History Revision Guide - Year 6 Summer 2018 - Ripley Court School

Name _______________________________                Form _____________

                History Revision Guide – Year 6
                              Summer 2018

Like last November there are two important things to remember:

  - You do not have to learn LOTS of facts and dates
  - Some of the questions will be source based and do not rely on what you
    have learnt

This revision pack covers all of the information you will need. We will go
through all of it in class, but if there is anything you are unsure about please
come and see me.

Chimney Sweeps
The life of a chimney sweep in Victorian times was nothing like the sweeps in Mary
Poppins. It was a brutal (violent), dreary (depressing) existence. Some were as young as 3
years old! Their tiny size made them a popular choice for going up the narrow chimney
stacks.

Being a chimney sweep may have been the most dangerous job for children in the 1800’s,
especially when the child first started doing the job. Being sent up the chimney the first
several time would cause the child’s arms, elbows, legs and knees to be rubbed and
scraped raw. At times their knees and elbows looked like there was no skin at all on them.
There was a danger that they could become infected. The boss would then wash their
wounds with salt water and send them up another chimney without sympathy.

After a time the child would develop callouses (a patch of hard skin) making their task a
little more bearable. But the dangers of the job were only beginning. Falling was a major
fear for chimney sweeps, or getting stuck in the stacks. Both could cause death very easily.
The constant breathing in of soot caused lung damage in many children. There were a few
reported cases of children getting stuck in chimneys and no one even knowing it, leaving
them to die alone from exposure or smoke inhalation or worse. Chimney sweeps rarely
lived to middle age.

Facts about Victorian Child Chimney Sweeps

     Bosses underfed children so that they would be thin enough to continue going down
      chimneys.
     In order to make children climb faster, some masters would light a fire under the
      child.
     Sometimes bosses even kidnapped children to use on the job.
     Children usually outgrew the job around 9 or 10 years of age.
     Children were not even necessary. Sweeping Chimneys could be done more safely
      and just as well by using brushes. But, children were cheaper than the brushes.

Laws against the use of Child Chimney Sweeps

Chimney Sweepers Act 1788

This law said:

    No child under the age of 8 could be used as a chimney sweep.
    The master sweep had to offer proper clothing and living conditions
    The master sweep had to allow the children to go to church on a Sunday

Lots of master sweeps ignored this Act. There was another Act in 1840 but it was not until
1875 when a real change happened. A 12 year old boy named George Brewster died in an
accident after his Master Sweep made him climb the chimney at Fulbourn Hospital to
clean it. A man called Lord Shaftesbury proposed a new Act.

Chimney Sweepers Act of 1875 that all chimney sweeps had to be registered with the
police and an effort was made to see all the rules laid down before were enforced.

Test yourself:

    Chimney sweeps could be as young as __ years old.
    Give 2 reasons why being a chimney sweep was dangerous:
     ____________________________________________________________________
     ____________________________________________________________________
    Why did the bosses underfeed the children?
     ____________________________________________________________________
    Why might a boss light a fire under the child?
     ____________________________________________________________________
    Explain why children were not even necessary, but were used anyway.
     ____________________________________________________________________
     ____________________________________________________________________
    How did George Brewster inspire changes to the laws in regard to chimney sweeps?
     ____________________________________________________________________
     ____________________________________________________________________
    Who proposed the Chimney Sweepers Act of 1875?
     ________________________________

Industrial Revolution
Try to fill in the blanks. The answers are at the bottom of the page and in the correct order.
Use these to check your work AFTER you have attempted them all. I suggest you fold up
the answers so that you cannot see them.

CAUSES

    Coal – Britain had lots of coal but if mines were to be dug deeper they started to
     ________________. In 1712 Thomas Newcomen invented a ____________
     ______________ for pumping water out of mines. This meant there was no limit to
     the amount of coal that could be mined, and coal was _____________. BUT this
     pump needed so much coal to work it, it couldn’t be put anywhere except near a
     coal mine.

    Intellectual climate (thinking and reasoning) – there were lots of scientific and
     technological ideas in Britain, and men met to discuss and exchange ideas. There
     was a mood of confidence and creativity. Sir Isaac Newton had discovered
     _________________.

      _______________ _______________ was given financial help by Matthew Bolton, a
      business man from _____________________.
      Bolton did not want to rely on _________________ turning wheels, he wanted an
      engine like Newcomen’s, but one that used much less fuel so it didn’t have to be
      near a coal mine. In 1781 Watt invented a steam engine that did this.
      The population of Birmingham grew __ times. Bolton had the first factory there
      using Watt’s engine. He called it a ________________.

    Parliament encouraged inventors and businessmen – it passed laws and made
     money available. There was an idea that new wealth (money) could be created.
     One country which did not encourage ideas to grow was _______________.

