American Revolution
Lesson One:
Lesson Two:
Lesson Three:
Lesson Four
- What do you already know about the American Revolution? This will be written on an unit outline also with space for the most important causes and effects of the the revolutions.
- Lets start off by determining where the 13 founding colonies of the USA were.
- Read pages 300-301 together and discuss why the Quebec Act was so insulting for Americans.
- Show American Revolution GSlides. Students are to view the slides and fill in notes while doing so.
- On the back of the note are two documents. Explain the difference between primary and secondary sources and try to determine the bias. We will be doing more with primary and secondary sources.
- Watch Crash Course: Taxes and Smuggling.
- Watch King George III and British Columbia
Lesson Two:
- ASSIGNMENT: Students in pairs will show their learning by using the mini-whiteboards, the big whiteboard, or by creating a skit, poem or song to to teach five key points about the American Revolution to the class. Or we can take whiteboards and they have to go outside of the class and film themselves teaching someone about five main points about the American Revolution.
- Watch You’ll Be Back by “King George III”
- Practice reading and taking bullet notes from the textbook. Complete the worksheet.
- Show the Trailer for the Patriot to get students excited
Lesson Three:
- Tug or War: Was the American Revolution Revolutionary?
- Teach Students the difference between battlefield warfare and Guerrilla warfare. We will go out to the field and line up and fire. We will discuss why this type of warfare would benefit the British in the USA.
- We will then do an example of Guerrilla warfare where one group can hide and jump out and throw. We will discuss how this benefits the American Patriots.
- This or That: Go stand by the windows if you think they won, go stand by the side board if they lost. Be prepared to say why you chose this position. Colonists (White land owning men), Women, Slaves, New Immigrants, First Nations, others.
Lesson Four
- Watch the Patriot. But first, show students the assignment they will do while we watch the Patriot.
- Here is an example of what I am looking for in the assignment:
- Continental Army: The Continental army was a militia group that fought on the Patriot side. In the movie the main character's son volunteered for the continental Army.
- Here is an example of what I am looking for in the assignment:
- Students will take out their unit outlines. We will review their wonder/knows from the start of the unit and then add in the three mains causes and effects.
- Discuss Hollywood vs. History Notes For the Patriot
- The Patriot is fiction: only one character, General Cornwallis actually existed. But the story fits in well with the time frame and events of the American Revolution, with the following exceptions:
- 1) The brutality of the British regulars is, in the words of star Mel Gibson,"juiced up" for dramatic effect. In one scene, the British regulars murder wounded American POWs; in another, they order the execution of a colonial soldier captured in uniform. In fact, such war crimes by regular troops rarely happened. Spies and traitors, such as Nathan Hale (American) and Major John Andre (British), were hanged, and irregular militias, terrorist bands allied to both sides and Indian proxies certainly carried out some horrific atrocities. But regular troops on both sides almost universally observed the law of war that distinctions should be made between the former categories and uniformed combatants. In the most incongruous scene, the people an entire town are locked in a church which is then set on fire. This mimics a notorious Nazi war crime, when 642 peple were massacred in the French village of Oradour sur Glane in June 1944, but no such incident took place in the American Revolution. As historian Thomas Fleming puts it: ‘Of course it never happened. If it had do you think Americans would have forgotten it? It could have kept us out of World War I.’
- 2) The film gives the impression that the conflict was a straight fight between British troops and colonials – only one colonist is shown fighting for the British, and regarded as an oddity by Tavington. However in reality, about a third of the colonists were rebels, a third were loyal to the British Crown and a third were neutral. Thus the Revolution was much more like a civil war, with communities and even families split between ‘patriots’ and ‘loyalists’.
- 3) Similarly, The Patriot tends to exaggerate the degree to which a unified ‘American’ identity had been forged in the 1770s. For instance, the colonials all sound like modern Americans, wheras in truth there would have been a wide range of European tongues and accents being spoken. Similarly the American flag with the circle of stars would not have been used in battle at that time, but is flown in the film to give greater dramatic impact.
- 4) The declaration by George Washington that slaves who fight for the Continental cause will earn their freedom is fictional.
- 5) The film-makers enlisted the help of the Smithsonian Institute to ensure the movie was free from anachronism in terms of military chronology, weapons used and costumes worn. However, certain changes were made for dramatic reasons. In battle sequences, the colors of uniforms have been altered to make it clearer to the audience which side is which. (According to the Smithsonian’s Bobby Moss, often the only way to distinguish between Loyalist and Patriot soldiers was what they wore in their caps – the loyalists had pine twigs and the Patriots white paper). Similarly, the soldiers led by Tavington, the Green Dragoons, wore (as their name would suggest) green in real life, but in the film they are given red coats to align them in the audience’s mind with the rest of the British army.
- The Patriot is fiction: only one character, General Cornwallis actually existed. But the story fits in well with the time frame and events of the American Revolution, with the following exceptions:
- Another change that may infuriate purists is the merging of two important 1781 battles – Cowpens and Guildford Courthouse – into one. However, both battles were similar, in that local militia fought alongside the continental army to help turn the tide against the British in South Carolina.
- The cannons used in the final battle scene are 32 lb guns. These weren't used in the field - the correct gun should have been the smaller 6lb gun. But, at the end of the day, the director wanted bigger bangs.
- It is also worth mentioning that some of the characters are ‘based on’ real-life American Revolution combatants.
- - Tavington is based on the historical figure Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who was renowned for the violence and brutality he inflicted on his enemies. The phrase ‘Tarleton’s quarter’ was coined to refer to his practice of ordering the execution of defeated combatants even after they had put down their weapons and waved the white flag. He continued his reign of terror until Cornwallis surrended at Yorktown in 1781, after which he became MP for Liverpool and lived to the age of 78.
- - According to screenwriter Robert Rodat, the character of Benjamin Martin is a composite of several heroes of the American Revolution, including Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens, Daniel Morgan, Elijah Clark and Francis Marion. Martin’s ghostlike elusiveness is particularly reminiscent of the so-called ‘Swamp Fox’ Francis Marion, who would attack then ‘disappear’ into marshland. His effective guerrilla campaign recalls Thomas Sumter, whose harassment cut off British supplies. And he also represents Daniel Morgan, whose force of light infantry, riflemen, regular troops and militia leads the crucial victory at Cowpens.
- - Villeneuve is partially based on the young French fighter the Marquis de Lafayette, who rose through the ranks of the Continental Army to become Washington’s protégé.
- - Colonel Burnel is loosely based on Colonel ‘Lighthorse’ Harry Lee (although unlike actor Chris Cooper, Lee was just 19 when he fought in the Revolution)