Loyalists and Patriots

In these lessons, students will investigate the points of view of colonists who supported remaining loyal to Britain and those of colonists who supported breaking ties with Britain. 
 

Duration
Multiple days
Lesson Type
Project Based Lesson

Lesson Created By: Cherlyn Anderson and Margaret Lorimer

Lesson Partners: S2TEM Centers SC, ETV Education, Knowitall.org

Essential Question

In what ways might age and economic stability affect one’s point of view about government and government policies?
 

Grade(s):

  • 8

Subject(s):

Recommended Technology:

  • Internet access for student research
  • Electronic devices to record student work using Paperslides.  These may be flip video cameras, iPods, iPads, tablets, cell phones, etc.  

Other Instructional Materials or Notes:

  • Handouts of excerpts
  • Two Points of View graphic organizer
  • T-chart for research
  • Paper for Paperslides project
  • Paperslides video peer review rubric
  • Papersildes video teacher feedback rubric
  • Paperslides planning pages 
  • Page 1 has room for 5 slides; if students want to include more slides, they can draw them on the back
  • Page 2 is a slide layout page; students will either need multiple copies of this page OR they can use it as a guide to sketch additional layouts.

Lesson Progression

Day One
Background information: Students have studied the series of Acts passed by the British Parliament as well as the colonial responses to those Acts. Strong feelings regarding America’s relationship to Great Britain are evident, and not everyone is in favor of independence. Two main groups emerge: the Loyalists, who wish to remain subjects of the King of England; and the Patriots, who want to declare independence. Looking at the question of choices, and how decisions are made, students will look at arguments that were made by colonists on both sides of the debate regarding America’s continued relationship with Britain and come to some conclusions on how decisions concerning government and policy were made in the past.

Engage:  Use the video “The Stamp Act” to briefly review the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Loyalists vs Patriots iMovie to intro the idea colonists were split into two main groups:  one that wanted to break from Great Britain and one that did not.

Loyalists and Patriots:  Two Points of View

  • Students work in pairs using a graphic organizer to examine two documents.
  • Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (excerpt)
  • “The True Interest of America Impartially Stated, 1776”  (excerpt)
  • Pairs Square to compare notes 
  • Whole class debrief
  • What two points of view were expressed?
  • Which point of view seems most reasonable to you?  Why?
  • Think about the point of view which does not seem reasonable.  With what parts of that opposing point of view might you agree?

Days Two & Three:

  • Research and Paperslides Storyboards
  • Tell students they will research information about Loyalists and Patriots that they will use to create a Paperslides project.  Share an example with the class before they begin their research.
  • See:  WWII Paperslides Project - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e56xZXZOS6s

Research for Paperslides project

  • Students work in groups of three or four to research Loyalists and Patriots.  Each student has their own T chart to record information.
  • The goal is to collect information about each point of view to use in their Paperslides project

Possible resources:

Preparation for Paperslide project:

  • Students study the Wiki explaining how to use Paperslides.
  • Student groups create a storyboard for their Paperslides.
  • Students decide which responsibility they will take in the project.
  • Videographer
  • Narrator
  • Paper Slider

Day Four:

  • Rehearse and record Paperslides project

Day Five:

  • Share Paperslides projects with class
  • How will students share their work?
  • Each group will complete a Paperslides recording.

 

Teacher Notes

Extensions/Differentiation:

Kids Debate Loyalists v Patriots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypfm7yU-X3w 

Women of the Revolutionary War  
10 Amazing Women of the Revolutionary War
https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/10/10-amazing-women-revolutionary-war/ 

Student Resources:

  • Handout of excerpt:  Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
  • Handout of excerpt:  “The True Interest of America Impartially Stated, 1776”  
  • Graphic organizer – modified from Reading Like a Historian → will compare the pair of documents; initial and rebuttal
  • Websites from Resources section for research purposes

 

Dorcas Richardson - Teacher Resource Guide

The Dorcas Richardson program tells the true story about one of Francis Marion’s men, Richard Richardson, his wife Dorcas and their “battle” with Colonel Tarleton. Captain Richardson served under Francis Marion, better known as the Swamp Fox. After six years of fighting, Richard was left scarred from smallpox and when he and his escort returned to his home, he discovered that Marion’s enemy Tarleton was there, holding his wife Dorcas prisoner. This story depicts the courage and steadfast love of Dorcas Richardson for her family and her newly formed nation. Despite a tremendous effort by Tarleton to force Dorcas into betraying her husband’s whereabouts, she remained true to both her husband and the American cause. Taped at Historic Camden, this story takes us back in time to where South Carolinians fought each other and the British. (* Please preview before use.)

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Paper Slide Video: Your Next (or First) BYOD Technology Integration Project

Paper-Slide Videos are one practical type of technology integration project which can work well in a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) setting, and in this post I’d like to share some lessons learned from last week when I helped one of the 7th grade geography teachers in our district facilitate a three day paper-slide video project which ultimately culminated in 33 short videos (most less than 2 minutes long).

