hist.g5.f.his.american_revolution_multi_perspective
Analyze the American Revolution (1775-1783) from multiple perspectives — Patriots, Loyalists, ~5,000+ Black soldiers on the Patriot side, ~20,000+ enslaved African Americans fleeing to the British under Dunmore's Proclamation, Indigenous nations split, French alliance
Analyze the Revolution's military and political course using the 5-Column Multi-Perspective chart MG-14 (PATRIOTS / LOYALISTS / NEUTRALS / INDIGENOUS NATIONS SPLIT / FRENCH AND OTHER FOREIGN ALLIES). Major events and battles: (a) April 19 1775 Lexington and Concord; (b) June 17 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill (commendation of Salem Poor + Peter Salem); (c) November 1775 Dunmore's Proclamation (Virginia Royal Governor Lord Dunmore offers freedom to enslaved African Americans who flee to the British army — eventually ~20,000+ enslaved African Americans choose this option); (d) January 1776 publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense (which articulated the case for independence in plain English and sold 100,000+ copies in 3 months); (e) March 31 1776 Abigail Adams's 'Remember the Ladies' letter; (f) July 4 1776 Declaration of Independence; (g) August 1776 Battle of Long Island (Patriot defeat); (h) December 25-26 1776 Washington crosses the Delaware → Battle of Trenton; (i) October 1777 Battle of Saratoga (decisive Patriot victory; triggers French alliance); (j) February 1778 Franco-American Treaty of Alliance (Franklin in Paris); (k) Winter 1777-78 Valley Forge (Continental Army survival; Baron von Steuben Prussian drill master; ~12% of Continental Army was Black including the 1st Rhode Island Regiment); (l) 1779 Spanish entry under Bernardo de Gálvez; (m) October 19 1781 Battle of Yorktown (Comte de Rochambeau + Comte de Grasse + Continental Army defeat Cornwallis); (n) September 3 1783 Treaty of Paris (British recognize US independence; western boundary at Mississippi; no provisions for Indigenous nations or for enslaved African Americans evacuated to Nova Scotia in the 'Book of Negroes' 1783 ledger). INDIGENOUS NATIONS SPLIT: most Iroquois Confederacy nations (Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca) sided with Britain under Thayendanegea/Joseph Brant; the Oneida and Tuscarora sided with the Patriots; Cherokee mostly with Britain; Catawba mostly with Patriots; the Continental Army's Sullivan Campaign 1779 against the Haudenosaunee was devastating to Iroquois villages. WOMEN: Mercy Otis Warren wrote satirical plays; Abigail Adams wrote 'Remember the Ladies'; Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles April 1777; Deborah Sampson served disguised as Robert Shurtleff 1782-83; Esther De Berdt Reed organized the Ladies Association 1780. Apply MG-7 routine to Common Sense, Dunmore's Proclamation, the Book of Negroes 1783, Mercy Otis Warren's play 'The Group' 1775. MANDATORY trauma-informed MG-15 protocol on Dunmore's Proclamation content.
- Analyze the Declaration of Independence (July 4 1776) — its principles AND its contradictions — using the Founding Contradiction T-chart MG-13
- Analyze the 12-year Road to Revolution 1763-1775 — Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre, Tea Act and Boston Tea Party, Coercive Acts, First Continental Congress — including Patriot organizing AND Loyalist perspectives
- Analyze Dunmore's Proclamation (1775) and the Book of Negroes (1783) — Black wartime mobility and choice during the Revolution
- Capstone — Founding Documents and Many Voices Exhibit: 40-page bound class-authored storybook, 3-copy Foxfire distribution (self / school library / descendant-community organization) + federal Civic-Action Letter mailed
- Believing the Revolution was a single story of 'Patriots vs. British' — 15-30% of colonists were Loyalist, ~20,000+ enslaved African Americans fled to the British under Dunmore's Proclamation.
- Believing 'Patriots = all colonists' — only 40-45% of colonists supported independence by 1776.
- Forgetting the French alliance — Yorktown 1781 was won with decisive French naval power (Comte de Grasse) and French ground troops (Comte de Rochambeau).
- Believing 'all Indigenous nations sided with the British' — the Oneida and Tuscarora sided with the Patriots; the Iroquois Confederacy was SPLIT.
- Forgetting Black soldiers — ~5,000+ Black soldiers served in the Continental Army, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment was 1/3 Black and Indigenous, Salem Poor and Peter Salem were commended for bravery at Bunker Hill.