History
GCSE
Crime and Punishment in Britain c1000 – present day.
Have you ever wondered why we have laws in the UK? How did we decide on what is legal / illegal? How should we punish people who break the law? Who has the right to decide on what is ‘right or wrong?’
These are some of the big questions you will analyse in the study of Crime and Punishment. This breadth study of over a thousand year will focus on the thematic investigation of Change and Continuity; how have the concepts of crime, punishment and law enforcement changed and evolved over a millennium? From the midsts of the Dark Ages to the glory of the Enlightenment, from the transportation ships of Australia to the hovels of Whitechapel, from the gallows of the ‘Bloody Code’ to the ideas of rehabilitation in the 21st century, all learners will have the opportunity to evaluate this fascinating study of History.
Early Elizabethan England, 1558 – 1588
One of England’s most famous monarchs; vain, ‘Virgin Queen’, victor of the Armada, and notoriously jealous. But just how accurate is this traditional narrative?
This study of one of England’s most influential monarchs aims to challenge our existing stereotypes of a female ruler who can genuinely claim to have changed the course of History.
The American West, c1835 – c1895
Today America is the sole ‘superpower’ of the 21st century. Many historians claim that the 20th century belonged to the USA, the world we now live in has been shaped by American values and ideas. The question is how did this happen?
This Paper charts the beginnings of American exploration and the ‘Great Push West’. The investigation begins with a detailed enquiry into life before the ‘coming of Europeans’ and the beliefs and Plains Indian way of life. The investigation then moves into the ‘Development of the Plains’, the coming of the cattle industry and the birth of an American icon, the ‘Cowboy’. We then start to evaluate the changes that were taking place to the Plains Indians way of life. Finally, we study the period of ‘Conflict and Conquest’ that saw the complete destruction of the Plains Indians way of life and full exploitation of the West by settlers.
A challenging and emotive study, this Paper will appeal to those learners key to make parallels between the past and the modern day.
Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1919 – 1939
How does a democracy die? How can a single politician enrapture a nation and lead them down a path that resulted in one of the greatest atrocities in human History?
With some worrying reflections on politics in the 21st century, learners will embark on a detailed study in the History of Germany in the first half of the 20th century. From the trauma of defeat in WW1 and the hopeful beginnings of democracy under the new Weimar Constitution, we evaluate how the new Germany state enjoyed the ‘Golden Years’ under Stresemann, only to be utterly ruined by international finance in 1929. we then chart the rise of an unknown political dissident from Austria, who used populist policies to galvanize a movement around himself that would enable him to seize power legally in 1933 and fulfil his promise to ‘destroy democracy from within’. From here we analyse how Hitler was able to build a totalitarian dictatorship that helped to lead the world back to war in 1939.
