Shropshire Routes to Roots

6. Resources for teachers

The National Curriculum

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

This theme could form part of an answer to the section and question 'Unit 11.3 Did everyone agree with the industrial changes?'. Having answered the questions in the theme, encourage pupils to use the links to undertake more research into the Chartist cause. They could find out more about the Newport Rising, the Chartist Land Plan or the Kensington Common meeting. Also, pupils could think about the main reasons why the Chartist movement died out at the same time as similar movements in Europe were triggering revolutions.

Write your own charter

One interesting task could be to get pupils to write their own charter relating to issues which concern them in their school or locality. They might like to think about:

• How radical or conservative will their demands be? (Remember that the Chartist cause died out partly because they asked for radical changes in one sweep).
• Who will support their aims? Will it be possible to get the backing of a large group of people? (One problem the Chartists had was that they had lots of support but in different areas of the country.)
• Who will not support their aims? Will anyone else be affected in a bad way if the demands are met?
• What will they do next if their demands are not met? (Another reason for the Chartist's failure was the fact that they couldn't agree on whether to achieve their goals by violent or political means.)

Creative Writing

The theme could be expanded with a creative writing exercise. Ask pupils to imagine that they are a member of the Llanidloes group and get them to tell the story of the days of the uprising, or to tell the story from the perspective of one of Marsh's workers, instructed to oppose people with whom he probably sympathised. Alternatively, get pupils to design a cartoon strip published in a Chartist pamphlet, telling the story in pictorial form.

Citizenship

This theme raises important citizenship issues about the right to vote and peaceful protest. Pupils might discuss:

• Why might the Chartists have been so keen to get the vote?
• Is it right that three men were arrested at a peaceful meeting?

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