The Causes of The American Revolution

Lesson 1: Introduction to Unit

Time Estimated: 1 day

Objectives:

Students will:

1. Recall, discuss and make connections with what they’ve studied on colonial life.
2. Make connections with the colonists by making a list of their own gripes.
3. Categorize colonists’ complaints into political and economic.
4. Explain the Sugar Act and describe the colonists’ reactions to it.
5. Discuss why colonists might want to remain loyal to England.

NOTE: The idea for this lesson is from a lesson plan on Declaration of Independence-see EDSITEment

Materials:

• Board and markers
• Two column worksheet for note taking
• Computer lab or use one computer to project website on to a screen
• Excerpt from the Sugar Act and questions
• The Sugar Act
• Notes on Sam Adams and the Sugar Act

Strategies:

1. Hook: Ask your students if they ever have any gripes about school life. Surprise! Surprise! They will! Have them brainstorm reasonable complaints. Model for them a reasonable and an unreasonable complaint.
2. Spend about 5-10 minutes writing their complaints on one side of the board. Tell them we will get back to their gripes in a few minutes.
3. Tell them to pretend they are colonists. What gripes would they have about colonial life under the king of England? They will remember facts from the colonial unit. Brainstorm 5-10 minutes about the complaints they have about colonial life. Skip space between their gripes on school life and make a list of colonial life complaints. (Just for fun, see if there are any similarities.)
4. Go back to their list. Ask them to select 3 of the gripes as a class. Then with the partner he/she is seated beside, brainstorm what they could acceptably do about it. In between the two lists of gripes, write what they said could be done about their complaints.
5. As a class activity, list what the colonists could do about their complaints. Tell them they will find out exactly what the colonists did about those complaints and they will find other reasons the colonists were dissatisfied with England.
6. Turn your attention to the Sugar Act. Project the Sugar Act website of the document on a screen so the students can witness the length of it.
7. Pass out the excerpt from the Sugar Act with the questions to answer.
8. Answer the first question as a group. Then let them work on the rest with a partner.
9. Go over the answers with the students. Use the notes on the Sugar Act and Sam Adams to give the students more information on the Sugar Act and the colonists’ reactions.
10. Homework: Have the students write a letter to you telling you what he/she learned about the Sugar Act and Sam Adams. Tell them to include these words and phrases: Sugar Act, smuggling, searching, Sam Adams, James Otis, and “taxation without representation.”

Differentiation:

This lesson hooks all students by starting out with something with which they all can identify, griping. It utilizes several learning styles including whole class activities and partner work.