Lesson plan · about 15–20 minutes

The American Revolution, 1775–1783

How did thirteen colonies break away from the most powerful empire in the world, and who gained freedom when they did?

Draft: not yet reviewed by a teacher. Check the flagged facts before you teach it.

Students will be able to

  • I can explain how British taxes and laws after the French and Indian War led colonists to resist and then go to war.
  • I can describe the main ideas of the Declaration of Independence, including natural rights and the consent of the governed.
  • I can explain why Saratoga was a turning point and how help from France led to victory at Yorktown.
  • I can compare how Patriots, Loyalists, African Americans and Native nations experienced the war.
  • I can explain what the Treaty of Paris (1783) decided and locate the war's key places on a map.

Standards

C3 · TEKS · Florida NGSSS · California HSS · New York K-8 Framework · AP U.S. History

  • C3 D2.His.14.6-8 Explain multiple causes and effects of events in the past.
  • C3 D2.His.4.6-8 Analyze the factors that shaped the perspectives of different people in the past.
  • C3 D2.His.16.6-8 Organize evidence into a coherent argument about the past.
  • TEKS 8.1(B) Explain the significance of 1776, the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
  • TEKS 8.4(A) Analyze causes of the Revolution, including the Intolerable Acts, the Stamp Act, lack of representation in Parliament and British policies after the French and Indian War.
  • TEKS 8.4(C) Explain the issues around declaring independence, Lexington and Concord, Saratoga, Valley Forge, Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
  • Florida NGSSS SS.8.A.3.1 Explain how the French and Indian War led to new British policies for the colonies, 1763–1774.
  • Florida NGSSS SS.8.A.3.6 Examine the causes, course and consequences of the American Revolution.
  • Florida NGSSS SS.8.A.3.7 Examine the structure, content and consequences of the Declaration of Independence.
  • California HSS 8.1.2 Analyze the Declaration's philosophy of government as a way to secure individual rights.
  • New York K-8 Framework 7.3b British policies after the French and Indian War (Stamp Act, Tea Act, Coercive Acts) and colonial responses, including Loyalists and Patriots and Lexington and Concord.
  • New York K-8 Framework 7.3c Enlightenment ideas such as natural rights and the arguments for independence in the Declaration.
  • New York K-8 Framework 7.3d Strategy, geography, the Haudenosaunee and other Native nations, foreign aid, Saratoga, and the Treaty of Paris (1783) and its boundary.
  • AP U.S. History KC-3.1.II.A Unit 3, Learning Objective C: new British taxes without colonial representation united colonists and led to the Revolutionary War.
  • AP U.S. History KC-3.2.I.B Unit 3, Learning Objective D: belief in natural rights and republican government found expression in Common Sense and the Declaration.
  • AP U.S. History KC-3.1.II.E Unit 3, Learning Objective E: despite Loyalist opposition and British advantages, Patriots won through militias, the Continental Army, Washington's leadership, resilience and European allies.

