LESSON TITLE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

OBJECTIVES:

1. The students will form and defend theories about why
the colonies broke with Britain.

2. They will be able to describe events that led to the
outbreak of the revolution.

3. They will make connections between the past and present.

LESSON SUMMARY:

This lesson focuses on the rapid events between the Boston Tea Party and the battles at Lexington and Concord. It explains how both the colonists and the English opted for a forceful solution to their mutual problems.

ASSIGNMENTS:

1. essay work on the outbreak of the revolution

2. recall worksheets or quizzes

NOTES

CREATED NOVEMBER 1993

REVISED

I. Parliament and the colonies

A. Parliament held power of the purse

1. had the power to raise and spend money

2. tax money main source

3. viewed colonies as legitimate tax source

B. Colonial view of Parliament's taxing power

1. didn't apply to the colonies

2. hadn't been used much in the past

3. colonies not represented in Parliament

a. Parliament argued they were

b. Virtual Representation

C. Ideologies set them on a course of conflict

1. conflict v. compromise

2. Is their evidence for a willingness to
bargain

II. Parliament flexes its muscle

A. 1770 Townshend Acts repealed

1. exception tax on tea

a. shows their power to collect revenue

2. supposed to appease the colonies

a. removed other hated duties

B. Politics in Boston

1. center of opposition to Britain

2. Samuel Adams & Committees of Correspondence

a. formed in 1773

b. crude colonial information network

c. propagandized British oppression

C. Tea Act of 1773

1. Gave British East India Co. monopoly rights to colonial tea trade

a. favored a British company

b. threatened business of colonial tea
merchants

2. Naturally business community organizing

a. protect their businesses

3. Boston Tea Party - result

a. December 16, 1773

b. raiders boarded a British vessel

1. disguised as Indians

c. tossed tea cargo overboard

III. Parliament's reaction - The Intolerable Acts

A. Purpose was to punish the colonies

B. Boston Port Act

1. closed the harbor of Boston

2. city had to pay for the damages

3. then the port could be reopened

a. hurt merchants & traders

b. hurt the city of Boston

C. Quartering Act

1. more troops were sent to Massachusetts

2. colonists had to house and feed them

3. widely viewed as oppression

4. General Thomas Gage made governor

a. seemed like martial law

b. against colonial views of democracy

D. Administration of Justice Act

1. aimed at protecting British soldiers

2. any accused of crimes, tried in England

a. colonists viewed it as thwarting
justice

3. links to the Boston Massacre

a. remember Redcoats in hostile city

b. bound to be conflicts with civilians

E. Quebec Act

1. Expanded Quebec to cover the Ohio

a. seems to favor former French enemy

2. government by British officials

3. seemed to cut off colonial links to the
Ohio

a. many eager to expand

IV. First Continental Congress September 1774

A. Met in Philadelphia

1. adopted the Suffolk Resolves

B. Agreed to boycott British goods

C. Refuse to accept the Intolerable Acts

1. protesting against them

2. urging that they not be obeyed

D. Formed a new government for Massachusetts

1. Gage's government

2. rival colonial government

E. Agreed to form colonial militias

1. preparation for war

a. shows how far things had gone

2. arm & train troops

3. implies that conflict is possible

F. Set date for Second Continental Congress for
May 1775

V. Lexington and Concord April 18-19, 1775

A. Evident to Gage that rebellion in the air

1. new patriots were preparing for war

2. heard of training minutemen

3. heard of stockpiles of powder & ammunition

4. decided to strike first

B. April 18

1. spies knew that Gage was going to move

2. powder at Concord would be the target

3. alarm was sounded

a. Paul Revere & William Dawes

b. immortalized by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow "Paul Revere's Ride"

C. Lexington

1. first shots of the war

2. minutemen routed by the British

3. prepared to resume advance on Concord

D. Concord

1. ran into more organized resistance

2. decided to retreat to Boston

3. minutemen pursued them back to Boston

4. British losses greater than colonists

5. Gage had been checked

a. show of force backfired

b. Consider the possibilities here?

LESSON TITLE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

OBJECTIVES:

1. The students will explain the works of the Second
Continental Congress

2. They will look at last ditch attempts to compromise.

3. They will be able to describe the essentials of the
Declaration of Independence.

LESSON SUMMARY:

This lesson will cover events from the Second Continental Congress to the Declaration of Independence.

ASSIGNMENTS:

1. Students should attempt to relate past and present
events in essay form.

2.

