UNIT DESCRIPTION

In this unit, students will study the values and beliefs that the colonies developed about government and the reasons why they choose to rebel against British policy. Students will investigate how civil activism, can lead to change even at the cost of war. Students will also survey the major events leading to the Revolutionary War as well as the major battles fought during the war. In addition an emphasis will be placed on The Declaration of Independence and how advances in technology changed military strategies.

Essential Questions Exploration · How did the relationship between Britain & the Colonies deteriorate? · How did American Colonists gain their Independence?

Performance Task: One of the problems in history is that sometimes the sources about an event sometimes contradict one another, so trying to discover the truth of what happened can be like solving a mystery. One of those mysteries is what actually happened at the Boston Massacre and who is at fault? You are a federal prosecutor who has been asked by the Attorney General to put together a report with a timeline of events and a discussion of who is to blame for the shooting. This report will be presented to the President of the United States who will then work with England to decide who needs to pay back who for the event. Your report should create a coherent sequence of events for everything that led to the event, what you think actually happened at the event, an analysis of the evidence and why there are disagreements in the historical records, and who you think is at fault based on the evidence.