History

The Transatlantic Slave Trade is now seen as a crime against humanity. How did this business develop? What impact did it have on the people of Africa, of England and America? And why just over 200 years ago was Britain the first country to abolish slavery?

To be successful in this key assignment you need to produce a historical leaflet explaining the reasons for the abolition of slavery, and persuading people that slavery should be abolished.

These days we have many laws againstChild Labour that protects employees, both young and old. How were children treated by their employers in the 19th century? Children as young as five or six could work 16 hour days in the hot noisy and dangerous conditions of cotton mills and dark pits of the early coal mining industry.

Make sure you find out which job you would have had as a Victorian child worker at the excellent Active History website.

Just how disgusting were our cities in the 19th century? What wasPublic Healthlike? Just how disgusting were our cities in the 19th century?

What caused the politicians of the time to start cleaning up our cities and bringing in decent standards of housing, sewers and water supply? In this key assignment you will write a persuasive speech as an MP of the time, persuading the government to pass laws to keep people alive and the stink of the Thames from the Houses of Parliament.

Whilst Queen Victoria was in charge of the largest empire ever seen, how were women treated in Britain? What was the Role of Women? During this period, some women made huge advances in society and started to transform the role of women in our country.

This key assignment requires careful explanation of different causes of change, and giving a judgement on the extent of change. Also you need to be aware of the problems of making general comments and how the evidence can be misleading.

Known as the ‘The Great War’, and described as the ‘War to End All Wars’, World War One is perhaps the key event of the 20th century. In this assignment, we look at the conditions in The Trenches that ordinary soldiers survived and endured and try to understand just why so many soldiers died in what can seem like four years of senseless death and heroic sacrifice. This assignment is done in class and based on sources and evidence, but it is useful to know and understand the requirement of the different National Curriculum Levels.