Section 1: How can we start to think about power and exclusion?
- Ask pupils, in groups, to design a political system. They should decide who will rule, and how the rulers will be chosen. They will all live within this system, but they do not know yet what sort of people they will be, eg old, young, black, white, rich, poor, male, female, able-bodied, sensory impaired, mentally ill, prisoners.
- Discuss the political systems with the pupils, using words such as 'fair', 'unfair', 'equal', 'unequal' and 'rights'. Do any systems exclude particular groups? Why? What beliefs about power, people and responsibility led pupils to make these decisions? Ask pupils to reflect on what difference it made not to know 'who' they would be, and why.
- Set up a quick vote on any topical issue, but arbitrarily exclude one section of the class. Use the reaction of the pupils to generate ideas about the consequences of disenfranchisement for excluded individuals and groups, as well as for society as a whole.
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Section 2: Who could and could not vote in Britain in 1831?
- Draw a simple diagram to show the key characteristics of government in Britain today. Ask pupils to use the diagram to explain the function of voting within a representative democracy.
- Compare the political system in 1831 - ie the system before the passing of the 1832 Reform Act - with today's political system, asking pupils to identify the similarities and differences. Pupils could then make an 'illustrated map' to show the key characteristics of the political system in 1831.
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Section 3: Why did some men have the vote in 1831 and not others?
- Discuss the sorts of people who could, and could not, vote in 1831. Refer to pupils' own designs for a political system and the discussion about the principles underpinning their decisions. Ask pupils how the main points raised in that discussion could be useful in understanding the beliefs underpinning the political system in 1831. Stress the need to understand contemporary ideas about voting and the roles of men and women.
- Give pupils fact cards detailing who could and could not vote in 1831. Use these, along with observations and prior learning on serfdom, slavery and the French Revolution, to focus on some of the ideas of early Victorian society, eg ideas about voting, responsibility, men, women, legal freedom, property rights.
- Check pupils' understanding by interviewing individual pupils posing as characters from the period. Each pupil must explain to their puzzled interviewer why it is a shocking idea that men other than the landed gentry should vote.
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Section 4: Why did women not have the vote in 1831?
- Focus on the beliefs most early Victorians held about voting and about women. Stress that for the majority of people, the idea of women voting was inconceivable because of prevailing social and cultural attitudes. Inform pupils of women's legal status in 1831 as regards (i) property (ii) income (iii) divorce and (iv) the custody of children. Ask pupils to use this legislation to make inferences about Victorian attitudes towards women.
- Pupils could then test their inferences by examining a range of source material. They should organise any relevant information they find into categories, eg beliefs about the nature of women (personality traits, particular skills/aptitudes), the status of women, the role of women. Ask them to identify links between the categories. Stress that their research must focus only on the early and mid-19th century.
- Give pupils a list of activities that would have been carried out in early Victorian Britain, eg making laws, caring for the sick, fighting in a war. Pupils could use these to produce a Venn diagram with two segments: 'private and female spheres' and 'public and male spheres'.
- Refer to unit 11 'Industrial changes' in the history scheme of work to stress that the early Victorian view of women was an ideal and not a reality. In fact, many women worked outside the home or as domestic servants in other people's homes.
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Section 5: Who was struggling for political change in the first half of the 19th century?
- Tell pupils that both moderates and radicals had been challenging ideas about voting and men since the late 18th century, and that their struggles had always been repressed by the government. Use the story of Peterloo and fact cards about the Six Acts to cast light on the types of people involved in both the struggle and government repression.
- Describe the main terms of the 1832 Reform Act and ask pupils why radicals would be disappointed with it. What could they do next, given the existing constraints on action?
- Focus on the Chartist Movement. Pupils could annotate a given summary of the Six Point Charter to explain why the government was unlikely to agree to it. They could also use their knowledge of the period to explain why female/universal suffrage was not a demand.
- Ask pupils to investigate the Chartists' methods, using a variety of source material. Pupils could classify the different methods as 'direct' and 'non-direct'. What were the arguments in favour of each method?
- Tell pupils what happened in 1848 (about the rejection of the Chartists' third and final petition to Parliament leading to the end of the movement), but stress that five of the Chartists' six demands were eventually met. Pupils could annotate their summary of the Six Point Charter to explain how each point was 'democratic'. They should use their knowledge of today's system of government to identify the one demand of the Chartists that was never met, and suggest reasons why.
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Section 6: What has 19th century political history got to do with citizenship today?
- Pupils should reflect on the knowledge and understanding of 19th century political history they have gained from the unit so far. Brainstorm the question 'What has this got to do with me?' Use questions and spray diagrams to help pupils consider issues of relevance today, eg repression, struggles for change.
- Pupils could then discuss the contribution made by history to an 'informed and responsible' citizenry.
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Section 7: Why did more people get the vote in the second half of the 19th century?
- Tell pupils the terms of the Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884. Give them a list of possible reasons why these Acts were passed, including some bogus reasons. Pupils should use their knowledge of the period to select the reasons they think are most likely to be correct.
