NHC+1763-1791

National Humanities Center Resource Toolbox MAKING THE REVOLUTION America: 1763-1791

I. CRISIS: 1763-1775 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/crisis.htm

Framing Questions:

Between 1763 and 1775, what changed many Americans from loyal British subjects to rebellious Patriots? Why did many Americans remain loyal to Great Britain and oppose rebellion? Was the American Revolution inevitable? If so, was there a "point of no return"?

1) 1763: Britain Victorious http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text1/text1read.htm

–Colonists respond to British victories in the French and Indian War, 1759-1763 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text1/britainvictorious1763.pdf

Discussion Questions:

In these documents, how did Americans display loyalty to Britain as well as pride in their contributions to the war effort? To Americans in 1763, what did it mean to be loyal English subjects? citizens of the empire? In what ways did the French and Indian War address American colonial goals as well as British imperial goals? In what ways could these goals clash in the future? In what ways could Americans, who would later divide into Patriots and Loyalists, view the British victory differently?

2) 1764: Loyal Subjects? http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text2/text2read.htm

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the Sugar & Currency Acts, 1764 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text2/sugaractresponse1764.pdf

–Thomas Pownall, The Administration of the Colonies, 1764, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text2/pownall1764.pdf

Discussion Questions:

From these documents, what impressions do you gain about the imperial relationship between Britain and the American colonies in 1764? How had the French and Indian War, and its victorious conclusion, affected the relationship? To many colonists, what was most valued in the relationship? What British action could most jeopardize the relationship? To Parliament, what was most valued in the relationship? What colonial action could most jeopardize the relationship? When Americans insisted that submitting to parliamentary taxation would be submitting to slavery, what did they mean? How, then, did they relate to the enslavement of Africans in the colonies? Begin or continue a chart, collection of statements, collage of broadsides, or similar compilation to document the progression to revolution from 1763 to 1775. Include positions for and against resistance to British actions.

3) 1765-66: Stamp Act Crisis http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text3/text3read.htm

–Parliamentary debate on the Stamp Act, February 1765, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text3/parliamentarydebate1765.pdf

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the Stamp Act, 1765-1766 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text3/stampactresponse1765.pdf

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the Stamp Act’s repeal, 1766 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text3/stampactrepealresponse1766.pdf

Discussion Questions:

From these documents, what impressions do you form of Americans' response to the Stamp Act? What impression do you have of the Loyalist and British response to American resistance? In the Parliamentary debate, what were the primary arguments for and against enacting the Stamp Act? In what ways did the members take into consideration the views of the Americans? What arguments did Colonel Barré make on behalf of caution and restraint? What did he mean by his statement: "We are the mother country, let us be cautious not to get the name of stepmother"? Summarize the main arguments in America for and against the Stamp Act and, more generally, the authority of Parliament to tax the colonies. Note how the arguments evolve through the decade leading to war. What meaning did "taxation without representation" have for the colonists? Why did many British argue that the colonies were, indeed, represented in Parliament? When Americans insisted that submitting to parliamentary taxation would be submitting to slavery, what did they mean? How, then, did they relate to the enslavement of Africans in the colonies? (See also Theme II: REBELLION, #6: The Enslaved.) What victory did Americans feel they had achieved with the repeal of the Stamp Act? How did they celebrate the news and congratulate themselves? Was the crisis over? Did the colonists take note of the Declaratory Act, passed the same day as the Stamp Act's repeal?

4) 1767-69: The Crisis Deepens http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text4/text4read.htm

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the Townshend Acts, 1767-1770 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text4/townshendactsresponse1767.pdf

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the Quartering Act, 1766-1767 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text4/quarteringactresponse1766.pdf

–John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, Letters 1 & 2, 1767 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text4/dickinsonletters1767.pdf

–Paul Revere & Christian Remick, artists’ depict arrival of British troops/Boston/1768 http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a45752/

Discussion Questions:

From these documents, characterize the range of Americans' responses to the Townshend Acts, the Quartering Act, and the arrival of British troops in Boston. In what ways do the responses reflect a continuity with responses to previous parliamentary actions? In what ways do they reflect a change? What would explain the change? What new modes of resistance did Americans employ against the Townshend Acts (and against opposition to the Acts)? What were Americans' arguments for and against the non-importation agreements? Did the arguments follow strict Loyalist-vs.-Patriot divisions? How did the colonies respond to the call for unity in Samuel Adams's circular letter from Massachusetts? Why did Dickinson argue that taxes levied to raise revenues are unjust? Why was he disturbed with the lack of immediate outrage over Britain's threat to suspend the New York assembly? What are your first impressions of the three depictions of British troops in America? What might have been the impressions of Americans at the time? Do you agree with David Ramsay that, had Parliament repealed all of the Townshend Acts including the tea tax, the "union of the two countries might have lasted for ages"?

