The Jacobite Risings

Active learning makes the Jacobite Risings tangible by turning abstract political struggles into personal decisions and lived consequences. Students move beyond dates and names to analyze why people chose sides, how geography shaped outcomes, and why the aftermath still matters today.

• Year 8
• History
• 4 activities
• 30 min–50 min

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze the key strategic decisions made by Charles Edward Stuart during the 1745 rising and evaluate their impact on its outcome.
2. Explain the immediate and long-term consequences of the Battle of Culloden for the Jacobite cause and the Scottish Highlands.
3. Evaluate the extent to which the defeat of the Jacobites led to significant changes in the Highland way of life and the structure of Scottish society.
4. Compare the military strengths and weaknesses of the Jacobite and Hanoverian forces during the 1745 rising.

Simulation Game

⏱ 45 min·Small Groups

Debate Carousel: Reasons for Jacobite Failure

Divide class into groups representing factors like French support, clan unity, and government strength. Each group prepares 3 arguments with evidence from timelines. Groups rotate to debate and rebut at three stations, voting on strongest case at end.

Prepare & details

Analyze why 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' failed to win back the throne in 1745.

Facilitation Tip: For Debate Carousel, assign each group a different reason for failure and rotate so students hear multiple perspectives before drafting a group conclusion.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Simulation Game

⏱ 35 min·Pairs

Source Stations: Culloden Perspectives

Set up stations with primary sources: Jacobite letters, government reports, eyewitness sketches. Pairs analyze bias, reliability, and key events at two stations, then share findings in whole-class gallery walk.

Prepare & details

Explain the significance of the Battle of Culloden.

Facilitation Tip: At Source Stations, provide guiding questions like ‘Whose voice is missing?’ to push analysis beyond surface details.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Simulation Game

⏱ 30 min·Small Groups

Timeline Relay: Rising and Fall

Teams build a shared timeline on wall strips, racing to place events like Derby march or Culloden with sticky notes and quotes. Discuss sequencing errors as a class to refine understanding.

Prepare & details

Evaluate how the Jacobite defeat changed the Highland way of life.

Facilitation Tip: During Timeline Relay, include a blank card for students to add one event they believe changed the campaign’s direction.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Simulation Game

⏱ 50 min·Pairs

Role-Play: Highland Life Before and After

Assign roles as crofters, chiefs, soldiers. Pairs script and perform short scenes contrasting pre-1746 clan life with post-Culloden changes, using props like tartan fabric.

Prepare & details

Analyze why 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' failed to win back the throne in 1745.

Facilitation Tip: In Role-Play, give students contrasting roles before the battle (tenant farmer, Hanoverian soldier, clan chief) to highlight how identities shaped experiences.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Teaching This Topic

Teach this topic through layered storytelling: start with personal narratives before examining broad forces. Avoid presenting the Stuarts as heroic figures or the government as purely villainous; instead, frame the risings as a clash of loyalties within a shifting British identity. Use maps and visuals to show how terrain shaped decisions, and balance drama with evidence to prevent myth-making.

What to Expect

Successful learning shows when students connect evidence to arguments, recognize the complexity behind simple labels like 'Jacobite' or 'government,' and articulate how power, loyalty, and terrain determined the campaign’s fate. Look for students using sources to challenge assumptions and timeline events to explain cause and effect.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Debate Carousel, watch for students assuming the Jacobites were only Highland Scots fighting for independence.

What to Teach Instead

Hand each group a set of brief letters or petitions from English Catholics, Irish clans, and Lowland Scots, then ask them to map the origins of support on a shared wall map before debating the campaign’s composition.

Common Misconception

During the dramatized reenactments in Timeline Relay, watch for students portraying Culloden as a close-fought battle between equals.

What to Teach Instead

Divide students unevenly for the reenactment (e.g., 10 Jacobites vs. 30 government troops) and position them on swampy ground to demonstrate how terrain and numbers decided the outcome.

Common Misconception

During Role-Play, watch for students assuming Highland culture recovered quickly after 1746.

What to Teach Instead

Provide each role with a card listing one Proscription Act change (e.g., ban on tartan) and ask them to decide how their character’s life changed over the next 20 years, then share these in a class debrief.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

After Debate Carousel, pose the question 'Was Charles Edward Stuart a hero or a misguided dreamer?' and ask each group to present their stance using evidence from the debate stations and source analysis.

Exit Ticket

During Timeline Relay, provide a map of the 1745 rising and ask students to identify three key locations and write one sentence for each explaining its significance to the campaign.

Quick Check

After the Role-Play activity, present students with a list of changes that occurred in the Highlands after 1746 and ask them to categorize each change as either a direct consequence of the Battle of Culloden or an indirect societal shift.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask students to write a letter from a Lowland supporter justifying their choice, using evidence from at least three sources.
• Scaffolding: Provide a partially completed timeline with key events filled in to help students focus on connections rather than recall.
• Deeper: Have students research and present on how the Battle of Culloden is remembered today, comparing memorials in Scotland with those in England.

Key Vocabulary

Jacobite	A supporter of the Stuart dynasty's claim to the British throne, particularly during the 18th-century risings.
Bonnie Prince Charlie	Charles Edward Stuart, the grandson of the deposed King James II, who led the final Jacobite rising in 1745.
Battle of Culloden	The final, decisive battle of the 1745 Jacobite rising, fought on April 16, 1746, resulting in a crushing defeat for the Jacobites.
Heritable Jurisdictions	Powers and rights of local lords over their tenants and lands, which were abolished in the Highlands after the 1745 rising.
Clan System	The traditional social structure in the Scottish Highlands, based on kinship and loyalty to a clan chief, which was significantly weakened after the Jacobite defeat.