American Revolution, History Levels 1&2, 11/19/13

Most of the battles of the American Revolution did not go well for the colonists. Colonial soldiers were hungry, poorly clothed, and ill-equipped, but they did not give up. Inspired by Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the bold General George Washington, they endured the awful events of Valley Forge and even did battle on Christmas day.

Although the war was between the colonies and Great Britain, other countries got involved as well. The French were a major ally to the colonies and there were German and Spanish soldiers who fought in the war also.

The final battle was won by the Americans at Yorktown, and a peace agreement was drafted. In the end, about 7,200 Americans died in battle during the Revolution. In addition, 10,000 died from disease or exposure, and another 8,500 died in British prisons.

When Treaty of Paris was finally signed in 1783 a few remaining British troops continued to cause problems, but the war was over. The colonies were independent!

In class activities 11-19-13:

Created our own wooden Brittish soldiers

Read George Washington and the General's Dog by Frank Murphy

Learned about Benjamin Franklin's role in the war

Discussed the courage required to be a soldier at the time of the Revolution

Worked on our Class Notebooks

Optional lesson extension activities:

• Take a look at this fun way to learn more about the American Revolution from Mission US. What will you choose to do?
• The American Revolution Center has a fantastic interactive timeline available. It is full of clickable images of artifacts from the time, and lots of great details about the war.

Assignment: 

• Read history cards #25-27 covering the beginning of the War of Independence
• Review your timeline.

Note to parents - I need to correct myself. In class today I was talking to the children about the colonies acting independently and not being truly "The United States" until they agreed to the Constitution. This was not entirely accurate and may have confused them. Although the Colonies were very independent under the Articles of Confederation (each state governed itself and only minimally agreed to a very weak central government), the name United States first came into use in the Declaration of Independence. The colonies were not fully united, but they were in fact a new nation.

We will be covering the Constitution in detail next week, and I will make sure to clarify this to the children. If the kids have questions in the mean time, feel free to refer to this resource