Crossroads: Middle School Curriculum
Lesson Plan #:  CC-0089
 

Unit IV: What was the American Revolution? 1760-1836

Content and Understandings:

 

1. There were many economic and political causes of the American Revolution.

 2. The Declaration of Independence included many reasons why Americans were dissatisfied with the British.

 3. The American Revolution affected different groups of Americans in different ways.

 4. Americans "revolutionized" their state and national constitutions.

 5. The United States Constitution of 1787 was a document of compromise, balance, and flexibility.

 6. Challenges faced by the young nation led to broadened interpretations of the Constitution.

 

Teacher's Rationale for the Unit:

 

In the formative years between 1760 and 1800, Americans laid the constitutional foundation of democracy in the United States. Students should understand the revolutionary changes brought about in this period as well as the enduring qualities of the United States Constitution itself.

 In the beginning of this unit, students will investigate the causes of the American Revolution by reviewing British laws and the grievances contained in the Declaration of Independence. Students will learn about the Revolutionary War itself by reading primary accounts from a variety of perspectives.

 Another significant part of the revolutionary era is constitution making, both at the state and national levels. By studying the United States Constitution from it's creation to it's ratification, students will recognize the Constitution's enduring qualities of compromise, balance, and flexibility. Throughout this unit, students will assess how war-making and constitution-making changed the lives of individual Americans.

 

Table of Contents:

 

Question/Problem 1 : What were the causes of the American Revolution?

Question/Problem 2 : Was the American Revolution a revolution?

Question/Problem 3 : How did the Revolutionaries design the first American system of government?

Question/Problem 4 : In what ways was the United States Constitution of 1787 a document of compromise, balance and flexibility?

Question/Problem 5 : How was the Constitution written and adopted?

Question/Problem 6 : How did challenges to the government lead to broadened interpretations of the Constitution?

Question/Problem 7 : Did the new nation meet the goals stated in the Declaration of Independence?