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1. Designed by Scott Deal
THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION

2. The American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783. The conflict was between
the thirteen North American colonies and British. Both the American Colonists and British
had different perspectives on the war. The follow documents are primary sources from
both the American Colonists and British. As you analyze and examine the documents,
take into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be
presented in the document. I want the students to use evidence to support their answers
to the questions pertaining to each document and form an argument based on what they
have learned and think.
Generative Question: Did the American Colonists have legitimate motivations for
initiating war and separating from Britain?
Washington Crossing the
Delaware by Emanuel
Leutze, 1851 Source

3. Thomas Paine published a
pamphlet titled "Common
Sense" in 1776. His ideas
within the document
challenged the authority of the
British government and royal
monarchy and he argued for
independence from Great
Britain.
Excerpts from Thomas Paine's
"Common Sense"
Men of passive tempers look somewhat
lightly over the offenses of Great Britain,
and, still hoping for the best, are apt to
call out, "Come, come we shall be
friends again for all this". But… Then tell
me whether you can hereafter love,
honor, and faithfully serve the power
that hath carried fire and sword into
your land?
… No man was a warmer wisher for a
(peaceful settlement) than myself,
before the fatal 19th of April 1775 (the
battles of Lexington and Concord,
Massachusetts, occurred on this day),
but the moment the event of that day
was made known, I rejected the
hardened, sullen-tempered (King of
England) for ever.
Scaffolding Questions:
• Why did Thomas Paine focus his
audience toward the common people?
• Why was Paine unwilling to be
reconciled with Britain?
https://archive.org/details/commonsense00painrich

4. Thomas Whately, author of the Stamp Act, wrote a
pamphlet labeled, "Considerations..." in 1766.
Whately was an advisor to George Grenville, British
Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1763 to 1765.
Inside this document, Whately describes why the
British were justified in imposing taxes on American
colonists.
Excerpts from Thomas Whately's "Considerations..."
Scaffolding Questions:
• Why did Whately feel that the American
colonists should be willing to pay higher taxes to
Parliament?
We are not yet recovered from a War undertaken
solely for their (the Americans') protection… a War
undertaken for their defense only… They should
contribute to the preservation of the advantages
they have received…
Source

5. Paul Revere engraved this
picture of the Boston
Massacre in 1770.
Scaffolding Questions:
• Why would Paul Revere engrave this
event?
• What might the colonists think of the
event and the British after seeing this
picture?
Source

6. British Cartoon published by Sayer and
Bennett in London in 1774.
Scaffolding Questions:
• How would this cartoon influence British people?
• How might colonists react to this photo?
Source

7. John Dickinson wrote "Letters
from a Farmer in Pennsylvania"
from 1767-1768. Dickinson was
a Pennsylvania political leader
who served in the Stamp Act
Congress of 1765. Later in his
career, he served in the
Continental Congress and then
the Constitutional Convention.
In the following statement,
Dickinson condemned some of
the new taxes being imposed by
Parliament.
Excerpts from John Dickinson's
"Letter From A Farmer"
There is another late act of Parliament,
which appears to me to be
unconstitutional, and… Destructive to
the liberty of these colonies… The
parliament unquestionably possesses a
legal authority to regulate the trade of
Great Britain and all her colonies. I have
looked over every statute (law) relating
to these colonies, from their first
settlement to this time; and I find every
one of them founded on this principle,
till the Stamp Act administration… All
before, I calculated to regulate trade…
The raising of revenue… Was never
intended… Never did the British
Parliament, (until the passage of the
Stamp Act) think of imposing duties in
America for the purpose of raising a
revenue.
[The Townshend Acts claim the
authority] to impose duties on these
colonies, not the regulation of trade…
But for the single purpose of levying
money upon us.
Scaffolding Questions:
• According to Dickinson, what taxes
was Parliament justified in imposing on
the colonies?
• Why did he object to the Stamp Act
and the Townshend Acts?
Source