    Trade – merchant ships (ships carrying goods to sell) were protected by Britain’s big
     ___________. Britain had the greatest trading empire the world had ever seen.

Slaves were taken to the ___________ ______________ in ships in
        ____________________ conditions. They worked in fields growing ___________
        _________.

        In the 1790s England imported sugar, ___________ from Georgia and
        _________________ from Virginia. Britain kept some and sold the rest to Europe.
        As a result Britain became very ___________. The money was invested in the new
        industries. People put their money in _______________.
        By the end of the nineteenth century (1800s) Britain was exporting manufactured
        goods _______________________________.

    People wanted manufactured goods – for example tea sets to drink tea which was
     imported. There was a consumer (person who buys goods) revolution.
     Josiah Wedgewood had huge potteries. He understood how to encourage people
     to buy his china and opened a show room in ______________________________.

    Transport - Wedgewood found it was difficult to get the materials he needed to
     make pottery to his _________________. When his china was taken to markets it
     was carried ______________________ and often_________________.
     - Roads – Parliament supported trade as it meant more money for the country.
        Businessmen were allowed to build roads with tarmac called ______________
        __________ and a __________ was charged to help with pay for road repairs.
        Journey times went _____________.
        In 70 years there went from 300 miles of roads to ___________ miles.
     - Canals – ‘motorways of the eighteenth century’, one barge could take the same
        amount as ________ packhorses. The cost of transporting goods went down by
        a ______________.

            The Great Exhibition 1851 – 100,000 exhibits showing off Britain’s technology.
            Britain was producing two thirds of the world’s _________ and half of its
            _______________.

Answers:

flood    steam engine         free   gravity   James Watt      Birmingham          water   9

manufactory          France navy West Indies          unbearable      sugar cane    rice   tobacco

rich    banks    around the world        London’s West End         workshop    by mules        broke

turn pike     toll     down     1500    100    half     coal   iron

The Wo rkho use
Before 1834, poor people were looked after by buying food and clothing from money
collected from land owners and other wealthy people.

The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, ensured that no able-bodied person could get
poor relief unless they went to live in special workhouses. The idea was that the poor
were helped to support themselves. They had to work for their food and accommodation.

What were workhouses?
Workhouses were where poor people who had no job or home lived. They earned their
keep by doing jobs in the workhouse.

Also in the workhouses were orphaned (children without parents) and abandoned
children, the physically and mentally sick, the disabled, the elderly and unmarried
mothers.

                              The Workhouse, Southwell, Nottinghamshire

Workhouses were often very large and were feared by the poor and old.

A workhouse provided:

      a place to live
      a place to work and earn money
      free medical care,
      food
      clothes
      free education for children and training for a job.

The staff of a workhouse included:

      a Master                                            a Chaplain
      a Matron                                            a porter
      a Medical Officer                                   a school teacher

Workhouses provided almost everything that was needed onsite:

      dining-hall for eating                        bakery
      dormitories for sleeping                      laundry
      kitchen                                       tailors for making clothes
      school-rooms                                  shoe-maker
      nurseries,                                    vegetable gardens
      rooms for the sick,                           small farm
      a chapel,
      a mortuary.

Why were workhouses feared by the poor and
old?
The government, terrified of encouraging 'idlers' (lazy people), made sure that people
feared the workhouse and would do anything to keep out of it.

How did they do that?
What were workhouses like?
Women, children and men had different living and working areas in the workhouse,
so families were split up. To make things even worse they could be punished if they even
tried to speak to one another!

The education the children received did not include the two most important skills of all,
reading and writing, which were needed to get a good job.

The poor were made to wear a uniform. This meant that everyone looked the same and
everyone outside knew they were poor and lived in the workhouse.

Upon entering the workhouse, the poor were stripped and bathed (under supervision).

The food was tasteless and was the same day after day.

The young and old as well as men and women were made to work hard, often doing
unpleasant jobs.

Children could also find themselves 'hired out' (sold) to work in factories or mines.

Test yourself:

      The poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 ensured that no able bodied person could
       get ________________________.
      What was the idea behind this?
       ____________________________________________________________________
       __________________________________________________
      Write down 3 groups of people who would live in a workhouse?
       ___________________
       ___________________
       ___________________
      Write down 3 things that the workhouse provided:
       ___________________________________________________________
       ___________________________________________________________
       ___________________________________________________________
      Write down 3 members of workhouse staff:
       ____________________
       ____________________
       ____________________
      Why did the government make sure that the workhouses were horrible
       places?______________________________________________________________
       __________________________________________________
      Write down 3 ways in which the workhouses were unpleasant:
       ____________________________________________________________________
       ____________________________________________________________________
       _________________________________________

The Slave Trade
Britain made money from the trade in slaves. Liverpool Merchants could make 100% profits
from the trade. A ship carrying 250 slaves could make around £7000 in profit (an alarming
sum of money). From 1783 to 1793 Liverpool traders traded 303,737 slaves. These would
all have been the fittest, strongest and most able of the African tribes that were sold into
slavery. The slave trade also took place in Bristol and in London.

