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Topic 3 | Early Christian Ireland
LIFE IN AN ANCIENT CIVILISATION OUTSIDE IRELAND – ANCIENT ROME 4.8 Sample Question B
From your knowledge of an ancient or medieval civilisation of your choice, write an account of the lives of people who were part of that civilisation. In your account, examine at least two of the following: housing, religious beliefs, food and drink, working life, leisure, war and defence.
(i) The civilisation I have studied is Ancient Rome. I will describe housing and leisure in my account. (ii) Housing: Rich Romans lived in a house called a domus. It had an entrance hall called an atrium (an open square) and a walled back garden called a peristyle. Some had an impluvium (small pool) around which the cubicula (bedrooms) and culina (kitchens) were built. They ate their meals in the triclinium (dining room). There was often a shrine to the gods, called a lararium. The walls of their homes were decorated with murals and mosaics. The houses of rich Romans had toilets. Poor Romans lived in apartment blocks called insulae. Some apartments were large and luxurious, but most were in poor condition. Families lived in one room with no running water. The upper floors were reached by a ladder rather than stairs. Rubbish and the toilet pot contents were thrown onto the street below. Leisure: Romans enjoyed many leisure pursuits and various forms of entertainment. In the Circus Maximus, they watched chariot races held in a 250,000-capacity stadium. They visited the Colosseum, where gladiator contests were held. They enjoyed visiting the theatre to watch performances and plays; for example, comedy plays by Plautus were very popular. They also visited the Roman baths to relax, to exercise, and to meet friends. The baths consisted of a caldarium (hot room), a tepidarium (warm room), and a frigidarium (cold room) as well as a palaestra (exercise court), libraries, and gardens.SAMPLE
Topic 4 4.9 Sample Question C
Name an ancient or medieval civilisation you have studied – for example, Romans, Egyptians, Vikings – and explain two ways in which the actions and/or achievements of that civilisation were important to history.
I studied Ancient Rome. Ancient Roman achievements were very important in history and have left a significant legacy. Firstly, the modern calendar is based on the calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. This divided the year into 365 days over 12 months. The Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century when the Julian calendar became too out of line with the movements of the Sun. Secondly, the Latin language has left an important legacy. As the empire spread across Europe, Southwest Asia and North Africa, the Ancient Romans brought their traditions and the Latin language with them. Although not spoken today, Latin was the basis of languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French and Romanian. Around a quarter of English words today are directly influenced by the Latin language.SAMPLE
Having studied this topic, you should now have a better understanding of the following learning outcomes: 1.1, 3.1.
AMERICAN REVOLUTION 10.1 Background 10.2 Sample Question A 10.3 The Build-Up to the American Revolution CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE SAMPLE 10.4 The American Revolution 10.5 An American Revolutionary Leader: George Washington 10.6 Sample Questions B and C 10.7 The Consequences of the American Revolution
10.1 Background
> In the early 1600s, the first Europeans (other than the Spanish) arrived in North
America and began colonising it. > By 1750, the British had control of 13 colonies in America on the eastern side, while the French controlled others, and
Spain controlled Central and South
America. 10.2 Sample Question A
> The British had a governor in each of the colonies. > Most of the colonists considered themselves to be American rather than British, and wanted change for several reasons. Write an account of the causes of a pre-20th century revolution in Europe or the wider world that you have studied. Revolution: The American Revolution Causes: The American Revolution had several causes, many of them going back years before the revolution began. The British army in America were known as the Redcoats, and they were there to protect the colonists from attack by the French and the Indians, but also to protect British interests, which further angered the colonists. The British decided to increase taxes on the colonists to pay for the Redcoats, and introduced the Quartering Act in 1765. They introduced the Stamp Act, which was a tax on newspapers; the Townshend Act, which was a tax on tea, and the Navigation act, which forced the colonists to sell goods such as SAMPLE cotton and tobacco only to Britain at prices decided by the British.
These taxes would lead to increased hostility among the colonists, which would eventually result in revolution. Many colonists refused to pay the taxes, their slogan being ‘No taxation without representation’.
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 10.3 The Build-Up to the American Revolution
10.4 The American Revolution
> In 1770, colonists marched in protest against taxes. Five of them were killed by the British.
This was called the Boston Massacre. > In 1773, the British tried to bring their own tea onto the American market without paying the tax due from the Tea Act. The colonists, dressed as native Indians, dumped the tea into Boston Harbor in what became known as the Boston Tea Party. > In 1774, a meeting of leaders from all of the colonies was held, called the First
Continental Congress. At the Congress, it was demanded that British soldiers leave, and the delegates declared that they wanted > In 1775, the first shots of the rebellion were fired at Lexington and Concord. > The British sent troops to seize weapons in Concord, but were attacked by colonists led by Paul
Revere at Lexington. > The weapons were gone by the time the British got to Concord, and over 200 British were killed when they were attacked again on their way back. > In 1776, a second Continental Congress was held, and it was decided here that Washington should be commander-in-chief of the American troops. > On 4th July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was issued.
to boycott all British goods. The slogan of the colonists was 'no taxation without representation'. > After this meeting, certain groups in America began stockpiling weapons in preparation for war. SAMPLE
> He was born in 1732 in Virginia. > He came from a wealthy plantation owner background, and his marriage to Martha Dandridge (a very wealthy widow) only served to increase this wealth. > He became a soldier and fought against the
French during the Seven-Year War. > He was sent to the First and Second
Continental Congresses as the delegate for
Virginia. > At the Second Congress, he was made leader of the army because of his experience in the Seven-Year War. > After initial victories in Boston, he lost the battles of Bunker Hill in 1775 and New York in 1776, and the largest city of Philadelphia in 1777. > The Americans won the next battle at
Saratoga, which gave them renewed hope.
> He won the loyalty of his men after sharing their hardship and lack of food when they had to spend the winter of 1777–1778 in freezing conditions in Valley Forge. > It was at this point that the French sent help (troops and weapons), which helped swing the war for Washington and America. > In 1781, he won at Yorktown (the decisive battle), as the British General Cornwallis, who was surrounded, surrendered. > In 1783 in France, the British were forced to accept American independence at the Treaty of Paris, which stated that America was completely independent of Britain. > He went back to Mount Vernon, but returned and helped in the drafting of the American Constitution in 1787. > It was decided that America should be a George Washington's inauguration as President American soldiers at Valley Forge 1777SAMPLE republic. > This meant that power would be separated between a supreme court, a president, Congress, and the individual states. > He became the first president in 1789 and would remain as president for eight years. > He died in 1799. > The capital of America was named Washington after the death of George Washington, in his honour.
