Historian s Apprentice WebQuest America: History of Our Nation

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1 Historian s Apprentice WebQuest America: History of Our Nation Unit Two: Forming a New Nation The French and Indian War Guiding Question: How did the effects of the French and Indian War lead to friction between American colonists and Britain? 1. List the sides that fought in the French and Indian War. Be sure to include the alliances. 2. When and where was the French and Indian War fought? 3. Why was this war fought? Whose political interests did each side represent? Whose political interests were represented by neither side? 4. How did economics play a role in the outbreak, the fighting, and the terms of settlement of the French and Indian War? 5. Financially, who were the real winners and losers of the French and Indian War? What did the winners gain, and what did the losers lose? Were groups who did not fight in the war winners or losers? How so? 6. What were the political reasons for the British agreeing to ban colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains? How is the economic theory of supply and demand demonstrated through the events that happened after the British government enacted this ordinance? 7. Group Product: Using the information you gathered from your research, prepare and deliver a multimedia presentation on the French and Indian War to the class. Be sure to include the following information: a. The groups that fought in the war and with whom they were aligned b. Where the major battles took place and who won them c. Who gained and lost financial power as a result of the war d. Include a section in which you list the perspectives of the following groups on the French and Indian War: i. American colonists ii. British politicians iii. Native Americans iv. British citizens v. French citizens U.S. History (for Chapter Two). Search for French and Indian War and then click on Background of the Conflict Fort Necessity National Battlefield and also on Fort Necessity-French and Indian War Education Program. Scroll down and click on Researchers. Under Special Materials, click on Prints & Photographs. Then search for French and Indian War and click on Pictorial Americana: French and Indian War. Scroll down to Youth and Education and click on Diplomatic History. Then click on Key Milestones and then the time period Under NC Culture & You, click on Interactive. Then click on French & Indian War. British Taxation & the American Colonies Guiding Question: Why did American colonists feel British taxation was unfair? 1. Define the term tax and apply it in a sentence of your own creation. 2. Why do governments tax citizens? Are taxes always applied fairly? Who gains power or loses power by paying, or refusing to pay, taxes? 1

2 3. Why did the British government force the colonies to pay taxes? Do you feel the colonists were correct for refusing to pay? Explain your answer fully. 4. What does taxation without representation mean? Should a representative take your views into consideration before you or your family is taxed? 5. Do governments use taxation as a tool to control citizens? Use the example of the British monarchy and the American colonists to illustrate your answer. You may also use modern examples. 6. Explain how certain colonial groups would benefit economically by not paying British taxes. Which social groups would lose money if the taxes were not paid? Can you make a connection between certain groups not wanting to pay taxes and the outbreak of the American Revolution? 7. Why do you suppose the colonists dressed as Native Americans when they dumped tea into Boston Harbor in 1773? What psychological effect would the colonists dressing as Native Americans have on the British and those loyal to them? 8. Group Product: Using the information you gathered from your research, create a pamphlet on Taxation in the American Colonies in which you give both the American and British sides of the issue. Be sure to include the following information: a. Why the British sought taxes from the colonists b. Why the colonists felt the taxes were unfair c. Who benefited and did not benefit as a result of British taxes d. Include primary source images, captions of your own creation, etc U.S. History (for Chapter Three) Follow this click path: Click on American Memory, Go, Browse, and Browse Collections by Time Period Scroll down and click on Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention ~ Documents ~ , and then scroll down and click on Timeline America During the Age of Revolution for various topics. The Boston Tea Party: Costume Optional?, Boycotting Baubles of Britain, and Revolutionary Tea Parties and the Reasons for Revolution. The Declaration of Independence Guiding Question: Why did American Patriots feel that they had a right to declare their independence from British rule? 1. Define the terms patriot and loyalist. Use them in sentences of your own creation. 2. Why did American Patriots believe that the differences between the colonies and Great Britain could not be resolved? Do you think that independence from Great Britain was the only course of action? Explain your answer fully. 3. Why did it take the colonists a year to declare independence after war broke out? What events helped convince many Americans that declaring independence was necessary? 4. Why did Patriot leaders believe that they had to explain their actions to other American colonists? To Great Britain? To the rest of the world? 5. Why was Thomas Jefferson selected to write the Declaration of Independence? Why do you think that he began the Declaration with the statement that it was a unanimous declaration of the 13 colonies? 6. What was the core idea of the Declaration of Independence? 2

