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Ancient China: crafts and artisans

This is a resource titled Workshop Alley, produced by the British Museum, in which the viewer explores three ancient Chinese workshops making jade, bronze and ceramic objects. Each workshop contains: an introduction to the material being worked; an illustrated description of the processes used; one or two questions and ...

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Unmasking the Maya: preserving the culture

This resource is chiefly about the preservation of the Maya culture in the USA. It covers the Maya Indians today, the rich ancient Maya culture that existed from 500 BCE to 1519 CE, when the Spanish conquered them, and those Maya who emigrate today to the USA in search of a better life. The resource presents the Monkey ...

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Victorian Heritage Database

This is a rich, interactive resource that lists Victoria’s most significant heritage: places, objects, shipwrecks and archaeological sites. It has four main sections: Introduction; Explore heritage map; Recommended tours; and Timeline browser. The Explore heritage map searches for sites and provides information and images ...

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Sketch of a slave cabin in Virginia, 1864

This is a black-and-white sketch showing a slave cabin with a small girl standing in front. The handwritten caption reads 'Slave Cabin near the Long Bridge, Chicahominy River, Va [Virginia], June 13th 1864'. The artist was Edwin Forbes and elsewhere on the drawing he noted, 'Sketched while on the march from Long Bridge ...

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'Effects of the Fugitive-Slave-Law', 1850

This is a black-and-white print showing four African Americans attacked in an ambush by six armed white men. One of the white men is firing as two others reload their guns, and two of the African Americans have been hit. The print is a denunciation of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, its effect reinforced by two quotations ...

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The Mongol conquests

This is an illustrated four-part historical account of the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in history. It includes sections on: factors leading to the Mongol conquests; the role of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan; how a small group of Mongols succeeded in conquering a vast domain; and the ...

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The Mongols in China

This is an illustrated four-part historical account of Mongol rule in China. It includes sections on: the Mongol influence on China; Khubilai Khan in China; life in China under Mongol rule; and the beginnings of the Mongol collapse. The life in China section describes the effects of Mongol rule on peasants, artisans, merchants, ...

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Rome's pivotal emperors

This resource is about the Roman emperors who greatly influenced the empire's structure and direction. It introduces six of the most important emperors: Augustus, Vespasian, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimus Severus and Constantine. Images of the emperors link to descriptive text about their lives and pivotal aspects of ...

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Roman religion: gallery

This resource is about Roman religion. It consists of nine images that link to text about the different practices and beliefs that existed in ancient Rome. It includes information on the state-recognised worship of traditional gods and about some of the diverse religions that were tolerated in ancient Rome as long as they ...

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Enslavement and industrialisation

This resource is about the slave-based trade with the Americas and its contribution to Britain in the 18th century and today. The resource is organised under the following topic headings: Consumers and slaves; the Atlantic boom; Slave-related trade; Profit margins; Inherited privilege; and Find out more. It includes text, ...

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Beneath the surface: social reports as primary sources

This resource is about a report on the public heath conditions of Leeds in 1842 by a medical doctor, Robert Baker. It provides a background to the report along with information on Robert Baker and his credentials for undertaking the investigation. Extracts from the report describe the poor conditions of sanitation, the ...

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Chartist Movement 1838-48

This resource is about the Chartist Movement, a movement for the political rights of working people in Britain. It gives a brief history of the movement and describes the three petitions with millions of signatures that were presented to parliament in 1839,1842 and 1848. It is organised under the following headings: the ...

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Britain's empire in 1815

This resource is about the British Empire after the defeat of Napoleon as Britain emerged dominant among the European great powers and was recognised as one of the world's great imperial powers. It shows through a series of maps the extent of the British Empire in 1815, with three disparate parts: North America, the eastern ...

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Viking women

This resource is about the role of women in the Viking world. It includes text and some images. The resource is organised under six topic headings: Female Vikings?; Viking women in England; Scandinavian immigration; Daily life; Women of influence; and Find out more. The images are interposed in the text.

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Mabo: the native title revolution

This a multi-layered website about the life and times of Eddie Mabo and the part he played in Indigenous land rights, produced by the National Sound and Film Archive. There are section headings on: The Mabo film; Mer; The man; The case; Native title; Land rights; and Terra Nullius. Each heading has multiple subheadings ...

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Burke and Wills: Then and Now

This is a website about a journey in 2010 that retraced the 1860 Burke and Wills expedition from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Topics include: the landscape, the route, the flora and fauna, Burke’s tree, aboriginal bush foods and various interviews with experts and involved individuals. The resource is presented ...

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Thornhill plantation house, 2010

This is the two-storey Thornhill plantation house in Greene County, Alabama, showing the southern facade with its two-story portico of six Ionic columns across the front, and the eastern-side elevation. The photograph was taken by Carol Highsmith.

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'Am I not a man and a brother?', 1837

This is a black-and-white illustration of a kneeling male slave in chains. It appeared on a broadside (a poster, often with a poem or news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations) published in New York. The broadside also featured John Greenleaf Whittier's anti-slavery poem, 'Our countrymen in chains' and two quotations, ...

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'Landing negroes at Jamestown from Dutch man-of-war, 1619'

This is a black-and-white illustration showing how the well-known American artist Howard Pyle (1853-1911) imagined the landing of the first Africans at Jamestown in the colony of Virginia nearly 300 years after the historical event. Pyle depicts 20 emaciated captives kneeling or sitting on the ground, guarded by men with ...

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Second atomic bombing of Japan at Nagasaki, 1945

This is a black-and-white photograph showing the mushroom cloud rising from the explosion of an atomic bomb with an estimated force of 20,000 tonnes of TNT, 560 m above Nagasaki, Japan, on 9 August 1945. Part of the wing of the camera plane that accompanied the bomb-carrying plane can be seen at bottom right. The image ...