Shropshire Routes to Roots

7. Resources for teachers

The National Curriculum

The 'Salopian in America' theme relates to
History at Key Stage 3 (Year 8)
Unit 11:: 'Industrial changes action and reaction'

Approaches

The remarkable thing about the sources in this theme is just how positive Barnaby is about life in America. In negative, the sources show how strong antagonisms in industrial England were, firstly to make someone want to leave and secondly for that person to compare the new life so highly favourably with the old.

This theme offers a novel way of studying the industrial changes. It demonstrates that the changes did not please everyone, and looks forward - as Barnaby looks forward to electing a new president who will levy taxes on iron imports - to the hub of global industry moving from England to America at the end of the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth.

This theme, then, could be used towards the end of a study of industrialisation, when pupils already have a good idea of the facts and issues. The snapshot rounds off the period by looking at it from a novel viewpoint, and extends the context of industrialisation beyond the nineteenth century and Britain.

Literacy

This theme could be expanded with a literacy task, in which one pupil writes a diary of life as a pioneer. They could address some of the key issues:

• What life was like when you first started
• What life is like now
• How life in America compares with life in England
• What the future holds for you

Whilst the other pupils could write a diary of their life as a family member of a pioneer planning to come across, thinking about:

• Why you might not want to leave England
• Why you might want to leave England
• What the future holds for you if you stay in England
• What the future in America might be

They could then compare accounts, analysing the differences in content and form.

Citizenship

The Salopian in America theme could also be used to examine Citizenship issues of asylum, for example, under Key Stage 3, Unit 4: 'Britain - a diverse society?'. After reading this theme, pupils could discuss why immigrants from other, poorer countries might perceive Britain today as a land of opportunity. You could propose the issue that just as the success of America came about because of the efforts of pioneers, so the wealth of Britain may be helped by immigrants today.

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