5) 1770: Violence⎯ and Pause http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text5/text5read.htm

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the violent confrontations with British troops and officials in early 1770 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text5/goldenhillseidermassacre.pdf

Discussion Questions:

Boston Massacre___

In what ways is the Gazette account journalistic reporting? incendiary propaganda? How would a British account differ? How do Edes and Gill structure their account as one of American heroism vs. British tyranny? Compare the Gazette accounts by Edes and Gill of the Boston Massacre and of Seider's death. What did the editors hope to achieve with their newspaper coverage? Analyze the visual components of Revere's The Bloody Massacre. What is the effect of the tight framing? the division into right and left halves? the encirclement of the buildings? How does the engraving indicate the power imbalance between the civilians and the soldiers?

6) 1772-73: Crisis Renewed http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text6/text6read.htm

–Boston Committee of Correspondence (Samuel Adams et al.), The “Boston Pamphlet,” 1772, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text6/bostonpamphlet.pdf

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the Tea Act, 1773-1774 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text6/teaactresponse.pdf

–David Ramsay, A Sermon on Tea, essay, 1774, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text6/ramsaysermontea.pdf

Discussion Questions:

From these documents, what impressions do you get of the temperament and goals of Americans by the end of 1773? How did colonial resistance change after the passage of the Tea Act? Did resistance become rebellion in 1774? How did American opponents of violent protest express their position? In A Sermon on Tea, what specific arguments does Ramsay make against the use of tea? How do you think the readers of this pamphlet would have reacted to these arguments? Would the political or health issues have been more compelling? Why? Do you think that this "sermon" was intended to be read as fact or satire? What support from the document can you use for your argument? Why would the equation of tea-drinking with femininity and slavery be such a potent argument for independence in colonial America? What would the writer of the letter from "A Woman" in The Massachusetts Spy, 23 Dec. 1773, say to David Ramsay, the author of A Sermon on Tea? Why is she weary of "scarecrow stories" from men about the physical and political ramifications of tea? In what way is her letter "feminist" in our terms? Conduct a debate on this proposition: If there was a "point of no return" in the prerevolutionary period (1763-1775), it occurred in 1773.

7) 1774: Colonies United http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text7/text7read.htm

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the Coercive Acts & the Quebec Act, 1774 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text7/coerciveactsresponse.pdf

First Continental Congress:

–Petition to King George III http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text7/petitionkinggeorge3.pdf

–Bill of Rights; Letters to the Americans and to the people of Great Britain http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text7/billofrights.pdf

Discussion Questions:

How did colonial resistance change after the passage of the Coercive Acts? Did resistance become rebellion in 1774, as some claimed at the time? Summarize the dominant messages of the Patriots and Loyalists in 1774. What are they saying to each other? to the king and Parliament? to the British people? How polarized are Patriots and Loyalists at this point? What moderating positions are presented? With what influence?

8) 1775: The Outbreak of War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text8/text8read.htm

–COMPILATION: Colonists respond to the outbreak of war, 1775 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text8/outbreakofwar.pdf

Discussion Questions on Compilation: Colonists Respond to the Outbreak of War

How did the Patriots justify their "resistance through force"? How did they build on the "firm cement of an extensive union" after the Battle of Lexington & Concord? How did Loyalists construct their final appeals for reconciliation? How did their tone and message change from the late 1760s? Was the American Revolution inevitable after April 19, 1775?

–Sermons on the outbreak of war and the justifiability of revolution, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text8/sermonsonwar.pdf

Discussion questions on Sermons:

How do the sermons prepare people for revolution? How do the clergymen reconcile a call to arms with Christian virtue? How do they present the war as a justifiable war? Why do several label colonists' unvirtuous conduct as one cause of the "public calamities"?

–Virginia Committee of Correspondence, Lexington & Concord, broadside, 1775 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text8/vacommrlexingtonconcord.pdf

Discussion questions on Announcement of the Battle of Lexington & Concord:

How does the announcement of the Battle of Lexington & Concord reflect the "firm cement of an extensive union" among the colonies by late April 1775? How does it represent the Internet and social networking of the 21-st century?

Second Continental Congress:

–Olive Branch Petition http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text8/olivebranchpetition.pdf

–Declaration. . . Setting Forth the Causes & Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/crisis/text8/takinguparms.pdf

What was the purpose of the Olive Branch Petition? What is its tone? Through what specific language does it achieve this tone? Compare the Olive Branch Petition with the petition sent to King George a year earlier by the First Continental Congress. What do the delegates add to the 1775 petition? How does this signal the urgency and finality of the petition? Consider the Olive Branch Petition and the Declaration together. How do they reflect the state of the colonial mind in 1775? Which document displays the greater conviction? Why were the delegates' final appeals rejected by King George III? Do you think they anticipated the king's response?