3 7. Which Enlightenment ideas were used in the Declaration to justify breaking ties with Great Britain? Do you agree that the colonists had a right to replace a government that they thought was unjust? Why or why not? 8. In what way do American citizens make changes in their government today? 9. Group Product: Using the information you gathered from your research, prepare questions and answers for an interview with a colonist who is a Patriot and one who is a Loyalist before the outbreak of the war. Be sure the interview covers the following topics: a. Why they are Patriots or Loyalists b. What issues do they believe are causing conflict between the colonies and Britain c. How do they think that the differences between the colonies and Britain can be resolved d. What each would do if independence were to be declared and why U.S. History (for Chapter Three) Click on 6 8, Historical Documents, and Declaration of Independence. Search for Declaration of Independence and then click on National Park Service: A Multitude of Amendments, Alterations, and. Background on the Patriot Attitude Toward the Monarchy, and on The Declaration of Independence: An Expression of the American Mind, and also on Declare the Causes: The Declaration of Independence. Battles of the American Revolution Guiding Question: What challenges did American soldiers face during the American Revolution? 1. Define the term revolution as it appears in The American Revolution. Create a sentence in which you demonstrate your understanding of this term. 2. Is it ever worth risking your life for political reasons? Would you ever join a group in which you would risk your life to change a government? Do you think someone s death for a political idea actually changes anything for the better? Explain your answer fully. 3. Why did the British army employ Hessians as mercenaries? How are the reasons that governments use mercenaries today the same or different? 4. Given the great suffering of Washington s soldiers, do you think that you would have joined the Continental Army, or would you have stayed loyal to the King? What were the benefits of joining the rebellion? What would happen if Washington and his army lost the war? And if you remained loyal to the King, what might happen to you and to your property if the Americans won the war? 5. Why would other countries come to the aid of the American army with gifts of money, guns, and ammunition? Of what advantage would this be to them? 6. Why was the European style of warfare ineffective in the American colonies? How did the American patriots use guerrilla warfare to their advantage? 7. Was the Battle of Ticonderoga really a battle or was it more of a raid? Explain your answer fully. 8. Group Product: Using the information you gathered from your research, create a blog for Continental Army soldiers at Valley Forge. Use the blog to express their views about the conditions under which they have to live and to fight. Include at least 20 postings on the blog. Be sure your postings comment on the following topics: a. General living conditions b. Food and clothing 3

4 c. Weather d. Military training e. General George Washington f. Answer the guiding question U.S. History (for Chapter Three) Search for Valley Forge National Historical Park. Then, scroll down and click on Valley Forge National Historical Park History and Culture. Click on Teachers and then search for American Memory Timeline. Scroll down and then follow this click path: Teacher Resources Feature - American Memory Timeline: The American Revolution, Revolutionary War: The Turning Point, , and Washington Describes the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Winter Click on Exhibits. Scroll down and click first on Revolutionary America , then Why did it take so long?, and finally on Threats to the Continental Army. Revolutionary Personalities Guiding Question: How did the personal characteristics of the men and women who led the Revolution help the colonists to defeat the British? 1. How was Samuel Adams able to stir up Patriots to protest against British injustices? How important were his actions to the cause of independence? How did his cousin John Adams actions in defense of colonial rights differ from his? 2. In what ways did Patrick Henry use his eloquence and his strong opposition to British policies to promote independence? 3. What impact did Thomas Paine s strongly-worded arguments for colonial self-rule in Common Sense have on the American colonists? 4. Which of Benjamin Franklin s many talents were put to use in the Patriot cause? 5. How important was Thomas Jefferson s well-reasoned case for American independence in the Declaration to actually winning independence? 6. How did women, such as Mercy Otis Warren, Phyllis Wheatley, and Abigail Adams, support the Patriot cause? 7. Why was George Washington chosen as the leader of the Continental Army? What characteristics enabled him to lead the Continental Army to victory? 8. Which character traits did most Patriot leaders demonstrate in pursuing justice for the American colonies in their conflict with the British? Do you think that these traits are valuable to political leaders today? In what ways? 9. Group Product: Using the information you gathered from your research, prepare a public opinion poll on Which revolutionary made the greatest contribution to the Patriot cause. Present your poll to the class. Make sure that your poll includes the following: a. A selection of ten important Revolutionary personalities b. A brief biography of each c. A summary of each persons contribution to the Revolutionary cause d. The means for the class to make their selection

