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.

This video from our ‘Spotlight On’ series features Records Specialist Dr Juliette Desplat looking at records from the Foreign Office. This video focuses on two documents relating to the British government’s reaction to the Russian Revolution.

This video from our ‘Spotlight On’ series features Records Specialist Mark Dunton looking at records from the Cabinet Office. This video focuses on one document relating to a cabinet meeting in 1981 during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.

This video is part of our ‘Spotlight On’ series and features Modern Records Specialist Kevin Searle looking at records from the Home Office. This video focuses on some of the evidence and papers gathered to prepare the Scarman Report on causes of the Brixton uprisings. The title of the document is: ‘Inquiry into 1981 Brixton Disturbances (Scarman Inquiry): Evidence and Papers.’

This video from our ‘Spotlight On’ series features Records Specialist Daniel Gilfoyle looking at records from the Colonial Office. This video focuses on two documents relating to the Baptist War in 1831 led by Samuel Sharpe against slavery in Jamaica which shed light on resistance to slavery in the British Caribbean.

This video is part of our educational ‘Spotlight On’ series. This video features collections expert Sean Cunningham looking at records from our State Papers collection. He focuses on a ballad relating to the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536-7 from SP1, our series of State Papers relating to Henry VIII.

Magna Carta - an interactive learning resource from The National Archives and UK Parliament enable independent student-led enquiry useing an interactive platform and video characters to engage students with original thirteenth century documents to investigate why Magna Carta was issued and reissued at four points in time: 1215; 1225; 1265 and 1297. Guided by the famous monk chronicler, Matthew Paris, students travel around the country and through time to interview key characters and investigate original documents to decide for themselves why Magna Carta was, and remains, such an important document. You can find the interactive resource on our Education website (linked to our shop).

The purpose of this lesson is to explore sources which reveal something about the contemporary medical understanding of the disease, public attitudes and the role of the General Board of Health over a time frame of series of cholera epidemics in Victorian England. For some, the best advice against the disease was to improve ventilation, cleanliness and purge the body, keep it warm or change the diet. For others it required prayer and forgiveness from God. Again, it is interesting to consider why many of these ideas persisted after the breakthrough provided by Dr John Snow in 1854 that linked the presence of contaminated water to the spread of cholera at a time when the authorities and medical profession believed that the disease was spread by miasma, or bad air caused by pollution.

‘Uncovering LGBTQ+ lives in the archive’ is a series of films combining puppetry, model-making, and animation created by a group of eight young people in July 2022. The project allowed the group to explore moments of LGBTQ+ history from the collection, some more well-known than others, and to interpret the documents from a 21st century perspective. They then used their reflections to inspire the narrative and artwork for their films. This was the first young person’s project to be run onsite since 2019. The group worked with a filmmaking team led by Nigel Kellaway, as well as staff from the Education and Outreach department and record specialists. The young people explored stories relating to individuals and ‘spaces’ which allowed them to consider wider themes such as the use of language, criminalisation, and communication through the 18th to 20th centuries. Under the guidance of staff, the young people worked with original archive documents, in some cases seeing photographs of the people and places they were researching. The group demonstrated emotional intelligence and compassion for the people whose lives they have interpreted. The series of films can now be used by teachers and students as brief overviews or introductions to the themes explored within the films. The following questions can be asked of each film: What types of documents are shown in the films? What do the documents reveal about what life was like for LGBTQ+ people at the time? What themes can you identify within the films? How do we view these stories today, with a contemporary perspective? Can you find out how the laws affecting the lives of LGBTQ+ people have changed over time? Can you explain why? Why are these documents kept at The National Archives?

In 1832, Parliament passed a law that changed the British electoral system. It was known as the Great Reform Act, which basically gave the vote to middle class men, leaving working men disappointed. The Reform Act became law in response to years of criticism of the electoral system from those outside and inside Parliament. Elections in Britain were neither fair nor representative. In order to vote, a person had to own property or pay certain taxes to qualify, which excluded most working class people. There were also constituencies with several voters that elected two MPs to Parliament, such as Old Sarum in Salisbury. In these ‘rotten boroughs’, with few voters and no secret ballot, it was easy for those standing for election to buy votes. Industrial towns like Manchester or Birmingham, which had grown during the previous 80 years, had no Members of Parliament to represent them. In 1831, the House of Commons passed a Reform Bill, but the House of Lords, dominated by the Tory party, defeated it. This was followed by riots and serious disturbances in London, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Yeovil, Sherborne, Exeter and Bristol. In this lesson use original documents from 1830-31 to explore demands for change in the voting system.

‘British India’, also referred to as the ‘British Raj’ or ‘Direct rule in India’, was part of the British Empire from 1858 until independence in 1947. This independence process was called ‘partition’, because the colony was divided up into two countries: India and Pakistan. Partition was not inevitable and happened because of long and complicated talks between the British government and elite Indian figures, each with their own political interests. The final borders of the new nations were created in only six weeks by Sir Cyril Radcliffe and were based on Muslim and non-Muslim majority areas. The new Pakistan was split into two regions that were more than 1,000 miles away: West Pakistan and East Pakistan (today’s Bangladesh). The distance and difference in culture, language, and identity between the two regions, and the fact that West Pakistan held more political and economic power, led to strong tensions and eventually protest movements in East Pakistan. In 1971, West and East Pakistan fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War. This led to the creation of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971. How can we trace this road to independence through the British reports in The National Archives?

With the Great Reform Act 1832, voting rights were given to the property-owning middle classes in Britain. However, many working men were disappointed that they could not vote. Chartism was a working class movement which emerged in 1836 in London. It expanded rapidly across the country and was most active between 1838 and 1848. The aim of the Chartists was to gain political rights and influence for the working classes. Their demands were widely publicized through their meetings and pamphlets. The movement got its name from the People’s Charter which listed its six main aims: a vote for all men (over 21) secret ballot no property qualification to become an MP payment for MPs electoral districts of equal size annual elections for Parliament Why did the Chartists make these demands? Use the original documents in this lesson to find out more about Chartism.

Despite ruling so long ago, Edgar’s reign is still visible in our lives today. It was during Edgar’s rule that England was divided into shires and hundreds for local governance. His coronation is the earliest to be described in detail and has formed the template for all coronations of English Royalty to this day. This lesson provides pupils with a glimpse of Anglo-Saxon society through one of the oldest documents looked after by The National Archives. The document is not part of our standard collection of royal and governmental documents preserved for administrative purposes, but was instead presented to us for safekeeping in 1868. This document is a charter, a formal statement of grant, making the recipient Ælfhere thane of a small area of what is now Devon. Pupils can examine the content of the charter to recognise the influence of the King and the Church over the land and its people. Pupils could research Anglo-Saxon life to discover what the land could be used for, in terms of farming and woodland crafts. Pupils can consider the rights of the King to use land he has granted to others for his own purposes as described in the Charter, and why this would be necessary during the Anglo-Saxon period.

This lesson is designed to support History KS 1-2, units 11 and 12 to learn about the past times of the Victorian people.

A lesson based on the World Cup 1966, which may be of particular interest to some students. The lesson refers to the South American protesters who claimed that England, also the hosts, had rigged the whole tournament, with the help of West Germany.

The lesson considers the story of Thomas Blood and the questions encourage pupils to investigate the sources and try to work out how and why Thomas Blood tried to steal the Crown Jewels.