This resource takes a twin track approach to the subject matter. Track 1: The significance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement of 1998 The Agreement was clearly an event of huge historical significance. However, it can sometimes be difficult to articulate why this was the case. This collection of documents aims to help students to meet this challenge. In the first instance, they are presented with two documents in which prominent political figures clearly think the Agreement was significant and successful. They are then asked to examine six more documents which all illuminate some aspect of the attempts to implement the Agreement and make it work. In the process the documents also provide evidence of the difficulties faced and the determination of the participants to overcome these difficulties. Track 2: How historians use sources This resource is NOT an examination practice paper. It is designed to take one step back from the exam question-based approach and to explore how historians think about documents and make use of them. The aim is that by understanding this set of fundamentals, students will be better equipped for the inevitably more limited approaches which examination conditions place on them. In this instance, students are introduced to the concept of a line of argument. This is a challenging idea, and it is difficult to master. With this in mind, we have provided some examples of lines of argument relating to the key issue of the significance of the Agreement for relations between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland. The five possible lines of argument are: The Agreement ended all of the tensions over Northern Ireland between the UK and Ireland. The Agreement failed to ease tensions over Northern Ireland between the UK and Ireland. Some groups actively opposed the Agreement even after it was signed. All sides gave up on the Agreement after it was signed. Despite the problems, all sides worked hard to make the Agreement work and this helped to ease tensions over Northern Ireland between the UK and Ireland. In each source we ask students to consider which argument the document could be used to support. For each document, there are additional questions to aid students in their analysis. Students should complete the table before discussing which of the lines of argument are supported by the sources. It is possible that several are supported so they will then need to make a judgement about which has the most evidence and is the most convincing. Once students have decided on a line of argument, they should develop an extended paragraph in response to the question “What was the significance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement?” Their answer should explain why they have chosen the line of argument and what evidence from the sources supports it. Please note, the transcripts of the resources retain any typographical errors included in the original documents.

The two documents selected within this package (one from the National Archives of Ireland and one from the National Archives in Kew) reveal the doubts about whether a peace agreement for Northern Ireland could be reached just days before it was finally signed by all parties. The documents also cover all the twists and turns of the final 72 hours of negotiation. It is expected that students will already have completed ‘The Road to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement’ lesson pack, although this is not essential. This lesson provides a contrast to that lesson: whereas the previous lesson focussed more on the barriers to peace, this centres more on how agreement was reached. In the main activity, students are encouraged to analyse extracts from a long document, a report on the final 72 hours written by John Holmes, Principal Private Secretary (PPS) to Tony Blair. In a similar process to lessons 1- 2, they need to look for: any evidence that the talks are going well or that an agreement is close any evidence that there are still challenges or that agreement seems far away key turning points / actions of individuals that make breakthrough possible They will chart the progress of the negotiations by plotting the 20 points on a graph to represent them in a visual form (teachers may wish to remove extracts in order to cut down the number students need to examine). Learning objectives By the end of the session, students will: know what barriers still stood in the way of an agreement, 7–10 April 1998 understand how the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement was finally achieved be able to use contemporary documents to deepen your understanding Please note, the transcripts of the resources retain any typographical errors included in the original documents.

The resource takes a twin-track approach. Track 1: The significance of the Downing Street Declaration The six documents raise awareness and understanding of key events, developments and processes which contributed in some way to the Downing Street Declaration and the wider peace process. The main question is : What was the significance of the Downing Street Declaration? In one sense the answer to this is simple: the Declaration, as Source 6 clearly states, was designed to offer the Republican movement in Northern Ireland a pathway towards an end to violent action. Of course, the process of reaching a point where the Declaration could be made was far from simple. There were many contributory factors: individuals, groups, movements; developments in Ireland and the USA. These documents provide an insight into the workings and impact of just a few of these factors. Track 2: How historians use sources Making effective use of sources is not some mechanical process or skill which is separate from knowledge and context. It is a craft which experts take many years to develop and constantly look to improve on. The examination paper for this part of the CCEA GCSE History course places great stock on asking students to assess how the sources they are given would be useful and/or reliable in the context of particular questions. This resource is NOT an examination practice paper. It is designed to take one step back from the exam question-based approach and to explore how historians think about documents and make use of them. The aim is that by understanding this set of fundamentals, students will be better equipped for the inevitably more limited approaches which examination conditions place on them. Students are introduced to the two tracks in Slides 1-10 and then they can look at the documents. Students should look at each document and complete the table, so that they are recording: Reasons why the Downing Street Declaration came about, why key groups or individuals were involved, why and progress was difficult; Impact of particular events, actions, individuals; Changes taking place at the time; How the process worked which eventually led to the Downing Street Declaration came – meetings, discussions, documents; and Attitudes of the various groups and individuals involved. For each document, there are additional questions to aid students in their analysis. Students should complete the table before discussing what they consider to be the significance of the Downing Street Declaration. Once students have decided on a line of argument, they should develop an extended paragraph in response to the question “What was the significance of the Downing Street Declaration?” Their answer should explain why they have come to their conclusion what evidence from the sources supports their assessment. Please note, the transcripts of the resources retain any typographical errors included in the original documents.

