This lesson looks at why the Opium Wars happened and how Hong Kong became a British colony. It shows the importance of ports and trade routes for the British Empire around this time, and how economic factors were linked to its growth. In 1997, Hong Kong stopped being a British colony after more than 150 years of British rule. Authority over Hong Kong was transferred to China. Many see this moment as the end of the last significant colony in the British Empire. Hong Kong became a British colony through two wars: the First and Second Opium Wars. The First Opium War broke out in 1839. It is called the ‘Opium War’ because of one of its major causes: the British were smuggling opium from their Indian colonies into Chinese ports against the wishes of the Chinese government. This was to help pay for the large amounts of Chinese tea that they were importing – by the early 1800s, tea was a popular drink with the British public. Britain also wanted more control over their trade with China, as they could only trade with certain officials called Hong merchants. The Opium Wars resulted in two treaties, each expanding the size of Britain’s Hong Kong territory. These treaties were followed by a 99-year lease in 1898 that allowed Britain to control even more land – a lease that ran out in 1997. Use this lesson to find out the causes behind the First Opium War and how Hong Kong became part of the British Empire. How important were economic factors in the growth of the British Empire? How can we explain the unique position of Hong Kong in the world today?

How was law enforcement changed by Sir Robert Peel’s new Metropolitan Police Force? In 1822, Sir Robert Peel was appointed Home Secretary. He would become closely associated with penal reform in Britain. He is remembered especially for the formation of the Metropolitan London Police Force in 1829. Police constables were called ‘bobbies’ or ‘peelers’ in reference to Peel. Before Peel’s reforms, public order in London was a serious concern, with crime rates rising as the population of the city grew. London had previously been policed by an old system of 4,500 night-watchmen, the Hue and Cry, the Bow Street Runners, and 450 constables, who were generally seen as corrupt, inefficient, and jealous of one another’s powers. Peel was convinced that the establishment of a state-funded, professional, and unified police force was the solution. The Act for Improving the Police in and near the Metropolis in 1829 saw the establishment of the Metropolitan Police Force in central London, including eight superintendents, 20 inspectors, 88 sergeants and 895 constables. Use this lesson with original documents, to explore the foundation of the Metropolitan Police Force, the nature of the new police force, and contemporary attitudes to this new system of law and order in London.

The Huguenots were Protestants who fled France and Wallonia (southern Belgium) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century due to religious persecution during the European Wars of Religion. After the English Reformation, England was seen as a safe place for refugees. What did Huguenots find when they arrived in England? How did they settle and set up their own religious and economic communities? How did they impact upon English society, especially in urban settings? This lesson shows that the Huguenots came to England as immigrants and were on occasion in need of economic and governmental support. Importantly, they also brought their skills and expertise as silk-weavers, silversmiths, merchants, vine-growers, wig makers, and hat-makers to England, helping England to expand its global horizons. While Huguenots could be praised for adding value to the English economy, the English could be hostile to what they saw as a threat to their own livelihoods. Use this lesson to explore the Huguenot experience of migration in seventeenth century England, with original documents ranging from 1553-1765.

In 1897, Germany colonised a part of China called Qingdao (also spelt Tsingtao) in the Shandong region. At the start of the First World War in 1914, Japan joined Britain in fighting against Germany as part of the Anglo-Japanese alliance. Japanese troops occupied the German territory in China during the Siege of Tsingtao. After the end of the war, the Paris Peace Conference met to decide the terms of the Versailles Treaty. The conference began on 18 January 1919, and the peace treaty was signed on 28 June 1919. At the conference, Chinese delegates insisted on having the occupied region returned to China. On 3 May 1919, a telegram from the Chinese delegates revealed that the ‘Great Powers’ (Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States) had decided that Japan would be allowed to keep the occupied territory in Shandong. A secret agreement between Britain, France, Italy, and Japan was also revealed to have been made in 1917, giving Japan the territory in exchange for military aid. This agreement sparked a mass protest on 4 May 1919 in Beijing, mainly led by university students. The students passed resolutions, sent correspondence to the peace conference, and targeted Chinese politicians who were seen as having failed the people. The protests developed into a mass movement across China, including general strikes and boycotts. As result, the Chinese delegates refused to sign due to the public pressure. The May Fourth Movement was a turning point for China and its relationship to the West. What do British government documents tell us about how Britain and the other Great Powers viewed Chinese demands?

