How have our political rights changed over time?

Key Stage 3

Citizenship

Why was the struggle for the vote important today?

﻿Hello everyone, and welcome to Citizenship. My name is Mrs. Shortland and I'll be taking you through a series of lessons all about the struggle for the vote. For today's lesson, all you're going to need is a pen, a piece of paper, and a ruler. If you don't have a ruler, don't worry, we can free hand any word that we do. So that is not a real problem. Also, if you can find somewhere quiet to study, that would be great. Just free from distractions, so that you can really take part on focusing today's lesson. So when you're ready, please pause the video, take down today's title, and I will see you in a bit. Hello, and welcome back. So at this unit we're going to learn some big ideas, ideas about democracy, government, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. And you're going to be doing things like researching, interrogating evidence, we'll be doing a little bit of debating, but certainly considering different views. And the goal is, that you'll start to feel much more confident about how the UK's political system is developed, and your role within it. Well why should you care? You might be thinking that question. Well, I think that you can't really state the consequences of politics. Politics is all around us, and politicians make decisions that affect your life. They make decisions on education and health. So for example, the times you attend school, when school is open, and the lessons that you have to learn. But you are in a position to make your beliefs and voice heard. If you have knowledge, you have power, don't you? Power to understand how to participate and how to start to change and decisions that you disagree with. That's what this whole unit is about. And we're going to come across many people who fought for change. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. But they speak out and they've taken part. So let's have a look at how we're going to go about answering this big question, how long has it taken to get to where we are now? So to help us to answer that big question we had at the start, we're going to do these four things. We're going to have a look at what political rights we have today? What is universal suffrage? How long did universal suffrage take? And then at the end of the lesson, you're going to give your view about the rights we have today. So what do you think political rights are? In order to help to start think about this question, it's a good idea to think about the types of things that people do when they're acting in a political way. And this brings us on to our first exercise. Have a look at these images. This is your first task, you're going to have to do three things within this first task. Okay, you ready? The first thing is, to try and mark out what each icon represents. Then, I'd like you to pick out political icons and draw them. And lastly, have a think about could you group any of these icons into different types of rights? Okay, so pause the video now to complete the task. And then when you're finished, pause the button. Okay, see you in a bit. Good luck. How did you do? Let's have a look at the icons, and what, what they mean. So this is an Instagram icon, and it is, they're representing your rights in terms of social media. This is voting, a judge, a rosette, life, shelter, might be tricky, you could've got house or something similar there. Education, driving, and protest. Then I asked you to pick out the icons that were to do with politics. How did you do? Did you get them? Let's have a look. There they are, you have the political right to vote, when you reach the certain age. To join a political party, or organisation, or council. And you have the right to protest. The third part of this first task, was to ask you if you could see any grouped rights, how did you do on that? Let's have a look. Here they are. So we can group them into human rights, you have the right to education, life, and shelter. And they've been granted in law, by lots of documents, lots of really important documents that you'll come across through the course of your citizenship work. Looks like the universal declaration of human rights, and the Human Rights Acts of 1998. We've also got legal rights. Now, legal rights, are all those things, that obviously covered in the rule of law. That's hence the name legal. And often they're associated with the ages about which you are responsible for doing certain things. So for example, we have Instagram. You have to be 13 to have a social media account. The judge, that represents the age of 10. Where you become criminally responsible for the things that you do at that age. And then driving, 17 is the legal age that you can drive. We also have things called Political Rights. Um, and that's the purpose of today. And hopefully you got those three, which we've just talked About. So, pause the video is you do want to take the definition down of political rights and I'll just take you through it a little bit. Political rights, are the rights people have and may use in a democracy. Political rights, give people a say in the governance, or the running of their country. For example, the right to vote, the right to join a political party, and the right to participate in a demonstration. Political rights allow people to have a say in the decisions that government make. They are protected in law. And this idea is been around for