          ***YOU DO NOT NEED TO LEARN THESE FIGURES FOR YOUR EXAM!!!***

So how did it work?

The process was simple.

   1. Manufactured goods from Britain were sent to the west coast of
      Africa. They tended to be items such as pots, pans, cloth, guns, hardware as well as
      spirits and tobacco.
   2. For these items places such as Senegal, Gambia and the Gold Coast sold their slaves.
      The ships with their new cargo set sail for America (including the West Indies and
      parts of South America.

   3. Once there the slaves were sold (usually at auction) and paid for in local produce. In
      America it tended to be cotton for Britain’s textile industry.

When the slaves arrived in America they would be sold to the highest bidder.

    Slaves were sold at auction in a manner similar to livestock.
    Buyers physically inspected the slaves as an indication of their health and age.
    Auctioneers made the slaves perform various acts to demonstrate their physical
     abilities.
    Most slaves were sold in their teens and separated from their families.
    75% of all slaves sold worked on plantations from ‘can see to can’t see.’

Slaves would have to work on plantations where they would be treated terribly.

      They would be given very little food and clothing.
      They would have to work incredibly long hours.
      They would be whipped and beaten to make them work harder.
      They would be severely punished if they ran away.
      They were not allowed to marry.
      They were treated like property, and did not have the rights of a human being.

Eventually the slave trade came to an end in Britain. The Committee for the Abolition of
the Slave trade was led by William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson.
Although the British took a leading role in abolishing the trade it should not be forgotten
that for many years Britain had been the most active slave-trading nation of all. Many
people made a lot of money from the trade and cities such as Bristol, London and
Liverpool grew wealthy as a result of it.

1833 – Slave Abolition Act abolished slavery throughout Britain.

The Underground Railroad

In America, there was a secret organisation of people who helped slaves escape from the
Deep South to Canada called the Underground Railroad.

Slaves were taken from one safe house to another, all the way to freedom. Safe houses,
or stations, were places where slaves could get food and shelter on their journey. These
were essential as the journey usually took between 2 months and a year.

The runaway slaves mostly travelled at night for safety, and also so that they could follow
the North Star. The people who took the slaves from one station to the next were called
conductors.

Harriet Tubman was a runaway slave who became a famous conductor on the
Underground Railroad. Having escaped from the South at age 28, she made twenty more
trips into slave states, each time risking her own capture.

The American Civil War

The American Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865. It was between the northern
states and the southern states.

Test yourself:

   1) In the Trade Triangle, manufactured goods were taken from Britain to where?
      ______________________
   2) At a slave auction, families were kept together and never separated. True or false?
   3) Name two ways in which slaves would be treated badly on plantations?
      a)_________________________________________________________
      b)_________________________________________________________

   4) What was the name of the man from Hull who helped abolish slavery?

      ________________________________

   5) Who was Harriet Tubman?
      ___________________________________________________________
      ___________________________________________________________

Causes of the French Revolution
Some of the causes of the French Revolution went back many, many years. Historians call
these the long-term causes.

Some causes happened in 1789, just before the Revolution; historians call these the short-
term causes.

          LONG TERM CAUSES                                SHORT TERM CAUSES

      Now write the causes listed below into the correct column.

      -   The peasants were poor
      -   In 1789 the harvest failed
      -   The lords were very rich
      -   Prices had been going up since 1700
      -   America had gained independence from Britain in 1776
      -   The King and Queen were unpopular
      -   The Estates General met in 1789
      -   From the 1760s there were new ideas about freedom for everyone
      -   The Church was very rich
      -   After 1756 the king was short of money and increased taxes

Test yourself:

1.   The French Revolution started in: a) 1789       b) 1889   c) 1989
2.   It started in: a) London   b) Marseille     c) Paris
3.   At that time the rich people were: a) happy b) hungry c) living in poverty
4.   The poor people were: a) happy        b) hungry    c) wealthy
5.   A peasant is: a) a rich person   b) a poor farm worker     c) a bird
6.   The poor people wanted to revolt so that:
     a) the rich would become richer b) the poor would become poorer
     c) people would be treated more fairly
7.   During the Revolution the King was:
     a) King Louis 16th     b) King Louis 14th       c) Napoléon
8.   The Queen was:
     a) Elizabeth II b) Marie Antoinette c) Queen Louis
9.   The poor people did not have the right to: a) work b) vote      c) eat
10. The Palace at Versailles:
     a) was a standard sized house b) highlighted the inequalities between the rich and
     the poor c) only needed a few staff