5 Search for The Presidents George Washington and then scroll down and click on National Park Service The Presidents (George Washington), and also search for The Presidents John Adams and then scroll down and click on National Park Service The Presidents (John Adams), and finally search for The Presidents Thomas Jefferson and then scroll down and click on National Park Service The Presidents (Thomas Jefferson). Benjamin Franklin s Many Hats, and Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy, and George Washington: The Living Symbol, and Jefferson vs. Franklin: Renaissance Men. U.S. History (for Chapter Three). Shays Rebellion Guiding Question: Why did Washington recommend vigour in action against Shays Rebellion? 1. Define the term vigour as Washington uses it in the quote above. Use this term in a sentence of your own creation. Notice how the term is spelled. Why? 2. Define the term rebellion as it is used in Shays Rebellion. Use the term in a sentence of your own creation. 3. Who was Daniel Shays and why did he lead a rebellion against the U.S. government? Where did this rebellion occur? Which people and groups stood to benefit or suffer from Shays rebellion? 4. Is there ever a time when a rebellion against a government is justified, or should citizens always do as they are told? Explain your answer fully, using your knowledge of history to support your opinion. 5. What is a debtor? Was it fair to place debtors in prison until they could pay their debts? Explain your answer fully. 6. Predict what might have happened if the new U.S. government did not put down Shays Rebellion. How would the future of our country have turned out differently if Shays and his followers were successful? 7. Would you have joined or condemned Shays and his followers? Why? 8. What psychological techniques might the government have used to persuade Shays and his fellow rebels to lay down their arms? Must situations like Shays Rebellion always end with bloodshed? 9. Group Product: Using the information you gathered from your research, prepare a five minute speech for Daniel Shays to give to his followers that states their grievances and justifies an uprising against the government. Present the speech to the class. Be sure it includes the following information: a. Who Shay and his followers were b. What their grievances were c. What their goals were d. What actions they needed to take e. How they believed that the government might react f. What their response to the government would be g. Answer the guiding question U.S. History (for Chapter Four) Search for Shays Rebellion and then scroll down and click on Springfield Armory National Historic Site Shays Rebellion 1787 (U.S. 5

6 The Constitution Guiding Question: How was the new American government different from the British colonial government? 1. Define the term constitution, as it is used in The United States Constitution. Use the term in a sentence of your own creation. 2. Should the United States have a constitution? Who decided that the country needed one? 3. Why were groups such as women, Native Americans, and African Americans, not asked to participate in the drafting and signing of the Constitution? 4. Why were the constitutional debates kept secret? Could all Americans have been represented equally at a convention that held secret debates? Whose voices do you think were heard the loudest at the convention, and whose voices were not heard at all? Why do governments hold some of their hearings and debates in secret? Is this practice good for democracy? 5. What was the main goal of the leaders who met in Philadelphia in 1787? Why did they think that a new structure of government was needed? What major problems did they have to overcome in writing a constitution? Do you think that compromise was the best way to settle their differences on the major issues? 6. Why do you think that the writers of the Constitution began the document with the phrase We the people of the United States? How important was this statement for the success of the Constitution? 7. Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution? What does it provide to U.S. citizens that the original Constitution did not? How does the Bill of Rights protect your freedoms? How important are these protections to life in the United States? 8. Group Product: Using the information you gathered from your research, hold a mock constitutional convention. Propose at least two amendments to the Constitution that you would like to see adopted and present them to the class for discussion and vote. Be sure to follow this format: a. Select the issue for each amendment you would like to propose b. Write each amendment: i. Give it a name ii. Make the content clear and concise c. Hold the mock constitutional convention before the class: i. Introduce each amendment ii. Allow for class discussion and possible revision iii. Call for an adoption vote on each proposed amendment d. Answer the guiding question. U.S. History (for Chapter Four) Click on 6 8, then Historical Documents, and finally Constitution. Click on American Memory. Then follow this click path: Browse, Browse Collections by Time Period, and Next scroll down and click On: Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention ~ Documents ~ , and then go to the left sidebar and click on Essay-To Form a More Perfect Union and then Creating a Constitution. Scroll down on the left sidebar and click on Online Exhibits. Next scroll down and click on The Charters of Freedom and then click on Constitution of the United States. The Constitutional Convention of 1787, The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said and The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union? 6