Samson Jackson is believed to be one of six Black Africans to have served on the Western Front during the First World War. He changed his name in 1915 from Bulaya Chanda to Samson Jackson. In the 1920s, he started using the name Chief Luale (Luali) for his career on the stage. Bulaya Chanda was born in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) around 1895. He was of the Awemba or Bemba tribe who are a Bantu speaking people found in the north-east corner of Zambia, near the border with Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo). Use the sources in this lesson to find out more about his fascinating life and how his experiences challenge popular beliefs about the First World War and inter-war period. **Suggested inquiry questions: ** What documents can we use to find out about the life of Bulaya Chanda? How do Bulaya’s experiences challenge popular beliefs about the First World War and inter-war period? What can we discover about leisure and entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s? Connections to the curriculum **Key stage 3 ** Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day: the First World War and the Peace Settlement; the inter-war years. **Key stage 4 ** AQA GCSE History: Depth study: Conflict and tension: the First World War, 1894–1918 Thematic study: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day

This lesson provides a chronological overview of the shifting laws and attitudes that have applied to the LGBTQ+ community in Britain and the former British Empire since 1701, and how they have affected the community. Owing to the number of sources, teachers may wish to break this lesson down into two parts or assign small groups to work on different sources and report back. People have always existed who engaged in same sex relationships, defied conventional gender norms, or lived as a different gender to the one they were assigned as at birth. The social climate these individuals lived in, and the language they had available to them, has changed significantly over the last 1,000 years – the span of The National Archives’ collections. The history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the UK is a complex mixture of moments of pain, resistance, and progress. ‘LGBTQ+’ is used as an umbrella term to describe people historically who were either not cisgender or heterosexual. These individuals would have used a variety of different language to describe themselves in their own lifetimes. We recognise our records contain words that are at times offensive, however some of the original language and legal terms are preserved here to accurately represent our records and help us fully understand the past. Please note that some of these sources contain non-explicit references to sex and sexuality. Use this lesson to find out more about LGBTQ+ rights and lives from the 1700s to the present day. The documents are listed chronologically. This lesson has been developed in collaboration with the Bishopsgate Institute.

What was the context and impact of migration in modern Britain? This collection of original documents can be used to support GCSE units on modern British immigration for AQA History: Britain: Migration, empires, and the people: c790 to the present day; Edexcel, Migrants in Britain c800-present; OCR, Migrants to Britain c1250 to present (Schools History Project) and for ‘depth studies’ on ‘Modern Britain’ at A Level for AQA and Edexcel. Some of sources could be selected by teachers to support history lessons for the Key stage 3 unit: ‘Challenges for Britain, Europe, and the wider world 1901 to the present day: social, cultural, and technological change in post-war British society; Britain’s place in the world since 1945’. This collection of original documents is particularly useful for knowledge selection on modern British migration. Teachers can use it with students to develop their own historical enquiries as well as to prepare and practice source-based exam questions. The collection includes a wide range of source types to encourage students to think more broadly when exploring attitudes towards migration and its impact. Teachers have the flexibility to download all documents and transcripts to create their own resources. It is important to note that many documents cover sensitive subjects. Some include language and concepts that are entirely unacceptable and inappropriate today. We suggest that teachers look at the material carefully before introducing to students. It would be helpful to discuss the language and ideas contained in a source beforehand. Teachers may wish to break the documents into smaller extracts if they appear too long or create additional simplified transcripts. Please note that the government film on the Race Relations Act 1968 (available via The National Archives website) is a public record created in 1969. It was also released in Hindi and Urdu. It has been preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives. Courtesy of the BFI National Archive. It includes language which may be considered offensive. However, we think it important to show the film as accurate representation of the record to help us understand the past. With each document we have provided a ‘brief descriptor’ to signal the content; a document caption, and 3-4 suggested prompt questions. We hope this will allow students to work independently if wished on any document, or within small class discussion groups, or to assist teachers in the development of their own questions. Also included in these notes is a suggested starter activity. The aim is to familiarise learners with the types of sources contained in the collection. We hope too that exposure to original source material may also foster further document research.

