U.S. History - Colonial America and the New Nation: Lesson Plans

In 1776 Tom Paine, an obscure immigrant, published a small pamphlet that ignited independence in America by shifting the political landscape of the patriot movement from reform within the British imperial system to independence from it. This lesson looks at Paine and at some of the ideas presented in Common Sense, such as national unity, natural rights, the illegitimacy of the monarchy and of hereditary aristocracy, and the necessity for independence and the revolutionary struggle.

An interdisciplinary lesson focusing on Paul Revere's Midnight Ride. While many students know this historical event, this lesson allows them to explore the true story of Paul Revere and his journey through primary source readings as well as to compare artist Grant Wood's and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's interpretations of it.

This lesson plan looks at the major ideas in the Declaration of Independence, their origins, the Americans’ key grievances against the King and Parliament, their assertion of sovereignty, and the Declaration’s process of revision. Upon completion of the lesson, students will be familiar with the document’s origins, and the influences that produced Jefferson’s “expression of the American mind.”

Fully one-third of Patriot soldiers at the Battle of Bunker Hill were African Americans. Census data also reveal that there were slaves and free Blacks living in the North in 1790 and after. What do we know about African-American communities in the North in the years after the American Revolution?

About one-third of Patriot soldiers at the Battle of Bunker Hill were African Americans. Census data also reveal that there were slaves and free Blacks living in the North in 1790 and later years. What were the experiences of African-American individuals in the North in the years between the American Revolution and the Civil War?

This lesson introduces students to American colonial life and has them compare the daily life and culture of two different colonies in the late 1700s. Students study artifacts of the thirteen original British colonies and write letters between fictitious cousins in Massachusetts and Delaware.

Understanding the Patriot attitude toward the British monarchy is helpful in understanding the Founders’ reluctance to have a strong executive under the Articles of Confederation as well as their desire to build in checks of executive power under the Constitution.

In this curriculum unit, students look at the role of President as defined in the Constitution and consider the precedent-setting accomplishments of George Washington

Lesson 1: The President Under the Articles of Confederation
Lesson 2: Chief Executives Compared: The Federalist Papers
Lesson 3: George Washington: The Precedent President

Curriculum Unit overview. As the end of the 18th century drew near, relations between the United States and France were deteriorating. In 1797 President Adams expressed his concern about the possibility of war with France and dissension at home caused by France and its supporters. At the same time, two opposing political parties were developing in the U.S., with Thomas Jefferson-led Democratic-Republicans tending to sympathize with France in foreign policy. Their loyalty was called into question by the Federalists. It was a dangerous time both for the security of the young Republic and the freedoms its citizens enjoyed.

Lesson 1: From the President's Lips: The Concerns that Led to the Sedition (and Alien) Act
Lesson 2: The Debate in Congress on the Sedition Act
Lesson 3: George Washington on the Sedition Act
Lesson 4: Thomas Jefferson on the Sedition Act
Lesson 5: Consequences of the Sedition Act

Native American groups had to choose the loyalist or patriot cause—or somehow maintain a neutral stance during the Revolutionary War. Students will analyze maps, treaties, congressional records, first-hand accounts, and correspondence to determine the different roles assumed by Native Americans in the American Revolution and understand why the various groups formed the alliances they did.

Drawing on the resources of the Library of Congress's Printed Ephemera Collection, this lesson helps students experience the news as the colonists heard it: by means of broadsides, notices written on disposable, single sheets of paper that addressed virtually every aspect of the American Revolution.

In this lesson, student groups create a short, simple play based on their study of broadsides written just before the American Revolution. By analyzing the attitudes and political positions are revealed in the broadsides, students learn about the sequence of events that led to the Revolution

Help your students see the development of the Declaration as both an historical process and a writing process through the use of role play and creative writing.

