American Reacts to Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot

As an American I have heard of Guy Fawkes the famous Gunpowder plot, but I don't understand what it is. Today I am excited to learn about who Guy Fawkes was and what the Gunpowder plot was all about. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!

[corringhamdepot]

Growing up 50 years ago, Guy Fawkes Night was a family affair. Many people used to build a bonfire and let off fireworks in their gardens. We would make a Guy by stuffing old clothes with newspapers and adding a Guy Fawkes mask. Then spend a couple of weeks wheeling it around in a cart, asking people for "A penny for the Guy". The Guy would eventually be burnt on top of the bonfire. Lots of people would end up in Accident & Emergency every year. Nowadays, a few people let of fireworks and generate loads of complaints on SM. Most other people go to large organised displays. While pet owners campaign for fireworks to be banned.

[NGMI]

You should see how we celebrate it, the largest in England is the Lewes Bonfire Celebration. It's an amazing experience

[carolineskipper]

The Plotters also wanted to wipe out the Kings Ministers at the same time- so many of the others present weren't all just collateral damage, but targets themselves.
The cartoon was actually pretty good explanation- albeit simplified.
Bonfire Night isn't a celebration of the plot- but a celebration of the fact that the King and his ministers were saved from assassination.
As children we were all taught the rhyme
“Remember, remember the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot;
There is no reason why gunpowder and treason should ever be forgot.”

[paulcharleton]

Guy Fawkes was born in York, his birthplace close by the minster is now a pub and is named after him. I enjoy a pint in there when passing. He had spent time in Spain working as a mercenary.

[billyhills]

The relationship between public opinion and Guy Fawkes is mixed. On the one hand, we burn a facsimile of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire, while on the other, GF is sometimes referred to as 'the last man to enter parliament with honest intentions.'

[bazza]

haha tyler you crack me up.. 'it's not like they have a missile.. how are they going to do it?' er. the method is in the title.. 'the gunpowder plot' haha.

[sianneish]

One of the plotters had a friend who was attending parliament that day so they sent a letter to warn him, which is how the plot was uncovered. Also the the 'celebrations' were a warning to other would be plotters, reminding people what would happen to them if they did plot against the king.

[SuperDarkvi]

Remember remember the 5th of November Gun, Powder Treason and Plots.
It's a famous rhyme we grow up with. Did anyone else grow up hearing that one of the conspirators was dumb enough to send his friend (who worked in parliament) a letter saying that they shouldn't go in that day due to the probability of him having bad things happen to him otherwise? I vaguely remember a teacher saying that while not proven, that's the real reason they were caught?

[iangt]

Hi Tyler. Someone has already mentioned that Kit Harington (Jon Snow from Game of Thrones) played Robert Catesby in a dramatisation of the Gunpowder Plot but what wasn't mentioned is that he is actually related to Robert Catesby through his mothers ancestry and in an even bigger twist he's also related to Kjng James I through his fathers ancestry so if anyone was appropriately cast as Robert Catesby, then it's him! 😊😊

[marieparker]

I think Tyler needs to know the definition of 'hanging, drawing and quartering'.😮

[jamesturner]

The funniest thing in hindsight is the fact that what delayed the assassination attempt for so long was the Plague meant that people were too afraid to gather in the Houses of Parliament which allowed the anonymous letter to reach the king in time to foil the Plot.

[joanweightman]

I don't think many Brits in my generation worried about the back story of Guy Fawkes night...as it was then...now just bonfire night. It is great nostalgia. As young teens we would make Guy Fawkes 'scarecrows' stuffing bits of straw, leaves and paper rubbish into a set of old clothes. For a week before we would sit on the streets asking for " Penny for the Guy" and people would donate...the money then bought fireworks: rickracks, catherine wheels and bangers plus sparklers. We would also spend a week or two prior to bonfire night gathering any flammable garden or household waste and build huge wigwam bonfires that we kept hollow as a den. On bonfire night it would then be stuffed with paper and kindling for the fire. The great fun was in defending your fire as the game was to try and ignite the fires of teens in other parts of town. We would bake potatoes in the fire and have competitions to snatch apples out of bowls of water AKA apple bobbing or they could be attached to long lengths of string and you had to eat it without using your hands ...usually tied behind your back. So much fun and community. It has been very commercialised now and also blended with hallowe'en. More gruesome and less fun nowadays. Enjoyed watching and remembering.

