Popular political pamphlets in seventeenth-century England
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how historians have used pamphlets to understand seventeenth-century politics.
Key learning points
- Pamphlets represent an important source for historians studying early modern England.
- Pamphlets were used as a form of propaganda during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
- Historians can read these pamphlets carefully to understand the culture of seventeenth century England.
Keywords
Provenance - the background of a source is known as its provenance. This includes who, why, and when it was written
Purpose - the reason why a source was made is known as its purpose
Propaganda - propaganda is information, often false, which is published by a person or group to make others agree with them
Common misconception
That all contemporary sources can be accepted based solely on the value of their content.
Historians must consider how the provenance of a source may have affected the way it discusses and portrays a historical issue.
Teacher tip
Students would benefit from having the extracts from each pamphlet studied in previous lessons included together on one sheet. This will allow pupils to make quicker reference to the sources in their work during the lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of serious crime
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1. Match up the key words with their correct definitions.
Q2.Who was crowned king during the Restoration?
Q3.Identify a financial cause of the English Civil War.
Q4.What does propaganda tend to do?
Q5.Write the missing word. When historians use sources, they must think carefully about their _______ as well as what the sources actually say.
Q6.What do pamphlets from the years 1640-60 tell us about England at the time?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match up each of the key words with its correct definition.
Q2.Write the missing word. The 11-year gap between the reigns of Charles I and Charles II is known as the _______.
Q3.Write the missing word. The author, date, and purpose of a source are all part of its _______.
Q4.Why did the Parliamentarians create pamphlets during the Civil War claiming that many leading Royalists were Catholics?
Q5.Starting with the earliest, sort these events into chronological order.
Q6.What can historians learn from Anna Trapnel’s pamphlet "Cry of a Stone"?
To help you plan your 8 history lesson on: Popular political pamphlets in seventeenth-century England, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 history lesson on: Popular political pamphlets in seventeenth-century England, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the The English Civil War: what can pamphlets tell us about 17th century politics? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.