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.

‘Armistice and Legacy’ is a graphic arts project illustrated by nine students who spent a week at The National Archives, illustrating their interpretations of First World War records and the research undertaken by The National Archives staff during the centenary of the war. The tales are told through the eyes of those who served in the war, showing the diverse experiences at the front and at home. The eBook can be used as a resource to learn about the experiences of war, or as an example of work your students could create inspired by historical documents.

The lesson considers how changing technology and warfare, showing how new inventions completely change the way war is waged.

This lesson can be used with key stage 3 pupils in year 9. It looks at the story of the Bussa rebellion on Barbados based on evidence relating to the reaction of the British authorities.

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?

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?

This lesson consists of a large amount of background information on the treaties and the League. The lesson helps to explain why the Second World War broke out when and how it did.

From writers to royals, politicians, artists, inventors or campaigners, this selection of sources, based on records held at The National Archives, can be used in the primary classroom to support the National Curriculum element ‘significant individuals’ who have contributed to national or international achievements. The collection is by no means exhaustive but contains some of the popular choices and more for teaching this topic. We hope to add to the collection over time. In addition, we have provided links to other useful resources for ‘significant’ figures. The sources can be used within any scheme of work which is based on developing a sense of chronology where pupils can see that a particular ‘significant individual’ fits into a time frame. Again working with sources in this way will help pupils to register similarities and differences between aspects of life between periods, for example comparing Queen Anne to Queen Victoria or Florence Nightingale to Edith Cavell. Other ‘people’ sources can be used to consider questions of what we are remembering and why? Have things always been the same? Why have some things changed?

Gellir defnyddio’r llun hwn gyda disgyblion cyfnod allweddol 3 ym mlwyddyn 8. Mae’n edrych ar hanes helyntion Beca drwy gyfrwng tystiolaeth ar natur y Mudiad, profiad rhai o’r bobl a oedd yn rhan ohonynt ac ymateb yr awdurdodau. Also available in English

This lesson can be used with key stage 3 pupils. It considers the story of the Rebecca riots through evidence relating to the nature of the movement, the experience of some of those involved and the reaction of the authorities. hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg

A lesson plan on Victorian homes. Pupils are gradually introduced to sources on Hackney, starting with a small map section, then photographic evidence, concluding with the census.

This resource contains a hyperlinked list of National Archives current resources for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories on The National Archives website. It includes education resources, 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 number or Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories told through our lessons and collections. This document will be updated periodically to add new resources that have been made available through our website. It was last updated in September 2023. In light of the debates around the term ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic,’ and the acronym ‘BAME,’ it might be important to note that it is used primarily for its practicality. Indeed, our records highlight the shifting nature of language as it applies to ‘race’ and racism over time, often inspired by social justice struggles. They provide a broader historical context for the emergence of such terms, and how through ongoing discussions, they are likely to change again in the future.

This session introduces pupils to the ‘archive keep-safe box’, as they discover the different documents and objects inside and what these reveal about a person from the past. Pupils will have the opportunity to re-create a Victorian photograph by trying on replica costume, as they find out more about the lives of rich and poor children at this time. We will take pictures of the pupils in their costume and insert their image into an original Victorian photograph. You can book this session by going to the National Archives Education website (linked to our shop).

This lesson encourages students to think about what life was like for a child being cared for by the Foundling Hospital, by looking at original sources held at The National Archives. The Hospital was founded during a time of great social and political change, during which it became desirable for the wealthy and influential to be seen as philanthropic.

On 9 August 1970, a group of Black Power activists led 150 people on a march against police harassment of the black community in Notting Hill, London. They called for the ‘end of the persecution of the Mangrove Restaurant’. Between January 1969 and July 1970, the police had raided the Mangrove Restaurant twelve times. No evidence of illegal activity was found during these raids. Local Police Constable Frank Pulley remained convinced that the restaurant was ‘a den of iniquity’ frequented by ‘pimps, prostitutes and criminals’.¹ At the 1970 march in defence of the Mangrove, violence broke out between the police and protestors. The following year nine men and women were put on trial at the Old Bailey for causing a riot at the march. Their names were Darcus Howe, Frank Crichlow, Rhodan Gordan, Althea Jones-Lacointe, Barbara Beese, Godfrey Miller, Rupert Glasgow Boyce, Anthony Carlisle Innis and Rothwell Kentish. These men and women became known nationally as the ‘Mangrove Nine.’ When all nine defendants were acquitted of the most serious charges after a long 55-day trial, it was widely recognised as a moment of victory for black protest. Use this lesson to find out more about the history of Britain’s Black Power movement and the trial of the Mangrove Nine. ¹ Constable Frank Pulley quoted in ‘A Den of Iniquity,’ Kensington Post, October 12, 1971, as cited in Rob Waters, Thinking Black: Britain, 1964-1985 (2019), p. 99

The 1919 race riots were the first time many people became aware of the presence of black and minority ethnic people living in Britain, including those who had lived and worked here for many years and served in the war. At the end of the First World War, the demobilisation of troops caused severe post-war competition for jobs. The perception that foreigners were ‘stealing’ jobs was one of the triggers for the rioting and attacks on black and minority ethnic communities in British port cities. Use this lesson to find out more about the 1919 race riots in Cardiff and Liverpool. How significant a factor was race in these riots?

This video from our ‘Spotlight On’ series features collections expert Will Butler looking at our War Office series. This video focuses on a manual from August 1918 about the role of tanks in warfare. It helps explore the impact of this technology during the First World War.

This video is part of our ‘Spotlight On’ series and features Contemporary Records Specialist Mark Dunton looking at twentieth century records from the Prime Minister’s Office relating to the start of the Suez Crisis in 1956.

This lesson shows us how we can use a range of historical sources from the early modern period to piece together the history of sugar, a foodstuff that is now a part of our daily life. It explores the time in history when sugar was beginning to become more easily available and affordable in England, due to the transatlantic slave trade, the growth of sugar plantations in the Americas, and the labour of enslaved peoples on these plantations. A large collection of documents that can tell us about the history of sugar can be found in a collection called HCA 30, a varied set of records from the High Court of Admiralty, which include piracy, prize-taking, colonialism, and overseas trade. Use this lesson to see what you can discover about the history of sugar from six different sources in collections at The National Archives.

In 1604, James I of England and James VI of Scotland published his ‘Counterblaste to Tobacco’. He condemned the use of tobacco on the grounds of its poisonous effects on the body. He wrote that smoking was a ‘custome lothesome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black and stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible stygian [very dark] smoke of the pit that is bottomless’. ‘Counterblaste’ also revealed James I’s concern about the potential disruptive effects of tobacco to English society. Writers of the period continuously linked the smoking of tobacco with immorality, disobedience, and even treason. As James I had only just ascended the English throne, it is unsurprising that he felt tobacco might encourage civil disorder and unrest. Tobacco had been present in England since at least the 1560s, when sailors returning from Atlantic voyages captained by the Merchant Adventurer Sir John Hawkins had brought it home. It was likely that they themselves picked up the habit from Spanish and Portuguese sailors. Despite James I’s protests, there was a tobacco boom in early Stuart England. Use the documents in this lesson to explore the early Stuart fascination with tobacco, focusing particularly on overseas trade networks and the activity of the Virginia Company, which helped popularise tobacco in England. Find out about the impact of early Stuart colonial ventures on individuals whose stories have often been left out of history.