The War in the North, 1775-1778 Student Name ___________________________________________________ Date ________________ Activity #1: “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” Directions: Read the following document. As you read, keep in mind the questions that appear below. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the rest of the class. Paul Revere, Memorandum on Events of April 18, 1775, (http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=874) Paul Revere (1735-1818) was a prominent silversmith in Boston and a staunch advocate of American independence. He had participated in the Boston Tea Party in 1774, and, expecting British retaliation, he helped to organize a group of local patriots to keep watch on British forces in the area. His “Midnight Ride” on the night of April 18, which he recounts in this document, is one of the most famous episodes in American History. Question Answer What do we know about the author of this account? What was the individual’s role in the event? Why might that be important? What was the purpose for creating the record? To what extent might self-interest have influenced the account? Who was the intended audience? Was the audience public or private? Why is knowing that important? When was the record made? Why is the time important? 1 1 -- Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use The War in the North, 1775-1778 Student Name ___________________________________________________ Date ________________ Activity #1: “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” Directions: Read the following document. As you read, keep in mind the questions that appear below. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the rest of the class. General Thomas Gage Reports on the Battles of Lexington and Concord in an Excerpt of a Letter to the Earl of Dartmouth on April 22nd, 1775: http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=865 Thomas Gage (1719-1787) was commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America from 1763 to 1775. When martial law was declared in Boston in 1774, after the Boston Tea Party, Gage also became governor of Massachusetts, and in that capacity he ordered the arrest of prominent patriot leaders like Samuel Adams and John Hancock. To avoid capture both men fled to Lexington, and on the night of April 18 Gage ordered 700 British regulars to march to the town. Question Answer What do we know about the author of this account? What was the individual’s role in the event? Why might that be important? What was the purpose for creating the record? To what extent might self-interest have influenced the account? Who was the intended audience? Was the audience public or private? Why is knowing that important? When was the record made? Why is the time important? 2 2 -- Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use The War in the North, 1775-1778 Student Name ___________________________________________________ Date ________________ Activity #1: “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” Directions: Read the following document. As you read, keep in mind the questions that appear below. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the rest of the class. Lord Percy reports on the retreat to General Gage on April 20th, 1775: http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=866 Lord Hugh Percy (1742-1817) was a powerful English nobleman (he was the Duke of Northumberland, in northern England) who had served as an officer in the British army since 1759. In 1775 he held the rank of Brigadier General, and on April 18 General Thomas Gage, the overall British commander in North America, ordered him to lead a detachment of troops in support of Major John Pitcairn’s advance toward Lexington. Question Answer What do we know about the author of this account? What was the individual’s role in the event? Why might that be important? What was the purpose for creating the record? To what extent might self-interest have influenced the account? Who was the intended audience? Was the audience public or private? Why is knowing that important? When was the record made? Why is the time important? 3 3 -- Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use The War in the North, 1775-1778 Student Name ___________________________________________________ Date ________________ Activity #1: “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” Directions: Read the following document. As you read, keep in mind the questions that appear below. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the rest of the class. Major John Pitcairn reports on the Battles of Lexington and Concord to General Gage on April 26th, 1775: http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=867 John Pitcairn (1722-1775) was a Major in the British Royal Marines, and was stationed in Boston when that city was placed under martial law after the 1774 Boston Tea Party. On April 18 General Thomas Gage, the commander-in-chief if British forces in North America, assigned him to lead an advance party of British troops in their march on Lexington. Less than two months after writing this account Pitcairn was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and was buried beneath the Old North Church in Boston, where his body remains interred today. Question Answer What do we know about the author of this account? What was the individual’s role in the event? Why might that be important? What was the purpose for creating the record? To what extent might self-interest have influenced the account? Who was the intended audience? Was the audience public or private? Why is knowing that important? When was the record made? Why is the time important? 4 4 -- Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use The War in the North, 1775-1778 Student Name ___________________________________________________ Date ________________ Activity #1: “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” Directions: Read the following document. As you read, keep in mind the questions that appear below. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the rest of the class. John Dickinson to Arthur Lee: April 29th, 1775: http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=869 John Dickinson (1732-1808) was a wealthy landowner from Maryland who became prominent in politics in the colony of Pennsylvania. He became one of the first Pennsylvania leaders to denounce British tax policies in North America, and in 1774 he was elected to the First Continental Congress. Although an advocate of resistance against what he considered British tyranny, Dickinson was skeptical of outright independence, and continued to hope for some sort of reconciliation with Great Britain. Note: In the first line of this letter the author uses the term “immedicabile vulnus.” This is a Latin term which roughly translates to “hopelessness.” Question Answer What do we know about the author of this account? What was the individual’s role in the event? Why might that be important? What was the purpose for creating the record? To what extent might self-interest have influenced the account? Who was the intended audience? Was this intended to be public or private? Why is knowing that important? When was the record made? Why is the time important? 5 5 -- Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use The War in the North, 1775-1778 Student Name ___________________________________________________ Date ________________ Activity #2: Washington Takes Command Directions: Using the documents below, answer the questions that follow. Washington’s acceptance of the command of the Continental Army: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi- bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00237)) The president from the chair informed Geo: Washington Esqr. that he had the order of the Congress to acq[ain]t him, that the Congress had by a unanimous vote made choice of him to be general and com[mander] in chief to take the supreme command of the forces raised and to be raised, in defence of American Liberty, and desired his acceptance of it. Whereupon Colonel Washington, standing in his place, spoke as follows: "Mr. President, "Tho' I am truly sensible of the high Honour done me, in this Appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and important Trust: However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, and for support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their approbation. "But, lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered, by every Gentleman in the room, that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the Command I am honored with. "As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that, as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to have accepted this arduous employment, at the expence of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any proffit from it. I will keep an exact Account of my expences. Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire." Question Answer What was Washington’s reaction to his appointment as commander? How much payment does Washington expect for his service? Why? From this document, what can you determine about Washington’s character and the qualities he brought to positions of leadership? 6 6 -- Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use Commission for General Washington (from the Continental Congress): http://memory.loc.gov/cgi- bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00238)) The committee appointed to draught a commission to the general, reported the same, which, being read by paragraphs and debated, was agreed to and is as follows: IN CONGRESS The delegates of the United Colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina; To George Washington, Esq.