How to analyse historical events

1. Analysing historical
events
A how-to guide

2. How to analyse an historical event
3 key pieces of information we want to know about historical
events are:
- Details of the event (who, when, where, what and how it
happened)
- The cause of/reason for the event (why it happened, how it came
about)
- The effect of the event (the good and bad
consequences/results/outcomes)
From this, we try to come to a conclusion about what we can learn
from the event.

3. You are going to be given an event that you
must find out this information from. Here is
an example:
On the 5th of November 1605, Guy Fawkes
was arrested. He had been guarding a store
of explosives under the British Parliament. He
and others had been planning on blowing up
the Parliament (and the King and leaders
inside it).

4. Their main reason for this was that the leaders
were a different type of Christian (Protestant) to
what they were (Catholic) and they didn’t like
this.
One result of this was that we still celebrate this
day every year on Guy Fawkes night. This started
because people were glad that the Parliament
hadn’t exploded like a firework.

5. Another effect of this was that the King became
more popular, because people were impressed
that he had foiled (ruined) Guy Fawkes’ plot.
Another result was that the Puritans (another
religious group) thought that the government
hadn’t punished Guy Fawkes’ group harshly
enough, and they sailed off to settle America and
have the strict society they wanted.

6. Guy Fawkes arrested
- Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the English king and Parliament
- He was caught on November 5, 1605
Guy Fawkes was Catholic, and he and
other Catholics didn’t like having a
Protestant king. So they decided to get
rid of him and the other leaders by
blowing them up.
• Started the tradition of Guy Fawkes night
• The king become more popular
• The Puritans headed of to America
because they thought the king wasn’t
strict enough
Terrorist attacks can make you unpopular (after the arrest of Guy Fawkes, he
and his followers became very unpopular and the king became more popular)

7. Got it?
Complete the worksheet by reading the
information about the event, then explaining the
event, the cause of the event, the effect/s of the
event and the lessons learnt from the event.
Some basic information about the events will be
provided but you need to use your BYOD to find
the rest of the information you need.

8. The event
Now you need to have a go at filling out the
template for one of these events:
- The sinking of the Titanic
- Attack on Pearl Harbour
You can also choose your own, but check it
with Ms Meadowcroft first