Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors: Archiving Early America: Ramsay's Life of Washington
Read the complete text to David Ramsey's book The Life of George Washington. It covers Washington's life from his early years to his death in 1799.
Smithsonian Institution
Tween Tribune: Week of 8 8 16: Ship to Tell Story of the American Revolution
Visitors to the birthplace of America can soon climb aboard a life-size Revolutionary era privateer ship, in the heart of Philadelphia's historic district. But the visitors will stay firmly planted on land.
Other
U.s. Army: Ruth Quinn: James Armistead Lafayette (1760 1832)
Spy extraordinaire of the American Revolution, James Armistead Lafayette, is featured in this biography. Armistead was born a slave in Virginia and became a member of the Continental Army in 1781.
Other
Journal of the American Revolution
Free online history magazine publishes a collection of fun and educational articles dealing with American Revolution history, culture, politics and war. Suitable for both scholars and history enthusiasts alike.
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Early America
[Free Registration/Login Required] The Revolution and Early America unit covers the standard eighteenth century topics that would appear in any textbook. These lessons, however, will push students to dig deeper as they read the documents...
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Battle of Lexington
[Free Registration/Login Required] Learners solve a problem surrounding a historical question by reading primary source documents. This historical inquiry lesson allows students to practice sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization...
BBC
Bbc: History: The American War of Independence
This account of the American War of Independence looks at the war objectively, acknowledging that it was, in fact, both a civil war and a world war. The author begins with the prelude to the war, discusses the theater of war and the...
Books in the Classroom
Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site: Revolutionary War and Children's Lit
An elaborate list of activities to use when teaching about the Revolutionary War. Near the bottom there are links to lists of all types of books to use with students while studying this topic.
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Loyalists
[Free Registration/Login Required] Who were the Loyalists? Why did they oppose independence? In this historical inquiry lesson, students seek answers to these questions by sourcing, contextualizing, and corroborating two documents...
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Colonial Williamsburg: Colonial Religion
The site provides a detailed overview of role religion played in the lives of the colonists. Content explores how religion played a part in the Revolution, and the statute for religious freedom, as well as providing a lesson plan, a link...
Other
The Freedom Trail Foundation
Official site of Boston's historic Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile, brick-lined route that leads you to 16 historically significant sites - each one an authentic treasure. Explore museums and meetinghouses, churches, and burying grounds. Learn...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: Lexington and Concord: Tipping Point of Revolution
Lesson where students examine primary texts from 1775 and 1776 to explore the impact of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on people's attitudes towards the British. Up to that point, protests against the British had not been violent,...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: American Revolution as Civil War
A lesson where students examine the journal of a young Scottish woman, Janet Schaw, visiting North Carolina in 1775. She writes of her experiences observing the tensions and rivalries in the Cape Fear River area that pitted neighbors...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of the u.s. Independence Webisode 1
Webisode 1-Independence. The history of the United States is presented in a series of webisodes, within each are a number of segments.Included are links to lesson plans, teacher guides, resources, activities, and tools.
The Newberry Library
Newberry Library: Historic Maps: Revolutionary Boston: Old North Church
"One if by land, two if by sea." This famous quote was the direction Sexton Robert Newman was to follow by shining a lantern from the Old North Church steeple to warn the patriots that the British were coming. The church is the oldest in...
University of Oregon
Mapping History: American History
Interactive and animated maps and timelines of historical events and time periods in American history from pre-European times until post-World War II.
University of Maryland
Howard County Public School System: Shays' Rebellion [Pdf]
Students will be able to corroborate multiple primary sources to draw conclusions about how the leaders of the American Revolution viewed Shays' Rebellion.
University of Maryland
Howard County Public School System: British Surrender at Yorktown [Pdf]
Based on sourcing, students will determine which of the two pieces of historical evidence depicting the same event, the surrender of General Charles Cornwallis and the British forces at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781, is the most...
University of Maryland
Howard County Public School System: Are All Men Created Equal? [Pdf]
Using primary sources and contextualizing, this lesson attempts to answer the question "Did the ideals of the American Revolution affect the condition of enslaved people?"
Other
American Revolution: A Naval History of the American Revolution
This online reproduction of the original 1913 text by Gardner W. Allen is organized chronologically beginning in 1775 and ending with 1783. An appendix includes source citations, a list of vessels, officers, privateers and other...
Library of Congress
Loc: Map Collections 1500 2002
This collection provides maps dating back to 1500 up to the present. The collection includes: cities, towns, discovery and exploration, conservation and environment, military battles, cultural landscapes, transportation, communication,...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Valley Forge and the American Revolution" by Barbara Radner
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Saratoga Nhp: Story of the Battles
This site from the National Park Service gives information on the Campaign of 1777 and Battles of Saratoga. Hyperlinks to pictures and brief explanations of the pictures. A great site.
Library of Congress
Loc: Thomas Jefferson Exhibit
The Library of Congress has created an exhibit which focuses on the extraordinary legacy of Thomas Jefferson--founding father, farmer, architect, inventor, slaveholder, book collector, scholar, diplomat, and the third president of the...