Topic/theme

Knowledge

Big Ideas:

• Class and social inequality
• Nature vs Nurture
• Fate and superstition
• Family and relationships
• Friendship and loyalty

• I can develop my understanding of characters as constructs, focusing on how characters are introduced and what they represent.  
• I can explain how Russell uses a narrator to function similarly to a Greek Chorus, the guiding the audience through the story and providing commentary. The narrator offers insights into the characters' inner thoughts and foreshadows events, creating dramatic irony and building tension.
• I can explain how a character growing up in a working-class family faces hardships and limited opportunities which influence behaviour and outlook on life and contrast this to a character raised in an affluent family, enjoys privileges that afford a more optimistic and confident demeanour.
• I can explain how Russell uses distinct dialects and language styles to differentiate between characters from different social classes; the working-class Liverpudlian dialect of Mickey and his family contrasts sharply with the more polished speech of Edward and his adoptive family, highlighting the class divide.
• I can discuss ideas about nature vs nurture using the characters of Mickey and Edward and the significance they play in shaping an individual, but it also critiques how society often reinforces these divisions.
• I can explain how superstition and the idea of fate are recurring motifs in play and how these beliefs effect certain characters.
• I can explain how the play explores the complexities of familial relationships, particularly between parents and children, and among siblings.
• I can explain how secrets and lies within families, such as Mrs. Johnstone’s and Mrs. Lyons, can have devastating consequences.
• I can explain how the friendship between Mickey and Edward, and their loyalty to each other, is central to the narrative.
• I can explain how the tragic ending of the play implies that some aspects of life are beyond individual control, influences by fate and societal structures.
• I can explain how the play highlights issues of poverty, education, and social mobility, offering a powerful commentary on the societal structures that shape people's destinies.
• I can explain how the play ultimately serves as a critique of social inequality, showing how deeply entrenched class divisions can lead to tragic outcomes and encourages the audience to reflect on the fairness of a society where birth and class can determine one's future to such a significant extent.
• I can explain how foreshadowing is used as a technique to make the audience aware of the tragic fate of the twins, Mickey and Edward.
• I can explain how Russell employs various symbols in the play to enhance the thematic depth of the play. For example, the recurring motif of the "shoes upon the table" symbolizes bad luck and the superstition that surrounds the lives of the characters. The songs and rhymes throughout the play also serve as symbolic reminders of fate and destiny.
• I can explain how the play is structured as a tragedy, with the inevitable downfall of the protagonists creating a sense of pathos. The audience is invited to empathize deeply with the characters, making the final outcome all the more heart breaking.

HISTORY Y8: Term 1a

HOW DID THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE OCCUR AND THE EFFECTS IT HAD ON SOCIETY.

Lesson Enquiry

Essential Knowledge

Extended Knowledge

1

What were Benin and the Songhai Empire?

The Benin and the Songhai Empire thrived, and the civilization was very diverse and flourished,

The Benin and Songhai Empire thrived and flourished as they traded with many goods. The Slave trade was useful aid for those in the empire to remove the enemies by selling them off.

2

What were the effects of the Slave trade on Africa?

Cultural traditions being forgo and removed from communities. African being divided into colonies and sectioned off to certain European countries.

African was heavily colonized and France gaining many colonies, this impacted Africa by cultures being reduced and taken away. Parts of Africa speaking French and other speaking English. Reduced population lack of protection of the areas and many enemies of these Empires being sold into slavery.

3

How were the enslaved captured?

Addressing/clarification that those placed into slavery did not go willingly there were challenges of authority as many opposed being sent across the Atlantic. Underlining the issue that there was resistance from the enslaved- this is later addressed and covered in the slave resistance lessons.

Enslaved were captured through restraining and traps within warfare attacks. The being branded and counted/catalogued before being placed on the ship ready to be sent on transportation to America. The enslaved were treated cruelly without remorse.

Ships contained hundreds of enslaved people below deck and they suffered tremendous pain and torture through lack of food/space. Beginning theme of slave resistance that those enslaved fought back.

4

The Slave Triangle and how the transportation of slaves occurred during this time period.

Explaining why their three points to the triangle was and why it included Britain as weld. That there was a huge element of British involvement.

The Slave Trade paints and shows America with the shame of the enslavers that America had, the level of plantations and how America flourished due to the enslave. Yet Britain is just to blame and many enslavers, merchants in charge of the voyage were English.

5

Middle Passage and where did the enslaved people go?

What was the Middle Passage and why was this significant in term of the Transatlantic slave trade. The enslaved went to the various places as the ship came into paid for the enslaved to have additional transport to where they were needed.

The distance between Africa and America was the longest voyage of their journey. Enslaved were sold off to different parts of the globe for different roles to complete until their death. For example, the sugar plantation in the Caribbean, cotton fields. Enslavers would purchase the enslaved and transport them to where they deem fit.

6

Plantations- What happened on the plantations and the impact it had.

Why were those enslaved were sent to the plantations. What work did the enslave people do. Why was the work they did important.

Life on the plantations were harsh and cruel, people were flogged and abused daily. Women and young girls sexually assaulted and raped. Men beaten and emotionally abused.

7

Cold Task

Source analysis- What can you infer from this source.  Inference and detail.

Source analysis based the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage was the longest and most grueling length of time from Africa to America and other neighboring island where the enslaved would be sold off.

8

Hot Task

Feedback and going through what www and ebi.

Looking at the plantations, how life was tough without pay, any care, food or water, decent living quarters and being punished if any enslaved person was trying to escape.

9

Slave resistance: Zong Massacre and the impact it had within history.

What was the Zong Massacre?

Why was this seen as resistance and how the elements of the event unfolded.

Slaves did not go without a fight.