Learning about the story of the Empire Windrush The National Archives has created some resources for you to use in your classroom with our video to remember the story of the Windrush generation. In the video, pupils take a historical journey from early times to the 1960s. They start with evidence of a Black presence in Britain from earlier migrations and explore the story of the Empire Windrush with other documents from The National Archives. Why did people leave their homes in the Caribbean to come to Britain? What was it like when they arrived? How were they treated then and in the years that followed? Historical sources also include music and some original footage from the period. We hope that the commentary and documents will encourage your pupils to explore the past and ask questions about how this Caribbean immigration changed life in Britain. Before watching the video, we advise teachers discuss the meaning of such terms as: blitz, immigrant, commonwealth, British Empire, colony, colour prejudice, inequality, discrimination, and colour bar. Please note that some of the language and terms used in the documents in video are not appropriate or acceptable today. The documents cover sensitive subjects. We suggest that teachers look at the material carefully before introducing to pupils. In April 2017 the British Government apologised for its treatment of the Windrush generation. Some people were told that they lived here illegally and faced deportation from the country. There was widespread shock at the impact on the lives of many Black Britons, and this became known as the Windrush Scandal. Approach of Video In such a short video it is not possible to present a detailed account of the Windrush story and its impact. Therefore, we highlight the story through four key documents, these include extracts from a government information pamphlet about Britain created for a Caribbean audience, a telegram about the passengers on the ‘Empire Windrush’, extracts from a housing report in the 1960s and a photograph of the Notting Hill Carnival. We hope teachers will explore the topic further using our lessons with original documents and activities to deepen understanding of events raise questions for discussion and consider the nature of evidence. Resources: All resources include teacher’s notes, background information, document captions, transcripts, and some have simplified transcripts. There are four connected lessons to this video which can be found in our shop.

What do the sources reveal about the significance of the Notting Hill Carnival and why it began? Late 1950s Britain had a growing number of towns and cities that were racially diverse. Notting Hill had become home to lots of people from the Caribbean who had arrived on Windrush and the accompanying ships. One of these people was Sam Beaver King. He had served for the RAF during the Second World War and after arriving in Britain on the Empire Windrush, he went on to work for the Post Office for over 30 years. He also supported the first Caribbean carnival set up by Claudia Jones in 1959 and went on to become the first black Mayor of Southwark, London in 1983. Sam King co-founded The Windrush Foundation and was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1998, the year of the 50th anniversary of Windrush. Yet this multiculturalism was also accompanied by racial tension and the unfair treatment of black people. For example, some white people refused to rent properties to non-white tenants and black people were also sometimes refused service in restaurants and shops. In Notting Hill and the East End of London, there were groups of people who supported far-right policies such as Oswald Moseley’s Union Party, and who attacked and harassed their black neighbours. In 1958 both the Nottingham Race Riots and the Notting Hill riots took place, as violent fights broke out between white and black people. Amid this hostile atmosphere, Trinidadian human rights activist Claudia Jones organised an indoor Caribbean carnival in Notting Hill on 30th January 1959. She wanted to hold an event that brought people together and celebrated Caribbean culture. This is seen as the start of the Notting Hill Carnival. Claudia Jones was also the founder and editor of ‘The West Indian Gazette and Afro-Caribbean News. This was viewed as Britain’s first major Black newspaper. Around the same time, political movements, such as the Coloured Peoples Progressive Association and the Association of Advancement of Coloured People, were also established. In Notting Hill the following year, Kelso Cochrane, a carpenter who had emigrated to Britain from Antigua, was murdered. He had been attacked by a group of white men in Notting Hill, whilst walking home just after midnight. This was a racist murder and not an attempted robbery as claimed by the Police at the time. His death heightened the growing racial tensions that existed. In 1976 riots occurred at the Notting Hill Carnival when Police and carnival goers clashed. This was against a backdrop of anger surrounding police use of the SUS law. There has been much distrust by carnival goers over time, about the Police’s role and presence at the carnival.

