The Regency (the last chunk of Britain's Georgian Era) was a time of fabulous wealth and desperate poverty in Britain, with the Prince Regent George IV (too young to be king) funding huge and beautiful architectural projects while thousands starved and struggled to survive in the dirty, vicious London slums. Novels like Pride and Prejudice, about the idle rich, were immensely popular.
England's armies were fighting across the globe. During the 10 years (1811-1820) of Regency, the British beat the French (led by Napoleon), sent troops to chop up British protesters with swords, and burned down the White House. I say, what!

First, in groups of three, explore these links relating to the Regency period.

The Peterloo Massacre, England's Tiananmen Square.
The Luddites thought technology was stealing their jobs -- so they went around at night setting fire to factories and smashing looms!
The Brits torched the White House during the War of 1812. Winner: Canada.
Social customs during the Regency -- you couldn't call your sweetheart by their first name until you were married!
Google terms like Regency, Waterloo, Jane Austen, War of 1812, and Luddites.
British history from 1815-1830.
And, of course, the Regency's Wikipedia entry.

Second, choose one event, person, place or thing from the Regency to present to the class today. Your presentation will be no more than 2 minutes long.

The Presentation
- less than 2 minutes
- topic: an event from the Regency
- involves all group members
- for events, answer: What happened? Who was involved? Why did it happen? What was the effect?
- for people, answer: Who were they? What did they do to get their name in history? Why? What did their actions cause?
- for places/things, answer: What was it? How did it work? Who was involved in it? Why was it important?