Revolutionary Perspectives

Unit Resources

Unit Resource Materials

Adams, Abigail. Letter to husband John Adams, 31 March 1776. http://www.masshist.org/

Adams, John. Letter in response to wife Abigail Adams, 14 April 1776. http://www.masshist.org/

Hall, Prince. "Petition: To the Honorable Counsel & House of Representatives for the State of Massachusetts Bay in General Court assembled, January 13, 1777." http://userpages.umbc.edu/~bouton/History101/SlavesFreedom.htm

Mintz, Steven. "Using Primary Source Documents." Magazine of History: Colonial Slavery, vol. 17 no. 3 (April 2003).

Nash, Gary B., Julie Roy Jeffrey, John R. Howe, Peter J. Frederick, Allen F. Davis, and Allan M. Winkler. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society, 6th ed. New York: Pearson Education Inc., 2004. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc.

Wheatley, Phillis. "To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for north-America, &c," Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral (1773). http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/

U.S. Continental Congress. Preamble. The Declaration of Independence (July 4,1776). http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/

Virginia Constitution (June 29, 1776). http://www.yale.edu/

Pennsylvania Constitution (Sept. 28, 1776). http://www.yale.edu/

Further Reading

Berkin, Carol. Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence.

Fischer, David Hackett. Liberty and Freedom: A Visual History of America's Founding Ideas.

Gates, Jr., Henry Louis. The Trials of Phillis Wheatley.

Martin, Joseph Plum. The Diary of Joseph Plumb Martin (excerpts available on the Web).

Nash, Gary B., ed. Encyclopedia of American History, Vol. III.

Randall, Willard. A Little Revenge: Benjamin Franklin & His Son.

Skemp, Sheila. William Franklin.

National Center for History in the Schools Teaching Units
Please note: These lessons may not be resold or redistributed.

The Enlightenment (PDF)

Lights of Liberty: Philadelphia's Revolutionary Experience (PDF)

Causes of the American Revolution: Focus on Boston (PDF)

Women of the American Revolution (PDF)

Magazine of History Articles

Using Primary Source Documents: African Americans in the Revolutionary War by Steven Mintz

Organization of American Historians: Talking History Radio Program

Revolutionary Mothers
Abigail Adams, Betsy Ross, Molly Pitcher — their names are prominently linked with the American Revolution. But what about the rank and file of women? Talking History's Linna Place and Carol Berkin discuss Berkin's recent book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence. Berkin is Professor of History at Baruch College and the City University of New York.

Airdate: July 11, 2005.
Listen Now: MP3 Format
Running time: 29 minutes

And Christopher Geist joins us to comment on the myth and reality surrounding the minuteman. Geist is Emeritus Professor of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University

Best of Talking History Program 4: Washington's Slaves
This week Talking History's Fred Nielsen discussed the complex story of George Washington, and his action of granting freedom to his slaves, with Henry Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. WiencekÕs previous book, The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White, received the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999. The show originally aired the week of February 28th, 2005.

Airdate: August 22, 2005.
Listen now: MP3 Format
Running time: 29 minutes