II. REBELLION: 1774-1776 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/rebellion.htm

Framing Questions:

How did colonists express and debate their differing opinions? How did they deal with political opponents? What caused the moderate voice to fade from the political arena? What led Americans to support or oppose the ultimate goal of independence?

1) Loyalists I: Civil War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text1/text1read.htm

–Loyalists at outbreak of Revolution: commentary from Loyalists, Patriots, and Britons, 1775-1776 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text1/loyalists17751776.pdf

Discussion Questions:

In what ways was the political divide a civil war? What factors led some Loyalists to flee America and some to remain? On what did Loyalists blame the rupture with Britain?

2) Loyalists II: Traitor! http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text2/text2read.htm

–Anti-Loyalist broadsides and blank forms of allegiance, 1774-1775 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text2/loyalistsbroadsides.pdf

–Anti-Loyalist violence, 1774-1775: Peter Oliver, Origin & Progress of the American Rebellion, 1781 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text2/oliverloyalistsviolence.pdf

Discussion Questions:

From these readings, describe the methods and motivations of anti-Loyalist (and anti-British) actions. Compare the nonviolent actions of the Patriot Committees of Safety and the violent actions of Patriot mobs. For both violent and nonviolent actions, how did they serve as vengeance? as instruments of control? as self-validation for the Patriots? What would be the effect of viewing the publicly posted anti-Loyalist broadsides and reading the recantation statements in newspapers? What gives them their power? What function did they serve in a transitional period to war?

3) Loyalists III: Join⎯ or Else http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text3/text3read.htm

–Nicholas Cresswell, travel journal, treatment of Loyalists in Virginia, 1774-1777 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text3/vacresswell.pdf

Discussion Questions:

What led British visitor Cresswell to his grim appraisal of the colonial situation in the mid 1770s? What policies of the Patriots does he condemn? what practices of the local Committees of Safety? How are Loyalists treated for their stance? What ultimatum are they given by the Committees of Safety? How are uncommitted colonists pressured into supporting the Patriot cause? According to Cresswell: – What role did colonists' personal debts to Britain play in the impending revolt? – How had "religious rascals" spurred the political divide? – Why would Americans "awake from their delirium" to reject the Patriot intimidation and yet remain silent and acquiescent? Why does he mention the Virginians' previous "cruelty to the innocent Quakers"? the slaveholder's callousness toward his slaves? Of what does he accuse the Patriot leaders in New England? – Why were the rebellious colonists "devoted to ruin"? To what extent did Cresswell feel in personal danger?

4) Loyalists IV: Backcountry http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text4/text4read.htm

–Reports to the South Carolina Council of Safety from William Henry Drayton and Rev. William Tennent, selections on the recruitment of backcountry settlers to the Patriot cause, 1775 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text4/backcountrydraytontennent.pdf

Discussion Questions:

From these reports, describe the political atmosphere in the southern backcountry in 1775. What were the major causes of backcountry settlers' resistance to the Patriot cause? to aligning with either side? How did Drayton and Tennent present the Patriot position and refute the Loyalist stance? When reasoning failed, what justifications, implications, anxieties, and threats did they employ? to what effect? What obstacles to recruitment proved most challenging? How did Drayton and Tennent address these obstacles, and how did they explain them to the Council of Safety? Generate a list of the most likely questions and challenges from backcountry men attending the recruitment meetings. With this in mind, what recommendations would you have made to Drayton and Tennent for their recruitment campaign? Why did the South Carolina Council of Safety include two clergymen in the group of three recruiters? How did powerful Loyalists work to minimize Patriot recruitment in the backcountry? How did each side portray the other in the battle for hearts and minds? Who "won"? From the evidence in these reports, how committed were the backcountry men who joined the Patriot militias in 1775? What other political pressures affected the Patriot-Loyalist competition in the backcountry? William Henry Drayton had been a longtime Loyalist but in 1774 adopted the Patriot cause and explained his reversal in a published letter. Read selections from his letter and the rebuttal by an anonymous "Back Settler" (CRISIS #7, compilation, pp. 9-10). How did Drayton's conversion influence his tactics as a Patriot recruiter?

5) The Pacifists http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text5/text5read.htm

–Pacifists’ appeals for tolerance: selections from addresses and records, 1775-1779 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text5/religiouspacifists.pdf

Discussion Questions:

What is the religious basis for pacifists' opposition to war, bearing arms, and, for some groups, taking oaths? In the Revolution, how did peace churches explain their refusal to contribute to the war effort? What actions did they offer as alternatives that would not violate their beliefs? How did they formulate their appeals to the civil authorities for tolerance and understanding? How did they differentiate themselves from Loyalists, even though their religious precepts required obedience to God-given civil authority, i.e., the British government? What internal struggle is revealed in the minutes of the Pennsylvania Yearly Meeting? How did Quaker leaders strive to define what constituted "the promotion of war"?