NOTES

CREATED NOVEMBER 1993

REVISED

I. Second Continental Congress May 1775

A. Convenient Timing, assembled in Philadelphia

1. Lexington & Concord

2. Ethan Allen

a. Green Mountain boys

b. captured Forts Ticonderoga & Crown
Point

B. Agreed to form an army

1. strategically offered Washington command

2. draw Southerners into a northern war

3. British missed opportunities to divide the

colonies

C. Agreed to form a navy

1. authorized privateers

2. pirates to attack British shipping

3. Britain had world's largest navy

a. daunting task

D. Sent envoys to France, Spain, & Netherlands

1. realized they needed foreign support

2. foreigners slow to join the cause

a. wanted to weigh the odds first

II. Battle of Bunker Hill June 17, 1775

A. Colonists wanted to threaten British hold on
Boston

1. good symbol if they could drive out Gage

2. might gain them foreign support

B. Cannon placed on Breed's Hill

1. not Bunker Hill

2. commanded heights of Boston

3. placed Gage in jeopardy

4. Gage ordered William Howe to retake hill

a. made repeated charges

b. suffered heavy casualties

5. Americans ran out of powder

a. abandoned hill, few casualties

b. another victory from results

C. Olive Branch Petition summer 1775

1. last effort at compromise

2. addressed to King George III

3. asked him to negotiate

III. Difference between history & reality

A. Colonial population very ambivalent about war

1. not everyone wanted war

2. common history suggest otherwise

B. 1/3 of population were tories

1. loyal to the crown

2. opposed to patriots

3. many illegally lost their lands & businesses

a. seized by patriots

4. many would go to Canada

C. Perhaps 1/3 of population was undecided

1. sentiments favored who was winning

D. Common Sense important pamphlet for patriots

1. written by Thomas Paine

a. recent English immigrant

2. argued for independence

3. spread throughout the colonies

a. highly influential

b. persuasive reasons

IV. Second Continental Congress & Independence

A. Told colonies to form new state govts

B. March 1776 Howe abandoned Boston

1. removed himself to Canada

2. temporary high mark for the states

3. pushed independence cause

C. July 2, 1776

1. Richard Henry Lee introduced Jefferson's
draft

a. uncle of Robert E. Lee

2. draft was approved by Congress

D. July 4, 1776

1. draft given to the public

2. became independence day

a. edges out July 2

V. Declaration of Independence

A. Thomas Jefferson main author

1. influenced by Locke & Montesquieu

a. more from Locke

B. Main purposes

1. declared the colonies free

2. helped the states borrow money

a. cause that could be contributed to

3. Britain had to follow rules of war

a. couldn't execute captured soldiers

4. used as an excuse to seize tory property

C. Preamble to the Declaration

1. very eloquent beginning

2. explains why the colonies want freedom

D. Political Ideas of the Declarartion

1. governments are created by people

2. governments are to serve the people

a. look out for common good

3. people have right to topple unjust govts

a. Britain's rule was unjust

E. Formal Charges of the Declaration

1. most interesting part

2. specified grievances against George III

a. Parliament was cause of most

3. blames the king not Parliament

a. done deliberately

4. George III more identifiable villain

F. 4th part statement of independence

LESSON TITLE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

OBJECTIVES:

1. Students will discuss the many problems faced by the
states in fighting the war.

2. They will be able to list the advantages and
disadvantages of each side.

3.

LESSON SUMMARY:

This lesson will cover the advantages and disadvantages that each side had in fighting the war. It will note the things that the colonists had to do to win independence.

ASSIGNMENTS:

1. essay writing

2. recall worksheets

NOTES

CREATED NOVEMBER 1993

REVISED

I. Problems faced by Second Continental Congress

A. Organizing an army and navy

1. difficult to do

2. Britain far ahead in this field

B. Gaining support from foreign governments

1. Britain had enemies

a. potential support

2. wanted to see if colonists could win first

a. very cautious

b. support would come slowly

C. Financing the war

1. probably biggest problem

a. no power to tax

b. large debt run up

2. states asked for voluntary payments

a. easy to ignore

3. paying troops often a big problem

a. cause of desertion

4. no money meant army poorly supplied

II. Structure of the Army

A. Continental Army

1. headed by George Washington

a. feeble attempt to remove him

2. strength usually about 5,000

a. 20,000 men at its greatest

3. troops didn't like to serve long periods

a. poorly trained at first

b. desertions were frequent

4. Often poorly clothed, fed, and paid

5. forbid Black troops

B. State Militias

1. each state raised its own forces

2. didn't like to go to other states

3. most would accept Black troops

a. played big part in the war

b. given little credit, unknown

III. Foreign Elements

A. Important to winning the war

1. French support secured an American victory

B. France, Spain, Netherlands would give aid

C. Marquis de Lafayette

1. dashing French noblemen

2. came for adventure and war

a. many other Frenchmen did likewise

3. favorite of Washington

a. held rank of general

D. Baron von Steuben

1. tough Prussian soldier

2. given a commission in the army

3. brought discipline & professionalism to
the army

4. helped mold a better force

IV. Advantages of Britain

A. World's most powerful country

1. largest navy

a. blockade ports

b. attack cities

c. transport troops & supplies

2. large army - 50,000 in North America