Joeseph Plumb Martin: The Experiences of a Common Soldier

Washington could command the army—but who actually had to fight the war?

Would you join?  Why or why not?

If ordinary people were essential to winning the Revolution, what did they have the right to expect from the new government after the Revolution was over?

Why George Washington?

 

The Obvious Choice to Lead the Continental Army

Now that we've studied the leaders of revolutionary movements in England, France, and Latin America, let's take a look at George Washington and why he was uniquely qualified to lead the Continental Army during the American Revolution.  Watch the video linked above and then type your answers to these questions:

1) What previous experience did George Washington have in leading troops?

2) What colony was Washington from?

3) Why were some of the delegates at the Second Continental Congress hoping to have someone from Washington’s colony be commander?

4) How did Washington gain his wealth?

5) What did Washington wear to the Second Continental Congress that might have shown his “ambition” to be Commander?

6) What does the video say about Washington’s height? Why do you think his height affected what people thought of him?

7) List two adjectives that historians used to describe Washington’s character.

8) Washington was described as having a “ruthless and intense focus.” What does this mean to you?

9) What makes a good leader?

10) Think about some of the characteristics that you said make a good leader. How does George Washington compare?

To Tell the Truth

 Three contestants claim to be the same person. Four celebrities question the contestants, then vote for the one they think is the real person. This simple game has endured as a TV classic for over 45 years. Today's assignment pays tribute to the show that asked the burning question... 

 "Will the real ________ please stand up?" 

 With your group you are each to choose a fact for the historical figure assigned you. Use your Biography Handout as a resource. All of your facts should be made false except one. After presenting  your facts in front of the class they will try to guess which is true.  The more realistic/ believable your facts the better chance you have of fooling your classmates and winning the game. 

  

 Do you have what it takes TO TELL THE TRUTH (1969-1978) (2018+)?

Thomas Jefferson

Napolean Bonaparte

Toussaint Louverture

Simón Bolívar

José de San Martín

Miguel Hidalgo

Common Sense

"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."    

On January 9th, 1776, the pamphlet "Common Sense" was published in Philadelphia. The pamphlet immediately becomes a bestseller, selling tens of thousands of copies across America. In "Common Sense," Thomas Paine, the author and violent foe of aristocracy and monarchy, attacks the King and Parliament and offers Americans an alternative to British rule: true independence.

Diction and Pathos in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

Paine’s groundbreaking pamphlet Common Sense is not only one of the best selling publications in American history; it was the intellectual spark that lit the fuse for the American Revolution.

So why did only six people show up at his funeral?

In contrast with many of the other Founding Fathers, who came from money, Paine was born into humble circumstances in England. His life was a roller coaster of ups and downs. He won great praise but his writings also generated a great deal of controversy.

Thomas Paine died in New York in 1809. Because of his controversial writings against orthodox religion in The Age of Reason, the local Quaker cemetery refused to let him be buried there. He was buried instead on his farm. In 1819, an English journalist named William Cobbett dug up Paine's bones. Cobbett wanted to give Paine a hero's reburial in England. The plan failed, the British public did not care, and the bones remained in Cobbett’s possession when he died. After that, the bones were scattered and lost.

Should Paine be honored with a musical like Alexander Hamilton?

The Adventures of Thomas Paine’s Bones

You Say You Want a REVOLUTION?

This song was released in 1968. What was it about?

We are about to study revolutions that happened roughly 1750–1900.

Why might people separated by almost 200 years use the same word—"revolution"—to describe political change?

Read the introduction to Chapter 15 and then answer these questions:

WHAT IS A REVOLUTION?

What does "revolution" mean?

Why do people want revolutions?

What are people usually trying to change?

Can a revolution be peaceful?

Is revolution always a good thing?

Who decides whether a revolution is justified?

Rock Me Amadeus!

ROCK ME AMADEUS!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart came to fame during the Age of Enlightenment. His compositions were informed by the spirit of that era, and Enlightenment ideas were integral to his music, particularly the operas. In fact, whether we would even have some of his most beloved operas without the guiding principles of the age is doubtful.

Mozart’s genius did not spring forth in isolation. In fact, he was very much engaged in the world around him, and his “moment,” so to speak, coincided with the full flowering of the Age of Enlightenment. New thinkers – among them Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot – sought to flush away medieval attitudes about religion and the “divine right” of kings and replace them with a revolutionary faith in reason, order, and science.

WAS MOZART A TROUBLEMAKER OR AN ENLIGHTENMENT HERO AHEAD OF HIS TIME? YOU DECIDE!

Feudalism vs. Free Market

How Accurate is Monty Python's Anarcho-Syndicalist Peasant Scene?

By the High Middle Ages (about 1000–1250 C.E.), Western Europeans had developed the system of feudalism. Feudalism provided people with protection and safety by establishing a stable social order.

Under this system, people were bound to one another by promises of loyalty. In theory, all the land in the kingdom belonged to the monarch (usually a king, but sometimes a queen). A large amount of land was also owned by the Church. The king kept some land for himself and gave fiefs (FEEFS), or land grants, to his most important lords, who became his vassals. In return, each lord had to supply the king with knights in times of war. A lord then enlisted lesser lords and knights as his vassals. At times, these arrangements were written down, and some of these contracts even survive to this day in museums.

At the bottom of the social system were peasants. Lords rented some of their land to the peasants who worked for them. However, some peasants, called serfs, were “tied” to the land they worked, which meant that they could not leave the lord’s land without permission and had to farm his fields in exchange for a small plot of their own.

Why did Feudalism work?  What choice did the peasants have?  Was it fair?

A key figure in the British Enlightenment was the Scottish philosopher Adam Smith. His book The Wealth of Nations laid the foundations for modern economics. Smith believed that a free market was driven by competition and individuals' self-interest. These drivers serve as an "invisible hand" that guides market activity to the benefit of society as a whole.

It is his own advantage, indeed, and not that of the society, which he has in view … He intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.

—Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776

However, Smith also argued that a successful economic system must help the poor. As he wrote: "No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable."

Answer these questions after our in class Feudalsim Activity:

1) Who became wealthy?Why?
2) Who struggled? Why?
3) Did wealth depend on:Your original social class?Your economic decisions?Luck?

4) If you played the game over again what would you do differently?  Why?

5) Compare and conntrast Feudalism to Capitalism.  Which is a better system?  Why?