7) Common Sense? http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text7/text7read.htm

–Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776, Pt. II-IV, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text7/painecommonsense3and4.pdf

–Praise for Common Sense in American newspapers, January-May 1776, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text7/commonsensenewspraise.pdf

–Rev. Charles Inglis (Loyalist), The Deceiver Unmasked, 1776, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text7/inglisdeceiverunmasked.pdf

Discussion Questions:

From these documents, describe the atmosphere into which Common Sense appeared. How did Paine use the moment to frame his pamphlet and drive across his points? What was happening in January 1776, politically and militarily? How did Paine create a sense of urgency to inspire his readers? What specific arguments does he give to convince his readers that (1) their pride in British heritage is misguided, (2) the colonies must declare immediate independence, (3) they will be able to defend themselves in war? In the newspaper accounts of praise for Common Sense, what evidence is presented of its acclaim? How are its opponents acknowledged and rebuffed? In the accounts, what signals the wide approval of the "common people" and their awareness that Patriot leaders may not share their enthusiasm? Overall, what is Charles Inglis's main objections to Paine's arguments, his use of history, and his rhetorical devices? What does Inglis's rhetoric say about his motivation and message? Why does Inglis call Paine a "crack-brained zealot for democracy" whose work is a model of "uncommon frenzy"? Does Inglis rise above Paine's frenzy?

8) Declaring Independence http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text8/text8read.htm

–The Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776 (annotated) http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text8/decindep.pdf

–Delegates’ letters on the Declaration of Independence, selection, July 1776, June 1826 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text8/delegatesdecindep.pdf

–Celebrating the Declaration: selections from newspaper accounts, July-October 1776 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/rebellion/text8/decindepcelebrations.pdf

Discussion Questions:

How does the preamble justify America's decision to throw off one government and create another? What part of the justification is "self-evident"? What part must be explained? Organize the 27 grievances into three to five groups. Clearly explain the pattern among the groups, e.g., by type of rights violation, severity or frequency of grievance, extent of colonial opposition. What do you discover in the process of organizing the grievances? Why are the grievances not listed in chronological order, with dates and events? Analyze the structure of the Declaration. How does it give momentum and necessity to the Declaration? – introduction (first sentence) – preamble ("We hold . . . future security") – list of 27 grievances against King George III and Parliament – final statement to the British people – conclusion ("We, therefore . . . sacred Honor"). Why did the delegates remove Jefferson's clause on the slave trade from the grievance list? (See REBELLION #6: The Enslaved.) Overall, how did the Declaration convince many Americans that independence, which they "first dreaded as an evil," was in truth a "national blessing"? [Ramsay, 1789] Describe the colonies' official readings and celebrations of the Declaration. How did they mark a clear transition from "British colonies " to "free and independent states"? How did they forge unity and certainty? How does the list of "patriotic toasts" in the Massachusetts Spy reflect the process of solidifying revolutionary fervor and readiness for war? Why is it stressed in news accounts of the celebrations that all was conducted in "decency and good order"?

III. WAR: 1775-1783 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/war.htm

Framing Questions:

• How did Patriot leadership—military, diplomatic, and governmental—promote and hinder the war effort? • How did the war affect Patriots, Loyalists, Indians, African Americans, and women? How were power relationships changed? • How were decisions by Britain and France critical to the outcome of the war?

1) Anticipating War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text1/text1read.htm

–Edmund Burke (M.P.), speech to Parliament on reconciliation with America, 22 March 1775, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text1/burkereconspeech.pdf

–Benjamin Franklin, letters on prospects for reconciliation and the beginning of war, 1775-1776, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text1/franklinletters17751776.pdf

Discussion Questions:

What is Burke's stated goal in his speech to Parliament? What reasons does he emphasize for maintaining union with the colonies? How did he present the colonies' significance in Britain's global trade? What four reasons did he present against using military force to maintain union with the colonies? What did he emphasize about the "character of the Americans" that contributed to the "disobedient spirit in the colonies"? After building the rationale for his position, he offers six resolutions to advance reconciliation. Overall, what is his plan? If acted upon earlier, would Burke's plan have achieved reconciliation and peace? Compare Burke's speech to Parliament in 1775 with the parliamentary debate over the Stamp Act twelve years earlier. (See CRISIS #3.) How did Burke in 1775 and Isaac Barré in 1763 couch their arguments in support of America's position?

