Who Was to Blame for the Peterloo Massacre?

This lesson contains:

• A starter to look at 3 images of revolutions and some of the features. This sets up the image of Henry Hunt at Peterloo really well.
• A background into the problems in Manchester at the time and the plans for the meeting at St. Peter’s Field.
• A YouTube trailer for the Peterloo film and a short YouTube documentary to elicit answers from the class about what the people wanted and what threat there may have been. Also, what happened in the actual event. It’s a good opportunity to study the image of Henry Hunt and go back to the starter to imagine what the magistrates might have thought was  going to happen (i.e. a revolution).
• A long task to study a series of sources on the info sheets provided and to note down, for each, who each source blames and what evidence shows this. The students built up arguments for both sides.
• A run through of the aftermath and what happened as a consequence. Students can then judge who was to blame.
• An optional homework activity to design a memorial to those who died, or to publish a one-sided newspaper article about the event. The template for this is provided.

Attachments:

• 1 x Powerpoint Presentation
• 5 x Word Files