Who Will Win?

Using your quantitative and analytical skills, you designed a chart showing the advantages and disadvantages of the Colonists and the British as they entered the American Revolution. We can’t help but wonder if Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin made the same list in 1776, yet knowing the cause was just, forged ahead in the name of Liberty!

This week you had the opportunity to practice your habits of mind as you worked in your battle groups. In order to put together an effective presentation, you had to communicate, negotiate, and organize. Just as the colonists fought with pride and conviction, I know that you will take pride in your presentations this coming week.

In addition to the facts and significance of the battles, please take a moment and look at the artists’ renditions of these moments in history. Just as the photos we see from Iraq evoke a strong emotional response, the great paintings of the Revolution captured the spirit and challenges of the times. Today, David R. Wagner, a painter from Connecticut, is working on an ambitious project depicting the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary War Route. Some of the paintings were displayed at the Colony House in Newport this summer and I had the good fortune of meeting him at the Naval War College celebration of the French landing in Newport July 11, 1778 (see blog of July 9)

We are going to turn this week to two groups who contributed to the success of the Revolution but get minimal coverage in our text, women and African Americans. We will be using two readings, including an article from the Providence Journal, which focus on the contributions made by Deborah Samson and by the Rhode Island Black Regiment.

National Treasure

Any movie that can inspire students to talk about the Declaration of Independence must have some redeeming qualities. When the movie first was released, the National Archives posted on its site a notice that the Declaration did not contain the information Nicolas Cage was looking for. In the spirit of the season, let’s aim to complete our study of the time period with a viewing of this movie. Does anyone in the blog audience have a copy of National Treasure we could use for class viewing?