2) Committing to War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text2/text2read.htm

–A Loyalist’s appeal to the troops: Peter Oliver, Address to Soldiers of Massachusetts Bay, Jan. 1776, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text2/oliveraddresssoldiers.pdf

–A Patriot’s appeal to the troops: Thomas Paine, The American Crisis #1, Dec. 1776 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text2/painecrisis1776.pdf

Discussion Questions:

How did you respond to each address? Which held more persuasive and emotive sway for you? Why? How does each man use the crisis of morale to drive his arguments? How does each characterize the other side? Describe the tone and technique of each address. Among the possibilities, consider the use of earnestness, exaggeration, irony, and sarcasm. Note the appeals to honor, duty, self-preservation, history, doubt, distrust, indignance, and common sense. [Read the addresses aloud.] How does each use the spectre of divine intervention and judgment to motivate his audience? Oliver's address is in the second person (you), and Paine's is in the first person (I). How does this influence their appeals?

3) Leading the War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text3/text3read.htm

–Correspondence of George Washington as Commander in Chief, 1775-1778, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text3/text3read.htm

–Military broadsides of the American Revolution, 1775-1778 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text3/militarybroadsidesrev.pdf

Discussion Questions:

From Washington's correspondence, what overall impression do you develop of his qualities as a military commander? as a person and family member? What was his greatest military concern as Commander in Chief, in your estimation? Why? What was his greatest personal concern as Commander in Chief? What leads you to your conclusion? Characterize the orders issued by Washington regarding such issues as health and hygiene, religious observance, discipline and punishments, camp provisions, battle plans, etc. When does he encourage, and when does he command? When and why does Washington offer monetary rewards to the troops? Would you agree or disagree with his decision? What other examples do you find of Washington's flexibility in applying standard What do the military broadsides reveal about the day-by-day military challenges of the American Revolution? What strategies of military command (and flexibility) do they reveal? How do they serve as "advertisements" as well as military announcements? How do they use font, layout, and language to convey information quickly and effectively? How are some broadsides more effective than others? In what ways do they resemble modern "instant" communications? In what ways are they emphatically eighteenth-century documents? Rewrite one broadside as a "breaking news" e-mail, a blog entry, a pop-up web window, a tweet, or a similar online communication. Does the transformation work? Why or why not?

4) Sustaining the War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text4/text4read.htm

–Pacifying Indians on the frontier: three documents, 1776-1778, selections http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/homefrnt/savages.html

What strategy was offered by the Special Committee for Indian Affairs for stopping the "hostile invasions of our enemies" on the frontier? Was it primarily offensive or defensive? What policies did it recommend for dealing with friendly Indians and with Continental soldiers who antagonized the Indians? How and why did their efforts backfire, according to the 1778 War Board report? What policy was pursued after this failure? Why?

–Recruiting enslaved blacks into the Continental Army: six documents, 1776-1781 http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/homefrnt/recruit.html

How did the presence of hundreds of thousands of enslaved blacks in the southern states complicate Congress's military strategy in the south? How did Congress deal with these complications? Why did Congress consider recruiting slaves into the army? What were Washington's reservations? Would the slaves be organized in segregated or integrated units? What would they receive for their service during and after the war?

–Predicting Britain’s response to the alliance with France, 1778 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text4/franklinalliancefrance.pdf

What did Franklin and the other American negotiators predict would result from the alliance with France? How were their letters cautionary as well as triumphant? What responses from Britain did they predict? How did Britain respond? What congressional response did Franklin and the other negotiators insist was the only reasonable response to a reconciliation proposal from Britain? Why were they so adamant?

–Appealing for state aid to the army: Washington to Gov. Reed of Pennsylvania, 1780 http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/south/reed.html

How did Washington structure his 1780 letter to the governor of Pennsylvania? How did he balance pleading and persuasion, foreboding and optimism, and state pride and national honor? How did he appeal to both duty and friendship? How and why did he refute others' optimistic judgments about the strengths of France and Spain and the weaknesses of Britain? Was he right? What dire consequences did he predict if aid were not forthcoming? Specifically, what "two essential articles" did Washington request from Reed? Would placing the specific request at the beginning of the letter have changed its impact? Would it have improved or hurt the letter, in your opinion?

–Announcing Arnold’s treason to the army, 1780 http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28gw200111%29%29

How did Washington construct his official statement on Arnold's treason to empower rather than demoralize his troops? How would troops respond to the announcement being read aloud by their commanders? Do you agree with Washington's decision to make an official statement to the troops on Arnold's betrayal? Why or why not?

