The slogan is due by Friday, March 27, 2009.   

1.  If you were an African slave who was offered the opportunity to fight in the American Revolution on the side of either the British or the Americans, which would you choose?  Explain.

2.  If you were a soldier at Valley Forge during the harsh winter of 1777-1778, would you remain with your unit if your military commitment/enlistment ran out or would you return home?  Explain.

3.  If you were a member of American military commander Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion’s band of raiders, would you participate in raids against British and Loyalist troops or only British units?  Explain. 

When I was living in the colonies I found that I disagreed very strongly with the taxes and other anti-colony laws King George III and his Parliament passed.  I felt the Intolerable Acts were indeed intolerable and in 1776 I wrote Common Sense, which was a call to arms for the colonists and a strong defense of the American Revolution.  My pamphlet reached common farmers as well as intellectuals.  Not everyone was happy with what I had written, and some even called for my arrest.  Then between the years 1776-1783 I produced The Crisis, which helped to inspire the Continental Army even as the battles were difficult.  There I wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

I would describe myself as intelligent, controversial, and rebellious.  I don’t know if I would consider myself a hero, but I did help to inspire the colonists to rebel against Britain and form a great nation, the United States of America. 

Who am I? 

Due:  Tuesday, December 2, 2008

You will be learning about an important person from the American Revolution.   You will gather information from the Internet about your person and create a blog entry to show others who your person was and why he or she was an important part of the American Revolution.  You can choose from the following people:

George Washington    Patrick Henry                         King George III

Martha Washington    John Hancock                          William Howe

Abigail Adams             Thomas Jefferson                    Thomas Gage

John Adams                 John Paul Jones                       Haym Solomon

Samuel Adams             Marquis de Lafayette             Nathan Hale

Ethan Allen                  William Dawes         Richard Montgomery

Major John Andre       Paul Revere                             Mary Hayes

Benedict Arnold          Betsy Ross           Comte de Rochambeau

Crispus Attucks            Deborah Sampson                   James Otis

John Burgoyne            Benjamin Tallmadge              Phyllis Wheatley

Charles Cornwallis      Benjamin Franklin                   Nathaniel Green

You should find the following information about your person:

1.       Where and when was he/she born?

2.      What kind of job did he/she have?

3.      Why was he/she important to the American Revolution?

4.      What were three important events in this person’s life?

5.      What makes this person special or interesting?

6.      What are three adjectives you would use to describe this person?

7.      What do you think it means to be a hero?  Was your person a hero?  Why or why not? 

You can also use images in your blog to help bring your person to life.

You will be writing your blog as if you are the person you are writing about, leaving the name of the person out of your writing.  I will show you an example in class.  Each blog will be titled “Who Am I?” and then we will comment on each other’s blogs with a guess about who the blog is about.  Finally, the person who wrote the blog will reply with the correct answer. 

Grades will be based on a scale of 4 to 1, with 4 being best:

Research

·         Following directions in the computer lab

·         Finding the required information about your person

Project

·         Completeness

·         Accuracy of information

·         Proofreading/spelling/correct grammar

Be creative!  Your task is to learn about your person and to bring the person to life for the class in your blog entry.  You’re teaching the class about your person! 

1.  One thing you liked about the response and

2. One question you have. 

Please remember that the purpose of the comment is to be helpful.  To comment on someone’s response, click on the link that says Comments, type in your first name and last initial, type your comment into the box, type in the anti-spam code, click submit, and you’re done.   Make sure you comment on the responses of students who haven’t had any comments yet.  Please proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctutation.  This is not a text message and proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation count!

A.    Describe two conflicts the colonists faced with King George III.

B.   Explain how the Declaration of Independence sought to resolve the conflicts between the colonists and King George III.

Use facts from the time period to support your response. 

1.       Preamble (Introduction)

2.       Rationale (reason) for declaring your independence

3.       Complaints (what complaints/problems/dislikes do you have with school)

4.      Appeal to the public (letting people know that they should now see you as an independent person)

It is important to use good writing skills, even in history class!  Your final draft should have clear, well-written sentences that use proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar.  Sentence fluency and conventions are part of your grade.  It is important to always do your best work. 

Please save your Declarations in Ms. Allard’s Turn In folder.  In your Word document, click on the following:

1.  Save As (Save as a Word document)

2. My Computer

3. Data

4. Users

5. Student Work

6. Turn In

7.  Allard

8.  Choose your class folder

9.  Put your last name and period number in the Save box

10.  Save

Here you’ll be able to post comments to questions, and there will even be some assignments that you will complete using this blog.