The British Empire: Robert Clive

PowerPoint (with 5 slides) and one Word Document that examines the career of Robert Clive in India in the context of a modern petition that exists to have his statue in London taken down. The lesson considers Clive’s victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, his resulting wealth, the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 and Bengal famine of 1770. The lesson also considers the wider context of the importance of Clive in extending the East India Company and Britain’s control over India.

Activities include

• Starter activity on the purpose of erecting statues.
• Reading, comprehension and highlighting exercise on Clive’s life and career.
• Ranking exercise on the relative importance of events in extending Britain’s control over India.
• Source analysis activity on Clive’s justification for his actions.
• Discussion on what arguments, if any, can be made about why the statue should be kept.
• Plenary feedback about whether students agree with the petition.

Designed for teaching an academically able Key Stage 3 class covering aspects of the British Empire.
Lesson Length: 1hr depending on pace.

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