Historians substantiate their interpretations of the past by supporting their claims with evidence from primary sources. This is why two of the key assessment objectives at A Level are: Understanding and evaluating historical interpretations. Using and assessing a range of historical sources Part 1: What role did the key figures in the peace process play? Is it possible to argue that there was one key figure or group? This task provides A Level students with a collection of sources which will allow them to evaluate the role of key players and perhaps reach a judgement on how the work of these key players came together. Study each interpretation and summarise the key points made by the historian. What do they argue is the most important factor, individual or group? How did this contribute to the peace process and Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement? What challenges and obstacles had to be overcome? What evidence is given to support this interpretation? Does the historian’s biographical information help to explain their interpretation? From your own knowledge how convincing do you find this interpretation? What further evidence would you want to find in the documents to make the interpretation convincing? If you were to provide a one-word summary of this individual’s contribution, which of these would you choose, or can you think of a better word? Obstructive / Unhelpful / Marginal / Constructive / Helpful / Pragmatic / Visionary / Essential Part 2: Testing the views against the documents This resource is NOT an exam practice paper. It is designed to explore how historians think about documents and make use of them. Students are introduced to the concept of a line of argument and to testing this against evidence from a range of documents. This will enable them to respond more effectively to the source and interpretation papers in their examinations. All of the documents come from either: The National Archives of the United Kingdom The National Archives of Ireland The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland For each document a number of discussion questions are posed which are designed to engage students in focused reading of the text. Students are then asked to consider whether the document could be used as evidence to support a particular view. Carefully study the pack of 10 documents about the peace process. Decide whether each document could be used as evidence to support Views 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. Remember that documents may support more than one view Decide whether they constitute strong, convincing evidence or whether more evidence is required to substantiate the interpretation and support the historian’s line of argument. Please note, the transcripts of the resources retain any typographical errors included in the original documents.

The start of mass politics in Britain? The document collection is designed to allow students and teachers to develop their own questions and lines of historical enquiry on Protest and Democracy from 1816 to 1818. Documents are titled and grouped together according to theme and therefore not displayed in strict chronological order. Some of the themes include: the causes of distress, Blanketeers, radical meetings. These documents can be used to support any of the exam board specifications covering the political, social and cultural aspects of nineteenth century British history, for example: AQA History A level Breadth study: The impact of Industrialisation: Government and a changing society, 1812-1832 Edexcel History A level Paper 1: Breadth study with interpretations 1D: Britain c1785-c1870 democracy, protest and reform Paper 3: Aspects in depth: Protest, agitation and parliamentary reform in Britain, c1780-1928: unit: Radical reformers c1790-1819 Mass protest and Agitation OCR History A level Unit Y110: From Pitt to Peel 1783-1853 British Period Study: British Government in the Age of Revolution 1783-1832

The Boston Tea party marked a critical moment in the history of the American Revolution as an act of colonial defiance against British rule. In Boston harbour, on 16 December 1773, American colonists, disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded British ships and threw 342 chests of tea owned by the East India Company into the water. It was a protest about the tax on tea, levied without representation in the British Parliament and against the monopoly of the East India Company. The earlier Townshend Acts placed duties on a range of imports to the colonies. These had been repealed; however, the tax on tea remained. A Tea Act was passed in the spring of 1773 to help the East India Company, which faced financial difficulties, and enabled its control of the trade in tea. To further assert its authority over the colonies, and in response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed several acts known as the Coercive Acts. To the colonists, these became known as the Intolerable Acts and paved the way for further resistance and the American Revolution. Use the documents in this lesson to explore context for the Boston Tea Party and see what some of the documents from the British side reveal about this event and beyond.

A lesson plan with various suggestions for KS2 or KS3 pupils to learn about the Spanish Armada. Some of the suggestions in this lesson lend themselves to cross curricular links.

