In this section of our site, we have endeavored to provide teachers and students with useful primary and secondary materials to help foster understanding of early America through the life of George Washington. These resources can work on several levels. First, the twelve slides themselves provide a general chronology of the life of George Washington as well as secondary information on the larger historical context. Ideally, this background material reiterates your own class text readings and discussion. From here we hope you'll link to the accompanying primary document and questions. Manuscripts like Washington's school book exercises, an address to the Senate, his will and others give students the chance to examine the life and times of a leading figure in American history firsthand and in greater depth. Finally, throughout the lessons, we've tried to communicate just what it is that "historians" do by referring to the editing process along the way and giving students a chance to try their own hand at a transcription.
This course uses readings and discussions to focus on a series of short-term events that shed light on American politics, culture, and social organization. It emphasizes finding ways to make sense of these complicated, highly traumatic events, and on using them to understand larger processes of change in American history. The class also gives students experience with primary documentation research through a term paper assignment.
This site describes the two Battles of Saratoga. The two battles and surrender of the British in October of 1777 are often called the turning point of the American Revolution because they showed France that the ragtag Continental Army could win against Britain's well trained, disciplined troops. Within months (Feb. of 1778), France signed accords with Ben Franklin and other American envoys in Paris recognizing America's Declaration of Independence and pledging full military and financial support.
This section is intended to supplement the curricula, textbooks, and materials you currently use for lessons on the colonial period. The teacher-developed resources in the section will enhance the classroom experience for both you and your students. The lesson plans and DBQs are organized by grade level. The DBQ primary sources can stand alone in DBQ exercises. Images of the primary sources are independent of any extensive explanatory information, so that the images can be used as handouts.
This section contains reproducible copies of primary documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States, teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government and cross-curricular connections.
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