What do these documents reveal about life for Caribbean migrants to Britain in the 1940s and 1950s? When the Second World War ended, countries needed to recover and rebuild. By 1948, the Nationality Act was passed which gave people from the Commonwealth the right to live and work in Britain if they wanted. They were citizens of the ‘United Kingdom and Colonies’. Many Caribbean men and women had served in the forces during the war, some wanted to re-enlist into the armed forces or find other employment. After the war, Britain needed people to fill jobs in the health service, transport system and postal system. Britain also used the European Voluntary Workers (E.V.W.) scheme to cope with its shortage of workers. The plan aimed to provide jobs in factories and farming to people from Europe who had been made homeless after the war. At the same time, many people also left their homes in the Caribbean to live and work in Britain. Those on the E.V.W. plan who were classed as ‘aliens’, however those from the Caribbean were ‘Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies’. Housing for the new migrants, near to their places of work was often provided by National Service Hostels Corporation. At the Causeway Green Hostel in the West Midlands in August 1949, for example, there were 235 Poles, 18 E.V.Ws, 235 Southern Irish, 50 Northern Irish, 65 Jamaicans, and 100 English, Scottish and Welsh. Finding accommodation became difficult for many commonwealth immigrants because of growing prejudice and discrimination in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1958 there were riots in the Nottingham and Notting Hill, London. These involved serious fights between ‘teddy boys’ and new arrivals. The homes of immigrants were also attacked. At this time too, Black people were frequently excluded from skilled employment, pubs, and clubs. Landlords refused to rent to Black families. Other landlords exploited these immigrants by renting them over-priced, overcrowded accommodation. Added to this racial discrimination, the shortage of affordable decent housing and the poor living conditions made matters worse. The following year, Kelso Cochrane, a carpenter from Antigua was brutally stabbed to death in West London. It was a racist murder and not, as the police later claimed, an attempted robbery. These events would lead to increased calls for immigration control, resulting in the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, many argued that the migrants were being blamed for the prejudice directed towards them. Following these events there was a strong effort to improve relations in the area from Black activist Claudia Jones and members of the Caribbean community which eventually gave rise to the Notting Hill Carnival and the start of legislation designed to prevent racial discrimination.

Why did people from the Caribbean travel to live and work in Britain? When the Second World War ended, countries needed to recover and rebuild. By 1948, the Nationality Act was passed which gave people from British colonies the right to live and work in Britain if they wanted. They were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies. Many Caribbean men and women had served in the forces during the war, some wanted to re-enlist into the armed forces or find other employment. After the war, Britain needed people to fill jobs in the health service, transport system and postal system. The arrival of the ship ‘Empire Windrush’ is often seen as the start of this migration of Caribbean migrants from countries including Jamaica; Bermuda; Trinidad and British Guiana seeking jobs and a better life in this country. Jamaica for example, had high unemployment and a recent hurricane had caused huge damage. However, it is also important to remember that there were earlier lesser-known ships that carried post-war migrants from the Caribbean. Find out these other ships in this National Archives blog. It cost £28 for travel on the troop-deck and £48 for cabin class travel on the Empire Windrush. The ship picked up passengers at Trinidad, Jamaica (Kingston), Mexico (Tampico), Cuba (Havana) and, finally Bermuda before arriving at Tilbury Docks on 22nd June in Britain. The total number of passengers was 492, of which 52 were volunteers for the armed forces, 236 who had nowhere to go and who were accommodated in London’s Clapham South tube station deep shelter and 204 who had places to go to and were dispersed direct from Tilbury. The Ministry of Labour set up a small labour exchange or job centre in the Clapham South shelter to help to place people in jobs. Fares were paid to those travelling to other parts of the country. Life was difficult for many people after the war. Rationing and shortages continued, people still queued for food. People therefore arriving from the Caribbean would have experienced this as well as leaving friends and family behind. The climate was also colder and wetter. Unfortunately, some Caribbean migrants were made to feel unwelcome and treated unfairly and differently because of racism. Finding jobs and somewhere to live was difficult due to discrimination. Many were forced to accept employment with low wages or poor housing.

