Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Battle of Lexington [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Primary sources make for good reading. Here find accounts by the colonial militia commander, the British commander, and accounts by soldiers themselves that tell of their impressions of what happened at the Battle of Lexington. [PDF]
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Declaring Independence [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Follow the steps that Americans took before declaring their independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence set out the ideals and reasons behind this stunning move. Use the student exercises to understand the different levels...
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Age of Constitution Writing [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
See how colonial and state constitutions differed and how the idea of a social contract between a government and its citizens is reflected in the state constitutions. The second half of this site gives an abbreviated text of the Articles...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Revolution Begins

For Students 9th - 10th
General Thomas Gage, an amiable English gentleman with an American-born wife, commanded the garrison at Boston, where political activity had almost wholly replaced trade. Gage's main duty in the colonies had been to enforce the Coercive...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Constitutional Convention

For Students 9th - 10th
George Washington wrote of the period between the Treaty of Paris and the writing of the Constitution that the states were united only by a "rope of sand."Disputes between Maryland and Virginia over navigation on the Potomac River led to...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Biographies: Abraham Baldwin 1754 1807

For Students 9th - 10th
Baldwin was born at Guilford, Conn., in 1754, the second son of a blacksmith who fathered 12 children by 2 wives. Besides Abraham, several of the family attained distinction. His sister Ruth married the poet and diplomat Joel Barlow, and...
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Road to Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
A time line and explanation of the many events, including the colonists' interpretations of those events, that led to the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Revolution Begins

For Students 9th - 10th
Perhaps if King George III had been attentive to the colonists' pleas, things would have turned out differently. Read about the siege of Boston by the British troops, and the "shot heard around the world."
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Declaring Indpendence

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence espoused by those brave souls who signed their names to the revolutionary document in 1776.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Story Behind the Boston Tea Party

For Students 9th - 10th
This short TED talk given by Ben Labaree gives the background of the Boston Tea Party and its eventual ramifications. [3:48]
Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents: Great Seal of the United States (1782)

For Students 9th - 10th
View and learn about the original design of the great seal, including the history of its creation and its current uses.
Handout
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Signers of the Declaration: John Adams

For Students 6th - 8th
This site provides an interactive biography of former President John Adams, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
PPT
Other

Object of History: Jefferson Desk (Desk on Which the Declaration Was Drafted)

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides information on the desk that Thomas Jefferson used to draft the Declaration of Independence.
Graphic
Other

Object of History: Other Authors of the Declaration of Independence

For Students 9th - 10th
View a photo of the committee that discussed the important points to be covered in the Declaration of Independence.
Activity
Other

Biographies: Thomas Paine

For Students 9th - 10th
Detailed biography of the American revolutionary writer and thinker Thomas Paine. Includes discussion of the influence of his writing on international affairs.
PPT
PBS

Pbs: Independence Day [Pdf]

For Students 6th - 8th
Picnics, fireworks, and parades are what we think of when someone says Fourth of July. This day became a federal holiday in 1941 so Americans could take a day to celebrate our independence. View the following slideshow that summarizes...
Interactive
Quia

Quia: Key Events of the Revolutionary War

For Students 3rd - 5th
Put the Revolutionary war events in sequential order in this interactive activity.
Handout
US Government Publishing Office

Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: The Declaration of Independence

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of the men primarily responsible for writing and revising the Declaration of Independence. Includes links to the signers of the document, an image of the Declaration, and information on the drafting of the document.
Website
US Government Publishing Office

Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: Symbols of u.s. Govt.: The Liberty Bell (K 2)

For Students 3rd - 8th
Did you ever wonder why a large bell, known as The Liberty Bell, is so important in U.S. history? Use this site to learn about this great symbol of our country.
Website
University of Virginia

Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: James Madison

For Students 9th - 10th
The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia provides an extensive biography on the life of James Madison. Provides information about his life before and after the presidency as well as his policies on foreign and domestic...
Website
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Colonial Williamsburg: Politics in Colonial Virginia

For Students 9th - 10th
This site explores the politics involved in Colonial Williamsburg, leading up to the American Revolution. Content focuses on famous speeches, documents, and influential people.
Unit Plan
Other

Left Justified: Founding Fathers

For Students 9th - 10th
Biographical accounts of fifty men who played a wide variety of roles in bringing about America's break with Great Britain, and in the creation of the documents and plans that created the new nation, like the Declaration of Independence,...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Intolerable Acts

For Students 5th - 8th
Find the response by the British Parliament to the dumping of tea into Boston Harbor. So many laws were enacted that the colonists lumped them together and called them the Intolerable Acts.
Article
Thomson Reuters

Find Law: Supreme Court Justices: John Jay

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography of the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and author of some of the Federalist Papers.

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