David Livingstone (clip 2)
Life of the famous Victorian explorer
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Description
An account of the life of David Livingstone (1813 – 1873). This Docu-drama depicts the life of the famous Victorian explorer and missionary including a dramatised account of his expedition through Africa.
Shots include: Victoria Falls [Lozi: Mosi-oa-Tunya], canoeing, exploration team walking through the jungle and shots of newspaper articles which wrongly reported the death of Livingstone. The clip also features the dramatisation of Henry Morton Stanley's travels from America to find Livingstone in Africa.
Questions & Activities
Questions
- What is the Zambizee?
- Why did Livingstone name the falls after Victoria? What name did indigenous people have for the waterfall? Where else in the world can you find evidence of European explorers and colonists creating new names for places?
- Research the 1870 rumour of Livingstone's death as it was reported in Europe. Do you think people at the time believed it? Why?
- What communication would Stanley have used to find out how Livingstone was alive?
- From the film, what do you think David Livingstone would be remembered for? Research accounts of his life from various sources to see what happened.
Activities
List the places Livingstone visited and plot them on a map. Plot on a map Livingstone's journey through Africa. What are the modern day names for the places he visited and what countries are they located in?
Why and in what way do the newspapers that Stanley was working for look different from today's newspapers?
Compare David Livingstone to Mary Slessor (watch clip: She Blazed a Trail). Research the differences and similarities in their work. Create a short powerpoint presentation or video incorporating clips from both films.
Write an obituary about David Livingstone.
Research other Scottish Explorers and their connections to the British Empire.
Updated March 2020
Clip Details
| Record Id | 007-000-002-035-C |
|---|---|
| Resource Rights Holder | National Library of Scotland |
| Project Ref | 0192 |
| Date | 1956 |
| Genre | Drama Documentary |
| School Subject | History, Economic History, Modern Studies, Geography, Health and Wellbeing, Religious and Moral Education |
| Subject Matter | Victorians; Exploration; Slavery; Missionaries |
| Who | David Middlemas (director), G-B Instructional Ltd (distributor, sponsor), Rev James McNair BD, Chairman of the Livingstone Memorial, Blantyre, Lanarkshire and CM Green MA (supervisors), The J Arthur Rank Organisation Limited (production company) |
| Where | Africa, Linyanti, Victoria Falls, Luanda, Congo, Zanzibar, Ujiji, Quilimane, Lake Nyasa, Lake Tanganyika |
| Event | Exploration, Slavery |
| Attributes | Black and White, Sound |
| Clip Length | 7:07 |
| Film Length | 16:00 |
| References | [Livingstone Online](https://www.livingstoneonline.org/) |