blight starvation
What was the Irish potato famine?
Why did it hit the people of Ireland so hard?
Why did the famine make Irish people hate British rule even
more?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiEQ4ZAB5NAhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/what-caused-the-irish-famine/7807.htmlhttp://www.ddda.ie/index.jsp?p=112&n=640http://www.thewildatlanticway.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/deserted-village.jpghttp://www.achilltourism.com/deserted.html
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Lesson 6. Home Rule and Independence
After 1800, Ireland suffered greatly. As it was no longer ruled
from Dublin, many of Ireland’s wealthy landowners left the country.
Whilst England witnessed
an industrial revolution, much of Ireland remained poor and
rural. This suffering only worsened during the Irish potato famine.
There was a gathering
movement for Irish Home Rule (returning Parliament to Dublin)
during the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, this
became a movement for full-
blown independence, achieved in 1920. However, the province of
Northern Ireland remained part of Britain—causing continued
conflict to this day.
See pages 146 of What Your Year 6 Child Needs to Know.
Learning Objective Core Knowledge Activities for Learning
Related Vocabulary Assessment Questions
To find out how Ireland finally gained independence from the
British.
During the late nineteenth century, many campaigned for Ireland
to be granted Home Rule.
Such a measure would have kept Ireland as part of Britain, but
it would have had its own Parliament and made many of its own
decisions.
The Irish were never given Home Rule, so after a war of
Independence in 1919, Ireland was given independence in 1920 (aside
from the small province of Northern Ireland).
Explain the situation of Ireland in 1921 to the class, and ask
them what they would have done to solve it: the majority of Ireland
want to become independent, but there is a group of loyal
Protestants living in the North who want to stay part of Britain.
If Ireland is given independence, the Protestants will probably
start a civil war against the Catholics. What is the solution?
Complete an annotated map of ‘Ireland Today’ (resource 7). Clips
from the recent film The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) will
give the pupils an impression of Ireland under British rule.
Nationalism What was Home Rule?
Did the campaign for Home Rule succeed?
What eventually happened to Ireland after World War I?
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After World War I, there was an Irish War of Independence
which lasted from 1919 to 1921. The British sent over their
army to try to stop the rebellion, and they were called the
‘Black and Tans’ due to their black and green uniforms.
However, Britain was very poor after World War I and did
not have enough money to keep on fighting the Irish
people. In 1921, an agreement was reached, stating that
nearly all of Ireland could become its own independent
country, with Britain keeping a small part of it in the
northeast of the island. The new independent nation came
to be called the Republic of Ireland.
The campaign for
Ireland to be given the
Parliament in Dublin
back was unsuccessful.
This measure, Home
Rule, had enormous
amount of support
amongst British and
Irish people during the
late 1800s. The failure
of Home Rule meant
that more and more
Irish people lost faith in
British rule, and started
demanding full
Independence.
The north-eastern corner of Ireland always had a very large
Protestant population,
descended from the English and Scottish people who colonised the
area hundreds of
years ago. This protestant population did not want to leave
Great Britain, so this part
of the island was kept united with Britain. It is known as
Northern Ireland. Although
the majority of Northern Ireland’s population is Protestant,
there are some Catholics
living there. Some people want Northern Ireland to unite with
the Republic ofIreland and leave Britain, but others do not. This
disagreement is still causing conflicttoday.
7. Ireland Today