5) Reporting the War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text5/text5read.htm

–Broadsides reporting news of the war, 1776-1783 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text5/warnewsbroadsides.pdf

–Broadside on a parade condemning the treason of Benedict Arnold, 1780 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text5/broadsidebenedictarnold.pdf

Discussion Questions:

Overall, how would you characterize broadside news coverage during the Revolution? What variety of content is presented? from what sources? What variety of reportorial tone and levels of objectivity do you find? In what circumstances would most people read or hear the news in a Revolution broadside? How would this affect individual and group response to the news? How did broadside news differ from newspaper reporting? What did each offer that the other could not? What is the closest equivalent of the news broadside today? Why? Where might the anti-Arnold broadside have been posted? How would its impact have changed when printed in newspapers without the image? Research the traditional "Pope's Night" parade (see Supplemental Sites) to identify its elements in the anti-Arnold parade. How were such parades a familiar mode of condemnation in eighteenth-century America?

7) Living in War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text7/text7read.htm

–Margaret Hill Morris, Quaker widow in New Jersey, journal selections, 1776-1777 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text7/margaretmorrisnj.pdf

–Molly Gutridge, Massachusetts, “A New Touch of the Times,” poem, 1779 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text7/touchonthetimes.pdf

–Mary Jemison (Dehgewanus), white Seneca adoptee in New York, 1779-1780 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text7/maryjemisonny.pdf

–Eliza Yonge Wilkinson, planter’s daughter in South Carolina, letter selections, 1780 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text7/elizawilkinsonsc.pdf

–Esther De Berdt Reed, Sentiments of an American Woman, broadside, 1780 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text7/reedsentimentsamerwoman.pdf

–Anna Rawle, Loyalist’s daughter in Philadelphia, journal selections, 1781 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text7/annarawlepaloyalist.pdf

Discussion Questions:

How would you characterize the various responses to the war illustrated in these pieces? How did the civilians defend themselves? How did they shape the course and outcome of the war? What role did Loyalists play? How did the woman's perspective shape each account? How did the war place women in new social roles? How did Margaret Morris deal with the presence of Patriot, British, and Hessian combatants in her town? Why did she hide the Loyalist civilian? How did she use her journal for solace? Summarize Eliza Wilkinson's experiences on the day of June 3, 1780. How did she deal with the arrival of Patriot, British, and Loyalist combatants at her plantation? How did she use her letters, written two years later, for solace and insight? In Wilkinson's account, what roles did the slaves play? What civilian hardships did Molly Gutridge describe in the poem A New Touch on the Times? To what factor did she ascribe "this cruel war"? How does she use repetition as a poetic device? How did Mary Jemison's status as a white woman adopted by Indians influence her response to the Revolutionary War?

8) Losing the War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text8/text8read.htm

–British political cartoons on Britain’s defeat in the Revolutionary War, 1782 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text8/britishcartoonsdefeat.pdf

What impressions did the cartoonists give of the U.S. and Britain in their satirical drawings? How did they characterize the nations' new relationship in 1782? How did they acknowledge that the U.S. is, indeed, a nation among nations? Did the cartoonists favor one of the nations?

9) Winning the War http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text9/text9read.htm

–Benjamin Franklin, letters from Paris on the peace process, 1781-1784, selection http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/war/text9/franklinltrspeacetreaty.pdf

Overall, what did you learn about Benjamin Franklin and the diplomatic process from this selection of letters? What human and technological obstacles caused his frustrations with the peace process? What change in the process occurred in June 1782? How did Franklin respond? What did he think of Britain's behavior in the war? How directly did he express his opinion? What was his opinion of American Loyalists? of privateering? of the ally France? To what extent did Franklin's letters to his British and American correspondents differ? To his diplomatic colleagues and friends? What appeals did he make to his English correspondents? to his fellow American diplomats? Why did Franklin insist on differentiating peace from reconciliation? What did he recommend for achieving both? What did Franklin identify as "the true political interest of America"? Why? To Franklin, why was the British release of American prisoners "a kind of Acknowledgment of our Independence"? What reactions to the final treaty did Franklin predict? Why would the peacemakers be cursed? What view on warfare did Franklin express in these letters? What did he recommend to curb warfare in the future? What did Franklin wish for his personal life after concluding the treaty? Did he attain this goal?

IV. INDEPENDENCE: 1783-1791 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/independence.htm

Framing Questions:

How did Americans envision independence and nationhood in the first years after the Revolutionary War? How did they begin to construct a national identity separate from their colonial identity as British subjects? In what ways was the new nation like "a child just learning to walk"? What postwar challenges most reflected this "state of infancy"?

