Carla's Portfolio 4t: Sumary chapter 3, FROM THE GUNPOWDER PLOT TO GLOBAL WARMING

The Execution of a King

On 4^th November 1605, Guy Fawkes tried to kill the king. Fawkes was a Roman Catholic and he was angry because he thought that the King’s laws were unfair to people of his religion. On 5^th November he was arrested and the King was safe. This was the end of the gunpowder plot.

When Charles, James’ son, became king in 1625, he wanted to be more important than the Government. Charles I tired to close Parliament and to govern the country alone.

The Civil War began in 1642. It divided the country between the Royalists, who supported King Charles, and the Parliamentarians, who supported the Protestant leader (Oliver Cromwell). Finally, Cromwell won and on 30^th January 1649, Charles I was beheaded.

Christmas is cancelled

From 1649 to 1660, there was no king or queen in England. Cromwell became lord Protector. He gave land in Ireland to his Protestant soldiers. Cromwell’s actions were the start of the twentieth-century problems between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. Limiting Christmas celebrations also banned Christmas.

Plague, Fire and Revolution

Cromwell died in 1658 and in 1660 Charles II, became king. He was popular but during his reign there were two terrible events.

The first: The Great Plague 1664, when a disease bubonic plague killed a most of the population.

The second: The Great Fire of London 1666, which destroyed many buildings in the capital.

After Charles died, Parliament became unhappy with the new king, who was a Catholic. In 1688, Parliament invited a Dutch Protestant to invade the country. William was married to James’ daughter Mary.

It was not the end of the problem. In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie took an army from Scotland to Derby in the middle of England. Finally his army lost and he had to escape.

England+Wales+Scotland+Ireland

Anne was another daughter of James II and she became Queen in 1702. During her reign, two political parties developed in Parliament. This was the start of the modern British political system. Two important acts were passed by Parliament. The Act of Settlement (1701) said that no Roman Catholic could be king or queen. The Act of Union (1707) said that England and Scotland were one country.

When Anne died without any children, Britain had to look for a Protestant king, King George I (who was German). It was the start of the Georgian Age in Britain. During the reign of George III, Britain lost its colonies in America as a result of the American War of Independence. But the British colonised Australia and British power grew in India during this period.

In 1801, the government introduced the Act of Union with Ireland. As a result, Britain needed a new flag to join the English, Scottish and Irish flags. This was the Union Jack.

The Industrial Revolution

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. The invention of new machines changed the way that people lived.

In 1825, the world’s first railway was opened in the north of England.

The Industrial Revolution made Britain rich. But it also created problems.

-Living conditions for the workers were very crowded and unhealthy.

-The factory owners grew rich but the workers were often very poor.

-The factories weren’t very safe and children had to work

-There aren’t schools

The Victorian Age

In 1834 Victoria, a young woman became queen of Britain. Later, she became Empress of India. She fell in love with Albert, a German prince. During her reign, many British men and woman became world-famous.

There were many changes in society:

-Using children as workers became illegal

-Education became free for everyone

-The industrial cities were made safer and healthier

-The railway system covered the whole country

-There were advances in science

But Queen Victoria and her government had many problems.

Britain changed greatly during the Victorian Age. At the end f the period, there were electric lights, telephones, the London underground and many things became more modern.

The Twentieth Century

During the twentieth century, Britain went through more changes.

-The population grew

-The country was involved in two world wars and in other wars too

-Technological and scientific progress had a huge effect

-Life expectancy in the UK increased

The relationship between Great Britain and Ireland changed. At the start of the century, Ireland was a part of Britain and was governed from London. But in 1919, the Irish War of Independence began and finally the south of Ireland became independent.

Some Catholic Irish lived in the north and they wanted to unite Ireland. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British army fought. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed and the troubles ended.

After the Second World War, countries in the British Empire became independent. Many of these countries are part of the British Commonwealth; an association of English-speaking countries form the former Empire.

In the 1960s, there was great social change. Teenagers had more freedom. This was the time of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and many other successful British music groups. The 1960s are known as the swinging sixties.

The British Isles saw many other important changes:

-Margaret Thatcher was the first British female prime minister

-North Sea oil was discovered

-The Channel Tunnel that joins Britain to the rest of Europe

-Multi-racial society developed

-Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales became more independent.

Into the Twenty-first Century

Britain continues to change. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly make those nations more independent. People face the problem of global warming. From 2008, there have been economic problems. A new UK government, with two parties that share power was elected in 2010. London got the Olympics in 2012.