United States History to 1877

Revolution and the New Nation: 1770s to the Early 1800s

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Begin the unit by asking students what steps England took to increase control over its colonies and why many colonists became dissatisfied with England's control over the colonies.
• Explain that as England expanded control over the American colonies, many colonists became dissatisfied and rebellious.
• Include in the discussion England's reasons for control and taxation.
• England's reasons for control:
  • England desired to remain a world power.
  • England imposed taxes, such as the Stamp Act, to raise necessary revenue to pay the cost of the French and Indian War.
• England's reasons for taxation:
  • To help finance the French and Indian War
  • To help maintain English troops in the colonies
• Provide background information. In 1764, the first tax law imposed to raise money to pay for the recently concluded wars was called the Sugar Act. This law mandated that the colonists pay a tax on many manufactured goods coming to the colonies from other places. This tax or tariff especially angered the colonists because they had no part in imposing it. The King and Parliament had taxed the colonists without their consent. Not all of the colonists were angry. Some people, the Loyalists or Tories, approved of the King's decision.
• Explain that a year later, the Stamp Act was passed. This was a tax on anything that was printed or written on paper. Again the colonists were angry, but mostly because they had no representation in Parliament. Many colonists began forming committees to organize and speak about their concerns. Their words began to spread around the colonies. People protested in many ways: some people wrote up petitions and gathered long lists of signatures; others printed angry broadsides. Still others began boycotting or refusing to buy British goods. Many colonial women began replacing British-made cloth with homespun cloth and grew herbs in their garden to replace imported tea. Additional information is available at http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume3.
• Explain that the French & Indian War started in America in 1754 and spread to Europe in 1756 where it was known as the Seven Years War. The cause of the war was over which country would control the trans-Appalachian region. In 1754 the British built a fort at the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers (present-day Pittsburgh). The French promptly captured and enlarged the fort. The following year British General Braddock arrived in America with a regular army and with orders to retake the fort. Braddock refused to take the advice of his colonial officers (including Colonel George Washington) on how to wage frontier warfare, and his forces were badly defeated and he was killed. The British reverses continued through 1756. The outcomes of the war were that; (1) France no longer owned any land in the New World; (2) England decided that they needed to tax the colonists to pay for the war; and (3) England also decided that they needed to keep an eye on the colonies. Additional resources are available at http://www.nps.gov/fone/classroom/fiwar/adplans.htm
  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/colonial/fiwar/
  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/colonial/fiwar/cloze/answers.shtml
• Discuss with students the relationship between the 13 colonies and Great Britain in the third quarter of the 18th century. Remind students of the distinction of being a colonial possession under British rule: while many colonies possessed their own elected assemblies, the colonial governors were still under the rule of King George III. The colonies lacked representation in the British parliament but were subject to royal laws, including those involving taxation. At that time, most colonists still viewed themselves as loyal British subjects and had not yet considered the possibility of revolution or independence from Britain.
• Have students use their text to complete the American Revolution Steps to Independence Worksheet American Revolution Steps to Independence Worksheet
• After students have completed the worksheet, review the information with them. Create a timeline on the board by selecting dates of the major acts and writing only the dates on the board. Have students come to the board and complete the timeline by adding the acts and/or responses.
• Review the sources of colonial dissatisfaction that included the following:
  • Colonies had no representation in Parliament.
  • Some colonists resented power of colonial governors.
  • England wanted strict control over colonial legislatures.
  • Colonies opposed taxes.
  • The Proclamation of l763 hampered the western movement of settlers.
• Discuss with students contemporary grievances citizens make against the federal government. How are these complaints similar to those of the 1700s?
• Explain that when England's victory was almost sure, Spain entered the war in 1761. Now, the British triumph was delayed, and, with the involvement of England, France, and Spain, the war lasted until 1763.
• Explain that the French and Indian War was part of a wider European conflict known as the Seven years War that pitted England and Prussia against France, Austria, Russia and Spain. The French and Indian War was concluded by the Treaty Of Paris of February 10, 1763. England, France, and Spain signed it. By the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France lost Canada in favor of Great Britain and all claims to territory east of the Mississippi, while Spain, in order to recover Cuba, which Britain had taken, ceded Florida. New Orleans went with Louisiana to Spain, but with these exceptions England now held the whole of North America east of the Mississippi. The Treaty of Paris was a triumph for England over her rivals in the race for worldwide empire.
• Have the students complete the worksheet, Issues of Dissatisfaction that Led to the American Revolution and review. For the worksheet, CLICK HERE.

WEB SITES

http://chnm.gmu.edu/fairfaxtah/index.html
Lessons written by teachers from Fairfax County Public Schools participating in the Teaching American History Grant program

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/colonial.htm
Numerous documents and other resources, including many primary source documents

http://www.history.org/
Information about the colonial capital

http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_Colonial_print.html
Collection of sites on colonial American history

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
Numerous teaching and learning tools for lessons about American history

http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/USA/RevolutionEra.html
Resources on the Revolutionary War

http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/amrevol.html
Links and lessons on the American Revolution from the Educational Technology Center - KSU

http://www.kidsclick.org/cgi-bin/searchkids.pl
KidsClick! Revolutionary Topics and Web links

Copyright ©2008 Prince William Network/Virginia Department of Education