What do the sources reveal about an early Black presence in Britain? Black people have lived in Britain for over two thousand years. Some came to Britain with the Roman invasion in 43CE and they became an important part of British society throughout the medieval ages and beyond. Evidence shows that Black people joined the armed forces, married in parish churches, made significant contributions to art and writing, and resisted and challenged the repressive laws of the day. We cannot tell the history of Britain without including their stories. In the early years of the First World War, many Caribbean men bought tickets to sail to Britain to join the army. The British West Indies Regiment was created, playing an important role in the conflict. Men from Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and other parts of Africa, also fought for Britain. At the end of the war, many African and Caribbean soldiers decided to stay in Britain to make it their permanent home. Race riots broke out in parts of the country during the early months of 1919, as some white communities blamed black people for the shortage of work and housing caused by the war. During the Second World War, black people from across the Commonwealth fought for Britain once more. Some were soldiers, whilst others came to support work on the Homefront such as factory production and nursing. After the war, Britain needed to be re-built. By 1948, the Nationality Act was passed; allowing people from British colonies the right to live and work in Britain if they wanted. Other people from Europe were also invited to Britain. Many people from the Caribbean left their homes to begin a new life in Britain, bringing with them a wide range of skills. They filled jobs in the transport system, postal service and health service, helping Britain to re-build and recover. These people are often called the ‘Windrush Generation’, named after the ship ‘The Empire Windrush’ that docked at Tilbury in June 1948. Windrush was not the first ship to bring Caribbean migrants to Britain; the Ormonde and Almanzora had arrived in Southampton the year before. Between 1947 and 1970, nearly half a million people left their homes in the Caribbean to live in Britain.

Medieval women’s lives were as varied as they are today, but unlike today, most women (and men) lived in the countryside and worked the land on what were known as manors, estates on which tenants rented their properties from the lord and often performed services for him at harvest time. Women can also be found living and working in towns and cities, or in religious communities. There were extremely rich and powerful women, such as queens and noblewomen, but there were also countless ordinary women, whose names we do not always know, who emerge from the archives. Use this lesson to find out about their lives in medieval England and Ireland from records held at The National Archives.

The National Archives has created a set of resources for use in secondary level school assemblies to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement which ended the conflict in Northern Ireland. A 7-minute video gives an overview of the conflict and the peace process that brought it to an end, plus details about what the Agreement did and the results of it. This can be used as part of an assembly presentation which should take around 15-20 minutes depending on the amount of time allowed for discussion at the beginning about what students know already about Northern Ireland and the Agreement. There are additional resources designed to embed knowledge about the Agreement and support student discussion about how it successfully brought an end to the violence and established a new era of peace in Northern Ireland.

The five videos in this series called ‘Civil War People’ have been updated to a greater quality from our focussed topic website English Civil War. View our videos to find out how a Bishop, Puritan, Scotsman, Irishman or King Charles I himself possibly viewed the prospect of civil war in 1642. Their words help to provide information which supports the document activities. Look at the videos first! Then, explore a specific linked document activity for each character. Try and read the original document. Each document is provided with background information, questions, a transcript and a simplified transcript to help. Please note that the document used in each activity can also be seen in the topic website English Civil War alongside other documents so you can expand your studies!

