We’ve Had It!

 


April 13, 1775

Hear ye! Hear ye! All is not calm in Boston Village this day. After months of British military occupation, rumor has it that the British regulars are about to be moved. Let’s join the Patriots and see if we can find out if any mischief is abreast. You will be a spy and will be charged with the following mission.

I Live in the village of Boston for the next seven days recording all vital information about the cause. (Your top-secret recording materials can be obtained from your teacher.) A. Number of British soldiers and weapons

What will their uniforms look like?

B. Number of Colonial soldiers (militia)

What will their uniforms look like?

C. Leaders in the village who are Tories/Loyalists (Choose 2 and write brief paragraphs describing their parts in the conflict.)

General Thomas Gage

Major John Pitcairn

Governor Thomas Hutchinson

John Singleton Copley

Samuel Quincy

D. Leaders in the village who are Patriots (Choose 2 and write brief paragraphs describing their parts in the conflict.)

John Adams

Samuel Adams

Dr. Joseph Warren

Paul Revere

John Hancock

Dr. Samuel Prescott

Prudence Wright

Patience Wright

E. Using your map of the village of Boston label these sites. (If the militia have to attack Boston they need to know crucial sites.)

Powder house

watch house

Common

Beacon Street

Treamont Street

village garden

Ropewalk

windmill

Fanuiel Hall

harbor

F. Using Timeliner 5.0 create a timeline with these dates. Your span will be from April 13, 1775 to April 23, 1775.

*February 1, 1775 Second Provincial Congress urges "minute men" to drill and arm

*February 9, 1775 Parliament declares Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion

*February 26, 1775 General Gage sends troops to Salem to seize military stores and they find none

*March 1775 Provincial Patriot leaders station guards in Concord and place couriers along the route to Concord to alarm the countryside if the British should march to Concord to seize military supplies

*April 15, 1775 General Gage is ordered to destroy rebel’s military stores at Concord

*April 19, 1775 at 12 midnight British column left Boston crossing the Charles River

*April 19, 1775 Paul Revere followed closely behind to alarm the countryside

*April 19, 1775 at dawn Major Pitcairn arrived in Lexington and encountered John Parker and his militia. A shot rang out.

British column advances to Concord – more shots and a skirmish

British retreat to Boston

*April 19, 1775 Seige of Boston begins

*April 23, 1775 Provincial Congress authorizes an American Army of 13,000

 G. Draw or create a 3-D map of the route from Boston to Concord. Label all key sites.

When you complete your mission you will return to March 2002 and present your evidence to the Major, your classroom teacher. A military team (your class) will listen to your report. This will be sufficient to prove that you entered into the populace of Massachusetts, 1775. You are advised to compare your quality of work to the enclosed rubric.
 
 

*Information may be accessed from these sites:

Thinkquest Site

WPI Site     Enter Battle of Lexington and Concord in Search Box

Braden's Site

**Library reference books including:

Andrews, Joseph L. & Contributors Revolutionary Boston, Lexington and Concord Colonial America, Volumes 1 –10
    Grolier Education
Multimedia Encyclopedias Classroom textbooks Houghton Mifflin Company Workbook for Reading and Review Classroom reference books
 
 

Think about this!

Who do you think started the American Revolution with that first shot? Why do you feel this way?