Who was Guy Fawkes? for kids | Bonfire Night | Gunpowder Plot

Use this video to learn all about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot - a plan in 1605 to kill the king of England, all over religion!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who doesn’t love Guy Fawkes night? a roaring fire, fireworks, toffee apples… Well, I guess Guy Fawkes doesn't. He's the reason we have this celebration. Let me tell you his story.
We have to go back in time to 1605 when things were very different - there was no plumbing, electricity, or cars. There were no fridges, microwaves or washing machines. And also, back then, everyone in England went to church on Sundays. It was the law - a rule everyone in the country had to follow or they may be locked up.
This is King James the first. He was the king of England in 1605, and the head of the church of England. He was in charge of everything so everyone had to go to his kind of church - a Protestant church. Not everyone wanted to. Some secretly went to another type of church - a catholic church. Remember, this was against the rules so they were taking a big risk.
This was the setting for the Gunpowder Plot and the reason we have bonfires and fireworks every year on the fifth of November. You see, one group of people got pretty fed up with living in fear because they had to go to a protestant church. They decided that something needed to be done to change things. They decided to kill the king! That sounds pretty drastic to me, but the church was extremely important to them.
The plan was formed by Robert Catesby. Here it is - on the fifth of November 1605, the king was scheduled to visit the houses of parliament. That’s where they make the laws that everyone has to follow. The plot was to blow up the building while he was inside. This wouldn’t just kill the king, but the whole government! They thought that after that, they could force people to attend their Catholic churches.
Here’s where Guy Fawkes takes centre stage. The plan was to gather lots of gunpowder and put it in the cellars under the parliament building. Gunpowder is very dangerous because when it touches fire it explodes. The more the gunpowder, the bigger the bang! Guy Fawkes’ role was to wait until the king arrived, then light a fuse to blow up the whole building using the gunpowder!
Unfortunately for him, someone who knew about the plan wrote to a nobleman, warning him to stay away from parliament on the 5th November. And someone showed that letter to the king. Guards searched the building and caught Guy Fawkes waiting in the cellar, surrounded by 36 barrels of gunpowder, and locked him up in the tower of London. Things did not look good for Guy Fawkes.
And they weren’t. They hurt him very badly until he told them the names of the other people in his group. Guy Fawkes and the others committed a crime called treason, which is when someone tries to harm the king. This meant serious punishment. Guy Fawkes and all of his fellow plotters were killed in horrible ways and they were used as a warning to others who might think about committing treason.
King James was so happy that the plot was foiled that he created a holiday to celebrate stopping the gunpowder plot - the 5th of November: Bonfire Night. Back then they had a special church service and rang the church bells. Today we light bonfires, make a Guy, and set off fireworks.
So now you know - Guy was the guy that started it all off!
Remember, remember, the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.