In this lesson, students will investigate several sources which reflect some of the different attitudes towards vaccination in the Victorian period. Smallpox was a common killer in nineteenth century Britain. It spread rapidly and killed around 30% of those who contracted it and left many survivors blinded or scarred. In 1850s, the government passed a series of laws that made vaccination against smallpox compulsory. Some people and healthcare professionals supported vaccination while others objected to it. There were many reasons why people opposed vaccination: some claimed vaccination were unsafe, or unnecessary, whilst others argued that compulsory vaccination was government interference. The growing feeling for anti-vaccination reached full force in the 1890s with the National Anti-Vaccination League. The group organized protests and produced its own publications to distribute anti-vaccine propaganda. Ultimately, the voices of the anti-vaccination movement became too loud for the government to ignore and the government made it possible for people to opt-out of vaccination. Understanding the range of views regarding vaccination is critical for understanding the role of science in society. In addition, delving into this important, yet little known history of vaccination in Victorian society may give us insights into present day anti-vaccination movements. Connections to curriculum OCR GCSE: Unit: The People’s Health, c. 1250 to present Period: Industrial Britain, c. 1750-c. 1900; Public Health Reform in the nineteenth century. Excel GCSE: Option 11: Medicine in Britain, c. 1250-present and The British Sector of the Western Front, 1914-18: c.1700-c. 1900: Medicine in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain; new approaches to prevention: the development and use of vaccinations AQA GCSE: Thematic studies: Revolution in medicine; the role of public health reformers; local and national government involvement in public health.

The National Archives has created some resources for you to use in your classroom with our video to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. The film tells the story of Elizabeth II’s 70 years as Queen using genuine historical sources from The National Archives and The Royal Collections. It includes music and some original footage from the period. Pupils take a historical journey through the decades, from the 1950s to 2020s. We hope that the commentary and documents will encourage your pupils to explore the past and ask questions about how the Queen’s role has changed and life in Britain altered over time.

This lesson has been developed in collaboration with the Young Historians Project and their project ‘A Hidden History: African women and the British health service’. Other educational resources can be accessed via their website. For an essential activity for students using this lesson consult their blog post on Princess Ademola listed in external links below. “The recruitment of African women into the National Health Service from British colonies began in the period after the Second World War. However, nurses, doctors and other medical professionals had trained in Britain before this, as the colonial power did not provide the full facilities for medical training in the colonies. Despite their long history of work within health services in Britain, the role of African women is rarely highlighted in discussions of the history of the NHS or of health work more generally. Current narratives on Black women in the British health service tend to focus on the ‘Windrush generation’ and Caribbean contributions”: Young Historians Project. Use this lesson to find original documents which explore the role of African nurses in the health services of Britain. Please note that some sources contain offensive language that was used at the time and is unacceptable today.

Free printable teaching resource pack including four case studies on Whitechapel in 1880 using original historical documents for a document led enquiry/investigation. Whitechapel in the late 1800s was an area of overpopulation, industry and crime. With such wide systemic issues it can be easy to lose sight of the experiences of the individuals who lived in the area. This lesson explores the historic environment through the interconnected lives of four individuals who lived in the area during the 1880s. What can the stories of two West Indian boxers, the daughter of an Irish carpet maker and a child born in Whitechapel itself reveal about the challenges and benefits of living around Commercial Street in the Victorian era? Suitable for Edexcel GCSE History: Whitechapel, c1870-c1900: crime, policing and the inner city Migrants in Britain, c800–present Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000–present AQA GCSE History: AC Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day

This resource contains a hyperlinked list of National Archives current resources for Women’s histories on The National Archives website. It includes education resources, online exhibitions, research guides, blog posts and podcasts by staff and external writers and links to external websites. The intention for this resource is to make it easier for teachers to find resources for teaching a diverse curriculum. We are committed to further improving our resources and continuing to increase the women’s histories told through our education resources and collections. Women can be found throughout our collections, but their narratives are often harder to find. As this resource shows we are working to reclaim the voices of women and address these historical imbalances, to represent an inclusive history of everyone in the resources we now develop.