How the lesson runs

  1. Open (1 min). Put the essential question on the board: it’s the title slide.
  2. Sep 5, 1774: The Road to War. Britain's war with France left it deep in debt. Parliament taxed the colonies, and colonists protested. After the Boston Tea Party, Britain closed Boston's port. Twelve colonies send delegates to Philadelphia.Ask: Britain thought the colonies should help pay for a war fought partly to protect them. Was that fair? Why did colonists say no?
  3. Apr 19, 1775: Lexington and Concord. British soldiers march out of Boston to take the colonists' weapons. Farmers and militia shoot back, and the war begins.Ask: The colonists had been protesting for ten years. Why did it turn into shooting now?
  4. Dec 9, 1775: Great Bridge. Virginia's royal governor, Lord Dunmore, promises freedom to enslaved people who escape and fight for Britain. They form his Ethiopian Regiment. Patriots beat his force at Great Bridge, and Dunmore flees Virginia.Ask: If you were enslaved in Virginia in 1775, which side would you want to win, and why?
  5. Jul 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence. In Philadelphia, Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence. It says "all men are created equal," with rights to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," and that government needs "the consent of the governed."Ask: In 1776, who was left out of "all men are created equal"? Was the promise a lie, a goal, or something else?
  6. Dec 26, 1776: Trenton. Since summer, the British have beaten Washington at New York and chased him across New Jersey. On Christmas night he crosses the icy Delaware River and surprises the enemy at Trenton.Ask: Why would Washington risk a river crossing in a storm?
  7. Aug 20, 1777: Summer 1777: two British armies. Summer 1777. A British fleet is sailing to attack Philadelphia, the American capital. A second British army is marching south from Canada toward Albany.Ask: What matters more: protecting the capital or destroying an enemy army? Why?
  8. Class decision (4 min): Where do your best troops go? Students play George Washington. A: Defend Philadelphia or B: Reinforce Gates. Take a show of hands and click the winner, or let students vote on their devices with a code.
  9. What really happened (3 min). Washington did both. Discuss: Losing Philadelphia did not end the war, but losing Burgoyne's army brought France in. What does that tell you about how the colonies could beat a stronger empire?
  10. Oct 17, 1777: Saratoga. A British army marching down from Canada is surrounded at Saratoga and surrenders. The victory convinces France to sign an alliance with the Americans.Ask: Why would France wait for a big American win before joining the war?
  11. Jun 19, 1778: Valley Forge and the French Alliance. The army spends the winter at Valley Forge. Disease kills nearly 2,000 people, but Baron von Steuben trains the soldiers to fight as one army. France becomes an ally, and the British leave Philadelphia.Ask: Nearly 2,000 people died at Valley Forge without a battle. Why did so many soldiers stay?
  12. May 12, 1780: Siege of Charleston. The fighting moves south. The British capture Savannah, then trap an entire American army in Charleston.Ask: Why might Britain expect better luck in the South than in New England?
  13. Jan 17, 1781: Cowpens. The British control most of South Carolina. At Cowpens, Daniel Morgan's smaller army traps and defeats a British force.Ask: Why did a small win in the backcountry matter so much to the Americans?
  14. Oct 19, 1781: Yorktown. Cornwallis's army is trapped at Yorktown: a French fleet blocks the sea, and American and French troops surround the town. He surrenders, and the fighting winds down.Ask: Could the Americans have won at Yorktown without France? Use the map to explain.
  15. Sep 3, 1783: Treaty of Paris. Britain signs the Treaty of Paris and recognizes the United States as independent, with land reaching west to the Mississippi River. The treaty never mentions the Native nations who live on much of that land.Ask: Who won the most from this treaty, and who was left out?
  16. Close (3 min). Revisit the essential question, then the exit ticket.

12 moments. Each animates once and waits for you, so take as long as your class needs.

Key ideas

  • Britain's debt from the French and Indian War led to new taxes and laws; colonial protest and the Intolerable Acts led to war at Lexington and Concord.
  • The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) argued that people have natural rights and that government needs the consent of the governed.
  • Not every colonist was a Patriot: Loyalists backed Britain, African Americans fought on both sides for freedom, and most Native nations sided with Britain to protect their land.
  • The Continental Army survived defeats through perseverance at Trenton and training at Valley Forge.
  • Saratoga was the turning point because it brought France into the war; French troops and ships made Yorktown possible.
  • The war moved south after 1778, where Patriots and Loyalists fought each other at Charleston, Cowpens and beyond.
  • The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized independence and set the western border at the Mississippi, but Native nations were left out.

Vocabulary

Patriot
A colonist who wanted independence from Britain.
Loyalist
A colonist who stayed loyal to the British king (also called a Tory).
Militia
Part-time citizen soldiers who trained near home and turned out in an emergency.
Taxation without representation
Being taxed by a government (Parliament) in which you have no elected members to speak for you.
Intolerable Acts
Laws Britain passed in 1774 to punish Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party; Britain called them the Coercive Acts.
Natural rights
Rights every person is born with, such as life and liberty, that no government gives or should take away.
Consent of the governed
The idea that a government's power comes from the people who agree to be ruled by it.
Alliance
An agreement between countries to help each other, like the 1778 alliance between France and the United States.
Treaty
A formal written agreement between nations, such as the one that ended a war.

Exit ticket

Name ______________________ Period ____

  1. Why did Parliament start taxing the American colonies after the French and Indian War?

    1. To pay off the large debt from the war
    2. To punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party
    3. To pay for the Continental Army
    4. To buy land from Native nations

  2. Why do historians call the Battle of Saratoga (1777) a turning point?

    1. It was the first battle of the war.
    2. It convinced France to sign an alliance with the United States.
    3. It ended the war and forced Britain to sign a treaty.
    4. It gave the British control of Philadelphia.

  3. The Declaration of Independence says governments get "their just powers from the consent of the governed." Explain what this means, and name one group in 1776 that this promise did not yet include.

Answer key

  1. A. To pay off the large debt from the war
  2. B. It convinced France to sign an alliance with the United States.
  3. It means a government's power comes from the people who agree to it, so the people can change a government that takes away their rights. In 1776 it did not yet include enslaved African Americans (also women and Native nations), who had no say in the government.

Primary source

George Washington to Major General Horatio Gates, 20 August 1777, Founders Online, National Archives