[stumccabe]

"The Only Man Ever to Enter Parliament with Honest Intentions".
Officially, Guy Fawkes Night is a celebration of the thwarting of the plot, unofficially, to some people it's a celebration of Guy Fawkes, but to most it's just a time to have some fun.
An interesting fact: the quantity of gunpowder they were going to set off was about 2.5 tons - easily enough to destroy the whole building! I fact the diameter of devastation would have been about 1kilometer (over 1000 yards). It is said that they used 25x the amount needed to destroy parliament!

[steel]

It's amazing how little Americans know of other countries. Even the country that founded their own.

[Steve-ysig]

It is not about the monarchy - the overwhelming majority of people in England were protestant by this time and they really really distrusted Catholics. This began much earlier when England broke with Rome with Henry VIII. When his daughter "bloody Mary" came to the throne she burned protestants at the stake then when she died and Elizabeth came to the throne, there were various catholic plots to overthrow her and then the Spanish sent an Armada to invade Britain to reclaim it for Catholicism which failed obviously. So by the time of the Gunpowder plot we had had nearly a century of religious conflict. The Catholic plotters were delusion to think that a Catholic takeover was possible. The later English Civil war was not just about King Charles I being a tyrant, he married a catholic so there was a level of distrust within the population because of this. Even later when Charles I son James came to the throne - he was a catholic and he was deposed in favour of his protestant sister and brother-in-law

[danpferguson]

Guy Fawkes was involved from the start in the Plot. The gunpowder was bought many months before, because Parliament was to be opened in May, & the King etc all the Lords, & MPs would be there, but the ceremony was delayed a couple of times because of the Plague.
The plotters hired the large cellar under the House of Lords, which was used to store fuel wood & stuff. The building was an old church, & the cellar was it's under croft.
The gunpowder got damp & the plotters had to replace the whole lot. The letter was to an MP, from a relative warning him not to attend the Opening ; though some think it was fake, coming from a Government agent who had found out about the plot. Fawkes had a long fuse which would burn while he escaped. Catesby & co rode to the Midlands, where they hoped to kidnap the Kings very young daughter, to set her up as a puppet while they took over the Government. They expected, or hoped, that many Catholics would join them. They were caught in a country house by the Sheriff of the county & a hundred or so men. They had some gunpowder with them, which got wet, so they tried to dry it by a fire. It exploded in their faces, & a couple of them were blinded. When the King's forces arrived there was a fire fight, where more were killed, including Catesby. The rest were caught. Catesby, the leader of the plot was a rich Gentleman, & famous horseman. Many of the Nobility & landed Gentry were still Catholic at this time, though often secretly, as is was mandatory to attend Protestant church services, while Catholic things were forbidden. Often Catholic priests were hidden in country houses, most of which had their own chapels for services.
Very few of the landowners & Gentry dare rise up openly for the Catholic cause, for obvious reasons, as this would lead to loss of status, titles & land, & disinherit future generations, as well as risking death etc. Bonfire Night celebrates the discovery of the Plot, & the saving of the King & Government from the disaster of a terrorist plot.

[jasonyoung]

Richard Hammond did a documentary on this "exploding the legend", they build a replica houses of parliment and put the right amount of gunpowder under it. the results where spectacular.

[peterbrown]

There is a two part drama, Gunpowder treason and plot, the first part is about James the 1st/6th mother, Mary Queen of Scots, the seconed part is about him coming to the English throne and the plot.

[bartman]

There was a program I watched with Richard Hammond were the gun powder plot was talked about, and the government building isn’t the one we know today it was in London but the building looked very different. And in the show they blew up a replica of the building to show what may have happened if guy falks completed the task without arousing suspicion. It was called the gun powder plot exploding the legend.

[jillybrooke]

My ancestor Thomas Knyvett was one of the few who managed to foil the plot. Children used to make a Guy and push it around in a baby's pram and shout "Penny for the Guy" and people would give them a penny in the streets. Guess not allowed today. It is not a holiday.