This lesson provides a chronological overview of the shifting laws and attitudes that have applied to the LGBTQ+ community in Britain and the former British Empire since 1701, and how they have affected the community. Owing to the number of sources, teachers may wish to break this lesson down into two parts or assign small groups to work on different sources and report back. People have always existed who engaged in same sex relationships, defied conventional gender norms, or lived as a different gender to the one they were assigned as at birth. The social climate these individuals lived in, and the language they had available to them, has changed significantly over the last 1,000 years – the span of The National Archives’ collections. The history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the UK is a complex mixture of moments of pain, resistance, and progress. ‘LGBTQ+’ is used as an umbrella term to describe people historically who were either not cisgender or heterosexual. These individuals would have used a variety of different language to describe themselves in their own lifetimes. We recognise our records contain words that are at times offensive, however some of the original language and legal terms are preserved here to accurately represent our records and help us fully understand the past. Please note that some of these sources contain non-explicit references to sex and sexuality. Use this lesson to find out more about LGBTQ+ rights and lives from the 1700s to the present day. The documents are listed chronologically. This lesson has been developed in collaboration with the Bishopsgate Institute.

Use the British government sources in this lesson to explore the complicated reasons behind the Chinese Civil War and its outcome, including party ideology, propaganda, fighting tactics, and power struggles. In 1940s China, two parties were fighting for power. On one side was the ruling nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party, led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. On the other was the opposing Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by Mao Zedong. During the Second World War, both parties banded together to fight off Japanese occupation. However, after the war, peace talks between the two quickly broke down. The fighting between the two parties became ongoing before escalating into civil war. The civil war was eventually won by the CCP in 1949. Mao declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China on 1 October 1949. Chiang Kai-shek, meanwhile, fled to the island of Taiwan, where he continued to rule.

Experience all the fun and excitement of a day out at the seaside in Victorian times without leaving your classroom. We’ve selected some of our favourite Victorian photos, posters and prints from The National Archives’ huge collection of images. You’ll find below lots of suggestions for sensory activities that you can easily do in your classroom. They’ll help you use our images as a starting point to bring all the sights, sounds, smells and experiences of the Victorian seaside to life. We recommend you follow the six sections below in order, but you don’t need to use every image or do every suggested activity. Just choose or adapt the ones that are most suitable for your students. There are sensory activities, signed videos, sound files and ideas for further discussion – hopefully something for everybody. You may even come up with some ideas of your own for activities based on our images. If you do, we’d love to hear about them! This resource is suitable for students working from P1 to KS2. P Scale links: English (Speaking and listening) Geography History Music

In this lesson, students will investigate several sources which reflect some of the different attitudes towards vaccination in the Victorian period. Smallpox was a common killer in nineteenth century Britain. It spread rapidly and killed around 30% of those who contracted it and left many survivors blinded or scarred. In 1850s, the government passed a series of laws that made vaccination against smallpox compulsory. Some people and healthcare professionals supported vaccination while others objected to it. There were many reasons why people opposed vaccination: some claimed vaccination were unsafe, or unnecessary, whilst others argued that compulsory vaccination was government interference. The growing feeling for anti-vaccination reached full force in the 1890s with the National Anti-Vaccination League. The group organized protests and produced its own publications to distribute anti-vaccine propaganda. Ultimately, the voices of the anti-vaccination movement became too loud for the government to ignore and the government made it possible for people to opt-out of vaccination. Understanding the range of views regarding vaccination is critical for understanding the role of science in society. In addition, delving into this important, yet little known history of vaccination in Victorian society may give us insights into present day anti-vaccination movements. Connections to curriculum OCR GCSE: Unit: The People’s Health, c. 1250 to present Period: Industrial Britain, c. 1750-c. 1900; Public Health Reform in the nineteenth century. Excel GCSE: Option 11: Medicine in Britain, c. 1250-present and The British Sector of the Western Front, 1914-18: c.1700-c. 1900: Medicine in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain; new approaches to prevention: the development and use of vaccinations AQA GCSE: Thematic studies: Revolution in medicine; the role of public health reformers; local and national government involvement in public health.

A lesson to develop pupils understanding of how Elizabeth I presented herself to her subjects in the days before mass media. The sources provided support support the study of some of the key ways in which the Queen’s image was conveyed to her subjects and to be compared to the current queen.

The National Archives holds many documents pertaining to the First World War, allowing us to investigate many aspects of wartime life. Within these collections we have gathered together examples of a variety of records that relate to Medicine on the Western Front. The collections cover key examples of the medical issues faced during wartime, innovations inspired by the war, and the triumphs and struggles of those serving as doctors and nurses as well as the soldiers abroad. Both these collections of original sources, Part 1 and Part 2, can be used to support GCSE thematic modules which cover Medicine through Time to the present day and the historical context of the British sector of the Western Front. Teachers have the flexibility to download and create their own resources from these documents, to develop their pupils’ understanding of how to work with sources and prepare and practice for source based exam questions. Each collection includes a wide range of sources to encourage students to think broadly when exploring these topics. With each collection we have suggested 5 tasks based on some of the documents. The tasks can be completed individually or in groups. There is a downloadable pdf of questions to help working with sources. All documents are provided with transcripts. We hope that exposure to original source material may also foster further document research. The following themes covered by the documents in Part 2 include: Treatments for ‘shell shock’, neurasthenia and gas attacks, government reports on ‘shell shock’ and ‘mustard gas’ The trench system and its organisation and topography. Weapons, experience of being under fire, defensive mining, gas masks Daily life on the front: from mud to hair cuts The attack on Hill 60, south west of Ypres, April 1915 The experience of ordinary men of their medical treatment and trench warfare gathered from some letters written by those who had worked for Great Western Railway before the war. The experience of some of the Women’s Army and Nursing Services on the Western Front

