Here you have some videos to review the English Revolutions:
- These are some scenes of the film Cromwell, that show the conflict between Charles I of England and the Parliament, the Civil War, the execution of the king and the establishment of the Republic, with Oliver Cromwell as the main figure:
- The English Civil War and the in three minutes:
- A funny depiction of Charles II, the monarch who restored monarchy after Oliver Cromwell's, from Horrible Histories:
Here you have the lyrics, just in case you want to sing it at home:
- The Glorious Revolution and the Bill of the Rights:
- The Glorious Revolution in 3 minutes:
- And these are three videos from the BBC TV series Timelines: A History of Britain about the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell and the "Glorious" Revolution. The last video is very interesting, because it focuses on the fact that those who led the 1689 changes in England didn't want a real change in society, but the preservation of their status, especially property:
- Here you have a short overview on absolutism, focused on Louis XIV's example. At the end there are some other absolute monarchs, like Frederick II the Great of Prussia, Peter I of Russia and some late absolute monarch, like Emperor Franz Ferdinand II of Austria and tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
- This is another short video that explains the origins and use of the divine right of kings, which means that kings' power came from God and made them untouchable:
- And this is a BBC documentary about Louis XIV and his use of the Royal Palace of Versailles. This period of France's history is really well explained:
- Finally you can have a look on Versailles dance parties with two scenes of the film Le roi danseand another one from the filmVatel::
This is the video of the song we have watched today. The quality is not good, but the sound is acceptable.
Add these are the lyrics, just in case you want to sing:
We're the pilgrim fathers You may have heard rather A lot 'bout our notions Crossing the ocean On the good ship Mayflower But it's true our journey Turned into quite a commotion.
People report that we sported these hats But that's not true, I mean, would you? Anyway the main thing to say We began the USA Our little band of religion fans From the East Midlands.
We all believed slowly That England was becoming less holy So set off for Holland 'Cos there we had friends But in the end seemed the Netherlands Would never be the land, we planned.
Couldn't stand to remain on that terrain So again we rearranged To start a new nation with our congregation A new and calmer life took a farmer and a builder and his wife And a clerica, to find America.
Oh it's a new world It wasn't new to the natives Still we thought we'd claim it Yeah, it's the new world.
I still remember 9th of November The year 1620 and we saw plenty of land We thanked God when we found ground I kept calm but it didn't go as planned.
Couldn't land on the sand A month later though, we made it New Plymouth man, we claimed it The natives said not But ran when we shot.
Moved there it proved yeah That life would be tough 'Cos we didn't have enough Of the right stuff. Did you know had no seeds we could grow Although William Mullins had stacked 126 pairs of shoes in his pack Now that's whack.
A fishing rod, a plough, A pig, or a cow Would have been a much better idea But now there's no food for us to eat Does this mean that we'll meet with de feet!
No fun in the new world I'm glad we've arrived here But will we survive here Yeah, in the new world.
People were staving Our numbers halving And when the winter winds blew Even fewer live through It wasn't pretty in our new city But the natives took pity even though They didn't have to.
Man called Squanto Showed us how to grow maize Catch eel for a meal Chopped up in the baze Tribe gave us a feast Our starvation ceased In 1621 what they had done Turned us back from the dead To the living and to this day That's why we have thanks-giving.
In Massachusetts built a colony it's true They say modern America was founded by our crew It's a new world But we can't call it England Let's call it New England Yeah, in the world.
My home was in Plymouth Lets call it New Plymouth I got an idea let's call this New Hampshire Wait I'm from Newcastle Can we call it New Newcastle? Nah! It's a new world.
The song is a parody of Empire State of Mind , by Jay Z and Alicia Keys. This is the link to the original song:
Here you have the presentation we are going to use to study the 17th century. The firts one includes the contents related to politics, economy and culture and the other two are about Barque art:
Here you have some orientation for your comic strip about the Austrias in the 16th century:
- As the project consists of an autobiography told by both monarchs, you should make a research about Charles I and Philip II's lives to add some personal information about these two figures: their family, their children, their loves (if they had them), their hobbies, some anecdotes... Here you have some links in Spanish about Charles I and Philip II:
- As for the content, it has to be historically accurate. This means that you can't forget about the historical facts and the main events and problems of each reign. You have to include them. Include also the main facts about the Indies in each reign:
Charles I's reign: a short summary of the discoveries and conquests done during the Catholic Monarchs' reign and after this, the conquests of the Aztec and Inca empires, the explorations developed during his reign, the creation of the main administrative institutions (vicerroyalties), the New Laws of the Indies to protect the natives from exploitation after Bartolomé de las Casas complaints...
Philip II's reign: here you should include the addition of the Philippines (called this way to honour Philip II) and you could also explain the exploitation systems and colonial society in the Indies.
Historical accuracy doesn0t mean that the script has to be boring. You can introduce humour and some jokes to make it funnier.
- In Philip II's reign there was a dark episode with his secretary Antonio Pérez. Here you have some extra information from the presentation I prepared for 2nd Bachillerato. You don't have to add all this, but summarize this episode in Philip II's reign:
- Look up for paintings where Charles I and Philip II appear in order to keep some physical similarities with the characters you draw. These paintings can also be useful for you to draw the scenes' decoration.
- You don't need to make perfect drawings. Here you have some examples and advice about how to draw comic strips with stickmen:
Here you have the presentation to complete the map of Spain with its main landforms and bodies of water. Remember that you have to hand in the maps next Wednesday.
Here you have the songs about Christopher Columbus and Magellan. I hope you like them as much as Fleas on rats and they become part of your Social Sciences' repertoire ;)
This blog is going to change this year. The lack of time makes the continuation of this project impossible as it was conceived seven years ago. The students won't continue to write their journals everyday and the blog will only be the container of presentations, videos, extra information provided by the teacher and the projects the students do during the year. The blog will also include information for the students in 3rd ESO. There will be two separated tabs, so that the readers can locate the information easily. I hope our readers will continue to find interesting information here. We're working for it!