By closely reading historical documents and attempting to interpret them, students consider how Arthur Miller interpreted the facts of the Salem witch trials and how he successfully dramatized them in his play, The Crucible. As they explore historical materials, such as the biographies of key players (the accused and the accusers) and transcripts of the Salem Witch trials themselves, students will be guided by aesthetic and dramatic concerns: In what ways do historical events lend themselves (or not) to dramatization? What makes a particular dramatization of history effective and memorable?

Compare the leader who emerges through Washington’s own writings with the symbolic figure of patriotic memory.

Curriculum Unit overview. Even in its first 30 years of existence, the U.S. Constitution had to prove its durability and flexibility in a variety of disputes. More often than not, James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," took part in the discussion.

Lesson 1: James Madison: Madison Was There
Lesson 2: James Madison: The Second National Bank—Powers Not Specified in the Constitution
Lesson 3: James Madison: Raising an Army: Balancing the Power of the States and the Federal Government
Lesson 4: James Madison: Internal Improvements Balancing Act: Federal/State, Executive/Legislative

Students study census data showing the names and occupations of early settlers of the English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. (Archaeology, U.S. Colonial History)

Students examine primary sources in order to compare the intellectual achievements of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The lesson serves as an introduction to the complementary EDSITEment lesson, Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers.

Explore the philosophical contributions that Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson made to the movement for American independence. The lesson introduces students to some of the important precursor documents, such as Franklin's Albany Plan of 1754 and Jefferson's Draft of the Virginia Constitution, that led to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

In this curriculum unit, students look at the role of President as defined in the Articles of Confederation and consider the precedent-setting accomplishments of John Hanson, the first full-term “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.”

Lesson 1: Lost Hero: Starting a Government from Scratch
Lesson 2: Lost Hero: The “To Do List” of the Continental Congress
Lesson 3: Lost Hero: Was John Hanson Actually the First President?

Magna Carta served to lay the foundation for the evolution of parliamentary government and subsequent declarations of rights in Great Britain and the United States. In attempting to establish checks on the king's powers, this document asserted the right of "due process" of law.

The lesson focuses on two 17th century maps of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to trace how the Puritans took possession of the region, built towns, and established families on the land. Students will learn how these New England settlers interacted with the Native Americans, and how to gain information about those relationships from primary sources such as maps.

While Paul Revere's ride is the most famous event of its kind in American history, other Americans made similar rides during the Revolutionary period. After learning about some less well known but no less colorful rides that occurred in other locations, students gather evidence to support an argument about why at least one of these "other riders" does or does not deserve to be better known.

Looking at historic maps of the West, students can begin to appreciate the immensity and mystery of the mission Lewis and Clark accepted.

Curriculum Unit overview. A crisis over U.S. shipping rights actually began while George Washington was president and grew during Thomas Jefferson's term in office (1800-1808), when Madison served as Secretary of State. Between 1805-07, a large number of American ships were seized and impressments of American sailors into service on British ships increased, leading Congress to pass an extreme measure, the Embargo Act of 1807. The act restricted trade with foreign nations (Napoleon's France was also interfering with American shipping during its long conflict with the British). A state of war then began in 1803 and would continue until after Napoleon's abdication in 1814.

Lesson 1: President Madison's 1812 War Message: A Brief Overview
Lesson 2: President Madison's 1812 War Message: A Documentary Review
Lesson 3: President Madison's 1812 War Message: Answers Lead to More Questions

This lesson ecourages students to explore the similarities and differences of being a student in a one-room schoolhouse versus attending their own well-equipped, modern school.

The traditional religions of Great Britain’s North American colonies had difficulty maintaining their holds over the growing population. This did not, however, result in a wholesale decline in religiosity among Americans. In fact, the most significant religious development of 18th century America took place along the frontier, in the form of the Great Awakening. This curriculum unit will, through the use of primary documents, introduce students to the First Great Awakening, as well as to the ways in which religious-based arguments were used both in support of and against the American Revolution.

Lesson 1: The First Great Awakening
Lesson 2: Religion and the Argument for American Independence
Lesson 3: Religion and the Fight for American Independence

This lesson explores tea party protests other than the Boston Tea Party, and includes activities to help students analyze the reasons behind the tea protests as well as their consequences for the American Revolution.

