Deborah Sampson Testifies About Her Service (1818) · SHEC: Resources for Teachers
Center for Media and Learning
Non-importation Agreement Boston 1767
Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 26 April 1777
This is just the sort of letter that students should read - the type of letter that never ever makes it into the taught American History canon.
Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good Use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.
Summary View of the Rights of British America - Thomas Jefferson August 1774
Less than a year before he write the first draft of Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote this list document. Note this phrase " But his majesty has no right to land a single armed man on our shores, and those whom he sends here are liable to our laws made for the suppression and punishment of riots, routs, and unlawful assemblies; or are hostile bodies, invading us in defiance of law. "
But his majesty has no right to land a single armed man on our shores, and those whom he sends here are liable to our laws made for the suppression and punishment of riots, routs, and unlawful assemblies; or are hostile bodies, invading us in defiance of law.
Joseph Warren and Samuel Adams wrote the Solemn League and Covenant
Two years before the Declaration of Independence, the people of Westford, Mass agreed to boycott all commerce with Great Britain in response to the Coercive Acts. Whenever there is talk of a boycott to make change, students should know that boycotts were at the very foundation of the resistance movement of the Revolution
Coming of the American Revolution: Boston Tea Party
A dozen primary documents alongside transcribed excerpts with a couple of questions attached to each - bite-sized interpretation exercises that can be completed one after the other
Letter from Paul Revere to Corresponding Secretary Jeremy Belkap
Paul Revere's account of his famous ride, written in his own hand, 22 years after the event.
Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
This refers generally to any time colonial legislatures passed internal laws that the British Parliament refused to ratify.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us
sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people,
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us
No ‘King of Kings’ | Society for US Intellectual History
Essay traces the way patriots re-wrote the Book of Common prayer during the Revolution, replacing the King with Congress in intercessions and prayer
The next day, Washington’s general orders spoke of the urgent need for “Subordination & Discipline (the Life and Soul of an Army) which next under providence, is to make us formidable to our enemies, honorable in ourselves, and respected in the world.
How would Washington's words be heard today?
—the humble prayer book still serves as a key intellectual artifact of revolution.
The laity’s handwritten edits in prayer book margins—scraping off “King of Kings” and pasting over rote prayers for the royal family—operated as cultural cues for political change. At critical moments in the war, as colonists endured sieges and made sacrifices, they edited their prayer books to endorse turns in popular thought at the local level
John Adams to Abigail Adams, 9 October 1774
In addition to his complaints about Congress, John wrote Abigail about his visit to a Catholic Church
The poor Wretches, fingering their Beads, chanting Latin, not a Word of which they understood, their Pater Nosters and Ave Maria’s. Their holy Water—their Crossing themselves perpetually—their Bowing to the Name of Jesus, wherever they hear it—their Bowings, and Kneelings, and Genuflections before the Altar. The Dress of the Priest was rich with Lace—his Pulpit was Velvet and Gold. The Altar Piece was very rich—little Images and Crucifixes about—Wax Candles lighted up. But how shall I describe the Picture of our Saviour in a Frame of Marble over the Altar at
full Length upon the Cross, in the Agonies, and the Blood dropping and streaming from his Wounds.
The poor Wretches, fingering their Beads, chanting Latin, not a Word of which they understood, their Pater Nosters and Ave Maria’s. Their holy Water—their Crossing themselves perpetually—their Bowing to the Name of Jesus, wherever they hear it—their Bowings, and Kneelings, and Genuflections before the Altar. The Dress of the Priest was rich with Lace—his Pulpit was Velvet and Gold. The Altar Piece was very rich—little Images and Crucifixes about—Wax Candles lighted up. But how shall I describe the Picture of our Saviour in a Frame of Marble over the Altar at full Length upon the Cross, in the Agonies, and the Blood dropping and streaming from his Wounds.
I am wearied to Death with the Life I lead. The Business of the Congress is tedious, beyond Expression. This Assembly is like no other that ever existed. Every Man in it is a great Man—an orator, a Critick, a statesman, and therefore every Man upon every Question must shew his oratory, his Criticism and his Political Abilities.
Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 7 February 1777
John Adams writes to Abigail about his visit to Bethlehem PA in 1777
THE SECOND STAMP ACT RIOTS, 26 AUGUST 1765 - Correspondence of Thomas Hutchinson
Letters to and from Thomas Hutchinson in the wake of Stamp Act riots of 1765
To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 24 April 1791
In this letter, George Washington tells his personal secretary Tobias Leart o move his enslaved people in and out of Philadelphia in order to prevent their becoming free as a result of PA law
if a Slave is brought into the State and continues therein for the space of six months, he may claim his freedom, let the cause of his being brought be what it may; and that this extends, in its full force, to those slaves who may be brought here by the Officers of the General Government or by members of Congress.
if, before the expiration of six months, they could, upon any pretence whatever, be carried or sent out of the State, but for a single day, a new era would commence on their return, from whence the six months must be dated for it requires an <span style="font-style: italic">entire</span> six months for them to claim that right
If Hercules should decline the offer which will be made him of going home, it will be a pretty strong proof of his intention to take the advantage of the law at the expiration of six months.
