One of our most staunch subscribers, Susan "The Mast" from Rhode Island, asked a while back if I could put together an American Revolution edition of the ITN. Being a history buff, how could I say no? But then again, knowing Susan as well as I do from both IT lists, how could I say no?!

Here is a collection of top resources for teaching the American Revolution. Thanks to Jerry B for his recommendations on the topic. Have a great long weekend everyone!

• The American Revolution - http://www.mce.k12tn.net/revolutionary_war/american_revolution.htm
  Mountain City Elementary School in Tennessee offers this collection of more than a dozen lessons on the American Revolution from The Molasses Act of 1733 to Valley Forge and the End of the War. Each lesson offers solid content, an engaging classroom activity, and most have an interactive quiz with a timer and feedback to really challenge your students. This content is advanced enough that it can be modified for middle and high school and still be worthwhile.
• The American Revolution - http://plainedge.ourschools.org/teachers/murphyd/Murphy's%20american_revolution%20Home%20Page.htm
  Mrs. Murphy's Seventh Grade at Packard Middle School in New York has put together this well-researched compilation of facts on the figures and events of the American revolution, from causes of the war to patriots and loyalists, even a soldier's life and jobs and supplies. This page can serve as a good source of information or as a model for your own class's Revolutionary War research project.
• The American Revolution Home Page - http://webpages.homestead.com/revwar/files/INDEX2.HTM#menu1
  With a name is presumptuous as this, you'd think the website had better be pretty good. And it is! Opening with a rendition of Yankee Doodle that romantically trails off into the distance, this page offers a concise look at the events leading up to the revolution and then nicely walks the reader through the major campaigns of the war. It is an engaging, well-written, succinct presentation that provides a survey for the Revolution as you study it in your classroom.
• The American Revolution Timeline - http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/index.html
  The History Place presents this comprehensive look at the events that shaped the war for independence, from Colonial times through the Federal era. There's links to images and documents along the way, and a chronological journey that is striking in its scope and breadth. You'll want to bookmark this site as a handy reference for your class if nothing else, but the possibilities here for research and other projects is impressive!
  
• Arbuckle's Fort - http://www.greenbrierhistorical.org/fort.html
  Located in what is now West Virginia, Arbuckle's Fort was operational in both Lord Dunmore's War and the American Revolution. Beginning in 1993, archaeologists began excavating the fort to learn more about life on a military installation during the era of the Revolution. On this site you can take a virtual tour of the fort, boasting many artifacts from earlier excavations, and you can follow the 1997 and 2000 excavations via the entries archived here on the site. This is great stuff for learning the process of studying primary sources.
• Birth of a Nation - http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/3803/
  This ThinkQuest winner from 1998 offers a look at people, places and events that helped define the American Revolution. There's a real emphasis on the common man here and the special features really make this site worthwhile. There's a Person Creator using the different pieces of clothing from the colonial era, a list of important New England locations that plays itself out like a virtual tour, a remarkable 24 hour timeline from April 18 and 19, 1775, a map of the route of the British and patriot messengers took, and a reenactment video you can download and view with your class!
• Captain Thomas Preston's Account of the Boston Massacre - http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1751-1775/bostonmassacre/prest.htm
  Here's an original accounting of the infamous incident from a loyalist's point of view, juxtaposed with a patriot's account which is commonly thought to have been written by Sam Adams. It's a great opportunity for higher level discussion about propaganda and its use in political discourse. You may also want to look at a critical analysis of the engraving of the Massacre at http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter96/massacre.html for further study of this event.
• The Federalist Papers - http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/fed/fedpapers.html
  The Library of Congress houses this complete collection of the discourse between Madison, Hamilton and Jay on the nature of democratic government that was so influential in creating consensus to ratify our Constitution. The papers are listed here chronologically, but you can also search for topics by keyword or browse the collection by titles. Did you know originally this collection was published anonymously one paper at a time as letters to the editor of several New York newspapers?
• Flags of the American Revolution - http://webpages.homestead.com/revwar/files/FLAGS.HTM
  It is what it says it is: images of twenty flags from the Revolution with a description of each and an occasional link where it is appropriate. Did you know the Sons of Liberty flag was nothing more than thirteen stripes - seven red and six white? Or that Washington used a white flag in 1775 picturing the Liberty Tree and the caption "Appeal to Heaven"? There's lots of interesting connections made here, including a number of battles, with direct connection to the Arts.
• Liberty! - http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/
  This companion to the 6 hour PBS production of the same name offers a wealth of materials you can use in your classroom. The Chronicle reports conditions at various points in the war, Perspectives offers a look at daily life both in America and around the world at the time, and the Road to Revolution game challenges students with an interactive quiz, QuickTime video and audio clips and choices to be made as they make their way through a simulation of the war. Great for students from upper elementary through high school.
• The Revolutionary War - http://www.vboston.com/VBoston/Content/ClassroomRevWar/Index.cfm
  Mr. Caputo's Fifth Grade Class in California has put together this presentation on people and causes of the Revolution. There are some inaccuracies and misinformation here, which make this an excellent opportunity to develop information literacy skills by checking on facts and sources.
• Treaty of Paris - http://www.ukans.edu/carrie/docs/texts/paris_treaty.html
  The University of Kansas has posted this plain text copy of the treaty, with all ten articles in tact. It's a nice way to wrap up a study of the Revolution by analyzing the agreements that were hammered out in Paris, comparing it with the ideals fought for during the war and the realities that have evolved since then between Great Britain and the United States.
  

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