The National Archives holds many documents pertaining to the First World War, allowing us to investigate many aspects of wartime life. Within these collections we have gathered together examples of a variety of records that relate to Medicine on the Western Front. The collections cover key examples of the medical issues faced during wartime, innovations inspired by the war, and the triumphs and struggles of those serving as doctors and nurses as well as the soldiers abroad. Both these collections of original sources, Part 1 and Part 2, can be used to support GCSE thematic modules which cover Medicine through Time to the present day and the historical context of the British sector of the Western Front. Teachers have the flexibility to download and create their own resources from these documents, to develop their pupils’ understanding of how to work with sources and prepare and practice for source based exam questions. Each collection includes a wide range of sources to encourage students to think broadly when exploring these topics. With each collection we have suggested 5 tasks based on some of the documents. The tasks can be completed individually or in groups. There is a downloadable pdf of questions to help working with sources. All documents are provided with transcripts. We hope that exposure to original source material may also foster further document research. The following themes covered by the documents in Part 1 include: Type of injury which resulted from trench warfare. Medical treatments received by injured soldiers and some of the medical developments that came with the First World War. Dangers faced by soldiers caused by exploding shells, grenades, shrapnel, gas, personal combat, flooding, noise, acute stress. Type of medical services from transport to hospitals. (For the injured, this could involve initial treatment and transport by a Field Ambulance unit and return to duty or movement to a Casualty Clearing Station. From here injured soldiers could be moved to a Base Hospital before transportation to a British military/civilian hospital at home via hospital ship. Transport itself ranged from stretcher bearers, horse-drawn ambulances, motor vehicles, boats or ships.) Included here also is the personal War Office record of war poet Wilfred Owen (one of a specific record set of notable high-ranking officers in the British Army).

During her brief reign, Queen Anne received numerous petitions. A petition was a formal written request to the monarch by a person or group of people for a specific purpose. They included appeals from people against being sent to prison, or requests concerning religion, the sale of goods, pleas for jobs in the government or the Navy and so on. These requests therefore, can give insight as to how a monarch was expected to govern and carry out their role. Likewise, seals, used on most documents in the past to ‘close’ them and to prove that a document really was actually from the sender are useful sources for finding out about the monarchy. A Great Seal was particularly significant as it belonged to the monarch and was attached to all important documents which came from the crown. If a document had this seal, it had the monarch’s ‘seal of approval’ and reflected their commands. The seal used in this lesson is the Second Great Seal of Queen Anne and gives us clues about her image and how she wanted to be seen. Finally, some documents were decorated with images of the monarch to show that their contents relates to a particular ruler. This lesson contains an official treasury document which reveals an initial portrait of Queen Anne. Can you use the sources in this lesson to find out more about this Queen?

This lesson aims to give pupils the opportunity to use two historical sources to answer questions based on photographs of people of the 19th century.

This lesson looks at Queen Victoria and her relationship with her family. The lesson could be extended to work with decoding other photographs or portraits.

An online themed collection on the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 . Teachers and students can access to original documents of the period with teacher’s notes, transcripts, timeline and family tree. Audio recordings of most documents open them up to a new audience, and an accompanying Pinterest board brings the collection to life. There are printed Jacobite pamphlets and to a song calling for George I to go home and many other sources.

An online themed collection on the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 . Teachers and students can access to original documents of the period with teacher’s notes, transcripts, timeline and family tree. Audio recordings of most documents open them up to a new audience, and an accompanying Pinterest board brings the collection to life. There are printed Jacobite pamphlets and to a song calling for George I to go home and many other sources.

From the sealing of Magna Carta, the coming of the Armada, the Great Fire of London, a Christmas ceasefire on the Western Front in 1914 to Decimalisation in 1971, 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 events’ beyond living memory. The collection is by no means exhaustive, but contains some of the popular choices and other suggestions 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’ events. 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 event’ 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 the Great Exhibition of 1851 with the Festival of Britain in 1951. Other ‘events’ 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?