Students will learn what a symbol is, and how this particular symbol—the American flag—is an important part of our everyday lives.

Was the American Revolution inevitable? This lesson is designed to help students understand the transition to armed resistance and the contradiction in the Americans’ rhetoric about slavery through the examination of a series of documents. While it is designed to be conducted over a several-day period, teachers with time constraints can choose to utilize only one of the documents to illustrate the patriots’ responses to the actions of the British.

Curriculum Unit overview. Changes in voting qualifications and participation, the election of Andrew Jackson, and the formation of the Democratic Party—due largely to the organizational skills of Martin Van Buren—all contributed to making the election of 1828 and Jackson’s presidency a watershed in the evolution of the American political system. In this unit, students analyze changes in voter participation and regional power, and review archival campaign documents reflecting the dawn of politics as we know it during the critical years from 1824 to 1832.

Lesson 1: The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson: Expansion of the Voting Base
Lesson 2: The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson: Changes in Voting Participation
Lesson 3: The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson: Territorial Expansion and the Shift of Power
Lesson 4: The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson: Issues in the Election of 1828 (and Beyond)

Curriculum Unit overview. The decision of Britain's North American colonies to rebel against the Mother Country was an extremely risky one. In this unit, consisting of three lesson plans, students will learn about the diplomatic and military aspects of the American War for Independence.

Lesson 1: The War in the North, 1775-1778
Lesson 2: The War in the South, 1778-1781
Lesson 3: Ending the War, 1783

By exploring historical accounts of events surrounding the Boston Tea Party, students learn about the sources and methods that historians use to reconstruct what happened in the past.

The delegates at the 1787 Convention faced a challenge as arduous as those who worked throughout the 1780s to initiate reforms to the American political system. In this unit, students will examine the roles that key American founders played in creating the Constitution, and the challenges they faced in the process.

Lesson 1: The Road to the Constitutional Convention
Lesson 2: The Question of Representation at the 1787 Convention
Lesson 3: Creating the Office of the Presidency

Witness the unfolding drama of the Constitutional Convention and the contributions of those whom we have come to know as the Founding Fathers. In this lesson, students will become familiar with four important, but relatively unknown, contributors to the U.S. Constitution Convention: Oliver Ellsworth, Alexander Hamilton, William Paterson, and Edmund Randolph.

To what shared principles did the Founding Fathers appeal as they struggled to reach a compromise in the Constitutional Convention? In this lesson, students will learn how the Founding Fathers debated then resolved their differences in the Constitution. Learn through their own words how the Founding Fathers created “a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise."

Curriculum Unit overview. The presidential election of 1824 represents a watershed in American politics. The collapse of the Federalist Party and the illness of the "official candidate" of the Democratic-Republicans led to a slate of candidates who were all Democratic-Republicans. This led to the end of the Congressional Caucus system for nominating candidates, and eventually, the development of a new two-party system in the United States. In this unit, students will read an account of the election from the Journal of the House of Representatives, analyze archival campaign materials, and use an interactive online activity to develop a better understanding of the election of 1824 and its significance.

Lesson 1: The Election Is in the House: The Denouement
Lesson 2: The Election Is in the House: 1824: The Candidates and the Issues
Lesson 3: The Election Is in the House: Was There a Corrupt Bargain?

This lesson focuses on the debates among the U.S. Founders surrounding the distribution of power between states and the federal government. Students learn about the pros and cons of state sovereignty vs. federalism and have the opportunity to argue different sides of the issue.

After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to summarize the contents of the First Amendment and give an example of speech that is protected by the Constitution and speech that is not protected by the Constitution.

Curriculum Unit overview. Fear of factionalism and political parties was deeply rooted in Anglo-American political culture before the American Revolution. Leaders such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson hoped their new government, founded on the Constitution, would be motivated instead by a common intent, a unity. But political parties did form in the United States, with their beginnings in Washington's cabinet.