1) Victory & Union http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text1/text1read.htm

–Thomas Paine, The American Crisis #13, April 1783 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text1/painecrisis13.pdf

–George Washington, Circular Letter to the States, June 1783 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text1/washingtoncircularstates.pdf

–Newsboys’ new year’s greetings after independence, five poems, 1784-1790 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text1/newyearsgreetingspoems.pdf

Discussion Questions:

Examine the emphasis on virtue, morals, honor, and national character that underscores many readings in this Theme. Why were they considered crucial to the health of the new nation? What obligations to the world had Americans assumed through their victory? What did Washington mean that Americans were now "Actors on a most conspicuous Theatre"? Why did Paine and Washington insist on the "UNION OF THE STATES" as the critical factor in sustaining the new nation? What did each propose for creating and sustaining this union? What did they identify as the most dangerous obstacle to union among the states? How worried are they? Why is it that "Peace comes hard"? What are the "quarrels" that "may injure morals"?

2) Promise & Peril http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text2/text2read.htm

–Richard Price, Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution and the Means of Making It a Benefit to the World, 1784, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text2/priceobservations.pdf

–David Ramsay, “The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Revolution. . . ,” Appendix 4 of The History of the American Revolution, 1789, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text2/ramsayhistoryamerrev.pdf

–Mercy Otis Warren, “A Survey of the Situation of America on the Conclusion of the War with Britain,” Ch. 30 of History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution, completed by 1791, publ. 1805, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text2/warrenhistoryamerrev.pdf

Discussion Questions:

Overall, what did Ramsay, Warren, and Price define as the promise and peril of American independence in the 1780s? What did they herald as the greatest achievements of victory? as the most valuable attributes of Americans for creating a stable nation? What did they signal as the greatest dangers to the "newborn nation"? What guidance and suggestions did they offer? How did each judge the health of American religion and moral character after the Revolution? How were these factors critical to the nation's future? To Warren, why did Americans' lack of political sophistication jeopardize the new nation? What might cause liberty to be "bartered in a short time as a useless bauble"? According to Rev. Richard Price, why was the Revolution, next to the introduction of Christianity, "the most important step in the progressive course of human improvement"? Why were Americans a people "to whom a station of more importance in the plan of Providence has [never] been assigned"?

4) Patriots & Loyalists http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text4/text4read.htm

–“Phocion” (Alexander Hamilton) and “Mentor” (Isaac Ledyard), pamphlet war on the postwar treatment of Loyalists in New York, 1784, selections http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/independence/text4/hamiltonledyard.pdf

Discussion Questions:

Describe the core disagreement between Hamilton and Ledyard on the postwar treatment of the Loyalists. What short-term and long-term considerations did they consider?

How did Hamilton and Ledyard disagree on these specific issues: the proper means to protect a government's "well-being" the best way to prevent Loyalists from harming the nation's well-being the nature and extent of the Loyalist danger the value or harm in promoting tolerance toward the Loyalists the influence of unregulated public discourse in a nation (freedom of speech) the role of government in predicting and preventing internal discord the roles of extremism and moderation in civil affairs the balance of civil security and citizens' rights the relevance of Enlightenment ideals (which propelled the Revolution) to postwar challenges the influence of Patriots' postwar treatment of Loyalists on the nation's reputation in Europe the legal bounds of Article Five of the peace treaty with Britain (1783 Treaty of Paris)

How did he propose to win the allegiance of the Revolution's former enemies? How did he argue that a moderate policy toward Loyalists was the only legal option? the only wise option? Of what did Hamilton accuse the "rash and unprincipled men" who advocated harsh treatment of the Loyalists after the war? Of what did he accuse some "dispassionate and upright men"? What did he fear from the "furious and dark passions of the human mind"? When should government suppress "depravity" in political opinions, according to Ledyard? How would "corruption" in public opinion present different dangers to monarchies and to republics?

V. CONSTITUTION: 1780-1791 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/constitution/constitution.htm

1) Abandoning the Articles http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/constitution/text1/text1read.htm

–Founders on the defects of the Articles of Correspondence, correspondence selections, 1780-1787 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/constitution/text1/foundersdefectsarticlesconf.pdf

–James Madison, “Vices of the Political System of the United States of America,” memorandum, 1787 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/constitution/text1/madisonvices.pdf

Discussion Questions:

What did these Founders consider the greatest defects of the Articles of Confederation? Why? What recommendations did they make for amending (or abandoning) the Articles? Why were they so alarmed by Shays's Rebellion and other farmers' uprisings in 1786-87? Weren't the uprisings examples of democracy in action? What dire predictions did Washington make about the nation's future if the Articles were not amended or abandoned? What predictions did Madison make? How did the two men's experiences influence their predictions and recommendations for the nation's future? Why did they and other Founders fear the inaction of "wise & good men" while unrest and violence escalated in the nation? What was at stake for the world if the U.S. failed so early in its existence? In "Vices," what did Madison identify as the major defects of the national and state governments under the Articles of Confederation?