- Give pupils simple accounts of life in 1867 and 1884, eg stories, relevant source material, and ask them to check if they identified the correct reasons. Pupils could then summarise the main changes to the franchise, emphasising how they affected the proportion of men who could vote.
- Assess pupils' understanding by asking them to produce simple causation diagrams showing why either/ both of the Acts were passed.
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Section 8: To what extent did ideas about women change during the second half of the 19th century?
- Draw a timeline showing the legislation affecting women that was passed between 1830 and 1901. What do pupils notice about the changes to the law? About continuity? About the pace of change? In what ways did women in 1901 have greater control over their lives, enshrined in law, than women in the early and mid-Victorian periods?
- Using their earlier research on women in the early Victorian period, pupils could devise questions for an enquiry into how far beliefs about women and their position and status had changed by 1901. They should identify a range of sources, including ICT, to research their questions, and should present their findings to the class.
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Section 9: Who was campaigning for votes for women? How did they campaign?
- Give pupils fact cards about a range of individuals who were either pro or anti-women's suffrage, eg the Pankhursts, Mrs Humphrey Ward, Millicent Fawcett, Annie Kenny, John Stuart Mill, Queen Victoria, George Eliot. The cards should include details of their beliefs and background. Give pupils sample arguments about women's suffrage and ask them to match these to the relevant individuals. Discuss the wide range of attitudes held on the issue.
- Pupils could investigate the suffragette and suffragist campaigns. As with the work they carried out earlier into the methods used by the Chartists, they should classify the different methods used and the reasons why they were chosen. Pupils could use timelines and timeline commentaries to indicate when and why methods changed, and what the differences were between the two groups.
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Section 10: Why did women get the vote in 1918 and not before?
- Use a range of sources to give pupils an overview of the work carried out by women during the First World War. Focus on the propaganda directed at women at the time. Why was there so much of it? How did it portray women? Pupils could annotate a poster encouraging women to take part in the war effort, noting (i) the propaganda devices used (ii) the attitudes displayed about/towards women.
- Remind pupils of some of the ideas related to voting, eg freedom, responsibility. Ask them to speculate on how attitudes to women might have changed following the First World War.
- Ask pupils to look at source material on the franchise legislation of 1918 and 1928. They should note how the acts affected both women and men; list the reasons why the 1918 Act was passed when it was; and suggest why it was not until 1928 that all women had the vote.
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Section 11: Why did women and some men have to struggle for the vote? What is the point of voting today?
- Ask pupils to write an extended essay with the title 'Why did women and some men have to struggle for the vote? What is the point of voting today?'. They should structure the essay around (i) 19th century views on voting (ii) 19th century views on men (iii) 19th century views on women (iv) how views on voting, men and women changed.
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Section 12: What is the point of voting today?
- Pupils could use carefully selected source material to identify some of the issues relating to voting today, and to prepare a debate on voting. Different groups of pupils could be given different topics to research and present, eg
- What is 'voter apathy'? Who suffers from it?
Pupils investigate who is most/more/less/least likely to vote. They reach conclusions about voter apathy: the type of people who are unlikely to vote (age/class/gender/race); the causes of voter apathy; the consequences of voter apathy, both for the voters themselves and for society as a whole.
- Is voting for change enough?
Refer to the militant methods used by the Chartists and suffragettes, and the arguments used in favour of militancy. Ask pupils in what circumstances those arguments could be relevant today. Pupils investigate modern campaigns, eg those carried out by anti-racist, environmental or animal rights pressure groups.
- How democratic is our voting system?
Pupils research the arguments of a pressure group such as Charter 88, which campaigns for proportional representation. Using the results of the last General Election, they work out: the total percentage of the vote gained by the ruling party; the total number of seats gained by the ruling party; and how the results would have differed under a system of proportional representation. Ask pupils to discuss arguments for and against reforming the electoral system.
- Should the voting age in the UK be lowered? (To 16? To 14?)
Pupils investigate questions relating to this issue, eg why are they excluded from voting? Is this fair? Who has the power to change the system? How can they campaign for change? They discuss the arguments for and against reform. In small groups, pupils prepare arguments and supporting evidence in favour of/against the motion 'Everyone must vote. It is their democratic right and their responsibility'. The debate could be conducted in front of a particular audience.
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Section 13: Optional review activity
- Help pupils design a 'self- and peer-assessment sheet' for use following group work. The criteria for assessment could include:
- participating in the group without being prompted
- listening to what was being said
- offering suggestions and ideas that helped the group achieve its task
- making encouraging comments that helped the group
- involving other group members by asking questions and allocating tasks
- speaking clearly so they could be understood by other group members
Give a 'rating' for each criterion, eg 'Always', 'Often', 'Sometimes', 'Rarely'.
- At the end of each group activity, pupils could complete a self-assessment sheet. This should then be circulated within the group. Do the other pupils agree or disagree with what is written on the self-assessment sheet? Pupils then have the opportunity to change their self-assessments in the light of their peers' comments.
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