Lesson 1: The First American Party System: U.S. Political Parties: The Principle of Legitimate Opposition
Lesson 2: The First American Party System: A Documentary Timeline of Important Events (1787-1800)
Lesson 3: The First American Party System: Federalists and Democratic-Republicans: The Platforms They Never Had

Curriculum Unit overview. Monroe brought a vision of an expanded America to his presidency—a vision that helped facilitate the formulation of what has become known as the Monroe Doctrine. In this unit, students will review the Monroe Doctrine against a background of United States foreign relations in the early years of the republic.

Lesson 1: The Monroe Doctrine: U.S. Foreign Affairs (circa 1782-1823) and James Monroe
Lesson 2: The Monroe Doctrine: President Monroe and the Independence Movement in South America
Lesson 3: The Monroe Doctrine: A Close Reading
Lesson 4: The Monroe Doctrine: Whose Doctrine Was It?

President Martin Van Buren inherited “the severe downturn in the American economy that began in 1836.” In this lesson, students will analyze period political cartoons as they study the causes of the economic downturn, Van Buren’s response as president, and the reaction to his measures.

Using archival materials, re-creations, and classroom activities, help your students think about which aspects of everyday life have changed and which have stayed the same.

Students electronically recover and analyze artifacts from historic archeological sites in order to discover what these artifacts reveal about the people who used them.

In 1691, a group of girls from Salem, Massachusetts accused an Indian slave named Tituba of witchcraft, igniting a hunt for witches that left 19 men and women hanged, one man pressed to death, and over 150 more people in prison awaiting a trial. In this lesson, students will explore the characteristics of the Puritan community in Salem, learn about the Salem Witchcraft Trials, and try to understand how and why this event occurred.

This lesson helps students "hear" some of the diverse colonial voices that, in the course of time and under the pressure of novel ideas and events, contributed to the American Revolution. Students analyze a variety of primary documents illustrating the diversity of religious, political, social, and economic motives behind competing perspectives on questions of independence and rebellion.

In this lesson, students explore the First Industrial Revolution in early nineteenth-century America. By reading and comparing first-hand accounts of the lives of workers before the Civil War, students prepare for a series of guided role-playing activities designed to help them make an informed judgement as to whether the changes that took place in manufacturing and distribution during this period are best described as a 'revolution' or as a steady evolution over time.

In this lesson, students explore the First Industrial Revolution in early nineteenth-century America. Through simulation activities and the examination of primary historical materials, students learn how changes in the workplace and less expensive goods led to the transformation of American life.

Weigh the choices Washington faced in the nation’s first Constitutional crisis by following events through his private diary.

Curriculum Unit overview. What combination of experience, strategy, and personal characteristics enabled Washington to succeed as a military leader?
In this unit, students will read the Continental Congress's resolutions granting powers to General Washington; analyze some of Washington's wartime orders, dispatches, and correspondence in terms of his mission and the characteristics of a good general

Lesson 1: What Made George Washington a Good Military Leader? What Are the Qualities of a Good Military Leader?
Lesson 2: What Made George Washington a Good Military Leader? Powers and Problems
Lesson 3: What Made George Washington a Good Military Leader?
Leadership in Victory and Defeat
Lesson 4: What Made George Washington a Good Military Leader?
Leadership in Victory: One Last Measure of the Man

Students make connections between European voyages of discovery, colonial spheres of influence, and various aspects of American culture.

Students read excerpts from Columbus's letters and journals, as well as recent considerations of his achievemenets in order to reflect on the motivations behind Columbus's explorations.

After an overview of the events surrounding Paul Revere's famous ride, this lesson challenges students to think about the reasons for that fame. Using both primary and secondhand accounts, students compare the account of Revere's ride in Longfellow's famous poem with actual historical events, in order to answer the question: why does Revere's ride occupy such a prominent place in the American consciousness?

By juxtaposing the different promotional tracts of William Penn and David Pastorius, students will understand the ethnic diversity of Pennsylvania along with the “pull” factors of migration in the 17th century English colonies.