What matters most about the 18th century? What matters most about the 18th century? Katharine Burn What matters most about the 18th century? Stratford upon Avon What do their buildings suggest mattered most to the Georgians? British Museum King’s Thomas library Sir John Coram’s Hunterian Soanes Foundling Museum Museum Hospital Wolburn Walk What for the Georgians constituted entertainment? (exhibition guide) British Museum King’s Thomas library Sir John Coram’s Hunterian Soanes Foundling Museum Museum Hospital Wolburn Walk What can Sir Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital tell us about the 18th century? Portrait of Sir Thomas Coram painted by What can Sir William Hogarth, 1740 Thomas Coram tells us about the 18th century? What can Sir Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital tell us about the 18th century? Portrait of Sir Thomas Coram painted by William Hogarth, 1740 What does our current teaching suggest matters most about the 18th century? What are the ‘unfinished’ stories that we don’t tell? – the connections we don’t make? • Who won the struggle for power between King and Parliament? • Why did Parliament pass over 66 claimants to the throne?! • Why did the Scots and English parliaments agree to an Act of Union? - (How) (When) Did the different nations really come together? • For how long – and how – did religion go on shaping political life? • What kind of a relationship did Great Britain have with the rest of Europe – specifically France? Suggested/contested aims for history… History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time. • know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world… • gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales. ‘Life, Style and the Making of Modern Britain’ What would you (or your students) identify as the defining characteristics of Modern Britain? The defining characteristics… of all that my husband hates about Christmas! performing horses credit circuses pantomime catalogue clowns shopping ballet And then perhaps to redeem it...? Which period contributed most to the making of modern Britain? Which features of each period are modern Britons most interested in – and why? What have others claimed matters most about the 18th century? • The Department for Education • Terry Deary • The Guardian • Linda Colley From wigs to Whigs: uncovering the Georgian era Who were the Georgians? What have other historians claimed matters most about the 18th century? Simon Schama: The British Wars 1603-1776 The Fate of Empire 1776-2000 New Oxford History of Britain Julian Hoppit: A Land of Liberty? (1689 -1727) Paul Langford: A Polite and Commercial People (1727 – 1783) Boyd Hilton: A Mad, Bad and Dangerous People (1783-1846) What have other story-tellers claimed matters most about the 18th century? Danny Boyle Jenny Uglow Humphrey Jennings ‘But make no mistake, the printing press is the real star of the show’ The Guardian 1695: lapsing of the Licensing Act • Impact of the • How does the Internet Internet shape our world? • Impact of the • How did the printing ‘burgeoning print press shape the world industry? of 18th century Britons? How did the printing press shape the world of 18th century Britons? ‘Yet for most Britons, it was not the newspapers , or the grammar books of the dictionaries, or all the other auto-didactic material flooding from the presses at this time that did most to teach them who they were. Striking though this secular material is, the fact remains that religious works formed easily the bulk of what every British printing press was producing in this period.’ Linda Colley Britons How did the printing press shape the world of 18th century Britons? Illustration of ‘The Burning of Katherine Cawches and her two daughters in the Isle of Garnsey’ printed in the 1671 edition of Foxes Book of Martyrs An 18th century timeline 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 (1697 – 1697) (Nine Years War) 1702 – 1713 War of Spanish Succession 1743 – 1748 War of Austrian Succession 1756 – 1763 Seven Years War 1778 – 1783 American Revolutionary War 1793 – 1802 French Revolutionary War (1803 – 1815) (Napoleonic War) Great Britain and France Fashion plate illustrating 'Paris Dress', from 'Lady's Magazine', October 1800 How can we best describe the relationship between Britain and France? How can we explain the relationship between Britain and France? What can the Jacobites tell us about The Jacobites diversity in 18th century Britain? 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1708: small scale invasion – forced to retreat without landing 1715: major rising in support of James Edward Stuart (Scotland & northern England) 1719: Abortive invasion (dispersed by storms) sponsored by the Spanish 1745: Successful invasion that came within 140 miles of London Other invasion scares: 1717, 1720-21, 1743-44 and 1759 What does our national anthem tell us about the history of our nation? • Possibly sung in support of Jacobite claimants – as well as the Hanoverian monarchs • First published in its standard format 1745 • According to London theatre records only sung four times from George III’s accession (1760) until 1783. • Sung hundreds of times over the next twenty years! ‘An unplanned ad hoc process’ (Jon Wilson HA podcast) Just how unexpected was the American revolution? (Stephen Conway HA podcast) ‘Historical perspective’ What difference do dates make? How do they change the story? • National Curriculum: 1991: Making of the United Kingdom 1500-1750; Expansion, Trade and Industry 1750-1900 2014: Development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745 ; Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain 1745-1901 • Georgians Revealed (1714 – 1837) • Frank O’Gorman: ‘The Long Eighteenth Century’ (1688-1832) The 'long eighteenth century' in British history defies easy characterisation Some of its features - the growth of towns, the demand for political, social and humanitarian reform, and the establishment of parliamentary government - anticipate the concerns of later generations and impress us with their familiarity. The huge inequalities of wealth, on the other hand, the destitution of the masses, and the harsh treatment of children are ills made remote by their sheer intensity and scale. The key thematic patterns: • the development of the internal structure of Britain and of a sense of British nationhood; • the role of religion in the life of the state and of the people; • the slow transition from a society of orders to a society based increasingly on class distinctions; • the commercial and imperial expansion which contributed so much to the prosperity of British society; • the growing role and status of Britain in Europe; • the development, albeit uneven, of liberal forms of political thought & action. Publicity for Frank O’Gorman The Long Eighteenth Century .