Nadia Thomas on Slavery

Chepstow student Nadia Thomas gives a very personal insight into the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Argument against Slavery

Slavery is evil.  I, William Wilberforce say that if God made us all to be equal what rights do we have to enslave a fellow man just because of the colour of his skin?  We have destroyed a whole economy and culture, an entire way of life, simply to enrich Britain.  The young and healthy Africans are taken away from their families, forced to lie in their own filth during the crossing to the Americas and then auctioned off to the highest bidder.

I know how you justify this by saying how they get a better life.  Most slaves will never know anything apart from back-breaking labour and the cruel sting of the whip.  We are all equal so why does the slave trade continue?  Are we not all good Christians?  If so, then why does the very highest form of cruelty and barbarity continue?

Jacob Van Buren, Usk House

Posters!

I've been making some posters to highlight the use of new technology at Chepstow and in the History Department.

@ChepstowHistory - follow us on Twitter

Open Evening - 1920s Speakeasy

'Do not go in the house of sin!' The anti-saloon league protest outside Chepstow History Department.

Thanks to all students, staff and parents for a hugely successful open evening!

Welcome back!

Right, it's time for a proper welcome back to school! And time for me to get back into this blog. We will be continuing to update our blog throughout the year with events, happenings and good work!

A reminder that resources and information for GCSEs and AS/A Levels can be found on this blog.

Congratulations to our Y13 leavers who had their best results ever!

Pob lwc to all for the year ahead!

Mr Rawlings

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot: The Trial of Guy Fawkes

After studying the 'Gunpowder Plot' year 8 students chose to put Guido 'Guy' Fawkes on trial. The aim was to find out once and for all if he was guilty of attempting to blow up parliament and murder the king.

Here are the results of that trial:



If you'd like to find out more about Guy Fawkes and the 'Gunpowder Plot' have a look at these links below:

http://www.gunpowderplot.co.uk/plot.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/gunpowder_robinson_01.shtml

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/gunpowder_plot_of_1605.htm

Or this video with Nick Knowles is an entertaining overview!

Big History - TED Lecture

'Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in 18 riveting minutes. 

This is "Big History": an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline.'

TED Lecture

TED is a nonprofit project devoted to spreading innovative ideas. Their website is packed with interesting videos and lectures.

Y11 Revision Session

There will be a Y11 revision session for paper 2 - the British Depth Study after school on Thursday 14th June (the day before the exam).

If you have any other questions, queries or problems then do come and ask a member of the History department. We will be around before, during and after school to help.

Remember, this exam is all about your ability to evaluate and analyse the sources. So use your source booklets and practice!

If you need more exam questions this link will take you to the exam board website where you can download them.

Revision Memory Technique

Here you'll find a video of Derren Brown explaining the memory technique I have used with many classes in preparation for this summer's exams (Year 10 tried it today).

It's all about making multiple memory connections in your brain at the same time. Which is exactly the point of revision.

During revision we should be accessing the same information through a number of different mediums (ways) in order to create these multiple memory links in the brain.

Try it with your house, you route to school or even using the school building. It just has to be a route you know well.

GCSE Bitesize Revision

There are some fantastic videos, like the one below, on the GCSE Bitesize site (although the tests are somewhat narrow).

Interestingly the clips are voiced by a number of comedians - Rich Fulcher, Josie Long, Mark Steel.

Hopefully this'll help you to remember and recall the information.

Half Term Revision Session - GCSE

The History Department will be running a half-term revision session for the GCSE Paper 1.

This will be on Wednesday 6th June starting at 10am.

This is the Year 10 course so will be relevant for Y10s and any Y11s resitting.

We'll cover both topics:

• USA, 1919-41
• Cold War, 1945-75

This is for your benefit, so we'd like to see as many of you there as possible!

Cold War, 1945-75 Flashcards

Enjoy...

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/2039101/e97y

USA, 1919-1941 Flashcards

USA, 1919-1941 flashcards...

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/2039036/r4q9

Revision Tips and Tricks

As it is exam season I thought I would share some advice on how to revise and prepare for exams productively...

Revision Tips and Tricks on Prezi

Pob lwc!

Tet Offensive

Incredible footage of US soldiers in the ancient imperial city Hue during the Tet Offensive.

What is perhaps most telling is the attitudes of the US army to Vietnamese civilians. Tet was an unexpectedly strong and bloody counter-strike by North Vietnamese forces...

Had the Americans, at this point, lost all stomach for war and sympathy for the ordinary Vietnamese?

Liberal Reforms Flashcards

Flashcards on the 'Liberal Reforms'...

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/2003514/1mw9

One minute is still history... right?

Created by Online Education

Women's Suffrage Flashcards

Follow this link for flashcards on Women's Suffrage:

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/machine/?read_only=1995686&p=q7r8

Pob lwc.

Good Morning Vietnam!