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How to make a Paper Slide Video

For more info on Paper Slide Videos, visit http://www.fi.ncsu.edu/project/fizz/p...
Recorded on February 1, 2012 using a Flip Video camera.

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Paper Slide Video Guidelines

Paperslide “how tos”:

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WWII Paper Slide Project

An example of a Paper Slide Project.

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Parliament Acts and Colonial Responses - PowerPoint

PowerPoint that compares acts by Parliament and colonial responses.

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The Stamp Act (brief)

From the 1760's onward, colonial anger grows as the British pass a series of taxes and laws. With each one, the two groups move closer to war. The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first internal tax levied directly on American colonists by the British government.

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Loyalists vs Patriots iMovie

Schooltube video - Which side will you choose?

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Abridged interpretation of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

An Abridged Interpretation of Common Sense by Thomas Paine.

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Charles Inglis, “The True Interest of America Impartially Stated, 1776

One of the best evidences of the power of Paine's Common Sense is the number of Loyalists who leaped to the counterattack. Some of these are better known to history then the Anglican clergyman Charles Inglis, but none made a more succinct statement of the forebodings of Loyalists. His anonymous counterblast against Paine was entitled, The True Interest of America Impartially Stated in Certain Strictures on a Pamphlet Intitled Common Sense.

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Daniel Leonard’s letter of January 9, 1775

Daniel Leonard published these letters in the Massachusetts Gazette, in which, under the pen name of Massachusettensis, he argued the case for submission to the crown and warned of the dangers of rebellion. These letters constitute one of the ablest statements of the Loyalist case by an American. John Adams has reacted to this publication in an article which he signed as Novanglus. The links in the text go to the quotations by John Adams and how he tried to refute them.

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John Adams, Novanglus, February 6, 1775

John Adams response to Novanglus against submission to the crown and to establish the case for independence.

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PBS - The Philadelphia Chronicle, 1776

A comprehensive chronicle of the American Revolution by PBS.

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Loyalists, Patriots, and Fence Sitters

It is impossible to know the exact number of American colonists who favored or opposed independence. This article deals with this issue.

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PBS - Sally Fields’ Loyalist Ancestor (Finding Your Roots)

With the help of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Sally Field discovers her 5th Great-Grandfather, a devoted Tory who was executed during the Revolutionary War. After the war, his widow, Field's 5th Great-Grandmother, fled with her family back into the arms of the British Empire.

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American History from Revolution to Reconstruction and Beyond

Links to important events of the Revolution - 1751-1775

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Knowitall.org - Andrew Pickens | SC Hall of Fame

Forced to make a choice to become a member of the militia.

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Paper Slides Planning sheet

Google document

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Loyalist vs. Patriots T Chart

Google document

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Student Graphic Organizer: Loyalist & Patriots

Google document

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Excerpt from "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine

Primary source

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Chasing the Swamp Fox, Part 2 - Revolutionary War

Dr. Walter Edgar discusses the terminology used during this period, such as the Patriots, the Whigs, and the Partisans from the American side, for those who fought the King. The British called them Rebels. Dr. Christine Swager brings up the Continental Army, state troops, and local militia. Dr. Edgar states that the Americans called those who supported the King the Tories, the British called them Loyalists, and the diehard Patriots called them traitors. Dr. Swager states that there was a third group called Tory militia, who were local people who supported the British, who Cornwallis hoped would be able to hold the territory. Dr. Edgar states that they never had the same people with them all the time and the size fluctuated depending on where the enemy was. In Marion's band, there were Scots-Irish, French Huguenot, English and African American. Under Marion, there were free persons of color, slaves who were fighters, Native Americans, and local whites from the Pee Dee. Dr. Daniel Littlefield states that Africans were already involved in interracial groups in the backcountry, and when the Revolution broke out, runaway slaves or freed slaves joined Marion, who did not have the kind of racial ideology that would prevent him from attracting both black and white to his cause. One of Marion's slaves served faithfully as his servant and cook.

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The Southern Campaign of the American Revolution

The Southern Campaign was critical in determining the outcome of the American Revolutionary War, yet the South’s importance has been downplayed in most historical accounts to date.

Eight online educational lessons are based around short video segments produced in a documentary style, consisting of historical reenactments, demonstrations, interviews with historians, period artifacts and music, artistic renderings, and maps. Media for the series is on the web at SCETV’s KnowItAll.org (see below) and lesson plans are at SCETV’s LearningWhy.org.

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American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) Collection | Wars & Conflicts Collection

Learn the individual stories of men and women who were involved in major events leading up to, during and after the The War for Independence (1775-1783).

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Dorcas Richardson - Loyalists vs. Patriots

The movie The Patriot was based loosely on Francis Marion fighting Colonel Tarleton. The Story of Dorcas Richardson is a true story taped at Historic Camden about one of Marion’s men and his wife’s “battle” with the British Officer.

The following clips will help students understand the different view of Patriots vs. Loyalists:

Clip #1 - 3:00-4:00

Clip #2 - 20:00-22:23

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Standards