Analysing historical events

A how-to guide

How to analyse an historical event

3 key pieces of information we want to know about historical events are:

- Details of the event (who, when, where, what and how it happened)

- The cause of/reason for the event (why it happened, how it came about)

- The effect of the event (the good and bad consequences/results/outcomes)

From this, we try to come to a conclusion about what we can learn from the event.

You are going to be given an event that you must find out this information from. Here is an example:

On the 5th of November 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested. He had been guarding a store of explosives under the British Parliament. He and others had been planning on blowing up the Parliament (and the King and leaders inside it).

Their main reason for this was that the leaders were a different type of Christian (Protestant) to what they were (Catholic) and they didn’t like this.

One result of this was that we still celebrate this day every year on Guy Fawkes night. This started because people were glad that the Parliament hadn’t exploded like a firework.

Another effect of this was that the King became more popular, because people were impressed that he had foiled (ruined) Guy Fawkes’ plot.

Another result was that the Puritans (another religious group) thought that the government hadn’t punished Guy Fawkes’ group harshly enough, and they sailed off to settle America and have the strict society they wanted.

Guy Fawkes arrested

- Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the English king and Parliament

- He was caught on November 5, 1605

Guy Fawkes was Catholic, and he and other Catholics didn’t like having a Protestant king. So they decided to get rid of him and the other leaders by blowing them up.

• Started the tradition of Guy Fawkes night

• The king become more popular

• The Puritans headed of to America because they thought the king wasn’t strict enough

Terrorist attacks can make you unpopular (after the arrest of Guy Fawkes, he and his followers became very unpopular and the king became more popular)

Got it?

Complete the worksheet by reading the information about the event, then explaining the event, the cause of the event, the effect/s of the event and the lessons learnt from the event.

Some basic information about the events will be provided but you need to use your BYOD to find the rest of the information you need.

The event

Now you need to have a go at filling out the template for one of these events:

-The sinking of the Titanic

-Attack on Pearl Harbour

You can also choose your own, but check it with Ms Meadowcroft first