Card Sort Source Analysis - Was Robespierre a hero or villain?

This innovative and creative activity has been carefully designed to help students assess the role played by the revolutionary leader Robespierre during the period known as the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution. This activity involves giving students ten primary sources and four secondary sources written by historians and sorting them under the headings of hero or villain. Once this has been complete, students can then have a go at answering the question: How far was Robespierre a hero who saved the revolution or a villain who betrayed his own values to take control of France?’

I would recommend that this resource should be used with either a core or advanced group as there is a lot of reading, which would be too much for a foundation group with low literacy skills. If you are looking for something a little easier, I have made a another simpler card sort which just looks at the facts. This can be bought separately.

This resource makes a great starter or plenary to completed in pairs or groups. It can be cut up the students or placed into envelopes for use with several classes or even set as a piece of homework. Alternatively, your students could draw a table with the two headings ‘hero’ or ‘villain’ and list the sources under them.

The aims and objectives are:

Theme: The reign of Terror
Know: What sort of man was Robespierre?
Understand: Why are historical events interpreted in different ways?
Evaluate: Was Robespierre a hero who saved the revolution or a villain who betrayed his own values to take control of France?

WILF - What Am I Looking For?
Identify and describe: Which sources support / disagree with Robespierre being a ‘hero’ or ‘villian’?
Explain: Why were Robespierre’s actions controversial?
Analyse: Was Robespierre a hero who saved the revolution or a villain who betrayed his own values to take control of France?

If you like this resource then why not check out my other resources on this topic in my TES shop, where many have been bundled together to provide you with further savings. You can also follow ‘The History Academy’ on Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube and Facebook for the latest updates or even to get in touch and chat about how you have used this resource or to ask questions. We aim to produce cheap and affordable resources for either the price of a good cup of coffee or a happy meal so that you can spend more time doing the things that you want.

Anyway, have fun and stay in touch via social media for the latest updates.

Kind Regards

Roy