8. Nicholas Cresswell was an
Englishman who wrote about his
travels though the American
Colonies in 1774-1777. The
following excerpts are dated
October 19, 1774 and tell of his visit
to Alexandria, Virginia. (From The
Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774
– 1777, edited by Samuel Thornley.
New York: The Dial Press, Inc.,
1924)
Excerpts from Nicholas
Cresswell's "The Journal of
Everything here is in the utmost confusion.
Committees are appointed to inspect into
the characters and conduct of every
tradesman, to prevent them selling tea or
buying British manufactures. Some of them
have been tarred and feathered, others
had their property burnt and destroyed by
the populace…
The King Is openly cursed, and his
authority set at defiance… Everything is
ripe for rebellion. The New Englanders by
their canting, whining, insinuating tricks
have persuaded the rest of the colonies
that the government is going to make
absolute slaves of them.
Scaffolding Questions:
• Who did Cresswell blame for the
growing antagonism between the
British and the American colonists?
Source

9. Designing a Document Based Question, or DBQ, has been a great experience. I learned the
importance of creating a dynamic generative/essential question that serves as the framework of the
assignment. Just as critical, are the five to eight related documents that will assist the students in
answering the generative question. The documents can be sources including images, texts, videos, or
audio. Each document will also include scaffolding questions to assist the student in examining the
document.
The goal of the DBQ I created was to design and utilize a generative question, documents, and
scaffolding questions that incorporated historical thinking skills. I wanted students to analyze the
documents, gather evidence from the sources and create an argument, or side, about a topic. The
topic of my DBQ is the American Revolutionary War. This DBQ could be used as a conclusion of a unit.
I think the DBQ assignment process has given me a great deal of value as a learning experience.
Creating interesting and engaging questions and finding quality sources has helped me learn and
work through the process of finding content for my classroom. The challenges I had were making sure
the assignment incorporated proper historical thinking skills. I found a lot of success in discovering a
variety of documents and sources. Some of the lessons I learned were the importance of peer review
and advice from peers.
Next time, I would approach this assignment with the intent of finding more engaging documents such
as video and audio. I thought this assignment was clear and intriguing. I look forward to creating a
DBQ assignment in my future career. ~ Scott Deal LinkedIn
Reflection

10.
Complete iBook available
free at iTunes
FROM - EXPLORING
HISTORY: VOL II

11. This eBook is a collaborative project of Peter Pappas
and his Fall 2014 Social Studies Methods Class
School of Education ~ University of Portland, Portland Ore.
Graduate and undergraduate level pre-service teachers were assigned the
task of developing an engaging research question, researching supportive
documents and curating them into a DBQ suitable for middle or high
school students.
For more on this class, visit the course blog EdMethods
For more on the assignment and work flow tap here.
Chapters in chronological order
1. The American Revolution by Scott Deal
2. The Pig War by Andy Saxton
3. Cesspool of Savagery by Michelle Murphy
4. Chemical War by Erik Nelson
5. Americans’ Perceptions of Immigration
in the 1920s by Ceci Brunning and Jenna Bunnell
6. The New Deal and the Art of Public Persuasion
by Kari VanKommer
7. Combat Soldiers in Context by Kristi Anne McKenzie
8. The Marshall Plan: Altruism or Pragmatism?
by Sam Kimerling
9. Little Rock Nine: Evaluating Historical Sources
by Christy Thomas
10. First Ladies as a Political Tool by Emily Strocher
EXPLORING HISTORY: VOL II
xi
Engaging questions and historic
documents empower students to be
the historian in the classroom.

12. Cover image: Replica of old French globe
Date:1 January 1, 2013
Petar Milošević
Peter Pappas, editor
School of Education ~ University of Portland
His popular blog, Copy/Paste features downloads of his instructional
resources, projects and publications. Follow him at Twitter @edteck.
His other multi-touch eBooks are available at here. For an example of
one of his eBook design training workshops tap here.
CC BY-NC 3.0 Peter Pappas and his students, 2014
The authors take copyright infringement seriously. If any copyright holder has
been inadvertently or unintentionally overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to
remove the said material from this book at the very first opportunity.
xiiSource