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Introduction

"To rebel or not to rebel? That is the question." Which side would you have taken during the American Revolution? Why did people want to remain apart of Great Britain? How did taking sides affect the outcome of the war? Your mission as a histrorynaut is to travel back in time to the year 1775 and become a loyalist (supporter of the King), a patriot (supporter of rebellion), a southern farmer , or a northern merchant (both of which were undecided of whom to support) to answer these questions. Your goal is to return to our time period with a knowledge of revolutionary history, as well as your position in that community and participate in a debate for or against breaking away from Great Britain.

The Task

The end result of the student's tasks will be for a : position to be formulated and defended; personal insight to be articulated; summary to be created; persuasive message to be crafted; creative propaganda work created to use in debate; better knowledge of computer research and group work.

The culminating task in this project will be to debate the patriot and loyalist standpoint and convince other students in the class to either side. Students assigned at the beginning of the project as a patriot or loyalist will research that standpoint (each developing five main points in their individual research) and create propaganda tools to use in a debate at the end of the activity. Those chosen as farmers or merchants will represent the majority of the people in the American colonies and will research from their perspective five advantages and disadvantages for joining the rebellion and will come up with five questions to ask both the loyalist and patriot sides during the debate. In each task group, the students will combine their main points to prepare a speech or questions.

Resources

Boston Massacre

GENERAL REFERENCES

• History Online--links to articles of people, battles, and documents.
• THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1775-1783: INTERNET RESOURCE--selective Internet sites on political, military, and cultural aspects of the American Revolution. Great graphics.
• U S A History WARS - American Revolution -- descriptions of all battles in the Amer. Rev.
• The Revolutionary War--battles, biographies of famous revolutionaries, literature
• To the Revolution, 1700-1776 Library of Congress collections--Newspaper accounts, almanacs, magazines, pamphlets
• Revolutionary War Links--Loyalist and British information
• Independence timeline

TAKING SIDES

• Revolutionary and Federalist
• Considering Zenger: Partisan Politics
• Military and the Media
• PLAIN TRUTH--James Chalmers (1727-1806) Loyalist response to "Common Sense."
• Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution
• Georgia in the Revolution--History of Georgia's role in the revolution.
• The Proclamation of 1763

FAMOUS PEOPLE

John Adams King George III James Madison Blacks and The American Revolution The Hessians Foreign Allies

PROPAGANDA MATERIALS AND EVENTS Declaration of Independence History behind declaration Boston Tea Party Proclamation of Rebellion American Editorial Cartoonists LOYALIST, BRITISH SONGS & POETRY Flags of the American Revolution American Literature (1700-1800)

 

 The Process

1. First you'll be assigned (by the teacher picking names out of a hat) to a team of one of the following standpoints: patriot, loyalist, southern farmer, northern merchant.
2. Students should review their notes on the conflict in the American colonies during the colonial time period.
3. Once your role is determined you will meet with your group to determine which student will focus on specific topics (so not to overlap). Ex: student #1 will look up the first three web sites, etc. Also,determine what type of debate materials your group will use (posters, pamphlets, etc.) Define propaganda and make sure all students in your group understand this concept.
4. Now that your assigned role is clear, each student will complete their own computer search to develop five main points (patriot or loyalist) to describe and support your position or develop a list of five advantages/disadvantages of joining either side and questions to ask during the debate (farmers, merchants), while also looking for pictures, graphs, concept maps, etc. to illustrate your position. Cite all references.
5. The links the teacher has provided will assist in limiting your search, however, you may go beyond this list if you need extra support.
6. After one and a half days of individual research, the group will reunite to combine information and discuss how to develop a position speech for the debate. Main points should be clear and thought -out and materials needed to present in class should be noted and prepared (posters, banners, etc.). Also, a main speaker should be chosen for each group to read the original speech, with the other group members ready to answer questions or debate a certain point. Students will have two class periods to meet with their group.
7. On the last day of this project , the patriot and loyalist groups will stand and give speeches supporting their position, including the presentation of all propaganda material. After the speeches, the farmer and merchant groups will ask questions they developed through their research and the first two groups will respond and debate their stand . Time limits will be set to control the flow of responses (ex: 2 minutes to respond to each question).
8. At the end of the debate, students will hold a secret ballot to determine the decision of the majority.
9. Each group will turn in one folder, at the end of this activity, with all researched material and debate layout that their group consolidated.

Evaluation

Student performance will be evaluated with a combined individual and group grade through an established rubric. Students will click on this link and complete a self evaluation to turn in with their project folder. The teacher will then complete the evaluation for the final grade.

Conclusion

By completing this activity, students will understand that included in any historical event there are several perspectives to be researched and understood to make an informed decision or stand. Though we are proud that our forefathers rebelled against an imperialistic nation, we must understand what was at stake for the population of the American colonies and why the decision to rebel was not an easy one. Students can further their knowledge of pre- and post- revolution by researching other websites or finding further books , such as:

• 37 Titles of American Revolution Books
• Books about Women Patriots

This page written by Sandra Orr, Millington Central High School

Shelby County Schools

Last updated June, 1999