Subject Areas |
History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - Colonial America and the New Nation |
Literature and Language Arts
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Poetry |
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Time Required |
| Three 45-minute classes (depending on how much in-class time is spent on the writing assignment) |
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Skills |
| Interpreting primary documents
Using writing to interpret an historical event
Collaboration
Interpreting poetry |
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Date Posted |
| 5/21/2002 |
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Not Only Paul Revere: Other Riders of the American Revolution
IntroductionPaul Revere's ride is the most famous event of its kind
in American history. But other Americans made similar rides during the American
Revolution. Who were these men and women? Why were their rides important? Do they
deserve to be better known? Help your students develop a broader understanding
of the Revolutionary War as they learn about some less well known but no less
colorful rides that occurred in other locations. Give your students the opportunity
to immortalize these "other riders" in verse as Longfellow did for Paul Revere.
Heighten your students' skills in reading texts critically and making defendable
judgments based on them. Note: For a lesson comparing Longfellow’s
famous poem on Revere's ride to actual historical events, see the related EDSITEment
lesson Why Do
We Remember Paul Revere? Paul Revere’s Ride in History and Literature.
Guiding Question:What were the circumstances surrounding rides
of the American Revolution other than Paul Revere's? Why has posterity treated
them differently than Revere's ride? Learning Objectives After
completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to: - Recount
the circumstances surrounding other rides of the American Revolution.
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List similarities and differences between the other riders' feats and Revere's.
- Create an original poem based on historical fact.
- Argue why at
least one of the "other riders" does or does not deserve to be better known.
Preparing
to Teach this Lesson- Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested
materials and other useful websites. Download and print out selected documents
and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.
- To establish an
anticipatory set for this lesson, your students will read "The Ride of Tench Tilghman,"
a poem by Clinton Scollard describing one of the lesser known Revolutionary War
rides. Here is an account of that ride from an online essay, Tench
Tilghman, by John T. Marck, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed Internet
Public Library.
- …he continued as Washington's assistant and confidential
secretary serving with great distinction throughout the war. Additionally, it
was Tench Tilghman who brought the news of the surrender of General Cornwallis
and the British on October 19, 1781 following their defeat at Yorktown, to Congress.
Tilghman, in his journey to notify Congress in Philadelphia, first stopped in
Annapolis, Maryland and informed Maryland Governor Thomas Sim Lee of the surrender.
However, Governor Lee had already been informed of the news, and as a result,
sent the State House messenger, Jonathan Parker to Philadelphia with the news.
But, since those in Philadelphia were used to hearing information in the past
that turned out to be rumors, and afraid to celebrate too soon, they waited anxiously
for the official word—those dispatches that Tilghman carried. From Annapolis,
Tilghman boarded a ferry at Rock Hall, Maryland, and after stopping to rest and
see his family, continued on his journey to Philadelphia, arriving on October
24, 1781. He first delivered the news to the President of Congress, Thomas McKean,
and then later that afternoon, attired in his full uniform and dress sword, Tench
delivered the news to the members of Congress, as well as answered the numerous
questions about the Battle of Yorktown. In appreciation for his faithful service,
Congress awarded Tilghman a horse and another dress sword. That evening, a celebration
by torchlight was held in Philadelphia in honor of Colonel Tilghman and the victory
at Yorktown.
- The poem follows the historical account and hints that Washington
himself chose Tilghman for the honor. (Tilghman was Washington's assistant; and
who else but Washington would refer to Cornwallis as "my Cornwallis"?) Though
no heroism is attributed to the ride itself, the poem implies that Tilghman was
a worthy choice to spread the rather shocking but glorious news of the defeat
of the British. Scollard could see clearly in hindsight that the courage of the
Patriots and French had indeed turned the world upside down.
Suggested
Activities 1 Read aloud
to the group Clinton Scollard's poem The Ride of Tench Tilghman, available on
the EDSITEment resource American
Verse Project (from the main page, do a search for “Tench Tilghman”;
find Scollard’s poem in the results). Ask students what stands out for them
and what they recall about the poem after one hearing. Then, pass out copies of
the text and assign different sections of the poem to volunteers to read aloud
as the entire class follows along. As a class, discuss: - The story
being told.
- The historical importance Scollard attributes to the event
Tilghman's ride was announcing.
- The various locations mentioned (Williamsburg
and Philadelphia for example) and their significance for the colonies.
- The
humor in the poem (the watch at Philadelphia calling the rider a "tipsy clown";
Thomas McKean, the president of the Continental Congress, in his bedclothes).
- Student
opinions about Tilghman's achievement. Do they consider his feat superior to,
inferior to, or about the same as Paul Revere's?
2
Divide the class into three (or six, if appropriate) groups, assigning
each of the following patriots to one (or two) group(s): Jack Jouett, Sybil Ludington
(also spelled Luddington) and Tench Tilghman. It is the responsibility of each
group to take a stand as to whether or not its members believe their rider should
be remembered as well as we remember Paul Revere. The group's argument can also
take into account other accomplishments of their subject other than the ride.
If desired, students can use the PDF handout "Another
Revolutionary Rider" to help them as they read accounts of the ride. Students
can use these or other resources: - Jack Jouett
- Sybil Ludington
- Tench Tilghman
Lead the class in arriving at conclusions
from the information presented. In what ways did these other rides resemble and
differ from Paul Revere's ride? Why have they been overlooked? 3 After the
presentations are complete, tell the students that, according to the website of
the Paul Revere House,
accessible through the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet
Public Library, "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem 'Paul Revere's Ride,' written
in 1860 and published in 1861 in the Atlantic Monthly, transformed Paul Revere
from a relatively obscure, although locally known, figure in American history
into a national folk hero." Perhaps all these other riders need is a writer to
lift them out of obscurity. 4 Challenge students to write a poem or short
story based on one of the "other" rides. They should feel free to model their
piece after Longfellow's; for example, they could open with something akin to,
"Listen my children and we will review it, / the back country ride of Virginia's
Jack Jouett." If you wish, you can stage a reading in which each student presents
his or her poem or story to the class, along with key biographical details about
the chosen subject. Discuss why the students believe Revere's ride is the
best remembered of the four in this lesson. Extending the Lesson- Introduce
students to additional poems by Longfellow, some of which have historical themes.
Appropriate examples may be found:
- Other poets have written about Revere's ride
and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Have students read a few of these poems.
How did the poets treat the subjects? How accurate were their accounts? The EDSITEment
resource American Verse Project features the following:
- From "The Poems
of Sidney Lanier," a collection published in 1885, Psalm
of the West (page 128), starting with the lines:
- O'er Cambridge set
the yeomen's mark: Climb, patriot, through the April dark.
- From the 1903
collection "Ballads of Valor and Victory Being Stories in Song from the Annals
of America" by Clinton Scollard and Wallace Rice Scollard, The
Minute Men of Northboro'.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
Standards Alignment
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