Year 8: Tudors; French Revolution; Empire & Slavery

'Find out about the transatlantic slave trade with BBC Bitesize History. For students between the ages of 11 and 14.'

"Black Tudors has become a phenomenon in the History teaching community. We have worked closely with author Miranda Kaufmann, the University of Oxford’s Jason Todd and a team of teachers to produce five enquiries that incorporate Miranda’s scholarship."

Cecil Rhodes: 'Series of short animated documentaries about politicians before 1900.'

'Historian David Olusoga investigates how British slave owners fought for compensation as the Government moved towards abolishing slavery within the Empire in 1832. He outlines how abolitionists were forced to reluctantly accept that slaves were the legal property of their owners in order to get the legislation through Parliament. This concession meant that 20 million pounds (around 17 billion pounds today) was set aside to be shared out among 46,000 claimants, awarded by a ten man Slavery Compensation Commission. The slaves themselves received nothing.

This clip is from the BBC series Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners, a documentary looking at the policies and abolition of slavery in Britain.'

'Historian David Olusoga investigates the spread of the Barbados Slave Code across British colonies during the eighteenth century, and its social and economic impact. '

'In the summer of 1861, David Livingstone and a small band of missionaries travelled to what is now Malawi to establish the virtues of two Victorian obsessions – ‘Christianity and commerce’.

However, what Livingstone found in Africa shocked him. Britain had abolished slavery in the Empire decades before, but he still found Africans being captured and sold by Portuguese and Arab slavers. He made it his mission to rid West Africa of slavery. His crusade captured the minds of the public back home. People believed the Empire could be about more than conquest and dominance; it could be a force for good and justice.'

'India was the most important territory of the British Empire. In the 18th century, India was an advanced civilisation and the rulers regarded the British with disdain. By the 1750s, this had changed and the balance of power had shifted in favour of the British.'

Documentary series exploring the abolition of Slavery in the British Dominions in 1833.

In Episode 1 of this two-part documentary series, Luke Tomes explores the rebirth of an abolition movement in Britain with the formation of the Anti-Slavery Society in 1823, driven by the ambitious goal of ending the institution of slavery in British Dominions.

Also introduced is the fierce opposition facing the abolitionists, the West India Interest, a political lobby comprised of wealthy merchants, proprietors and influential Members of Parliament – all of whom held vested interests in opposing emancipation at all costs.

Presented by Luke Tomes. Featuring Dr Christer Petley, lecturer at the University of Southampton.

00:00 Introduction
05:05 West India Dock
07:08 William Wilberforce
11:35 Anti-Slavery Society
14:10 Slave Testimony (Olaudah Equiano)
16:11 West India Interest Opposition
22:12 Gradual or Immediate Abolition?
29:21 A Change in Momentum

The lives of Africans in Tudor England with BBC Bitesize History. For KS3 students.

'On the 30th January 1649, King Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall. His trial was a momentous event in British history. He was found guilty of treason - a ‘tyrant, traitor, murderer and Public Enemy’. What led to this unprecedented killing of a king?'

'What was the impact of the French Revolution on the political climate of late 18th century Britain?'

'The story of Oliver Cromwell -- and of the failure of Britain's brief experiment in republican government. (8'30")'

'An animation for KS3 history students about the concept of empire, with a brief look at the Roman Empire and the rise and fall of the British Empire.'

'Gold, Silver & Slaves looks at how the business of slavery was a case of slave-trading by complicit Africans, fuelled by the greed of African kings.

This is the untold story of the greatest slaving nation in history. Up till now, Britain’s place in the history of slavery has been as the country that abolished the international slave trade.

Britain’s Slave Trade reveals the shameful truth behind this liberal facade, showing how the economic, social and cultural life of Britain would have been unrecognisable without slavery. Britain’s Slave Trade explains how a middling European power transformed itself into the ruler of the waves, tracing the impact this had on the British way of life and taking in the Industrial Revolution, the beginnings of Empire and the birth of modern racism along the way. It also unearths startling evidence showing how many families that think of themselves as ‘pure’ English stock are in fact descended from slave ancestors.'

'In the UK, a statue of an 18th-century slave trader Robert Milligan has been removed from outside a London museum.Officials say it was no longer acceptable to the local community. A campaign has been ongoing since 2015 to remove the monument to Cecil Rhodes, a Victorian imperialist in Southern Africa who made a fortune from mines and endowed the University of Oxford's Rhodes scholarships.
Public pressure is building to take action and remove it, sooner rather than later.'

'Historian David Olusoga investigates evidence of British slave ownership in the 1830`s, discovering that there were some 40,000 owners with over 800,000 slaves in the Caribbean and elsewhere.'

'Cecil Rhodes and the Scramble for Africa.'

'The early British settlers in India actively embraced Indian life and culture. Men like Charles Stuart, of the East India Company, didn’t fit the stereotype of Empire builders as arrogant, racist oppressors. Jeremy Paxman describes how earlier settlers adopted Indian clothing, customs and traditions. They also married Indian women or took Indian mistresses, leaving some 150 million people in the country today who have at least some British blood in their veins.'

Why Did Britain Abolish Slavery in 1833? (Pt 2)'

Documentary series exploring the abolition of Slavery in the British Dominions in 1833.

In Episode 2 of this documentary series, Luke Tomes explores the gradual deterioration of the West India Interest, its power base weakened by political reform in the United Kingdom, a decline in the value of sugar and an inspired slave rebellion in Jamaica (1831/2) which unearthed the true nature of West Indian Colonists and demonstrated the instability of the institution.

He also touches upon the agonising moral dilemma abolitionists faced on the subject of compensation; the financial remuneration planters received from the government as a form of repayment for their “lost property”.

Presented by Luke Tomes. Featuring Dr Christer Petley.

00:00 Introduction
01:34 The Jewel in the Crown
08:09 Wages or The Whip
11:59 A Bloody Uprising
27:53 Reform and Retreat
39:38 The Mighty Experiment
48:07 Why Did Britain Abolish Slavery?

'This is an extraordinary story of the most disturbing witch trial in British history and the key role played in it by one nine-year-old girl. Jennet Device, a beggar-girl from Pendle in Lancashire, was the star witness in 1612 in the trial of her own mother, her brother, her sister and many of her neighbours; thanks to her chilling testimony, they were all hanged.

Although the events in this film may date back four hundred years, its issues resonate today as much as ever – when to believe our children, and how, in times of crisis, fear of evil can easily lead us to behave in ways which may corrode the very values that we most wish to protect.

Presented by Simon Armitage - poet, playwright and novelist - this film is peppered with his revealing insights into the characters’ emotional turmoil and cutting-edge use of animation, bringing this courtroom drama to life. Four hundred years on, the trial’s issues resonate as much as ever – when should we believe our children, and just how powerful can the fear of evil be?'

'Mark Stoyle investigates popular resistance to the Puritan assault on Christmas during the 1640s and 1650s.'

'An exploration of the death of Charles 1, and of the crisis that engulfed England and Scotland in the mid 17th century.'

Shakespeare's life in Stratford, his education, London; humanism and the modern world.  

'The silk vest worn by King Charles I when he was beheaded, in 1649, is going to be put on public view for the first time in a decade.'