Teacher's Page

The American Revolution


Authored and Designed by Jules Olaso
Technology Integration Specialist
Technical Savy by Marvin Lee
  Ben Franklin Middle School
General Revolutionary Sites | Biography & Encyclopedia Sites | Famous People & Soldiers | Famous Battles
Other Important Events & Documents

New- In Honor of Black History Month - New
Contributions of African Americans in the Revolutionary War

Overview of Project

In this project we will be looking at the people, battles, events, and documents that were part of, and shaped the outcome of, the Revolutionary War.

This project has three main parts to it;
  1)  Internet research utilizing the resources below (however, you are not restricted to these sites or to the Internet as your only means
       of obtaining information),
  2)  WordProcessing the results of your research and,
  3)  Creating a HyperStudio stack to present your research project.
 

The Process

Selection-Day One of Week One
In class (the lab or your class room) you will pick your research topics from a list that will be provided.  The topics are as follows:
1) Famous People &  Soldiers
2) Famous Battles
3) Other Important Events & Documents
4) Contributions of African Americans to the Revolutionary War

Research-Week One
Using the Internet or other resources you will research your topics and take notes.  You are not to copy information word for word but use your own words.  You will also be saving pictures from the Internet in a class folder to use for your HyperStudio project.

Writing and WordProcessing-Week two plus two days from Week Three
Using a WordProcessing application program you will use the notes you took for writing paragraphs about your topic.  You will be writing brief (no more than one page) descriptions and or narratives of your topic.  The purpose is to present to the reader of your project the important aspects of your topic as they relate to the Revolutionary War.  All writing must adhere to all conventions of writing, be spell checked and proof read by a teacher and/or a fellow student.

You will not be able to proceed to HyperStudio until you finish your writing.

Weekend Homework
On the weekend before we start HyperStudio you will do an easy homework assignment called 'Storyboarding.'  This exercise will help you organize the resources you will use to create your HyperStudio project.

HyperStudio-Three days of Week Three and Week Four
Using the multimedia presentational program HyperStudio you add pictures and finished paragraphs to the appropriate card.  You will follow and refer to the "HyperStudio Expectations" guidelines in putting together your project.

Peer Review-The Last Day
In groups of four or five you will use the "Peer Review" sheet to evaluate someone else's project in your group.  You will select the 'best' of your group.  A selected spokesperson for your group will tell to the entire class why the group chose that particular project as the best of their group.

General Revolutionary Sites:

The following sites have links to battles, people, and events.

http://www.ushistory.org/march/links.htm
This site has a lot of links to battles and documents.

http://www.ushistory.org/
This is a great site for U.S. History.  Use the search engine provided to find what you're looking for.

http://www.snowcrest.net/jmike/amrevmil.html
One stop shopping to links on The American Revolution.  The PBS link is pretty good-check it out!

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/bdsquery.html
A GREAT place to search from the Library of Congress American Memory Project for documents published
between years of 1774-1789.

http://americanhistory.about.com/homework/americanhistory/cs/revolutionarywar/index.htm
This is an intense site.  Its really GREAT!  All sorts of links to all aspects of the Revolutionary War.

http://americanhistory.about.com/cs/revolutionarywar/
* New and loaded with lots of links ! ! !

http://www.northwood.k12.nh.us/5-8links.htm
*New *This site has links to search engines and to biography sites, as well as to revolutionary sites.

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Biography & Encyclopedia Sites:

http://www.biography.com/
This is a site dedicated to biographies.  All you have to do is put in the name in the search field and press 'search.'

http://www.britanica.com/
This is an on-line encyclopedia that's free to use.  You'll probably be able to find a little something on everyone and everything.

http://ln.infoplease.com/encyclopedia.html
From the information please site a part of 'The Learning Network' has an encyclopedia, almanac, and atlas.  Enter in your search term/s in any of the provided areas.

http://www.bartleby.com/65/
The Columbia Encyclopedia site.  As with the others you must enter in your search term.

http://www.multied.com/Bio/RevoltBIOS/INDEX.html
*New * A listing of almost every famous patriot or soldier.