The Zong Massacre was an event in human history where people were insured as a product on a ship and money was given in return for the value of the enslaved lost. The enslaved tried to gain their freedom by committing a mutiny on this ship but failed. All the enslaved were thrown overboard as punishment for their actions. This in turn was a loss of earnings and the courts awarded money to the ship owner.

10

Underground Railroad- form of slave resistance

Harriet Tubman and the underground resistance and how slaves did all they could to obtain freedom.

Harriet Tubman was one of the key influential women in the transatlantic slave trade where she ran to her freedom and came back to her original plantation to save others. She did all she could to save others. Harriet was a victim of assault and struggled with long term injury.

11

The content chain of events that created the Abolished of Slavery.

North America having further freedom and freeing those enslaved. Chain of events such as, Abraham Lincoln and the fight against the those who wished to continue the enslavement of humans.  

There were many events that let up to this moment of slavery being abolished. Britain abolished slavery sooner than that of America and there was a chain reaction. America had free states where the enslaved would be free. However, there was loopholes in the system for people to abused the system and have people enslaved. For example, if a black person was to do commit a crime, they are immediately an indentured servant of the state.

12

Britain and America, how slavery ended.

What was the difference in the view of slavery, America slavery took longer to be removed from society. England rolled out rather consistently.

January 1066

September 1066

October 1066

1066

1086

1138-1153

1154

Edward the Confessor dies and Harold Godwinson is crowned the next day.

The Battles of Fulford and Stamford Bridge take place against the Vikings in the North of England.

The Battle of Hastings is won by William. Harold is killed.

William conquerors England, riding to London to be crowned King on Christmas Day.

The Domesday Book is written, documenting the wealth of England.

The Anarchy, when Matilda and Stephen fought over the throne of England

Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II, becomes Queen of England

HISTORY Y8: Term 1b 

The Rise and Fall of Slavery 

Topic Focus 

Essential Knowledge 

Extended Knowledge 

Africa before Slavery 

Recovered artifacts prove that Africa had a very diverse and cultured society prior to the start of the slave trade. This contradicted what many Europeans believed and used as an excuse to justify slavery. 

The Great Mali Empire was powerful and had important leaders such as Mansa Musa, who is believed to be one of the wealthiest people to ever live. 

Benin had a long history of culture, architecture and trade. Evidence shows that they were artistic and very focused on community and building a successful society 

The Transatlantic Slave Trade 

Slavery increased alongside the growth of the Industrial Revolution as more workers were required. Goods from Europe were traded for captured slaves in Africa. The Slaves were then transported to the Americas to work. 

It can also be referred to as the Slave Triangle due to the links between Europe, Africa and the Americas. 

The success of the trade relied on West African slave traders, licences from monarchs to allow trade and investment from European banks and ship builders. Many jobs and fortunes relied on the trade.  

The Middle Passage 

This was the journey from Africa to the Americas. It is remembered for its awful conditions and poor treatment of slaves, who were considered to be products rather than people. 

Slave ships were notoriously cramped and horrible places. They were built to maximise the number of slaves carried to the Americas to increase sale profits. The journey took approximately 80 days with limited opportunities for exercise and hygiene. Many died due to the conditions. 

The Plantations 

Slave plantations were in the Americas. This is where slaves lived after they were purchased at auction. The main work was farming sugar, tobacco and cotton to be shipped back and sold in Europe. 

Work hours were long and supervised by often brutal overseers. Slaves had minimal rights and so punishments were physical and harsh. Many women and children worked as house servants and midwives/nurses. 

The punishment for running away was often hanging. Some plantation owners were more liberal, allowing slaves to marry and celebrate traditional African rituals and festivals. 

Resistance to Slavery 

Some slaves educated themselves to the point they challenged slavery in court (Legal) 

Others resisted by running away and helping others to escape (Passive) 

Some resisted by keeping African traditions, languages and religions alive (Cultural) 

There were also uprisings in Haiti and the German Coast (Rebellion) 

Individuals like Dred Scott took his right to be free to the Supreme Court. The judges decided he had no rights to be free and remained a slave. 

‘Elizabeth Freeman’ became the first slave to be set free, although she was not considered to have the rights of a citizen. 

The ‘Underground Railroad’ helped move escaped slaves from the South to the North and eventually to freedom in Canada 

In the Haitian Revolution, Slaves fought back against waring French, British and Spanish occupants. They were eventually given full freedom and independence in 1804, although they suffered constant attacks and economic problems for years after 

Changing Attitudes to Slavery 

A changing economy, religious ideas and the ongoing resistance to slavery led many to question the validity of slavery. 

The demand for sugar declined, impacting the profits from slavery. Many people also avoided goods they knew were the result of slavery. Historians don’t think this is enough to explain the end of slavery as money was still being made. 

Slave revolts were also increasing , causing great expense and stretching the manpower of the European armies. 

Christian ideas had always claimed that all people are equal in the eyes of God. Ideas that Africans were not human began to be challenged and disappear over generations, meaning more and more people were against slavery. 

The Abolitionists  

The abolitionist movement included freed slaves, lawyers, politicians and religious leaders who wanted an end to the slave trade and the emancipation (freeing) of slaves worldwide. 

In 1807, The British Parliament abolished the trading of new slaves. In 1833, it abolished slavery in all parts of the British Empire. 

Individuals like William Wilberforce dedicated much of their political career to ending slavery by continuously creating debates in the House of Commons. 

Freed slaves like Mary Prince and Olaudah Equiano increased support by sharing their stories and allowing more people to see how brutal slavery was. 

Religious figures such as Thomas Clarkson and Elizabeth Heyrick  wrote pamphlets and books, attacking the slave trade as un-Christian and un-Godly.