Good Morning Vietnam is available on YouTube.

See the whole movie here.

The 'New Deal' - 1933

President Franklin Roosevelt creates a series of programs designed to help America cope with, and recover from the Great Depression.

Year 11 Mock Exam - 24th April

The 2012 Year 11 'British Depth Study' mock exam will be on Tuesday 24 April, lessons 1 and 2.

Pob lwc.

Fireside Chats

FDR's first fireside chat...

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) - 1933

Established in 1933, the National Recovery Administration (NRA) was a key component of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program designed to combat the effects of the Great Depression.

Radio Abyssinia Report, 1936

Anchorman: "It's the 3rd October 1936 and your news for the day...

The Imperial power Italy has launched and invasion of Abyssinia. I'm here in the action reporting to you live as the story unravels.

Mussolini’s unprovoked attack comes just shortly after looming remilitarisation by fellow Fascists Germany in the Rhineland. Mussolini has consistently sought peaceful negotiations between Hitler and the larger European powers. It remains to be seen if this invasion sparks a sea-change in Italian foreign policy. Some reporters are also arguing that this is a warning message to Hitler.
Abyssinia is now likely to become another addition to Albania and Fiume as part of Mussolini’s growing empire. Although the east African nation may not be of huge significance, it could have some economic value to Italy as its lands are fertile and could be an area for population expansion.
Now over to our roving reporter to judge the reaction in the Italian capital – Rome...”

Reporter: “I’m here in the streets of Rome and talking to the people of Italy. There is a strong feeling here that Mussolini is restoring their national pride and spirit after the devastation of WW1. Even the Pope himself has supported what he described earlier today as a crusade against the ‘barbarians’ in Abyssinia. Ironically he appears to have overlooked Abyssinia’s history as one of the first kingdoms in the world to convert to Christianity.”

Anchorman: “So, what do Italians think they will gain from this attack?”

Reporter: “Well, you get the sense that this invasion is further strengthening the Italian nation and the Italian people have certainly become more fond and appreciative of the man they call ‘Il Duce’. There is a great sense of national pride. As I mentioned, many people here are describing this as a ‘holy war’, others a conquest to establish an Empire to rival Britain of France.”

Anchorman: “It is rumoured that this sudden invasion of one of the few independent countries left after the scramble for Africa, and a fellow League of Nations member, has led to a risk of Italy being thrown out of the League. With us in the studio today we have a representative from the government of Emperor Haile Salassi of Abyssinia. We are hearing reports of ruthless attacks against civilians, can you confirm or deny these rumours?

Representative: “Yes, we have significant evidence of the use of bombing and chemical weapons against civilians during this invasion.”

Anchorman: “Where these attacks have taken place?”

Representative: “The civilian attacks have mainly been focused on rural villages and Red Cross camps, in order to prevent much needed aid and medical care from reaching our forces.”

Anchorman: “Thank you for your time. Tune in later at 10 as we investigate the rise of Fascist Italy and assess the potential of their growing relationship with Nazi Germany. Good night."


 By Will & Doug

America Goes Dry with Prohibition

The 18th amendment to the US constitution in 1920 prohibited the 'sale, manufacture and transportation of intoxicating liquor...'

JFK blown away, what else do I gotta say?

As an end of term treat and to tie in with our work on the Cuban Missile Crisis, we started watching Oscar winning Oliver Stone film 'JFK' in class today.

The story is so compelling that I sat down on my own after school, in my freezing classroom to finish watching the film. #MrRawlingsissad

Click here for the link to the film...

Next year, incredibly, will mark the 50th anniversary of John Fitzgerald Kennedy's assassination. Kennedy was shot two or three times (depending on who you believe) at 12:30pm Central Standard Time on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas. The final shot hit Kennedy in the head and, almost certainly, killed him on the spot.

Kennedy parades through Dallas, just moments before the fatal shots.

Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the Texas School Book Depository that overlooked the parade route, was arrested and charged with the assassination of the President. Two days later, before he could be tried, Oswald was murdered as he was led away from Dallas Police Station. This second assassin, Jack Ruby, was given a death sentence, but died of cancer in 1967 before a date for the sentence could be confirmed.

Oswald consistently claimed he had been set up. To this day, conspiracy theories abound, all aiming to explain JFK's untimely death.

So just who did kill Kennedy? See a breakdown of the conspiracy theories after the jump...

Vietnam War Films

Year 10s!

Over Easter watch as many of these films as you can:

http://www.imdb.com/list/WIiJaX0G56Y/?start=1&view=detail&sort=user_rating:desc

Were the Falklands worth it?

A very interesting article by the BBC, including an interview with Simon Weston:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17580449


Opinion on the Falklands is still divided. They remain a relatively insignificant archipelago in the South Atlantic, found around 250 miles from the South American mainland. At various times they have been claimed by France, Spain, Britain and Argentina. Britain re-established its rule over the Falklands in 1833 and ever since they have been a UK crown protectorate with a distinctly British feel.