centuries. The Greek philosopher, a clever guy actually, Aristotle stated; "If liberty and equality are chiefly to be found in a democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost". Sorry Aristotle, surely you didn't speak like that. You probably spoke it a little bit more refined, than my poor attempt at your, the way you speak. But all he's really saying there is if we want to be free, if we want to have equal rights, then the best way of doing that is when all people share in government, and all people have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. I don't know about you, but that sounds quite good to me. A clever chatter he was. Two of the biggest political rights that we have, are the right to protest, and the right to vote. So we'll a look at both of these in time. Firstly, the right to protest. And that's protected, amongst other documents by the Human Rights Act of 1998. Article 11, the freedom of assembly and association. And Article 11 protects your right to protest. You can hold meetings and demonstrations with other people. You also have the right to be part of a political party, trade union, or other group. However, your protest must be lawful and protect other people's rights. Let's have a look at Voting. A key word under voting is Universal Suffrage. And this means, the rights of almost all adults to vote in political elections. When I say almost all, you can vote if you are a citizen of the United Kingdom from the age of 18. Or if you are a UK citizen living abroad, you can apply to be an overseas voter. But certain people can't vote, who are they? Well, members of the House of Lords, EU citizens resident in the UK, and people in prison who have been convicted of a crime. So when you're old enough, you'll get the chance to vote. But how do people participate? Well, people vote for someone to represent their views, or they vote on question that is of importance, such as referendum. And if you remember, it was all over the news before COVID-19. We had a referendum on Brexit. So when you're 18, you can vote in general elections, local government elections, and you can vote for a local mayor or a Police and Crime Commissioner. But you might be thinking, well why is it so important to vote? So just have a little pause of the video now, and try and come up with some ideas of why people should vote. How did you do? These are the ideas that I came up with, um, and so please feel free to um, add in to your ideas. I'm sure you would've come up something similar as well. Why vote? It gets your voice heard. If you don't vote, other people decide for you. Many people have campaigned to give you the vote. We'll be looking at in a couple of lessons, of having a real treat because I'll be interviewing the great grandson of a famous suffragette. So you'll get to find out about one person at least, who campaigned to give you the vote. Um, and lastly, to decide who makes the decisions on issues you care about. And that's quite important. If you care about things like health, leisure, what sport facility you have in your community, the environment, housing, transport, how we should pay for buses and so forth, and trains and your education. All of those issues, if you care about those things, then you need to be voting people in to positions of power that have similar views to your views. So that hopefully, change comes that way. Um, and all of those issues, I'm sure they, there's at least one or two that are really important, um, for you. Are you ready for a quick fact check? Let's have a look what you have remembered, because I've done lots of talking and you've taken lots of information in. Ready? Political rights are the rights people have and may use in a democracy. Do you think that's true, or false? Three, two, one. It is true. You have the rights to vote and take part in protests. What are Universal suffrage? Does it mean that anyone can vote? Is it true, or is it false? Vote, in three, two, one. It's correct, well done, good job. False, almost all can vote. In the UK, you have to be over 18 and a British citizen. Let's have it for the last one. A reason to vote is so that your opinions are represented. Is that true, or is that false? True, false? Three, two, one. It is, true. You vote for someone who has similar ideas on the issue or issues that concern you. Okay, so we've done this already. I bet your brain is hurting a little bit now, but you'll have pause from my voice in a minute, and watch a video. So, we have looked at what political rights are. And when we have political rights, it means that you can vote, and we've had a look at little bit about who can and can't vote. If you can vote, this means, that government and those in charge can be limited in their powers. And they don't just get to do what they want, they have to listen to the will of people. And then this means, we can be represented when those in power make decisions that affect our lives. Okay, so I promised you a video, and here it's coming up. Just before, we're going to have a look at how long has it taken to achieve universal suffrage? So you are, will watch a video, I promise. But just for your Task 3, um, you might want to draw a timeline. If you decide to draw a timeline, just to organise your information in a little bit um, in different way. You'll only need about five or six bullet points along that line, okay? So watch this video, take down any key information and dates that you can, and I will see you in a bit. Good luck.