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Famous People & Soldiers:

General Instructions:

     There may be a lot of information concerning the life of your famous person or soldier.  Certainly some background information is good in order to bring more substance to the person you are researching, but you mostly want to focus in on the person's life and/or contributions to the cause of the Revolutionary War.

http://library.thinkquest.org/10966/bios.shtml

Factual profiles of the most important men and women of the era. All information is presented in a clear manner to speed up your research.

http://www.ushistory.org/links/history_people.htm
Links to famous people involved in the Revolutionary War (e.g., John Paul Jones, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, & George Washington).

http://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/index.htm
A site dedicated to publications of Thomas Paine.

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/index.htm
Short biographies of patriots that signed the Declaration of Independence that are listed by state.

http://www.gwd50.k12.sc.us/FrancisMarion.htm
Links to sites on the hard to find Francis Marion 'The Swamp Fox.'

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Famous Battles:

General Instructions

    Be precise on the details of the battle in respects to; who was fighting whom (that should be easy), where the battle took place, what was the importance to this battle, who led or commanded the battle on both sides, and who (if any) besides the commanders of the battle distinguished themselves.

http://library.thinkquest.org/10966/battles.shtml
An essay of each of the major battles of the war describing aspects and critical points of each confrontation.

http://library.thinkquest.org/10966/
This site gives a lot of short references of the topic.  A good place to start is in the 'infopedia' section.

http://www.multied.com/revolt/battles.html
Many links to the major battles.

http://www.sciway.net/hist/periods/revolwar.html
Battle of Cowpens information here.  Just click on the numbers 1,2, or 3 next to "Battle of Cowpen."

http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/k12/history/aha/ARbattles.html
Battles! Battles! Battles!  This is the a good place to get information and pictures of some (not all) of the major battles.

http://www.ushistory.org/brandywine/thestory.htm
A link dedicated to the Battle of Brandywine.

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Other Important Events and Documents:

General Instructions

    If you are researching an event that happen prior to the outbreak of the war you want to write about how this event affected the colonists  why it happened, and how it was a contributing factor in bringing about the war.  If you are researching an 'Act,' 'Proclamation,' or historical document, give a general description (quoting some aspects for clarity) of what the document said, who wrote it and why, and of course what historical significance the document has.  Also, talk about the response on both sides (American and British) to the 'Act,'  'Proclamation,' or document.

http://library.thinkquest.org/10966/docs.shtml

All the historical speeches, pamphlets, letters, decrees, and other documents that you'll ever need, compiled together for easy access. Whether you're doing serious research or just browsing, give this area a visit.

http://www.multied.com/revolt/causes.html
Links to several major causes of the war.

http://www.multied.com/revolt/battles.html
Links to major events leading to and during the war.

http://www.ushistory.org/links/history_documents.htm
Links to some of the documents you're looking for.

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Contributions of African Americans in the Revolutionary War:

General Instructions

    Discuss what were the circumstances and reasons for an African American (free or enslaved) were for joining into the fighting for either the side of the British or the Americans. Include at least two names and backgrounds of famous soldiers and how they distinguished themselves.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p53.html
PBS series on African-American history discusses the history of several free blacks who fought in the Revolution. Also find historian's remarks.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p51.html
Read a profile of the black seamen who fought for the British and American armies in the Revolutionary War.
http://www.usbol.com/Military/25-28.html
Resource devoted to African-American military history features a detailed summary of black contributions to the Revolutionary War.

http://www.blackpatriots.org/aboutpa.html
Group devoted to honoring the black soldiers of the American Revolution offers a brief profile of some patriots and details about its mission.

http://www.revolution.h-net.msu.edu/essays/adams2.html
This site give background information and a general understanding of how and why African Americans came to fight for both the British and the Continental armies.

http://www.va.ucf.edu/Features/BlackPatriots/AmericanRev/default.htm
Univ. of Central Florida offers a tribute to the black soldiers who fought in the Revolution. Find biographies and a look at their motivations.  This site is nicely laid out and gives excellent information about the participation and valor of the African Americans in the Revolutionary War siting particular names and instances of bravery.  As this a site that also covers the contributions of African Americans in other arenas if you get off track make sure you seek out the section on the Revolution.

http://americanrevolution.org/blk.html
Read an article written by history professor Robert Selig that details black soldiers in both the Royal and American armies. Find references.

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