Course Content
Lesson Plans
The American Nation: A History of the United States ©2000
by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes
Focus Lesson 2
Chapter 3: "America in the British Empire"
Chapter 4: "The American Revolution"
AP* Course Description
- America and the British Empire, 1650–1754
- Mercantilism; the Dominion of New England
- Colonial Society in the Mid-Eighteenth Century
- Culture
- Great Awakening
- The American Mind
- Culture
- Road to Revolution, 1754–1775
- Anglo-French rivalries and Seven Years' War
- Imperial reorganization of 1763
- Stamp Act
- Declaratory Act
- Townshend Acts
- Boston Tea Party
- Philosophy of the American Revolution
- The American Revolution, 1775–1783
- The Continental Congress
- Declaration of Independence
- The war
- French Alliance
- War and society; Loyalists
- War economy
- Articles of Confederation
- Peace of Paris
- Creating state governments
- Political organization
Key Components
- Instructor's Manual:
Chapter 3, pp. 23–33
Chapter 4, pp. 34–42 - Study Guide, Vol. I:
Chapter 3, pp. 38–55
Chapter 4, pp. 56–71 - Test Bank:
Chapter 3, pp. 35–51
Chapter 4, pp. 52–70
Key Web Sites
Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Check the Online Companion Web site for updated links to U.S. history sites.
- Fighting for a Continent: Newspaper Coverage of the English and French War For Control of North America, 1754–1760
- Revolutionary War Links
- Colonial Hall: A Look at America's Founders
Key Words and Terms
Chapter 3
- favorable balance of trade
- salutary neglect
- writs of assistance
- actual representation
- direct taxation
- boycott
- Hat, Iron, Wool Acts
- Enlightenment
- Treaty of Paris (1763)
- Proclamation of 1763
- Stamp Act
- Circular Letter
- Coercive/Intolerable Acts
- Continental Association
- George Whitefield
- Jonathan Edwards
- William Pitt
- George Grenville
- Sons of Liberty
- John Dickinson
- First Continental Congress
- enumerated articles
- Deism
- virtual representation
- provincials
- indirect taxation
- Navigation Acts
- Great Awakening
- Great War for Empire
- Pontiac's Rebellion
- Sugar Act
- Declaratory Act
- Boston Massacre
- Quebec Act
- Board of Trade
- Old and New Lights
- Five Nations
- James Otis
- Patrick Henry
- Charles Townshend
- committees of correspondence
- Joseph Galloway
Chapter 4
- right of revolution
- Declaration of Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms
- Land Ordinance of 1785
- Thomas Paine
- nationalism
- Common Sense
- Peace of Paris (1783)
- Articles of Confederation
- Northwest Ordinance of 1787
- Loyalists/Tories
Suggested Pacing
Allow two weeks for teaching Chapters 3 and 4.
Test Strategy
Cause-and-effect themes flow through U.S. history. The Revolutionary War presents an opportunity to reinforce this concept by tracing how the desire for independence in the late 1700s had its origins in the beginnings of self-government in the original establishment of the English colonies in the 1600s. Students can then follow this development through the evolution of the argument against virtual representation as signified by the slogan "no taxation without representation."
Key Concepts
- Mercantilism
Mercantilism is an important concept and one that high school U.S. history textbooks often glide over with just an explanation of balance of trade. As this text points out, mercantilism was more than trade. It involved the total political control of the economy by the state. - Causes and effects of the Revolutionary War
As noted under Test Strategy above, the overall concept that students should understand from this chapter is that the origins of the War for Independence lay far back in time, with the establishment of the original colonies—and even further with the Magna Carta. The amount of independence that the various charters gave the colonists, as well as the distance between the British colonies and the home country, allowed for the evolution of certain ideas and practices that encouraged independence.
One way to emphasize the concept of cause and effect is to have students create a table listing causes and then the effects of those causes. They should realize that by the 1760s and 1770s some effects then became causes of other effects in an escalating spiral. Students should look at all aspects of colonial life in listing events and ramifications—political, economic, social, and religious. - Northwest Territory and Northwest Ordinances
While the Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses and proved in the end to be unworkable, the Confederation Congress had one major success in its provisions for settling and admitting the Northwest Territory to the Union. The model established by the Northwest Ordinances remained the system by which new territories were admitted to statehood as the nation spread across the continent.
Summing Up Student Understanding
At this time, introduce students to the essay-writing process and the time limits for writing the essays in Section II of the test. To simulate the test conditions, choose a prompt from among the questions provided for discussion on pp. 28 and 38 of the Instructor's Manual and give students five minutes to list all the information they can think of that will help them write an essay based on the prompt you choose. Then have students spend five minutes writing only the thesis statement for an essay based on their list of information. After volunteers have shared their thesis statements, have the class as a group write the introductory paragraph, using information from various students' lists.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
You might also find these additional readings useful in developing students' background knowledge or for DBQ activities:
- American Issues: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Unger and Tomes—Chapter 5
- The Power of Words: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Breen—Chapters 5 and 6
- Constructing the American Past, Vol. I, edited by Gorn, Roberts, and Bilhartz—Chapters 4 and 5
- American Experiences: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Roberts and Olson (secondary source readings)—Part Three