YEAR 9

YEAR 9

The Black Peoples of the Americas is the first unit of the year and we examine a number of questions. We ask why did transatlantic slavery start, when was it, how did it develop and what was life like for black people who were forcibly taken from Africa to the Americas. We look at how slavery ended and the development of the civil rights movement up to date. So click here to see how the story starts and see what transatlantic slavery was.

The middle passage was a horrendous journey that many never survived. treated like animals, the slaves had to contend with disease, ill treatment and brutality. Once in the Americas they found their nightmare was to continue. To find out what the middle passage was like and read Joseph peace's story click here.

Slavery was abolished in 1833 throughout the British Empire. So why was this? There are many explanations for this and this page looks at the four key explanations. If you want to examine these and try to gain an informed reason click here

The Civil Rights Movement in the late 50s and 1960s has become famous for gaining equal rights for black people in practice. Click here to find out what happened and see images from this period.

The First World War

In 1914 the First World War began. Why? What led to the most civilised European nations resorting to a brutal war which lasted for four years? Click here to understand the origins of the First World War.

The Second World War

Operation Barbarossa (for more on this click here) Hitler invasion of Russia in 1941. Why and why did it fail?

Need for living space, oil, wheat and coal. Hitler underestimated the fighting capacity of the Russians, he underestimated the sheer size of the task, he couldn't focus on one objective at once and was hindered by the Russian winters.

Pearl Harbor

The event that brought the USA into the War.  7th December 1941 the Japanese air force attacked the US Naval base in Hawaii. The following day the USA declared war on Japan and then on the 111th December Hitler declared war on the USA.

The Battle of the Atlantic was vital to winning the war. click here for more about it.

The next topic is the Normandy landings, click here for more

To conclude our work on the Second World War we are going to look at the use of the atomic bomb. Was it necessary or was it simply the USA showing the world its power? click here for more

After the war the world entered a new and dangerous age. This was the era of the cold war. Russia and the USA were increasingly hostile towards each other. How was it that these two nations that had been allies could so dramatically fall out? click here for more

In 1948 a dramatic event made the cold war even worse. Stalin decided that the American policy in Germany was causing problems and he blockaded Berlin. What would happen? Would Stalin win or would Truman show what he was made of? Click here to find out!

The next place for the two superpowers to fight it out was Korea. When the communist North invaded the pro-capitalist South the United Nation got involved. A three year war started. It cost 5 million lives and ended with the borders identical to when it began! Click here for more.

The Cold War was never at its most dangerous than during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was the year before this 1961 that the USA got a new President JFK. click here to find out about this event and the extraordinary man who is a national hero in the states.