1215, a Magna Carta limits the power of the King for the first time. As the Barons laid down the law with King John. In 1258, Simon de Montfort's great council and the provisions of Oxford gave a small group of commoners a wider hand in governing the realm. Like father, like son, Henry tried to back out of the agreement, prompting a civil war. De Montfort won, and there is 1265 Parliament, who represent tips from towns and cities together. Another first. Then the Model Parliament of 1295, gave Bouroughs and Shires two representatives each. 1430, and the vote was given to freeholders of land worth 40 shillings or more. And the Putney Debates of 1647, that Levellers are given voting rights for all. It was nearly 200 years before the Great Reform Act of 1832. Swept away rotten Bouroughs, extending the vote to the new industrial cities. Reforms, followed reforms, followed reforms, and the electorate group.

Ahem.

And in 1918, Universal Suffrage was finally achieved for men over 21, and women over 30. A decade later, matched at 21. Today, every eligible UK citizen over 18, has the right to vote for their representative in parliament.

So I hope you enjoyed that video, it was very quick, so you might need to watch it a couple of times to jot down a bit more information. Um, I certainly had to do that. So what did you come up with? This is what, these are the sort of dates that I picked out. 1215, really important. The Magna Carta signed by King John, and it limit his, limits his powers as a King. Now, the Magna Carta is incredibly important document for this country. Because really, it's the start of our modern rights we have today came from. And in 1265, Simon De Montfort comes along. Don't worry if you've got stuff about the civil war that happened just before. That's great, if you took some of that information down. Um, and he created a parliament of Lords and Knights and common men. But when I say common men, they weren't really common. They were still quite wealthy. Um, you couldn't have the common people mixing with the lord and the knights. So, but for the first time, more people got involved in the parliament. Again, lessening the limits of the powers of the King. Or limiting the powers of the King. Okay, in 1430, votes for freeholders. So again, if you had enough land, you have a bit of cash, you could vote. So that's fair, isn't it? No, not really. And in 1832, along came the Reform Act. This was hugely anticipated by the population of Britain, people thought, "Fantastic!" All the men in the country are going to be able to vote. But sadly, when it came down to it, they decided, "Okay, just again, wealthy middle class people will be allowed to have the vote". And this angered so many people, next lesson, we'll have a look at some of the riots that took place in Britain at this time. Because of the Reform Act. And then finally, in 1918, we've got the Universal Suffrage, woo-hoo! Men over 21, and women over 30 could vote. Okay, so if you have a look at that timeline, I'm going to test your memory. What do you remember? Okay. A bit tricky, give it a go. What happened here, 1215? Reform Act, who could vote at the Reform Act? Votes for the? And then 1918, men over what age? Women over what age could vote? So just take a minute to jot those down or shout them out. Are we ready, let's have a look at the answers. There we go! Magna Carta, votes from middle classes, 21 and women over 30 could vote. Brilliant job. Okay, just want a short paragraph now, explaining your view. How long has it taken to get to where we are now? I put in some sentence stems, and sentence starters for you there, that you can use if you'd like. But if you just want to have a stab at the question, and try and write whatever you'd like to, that's fine. It's your opinion that matters. Okay, so how long has it taken to where we are now? And I, as a little bit of a hint, it didn't take a short time, did it? So let's have a look at what you can produce, and I'll see you in a bit. So, what did you come up with? Here's a possible answer. Um, that you, that I've written down for you. And I'm sure you've got some of these points, and if not, don't worry, whatever you've written would be great, I'm sure. Let's have a look at something that I've done. It has taken over 700 years to get the political rights we have today. These rights include the right to protest and to vote, which can be traced back to 1215. In 1215, King John signed a Magna Carta. A document that restricted the power of the King and gave some rights to people. Just the wealthy people, weren't they? The King lost more power over many years as the common people won more rights to have a say in how their country was run. This allowed more reforms to be made, such as extending the vote to more people. However, it wasn't until 1918 that both men and women could vote. Thereby, gaining Universal Suffrage. So really, all that say is, it took a jolly long time didn't it, to get to where we are now. 700 years, to get the political rights we have today. Okay, so... That's it, you've completed today's lesson, almost. Brilliant job. Just want to leave you with this last thought. How far have we really come? Still in this country, 16 year old, um, uh let me start it again. 16 year olds still can't vote, despite the "Votes at 16" movement. And they've been campaigning since 2003. Might have come across them before, and they want the voting age to be lowered. So what's your view? Should it be lowered? Or should the voting age be raised? Some people argue that um, at 18 you're still quite immature. So you should be voting merely at the age of 21. Just throwing those questions in to you, not uh, throwing those questions at to you, not in to you because I have to be stood next to you and then chuck them in your mouth, that's not happening is it? So, uh, don't need to write anything down, I just want those ideas to be thought about, right before the next few um, lessons that we're going to be discussing those issues. Okay, so great job! Look what we've done today. You hopefully now know a few political rights we have, and understand what universal suffrage is, how long did it take to get our universal suffrage, and then, you have also given your view about the rights we have today. Brilliant stuff. The last two things I'd like you to do is, share your work, if you can, with Oak National. So, you can do that, and I'd love to see your work. Just ask parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, and tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak. Then I'll be able to pick up all the work that you've been doing. I really look forward to seeing what you've come up with. And finally, don't forget to complete the exit quiz. Just to prove how good a job you've done today. Brilliant. I hope that I see you next lesson, we'll look in at riots and lots of things that occurred during the time of great people in Britain. So I hope you'll enjoy that lesson as well. Take care everyone, hope to see you soon. Bye!

How have our political rights changed over time?

How have our political rights changed over time?

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UnitCitizenship / Why was the struggle for the vote important today?

Citizenship