Historical enquiries

What might have been on Captain Cook’s shopping list? Why did so many people move during the Age of Revolution? Why did workers protest? And had there really been a transport revolution by the mid 1800s?

Our revolutionary collection brings together a rich array of historical sources from museums and galleries across the UK to help students find out about the extraordinary people, events and ideas of the Age of Revolution. Objects, artworks, literature, archive materials and songs all combine to bring revolutionary themes and topics to life.

Each of our enquiries focuses on a key question about the Age of Revolution, and guides students through using historical sources to formulate their own answers. The enquiries include opportunities for students of all ages to:

  • Frame and answer historically valid questions
  • Explore different types of sources and evidence and assess their reliability
  • Explore historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance
  • Make historical connections and draw contrasts
  • Develop historical vocabulary

Use our historical enquiries with your students, adapt them, or create your own (or students can create their own) using our guides to Using objects, artworks and other sources to find out about the past and Carrying out historical enquiries. Try our Activities for more ways to use the collection in the classroom.

All of our learning resources were authored by education specialists and historians.

  • A painting of a well-dressed man in a top hat and tails, riding an early model of a bike in a park. A large tree can be seen in the foreground and towards the back you can see another man riding a similar bike.

    How was transport different in the past?

    Compare and contrast trains, boats, bikes and air travel from 200 years ago with the present day. What has changed? What has stayed the same?

  • A model of a tall-ship with the side pannels removed so you can see the inner workings of the ship and the different levels.

    Captain Cook’s shopping list

    Find out what was on board Captain Cook’s ship to help him and his crew make their long voyage to Australia and explore a land they’d never seen before.

  • Courtesy of the SS Great Britain Trust - A lithograph print of a painting showing the launch of the SS Great Britain steamship. Huge crowds can be seen gathered to watch the ship being launched into Bristol's floating harbour.

    A transport revolution?

    Explore the inventions and discoveries that changed the way people travelled in the early 1800s and assess their impact on people’s lives.

  • A watercolour painting of a green, hilly landscape with a river flowing through, in the foreground a town can be seen which has been built across the river

    Migration: why did people move?

    From the millions of African men, women and children stolen from their homelands and transported to the Americas, to those moving from rural Britain to the newly industrialised towns and cities, explore the pushes and pulls on the people of the Age of Revolution.

  • a photo of an old banner with the words Liberty and Fraternity across it

    Why did workers protest?

    Interrogate banners, posters, songs and more to find out how and why workers of the past protested, and whether their demands were met.

  • A print showing the cramped conditions of a slave ship. The ship is shown divided into layers which shows the density of slaves on the ship.

    Abolition of the transatlantic slave trade

    From the men, women and children who resisted their enslavement, to the campaigners who fought for its abolition, use a range of sources to find out who fought for the abolition of slavery and some of the tactics they used.

  • An early version of an artifical leg

    A medical revolution?

    It has been said that there was a medical revolution between 1775 and 1848. Do students agree? Explore the evidence and make the case.

  • A rectangular wooden structure within which a white diamond shape is inlayed.

    Innovations and the spread of ideas

    How did innovations like the printing press, the penny post and the steam engine impact on the spread of ideas in the 1800s?

  • A photograph of the french flag flying in the wind, the far right edge is frayed

    Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite and the French Revolution

    Was the French Revolution true to its principles of ‘Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite? Students examine the sources and evidence their answers.

  • a chloroform inhaler - a glass jar containing pieces of natural sponge with tube and facemask attached

    Videos: Medicine in the Age of Revolution – Part one

    Use our videos, quizzes and enquiries to explore the factors which drove change in medical practice during the Age of Revolution.

  • Laennec stethoscope made by Laennec, c.1820. Front 3/4 view of whole object against graduated grey background

    Videos: Medicine in the Age of Revolution – Part two

    Use our videos, quizzes and enquiries to explore whether change in medical practice was revolutionary or evolutionary during the Age of Revolution.

Tagged

A portrait of a tall-ship being tugged into a harbour by a small steam ship at sunset.

A Revolutionary Collection

Our Revolutionary collection brings together objects, artworks, literature, archive materials and songs from museums and galleries across the UK. Each one is supported by information and fascinating facts to help you explore the different themes, people, events and ideas of the Age of Revolution.

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A portrait of a young woman dressed in a plain white dress and a dark black hat. She is gazing to the left of the frame with a still look on her face.

Political revolution

From Mary Wollstonecraft, Thomas Paine and American Independence, to revolutionary France and Marx and Engels, enduring ideas about equality, rights and freedoms during the Age of Revolution, and some of their key proponents.

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A print showing the cramped conditions of a slave ship. The ship is shown divided into layers which shows the density of slaves on the ship.

Social and cultural revolution

The movements for better working conditions, rights and representation for ordinary people, the campaign against transatlantic slavery, the migration of people within and beyond Britain, and the wave of artists, musicians and authors who reflected the period’s upheavals in works that still resonate and delight today.

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A square wooden base supports a early engine. The brass cogs and wheels are numbered.

Economic and technological revolution

Life-changing discoveries and innovations in scientific thinking, technology and medicine in the Age of Revolution, their impacts on work and society, and relationships with trade and the economy.

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A long dark blue naval coat decorated with gold trim, buttons and medals.

War and the international order

The wars precipitated by the struggles for independence and attempts at empire building that characterise the Age of Revolution, and their impact on the changing world map.

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