Civil War L1 & L2 - What Were the Causes of the Civil War

This lesson contains:

• A starter task to check students’ chronological knowledge of the common monarchs studied at KS3. Feel free to change or alter (or add) as needed.
• An overview of what a civil war is. Students have an opportunity to discuss this and then write down a definition. Students then find out it is between Charles and parliament. There is a chance here to discuss what parliament is, if the students don’t already know it. The students can then be shown an overview slide that shows the death toll and impact the war will go on to have.
• An activity to note down, from teacher-led slides, the beliefs which Charles held. This will help to build a picture of the reasons why a potential conflict might arise. This includes his power beliefs (divine right of kings), his religious beliefs and his financial beliefs. This helps later when the students categorise the reasons for the war into these groups.
• There is a video giving an overview of the causes of the Civil War that students may find interesting. It is made by English Heritage.
• A main activity which might span over the two lessons. This is to follow the narrative of events (a 3 page information booklet provided) and complete their timeline on the worksheet provided. This maps out the major events in the road to war. For each event, students summarise what caused the disagreement and then judge, using the scale, how much guilt Charles had for each event. The students will then colour-code the timeline to show whether the cause is to do with power, money or religion.
• There Is then a chance to do a write up using the evidence they have gained. This is to decide whether Charles was to blame. The students could be asked to also do a ‘one hand, other hand’ piece of work if you prefer.

Attachments:

• 1 x Powerpoint Presentation
• 2 x Publisher Files