HISTORY - What You Will Learn

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Year 8 Key Questions

Unit 8  The civil wars: was England "turned upside down" in the 17th century?

• Why was 1649 a year of great violence?
• What do successful monarchs do? What did Charles I do?
• How do historians disagree about the causes of the civil wars?
• How did the Civil Wars divide families?
• Why did Parliament win the civil wars?
• Why did the winners of the civil wars argue among themselves?
• Why do people interpret Cromwell in very different ways?
• What happened at the Restoration?
• Was the world turned upside down?

Unit 9  from Glorious revolution to the '45: how united was the kingdom?

• Why did the warming pan baby cause so much controversy?
• What was the "Glorious Revolution"
• What was the impact of the Glorious revolution on Ireland?
• What was the impact of the Glorious Revolution on Scotland?
• What was the reaction in Scotland to the Act of Union 1707?
• Why did the rebellion of 1715 fail?
• Was the rising of 1745 a real threat to the Hanoverian succession?
• How united was the kingdom by the mid 18th century?
• Unit 22 (The role of the Individual)   Dick Turpin
• Who was Dick Turpin, Fact or fiction?
• How has Dick Turpin been portrayed: glamorous highwayman or nasty villein?

Unit 10  France 1789-94: why was there a revolution?

• Why are the events in France 1789-94 known as a revolution?
• What causes led to the revolution?
• Why did the revolutionaries think that the Tennis Court Oath was so important?
• Why was the Bastille attacked and destroyed?
• Why was the king executed?
• Did all revolutionaries want to help all underprivileged people?
• Why did Robespierre lead a reign of terror?

Unit 11  Industrial changes: action and reaction.

• What industrial changes happened in the locality around the school?
• Local Industry, What happened?
• Did everyone agree with the industrial changes?
• How industrialised was Britain by 1850?

Unit 12  Snapshot 1900: what was British middle-class life like?

• Who were the middle class?
• Where did the middle class live?
• New jobs & new people. Where did the middle class people come from?
• Wages and prices. How well did middle class people live?
• Leisure time and entertainment:- What did the middle class do for fun?
• Representations of the Victorian middle class. How accurate are they?
• What was it like in your own area?

Unit 15  Black peoples of america: from slavery to equality?

• What does it mean to be free-what does it mean to be a slave?
• African roots: Where did most Black Americans originate?
• Slavery in Africa:-  A Portuguese turning point?
• Sold into slavery:- What was the reality of the Atlantic Slave Trade?
• Freedom:- How was it achieved?
• From emancipation to segregation. How free were Black People?
• From segregation to civil rights. Did the civil rights movement bring freedom for Black People?

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