The recent discovery of oil reserves in the islands' waters and this years 30th anniversary of the Falklands war have reopened a fiery rhetoric between UK and Argentine governments.

      The caption reads: 'The Falkland Islands are Argentinian.'

Signs like this are found roadside across Argentina.

A second Falklands war is unlikely, given Argentina's low focus on armed forces, the permanent UK military presence and the resounding memory of the first conflict amongst island residents.

Ultimately, the islanders deserve a right to self-determination and to decide their own future. It remains to be seen whether that will be to chose Argentina, as James Peck has done, or Britain.

AS-Level Exam Dates - June 2012

Exam dates for AS-Level History - June 2012 are as follows:

• F962    European and World History Period Studies    1h 30 min    Tue    15 May am
• F963    British History Enquiries    1h 30 min    Tue    22 May pm

The Democracy and Dictatorship in Italy module is F962 on 15 May. 

The British studies paper is 22 May.

You will find a reading list, links to revision activities and useful websites on the AS-Level page of the Blog.

GCSE Exam Dates - June 2012

Exam dates for GCSE History - June 2012 are as follows:

• A971 Aspects of International Relations, 1919-2005; 2 hour exam, Tue 12 June pm.
• A972 British Depth Study; 1 h 30 min exam, Fri 15 June am.

http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/admin/ocr_57813_admin_gcse_june_2012_exam_timetable_gcse.pdf

Aspects of International Relations is the Year 10 exam, which is also relevent for those Year 11s retaking this summer.
The British Depth Study is the Year 11 exam.

You will find links to revision activities and resources on the Years 10 & 11 pages of the Blog.

FDR's Fireside Chats

Follow this link to watch a number of Franklin D. Roosevelt's 'Fireside Chats' from 1933:

http://havefunwithhistory.com/movies/chats.html

Kony 2012: Should we donate to InvisibleChildren?

The latest viral fauxtivist (faux activist) ad sweeping the interwebs is the Kony 2012 appeal by InvisibleChildren Inc. An extremely shady American nonprofit organisation aiming to wipe LRA leader Joseph Kony from the face of the earth.

IC has received widespread criticism from academics and press alike. The group currently has a low two out of four star rating from Charity Navigator (an international organisation that rates charities) as they won't let their finances be independently audited. Of the money that IC receive from donations, just 31% (by their own admission) goes directly towards helping those displaced by LRA operations across Central Africa. The IC advocate direct military intervention against the LRA through increased American aid for Ugandan armed forces. (President Obama has recently agreed to send 100 special-ops troops into Uganda to hunt down Kony.) The problem with this is that the Ugandan army itself has a poor record in terms of human rights abuses over the last 30 years.

Most shocking of all, perhaps, is a photograph of IC founders posing with weapons and personnel from the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

InvisibleChildren Inc have released a statement of retaliation on their blog - worth a read.

That is not to say that the LRA are not an evil, genocidal organisation and Kony a war criminal. However, it is important to remember to research your causes thoroughly - before being swept away in the media/twitter/facebook hysteria (take that Rhianna).

KEQ: Should we support Invisible Children? on Prezi

Year 10 and Year 12 individual blog-pages are now live.

I will be adding a further page for Year 11 over the next couple of days.

I've put links to the Exam Board website, student forums, revision resources and (most importantly) to the PREZI presentations that I use in class. All for you to access from anywhere.

Further updates will follow...

How to create a great prezi on Prezi

p.s. If you know of any good links for GCSE or A-level come and find me and I'll upload them to the blog.

Documentary series looking at the Cold War.

The video includes a number of first-hand accounts of events during the Cold War. It is a useful source for Year 10 work and well worth a watch.

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire

At request from Will Goodey...

 "I'm a history nut. I devour books. At one time I wanted to be a history teacher." - Billy Joel

When he turned forty Billy Joel decided to sit down and write out what had happened in his lifetime.

The result was a fantastic overview to the Cold War era summed up in one song.

Happy 12th birthday Mr Williams!

Here's the history behind a leap year...

Empire - with Jeremy Paxman

Empire - with Jeremy Paxman

A new fascinating series on the history of the British Empire and its legacy across the world.



BBC One 9pm, Monday

(You've just got time for a half hour Paxman break after Uni Challenge)

How effective was Mussolini's consolidation of power?

A video by Y12 students.

Can you identify the Point, the Evidence and the Explanation in each section?

How far was the 'New Deal' a success?

The Making of Modern Britain

The entire series of Andrew Marr's 'Making of Modern Britain' has been uploaded to YouTube.

The first couple of episodes are a great watch for background information and footage of the Liberals in action.

Follow this link for BBC Bitesize activities on the Liberal Reforms...

Thought for the Day

God cannot change the past, but historians can.

Samuel Butler