[Publib] Highlights of the American Revolution with Primary Sources

[Carole Bos]

Learning about the American Revolutionary War is more engaging when students "meet" the people involved (from both sides of the conflict), "visit" the battlefields, and see - for themselves - some of the country's most treasured documents.  With links to the National Archives and the Library of Congress, this story http://www.awesomestories.com/history/patriot/patriot_ch1.htm profiles:  The original draft of the Declaration of Independence (in Thomas Jefferson's handwriting with corrections by Ben Franklin and John Adams); the original vote unanimously approving the Declaration; the first "dollars" issued by The United Colonies; stamps required by the Stamp Act; tea (from the "Boston Tea Party") recovered from Boston Harbor; annotated maps created by the U.S. Military Academy; a set of George Washington's false teeth (made not from wood but hippopotamus tusk); British political cartoons making fun of the colonists; Benedict Arnold's letters of treason, written in code; General Washington's handwritten diary and much more.          

The website is free to all educators, schools and libraries.  Simply request an academic membership at its main URL http://www.awesomestories.com/ which provides a link to the sign-up form.  http://www.awesomestories.com/group_signup.php 

Carole Bos
Grand Valley State University
Dean's Advisory Board