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS The American Revolution: 1763-1783, primary documents with introductory essays (American Memory Timeline) The American Revolution and the New Nation: 1763-1815 (Web Guides), primary documents The American Revolution, in John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British American Relations Creating the United States (Creating the Declaration of Independence, Creating the U.S. Constitution, Creating the Bill of Rights) Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents Religion and the Founding of the American Republic A Guide to the American Revolution Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789 A Century of Law-Making for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875 The Constitution: Primary Sources Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words The James Madison Papers at the Library of Congress The Historian's Sources: Lesson Plan on Using Primary Sources Analysis Guides (primary sources, maps, oral interviews, and more) Lesson Plans (in Government, Law and Politics)

NATIONAL ARCHIVES The Charters of Freedom: "A New World Is At Hand" (Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights) America's Historical Documents Revolution and the New Nation: 1754-1820s, Lesson Plans Teaching with Images: The American Revolution Revolutionary America, 1763-1789 (Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum)

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE The American Revolution –Timeline: Day-by-Day Honored Places: The National Park Service Teacher's Guide to the American Revolution American Revolutionary War: National Park Service Museum Collections

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY (Smithsonian) The Price of Freedom: Americans At War –War for Independence "Myths of the American Revolution," by Prof. John Ferling, Smithsonian Magazine, January 2010

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE (Smithsonian) Blacks in the Revolution

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (Smithsonian) George Washington: A National Treasure Thomas Paine: The Radical Founding Father Spain and the United States in the Age of Independence: 1763-1848

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES: EDSITEment The American War for Independence (curriculum unit) We the People (lesson plans)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 1773-1783: Diplomacy and the American Revolution

NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America

STATES The Coming of the American Revolution, 1764-1776 (Massachusetts Historical Society) –Document Analysis Worksheet Maine: Tension, War, and Separation, 1775-1820 (Maine Historical Society) The American Revolution in Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission et al.) Maryland in the American Revolution: Documents for the Classroom (Maryland State Archives) All the News?: The American Revolution and Maryland's Press (Maryland State Archives) Becoming Americans: Virginia in the American Revolution (The Story of Virginia, Virginia Historical Society) Shaping the Constitution: Resources from the Library of Virginia and Library of Congress Revolutionary North Carolina (LearnNC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) South Carolina: The Revolution and the New Nation: Primary Sources (South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History) American Revolution in Georgia (About North Georgia) Georgia and the American Revolution (Our Georgia History) Nation at the Crossroads: The Great New York Debate over the Constitution, 1787-88 (New-York Historical Society) Shaping the Constitution: Resources from the Library of Virginia and the Library of Congress (Library of Virginia)

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES The American Revolution: A Documentary History (Avalon Project, Yale Law Library) American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution (Northern Illinois University, from the Peter Force Collections) E Pluribus Unum: America in the 1770s / Communications in the Revolutionary Era (Assumption College) The Founders' Constitution (University of Chicago Press & The Liberty Fund) The American Constitution: A Documentary History (Avalon Project, Yale Law Library) John Jay and the Constitution (Columbia University) James Madison and the Great Events of His Era (James Madison University) The American Constitution: A Documentary Record (Avalon Project, Yale Law Library)

THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY The American Revolution, History Now: A Quarterly Journal The Constitution, History Now: A Quarterly Journal Teaching the Revolution, succinct accessible overview by Prof. Carol Berkin, Baruch College (CUNY) Alexander Hamilton and the Creation of the United States The American Revolution, 1763-1783 The American Revolution: Primary Sources

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG FOUNDATION Principles of Freedom: The Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution Colonial Williamsburg (journal): Archives (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation) The American Revolution

ASHBROOK CENTER FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT ASHLAND UNIVERSITY (TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY) The American Founding, including Constitutional Convention, by Gordon Lloyd Ratification of the Constitution, by Gordon Lloyd

PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE Liberty! The American Revolution Patriots Day (Battle of Lexington and Concord) (American Experience)

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART (New York) Timeline of Art History –Art and Identity in the British North Atlantic Colonies, 1700-1776 –Art and Society of the New Republic, 1776-1800 –George Washington, Man, Myth, Monument

CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM Canada and the American Revolution

BRITISH LIBRARY The American Revolution

BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION British History in Depth: Rebellion, Revolution, and Union Was the American Revolution Avoidable? The Rebels and the Red-Coats

OTHER ONLINE RESOURCES Online Library of Liberty: Primary Sources of the American Revolution and the Constitution (Liberty Fund, Inc.) Documents from the American Revolution (Teaching American History, Ashland Center for Public Affairs, Ashland University) Common-Place: An Interactive Journal of Early American Life (American Antiquarian Society with the University of Oklahoma) –Issue archives The American Revolution: National Discussions of Our Revolutionary Origins (H-NET: Humanities and Social Sciences Online) Boston 1775 (J. L. Bell) http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/makingrev/generallinks.htm