The Real Story of the American Revolution 

Grades 9-12

Latest Changes: 07Sep06 - merge-split from resources, link to HistoryWiz / 07Sep13 - add links to EDSITEment and MA Moments / 07Oct02 - add Constitutional Survey / 07Oct15 - split out curriclum /

On-line Challenges and Games  FREE -- The Florida Law Related Education Association has an on-line Constitutional Survey, designed to test the knowledge of students and adults in their basic knowledge about the United States Constitution. There are 35 questions and no time limit. Upon submitting your answers, you will be shown your score and which questions you missed. Please take this quiz only once. FREE -- Several Hundred Questions (with answers) are available to check progress in classrooms, to start discussions at history society meetings, or to include in historical society newsletters. COST (free demo) -- Birth of America  [from AGEOD] is a new (Early 2006) simple and elegant, simultaneous, turn-based engine. Each player controls one of the major contender of the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, trying to achieve military and political victory. The game provides a detailed simulation of the two most important wars in America, covering North America from Florida to Quebec and New England to Mississipi from 1755 to 1783.

Books and Other Documentary Resources On-line  COST -- Why America is Free: A History of the Founding of the American Republic 1750-1800 (Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, Mt Vernon VA, 1988) Hardback / 202 pages / ISBN 0-931917-29-8 -- a history book aimed at children from fourth through eighth grades that focuses on the critical founding years of 1750 through 1800. To personalize the history the book employs occasional vignettes of a fictional character who grows from a farm boy in 1750 to a soldier in the Revolutionary War and finally becomes a delegate to the Virginia convention for ratification of the Constitution. His experiences give texture to history by describing the details of ordinary life as well as the effects of this national movement upon several typical families. Available from www.mountvernon.org The full text of many documents related to U.S. independence are posted at The American Revolution - a Documentary History [Avalon Project at Yale Law School] The American Republic - Primary Sources, edited by Bruce Frohnen (Liberty Fund, 2002) [The Liberty Fund] is a downloadable 750-page book in PDF format with "selections of public writings intended to illustrate the major philosphical, cultural, and policy positions at issue during crucial eras of American political and cultural development" Classic Books for the History of Liberty [The Liberty Fund] posts full-text books of many sources of inspiration for American freedoms plus several early histories of the American Revolution by David Ramsay (1789) and Mary Otis Warren (1805). The Road to Independence, Chapter Three in An Outline of American History (U. S. Information Agency, 1994); Web edition transcribed and augmented by the Department of Humanities Computing (Royal Univ. of Gronigen, the Netherlands) An Outline of American Government, by Richard C. Schroeder (U.S. Info. Agency, 1989) Web edition, transcribed and augmented by Jan Huisman (Royal Univ. of Gronigen, the Netherlands) Essays on the American Revolution [H-net] provides a number of essays on the American Revolution to stimulate thought and response. The Library of Congress Link List is a source of sites that have useful educational content. Maps and Graphics Online  Teaching the American Revolution with Images [National Archives] provides an outline of the Revolution, class plans, and 140 B&W sketches for classroom use in the following areas: Prelude to War, 1765-75 Beginnings in New England, 1775-76 A Declaration of Determination, 1776 Campaigns in the Northeast, 1776-77 Activities in the Central Colonies, 1777-78 Campaign in the West, 1778-79 Victory in the South, 1778-81 War at Sea War from the British Viewpoint After the Revolution, 1783 Portraits of Colonial Patriots Portaits of British Leaders and Allies Portraits of Colonial Traitors and Tories Pictures of the American Revolution with Images [National Archives]: Graphics that supplement lesson plans Maps of the American Revolution (Levanthal Map Center, Boston Public Library) has several high-resolution military maps of the Boston area.

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Using Physical Artifacts  Physical artifacts from the American Revolution are shown in Artifacts of Military History [Smithsonian Institutions] A teaching manual is also available from that site. The Heritage Education Network (THEN) explains how to use local artifacts to help students develop an appreciation for history

Student Projects and Presentations  National History Day provides an opportunity for students in grades 6-12 to explore many topics in history along a specified national theme and to learn both by doing researh and by seeing how other students did research and presented their topics. NHD home page

Virtual Tours  Lighting Freedom's Flame is the National Park Service's (NPS) theme for the 225th anniversary commemoration of the American Revolution (over eight years, 1775-1783 = 2000-2008), with educational resources and descriptions of key events and people. See also the RSARHeritage Tours area

Resources for Self-study  Brief summaries of many American Revolution events and people may be obtained from Massachusetts Moments .. click on a diamond or history.com ... click on American Revolution. Understanding the Era -- 1750-1800 The Web site for Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, has many streaming videos with discussions of such topics as Thomas Jefferson's Formative Years Thomas Jefferson and George III Thomas Jefferson: Author of America Jefferson and Religion Jefferson and the Barbary War Thomas Jefferson: Writing a Short Biography John Paul Jones and Thomas Jefferson A Conversation with Ted Koppel Jefferson Library Dedication by historian David McCullough Each of these has several video segments totalling about 15 minutes, with thought-provoking questions (and comments on possible answers). The video may be downloaded on 56 kbaud connections or viewed directly on broadband connections. Saints or Scoundrels? Revolutions are times for loyalty, indifference, and betrayal, secret negotiations filled with misleading or mis-interpreted presentations subject to evesdropping and disruption by spies and interested parties trying to turn the negotioons to their own purposes. Worry, discoveries, true and false rumours, honest and instigated disagreements lead to charges of dishonorable or even treasonous behaviour. After two centuries what evidence remains to indicate who should be honored and who should be reviled and whether the person made any useful difference in shaping the world as we know it today? Who was Silas Deane? Like John Adams and George Washington, he was a member of the Continental Congress. Like Benjamin Franklin, he was an ambassador to France and helped negotiate the Treaty of Alliance. Unlike Adams and Washington and Franklin, Deane is virtually unknown to the American public. Silas Deane was the first U.S. Ambassador to France. He helped bring Lafayette to the United States and to convince the King of France to support the U.S. with arms, money, and military force. At Silas Deane Online [The Webb-Stevens Museum] students can explore the story of his contributions to the Revolution and the evidence of intrigues, through the lessons on A Brief Biography of Deane Deane in the 1st and 2nd Continental Congresses Deane's Role in the Taking of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Saratoga Deane and The Creation of the Continental Navy A Spy or not a Spy? Slaves in Deane's Home

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