George Washington: The Living Symbol | EDSITEment
How does an individual become the embodiment of a nation? Can the process be reversed to permit a glimpse into the human life underlying the symbol? Lesson involves reading primary and secondary documents and categorizing images of George Washington
Religion and the Argument for American Independence | EDSITEment
Using primary documents, this lesson aims to introduce students to how the American revolutionaries employed religion in their arguments for independence.
Voices of the American Revolution | EDSITEment
In this lesson, students are taught how to make informed analyses of primary documents illustrating the diversity of religious, political, social, and economic motives behind competing perspectives on questions of independence and rebellion. Making use of a variety of primary texts, the activities below help students to "hear" some of the colonial voices that, in the course of time and under the pressure of novel ideas and events, contributed to the American Revolution.
Letter to H. Niles by John Adams
This letter includes the famous John Adams quote :"The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people". Great primary document insight into the meaning of the Revolution according to one founding father 32 years after the Declaration of Independence
Investigating US History
Three excellent primary source-based activities in this lesson from Hunter College. Any one of the three can stand on it's own
The Boston Massacre: You be the judge!
Seven highly readable and short documents in this lesson could easily be adapted to a synthesis or perspective lesson. Can students come up with one story using these different accounts? But notice also, this lesson has students trying to discover what really happened? What's the better lesson - showing how each side deliberately tried to shape the narrative
Letter from General Gage to Lord Dartmouth - October 1775
It's clear from this letter that six months after Lexington and Concord, Gage believes that the only war for Britain to find peace with the Provincials is through war. Notice also that he agrees with John Adams ("Revolution in the hearts and minds before Lexington and Concord")
If the <i>Boston</i> Port Bill had not furnished a pretext for rebellion, something else would have brought it forward.
I am convinced that the promoters of the rebellion have no real desire of peace, unless they have a <i>carte blanche.</i> Their whole conduct has been one scene of fallacy, duplicity, and dissimulation, by which they have duped many well inclined people
Gage thinks that the Olive Branch Petition was not representative of the general consensus of the Congress
will take the liberty to say, that from their presumption, arrogance, and encouragement from <i>England</i>, we can rely on nothing but our force to procure even decent terms of peace; and that if it was ever necessary to obtain peace through the means of war, it is highly so in the present juncture.
Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791, Primary Sources for Teachers, America in Class, National Humanities Center
"MAKING THE REVOLUTION presents an expansive collection of primary sources to enhance classroom study of the American Revolutionary period from 1763 to 1791 (the end of the French and Indian War to the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights). Many of the resources have not been available before in an open collection for classroom use.
Organized in five themes, each with seven to nine sections, MAKING THE REVOLUTION is designed to help students engage with challenging eighteenth-century material"
Teaching Strategy: The Boston Massacre: Who Was to Blame? : The Colonial Williamsburg Official History & Citizenship Site
Another take on the "Boston Massacre" conflicting sources lesson, this presents short excepts in a highly structured format
Founders Online: Home
The papers of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. Over 175,000 searchable documents, fully annotated, from the authoritative Founding Fathers Papers projects.
5. Declaration of Independence | Stanford History Education Group
This lesson will introduce students to historiography, as they contrast Bernard Bailyn's interpretation of the Declaration of Independence to Howard Zinn's account.
Finding Aaron - HSI: Historical Scene Investigation
This is a lesson in which students "do history" on a small scale - they help someone find out more about their long lost relative. After analyzing a series of primary source documents, students have to come up with a plausible explanation of what happened to Aaron between December, 1767 and January, 1771. Most importantly, they have to establish how they came to that particular conclusion.
The Boston "Massacre" - HSI: Historical Scene Investigation
The Boston Massacre is one of those events that has been the subject of "doing history" lessons for some time. This is another take on the lesson, in which students review primary source documents at the request of the Daughters of the American Revolution - asking for a review of the case.
Battle of Lexington and Concord - HSI: Historical Scene Investigation
"Who started it?" - a question students have answered many times in many ways - but with this lesson they analyze a series of primary source documents to determine just what happened on the Lexington Green in 1775. This is a lesson that has students "doing history"
Online Activity: Rewriting the Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence | Teaching with the Library of Congress
Rewriting the Rough Draft prompts students to examine edits in a section of Jefferson’s draft. For each edit, they must choose between Jefferson’s original text and the edited text. Through this process, students create a new draft and, after finding all of the edits, can compare their draft of the Declaration side-by-side with the first printed version.
By helping students to critically examine evidence of the creative process that produced the Declaration of Independence, this online activity demonstrates the importance of language, tone and word choice. For example, even a seemingly insignificant change in wording, such as replacing “a people” with “one people,” dramatically altered the meaning and expression of our nation’s democratic principles, first declared to the world in this document.
"The Colonies Reduced." - Political Cartoon
Perhaps this may be a little too explicit for 5th grade students, but it is a powerful message to Great Britain not to treat it's colonies in such a poor fashion or she may lose them.
To Benjamin Franklin from John Hughes, 8–17 September 1765
Teachers using the "Reading Like an Historian" lesson regarding the Stamp Act can use these letters as corraboration