Famous People In the
American Revolution
Annica Saunders
ED629
American Revolution
8th Grade
Objectives
 To show students the impact that people
can have on our society.
 Students are to think critically of why
people are remembered in history.
Materials
 Paper
 Pencil
 Text book
 Classroom books
 Access to the Internet
Student Activities
1. Class Discussion
2. Who said that?
3. Who Am I?
4. Bragging Rights
5. Who is more Famous?
Class Discussion
As a class we are going to discuss just a few of
the famous people during the American
Revolution. During the discussion you are to
answer the following questions.
What makes this person famous?
Why is their story important to remember?
How did they influence the American
Revolution?
How do their contributions impact us today?
Who Said That?
Students are to match the quote with the
person. They need to write a short
response to why that person would have
said that quote.
Who Said That?
A. “Give me liberty or
 1. John Paul Jones
give me death.”
B. “I regret that I have  2. Nathan Hale
but one life to give
for my country.”
 3. Patrick Henry
C. “I have not yet
begun to fight.”
Who Am I?
 It is important to put a face to a name. In the
activity Who Am I the class must guess who
the person is in the picture. After they have
discussed who it might be they are given the
name and a reason why they are famous.
Students are then assigned a famous person
from the American Revolution and have to
create a mask that represents that person.
Then students will move around the room to
different stations meeting people from the
American Revolution. They will record who
they met and why they are famous.
Who Am I?
Samuel Adams
 American
revolutionary who
led the agitation that
led to the Boston
Tea Party; he signed
the Declaration of
Independence.
Who Am I?
John Paul Jones
 American naval
officer famed for
bravery, his most
famous victory was
the defeat of the
British warship
Serapis.
Who Am I?
Abigail Adams
 Tried to influence
women’s rights into
the Declaration. She
wrote to her
husband,
“Remember the
Ladies, and be more
generous and
favorable to them
than your
ancestors…”
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/liberty_menwomen.html
Who Am I?
Mum Bett
 A Massachusetts
slave, believed that
the words “all men
are created equal”
should apply to her
and other enslaved
Africans. She
successfully sued for
her freedom in 1781.
Bragging Rights
There were many famous people during the
revolutionary war. Use your resources (internet,
text book or classroom books) to find five people
from the list that we did not discuss as a class.
Include their name, a quote, and the reason they are
remembered today. You will pick one person to
share with the class their Bragging Rights
(Bragging Rights are all the reasons they are
famous and why they are still remembered today.)
Sample List of Famous People
During the American Revolution
 Abigail Adams
 Thomas Jefferson
 John Adams
 Ann Lee
 Samuel Adams
 John Locke
 Jefferey Amherst
 James Madison
 Mary Brant
 Francis Marion
 Carter Braxton
 Thomas Pain
 Thomas Burke
 William Prescott
 John Cmapbell
 Pontiac
 Alexander Hamilton
 Betsy Ross
 John Handcock
 Adam Smith
 Partick Henry
 George Washington
Who is More Famous?
The class is divided into two groups.
Each group is assigned one person
famous person from the American
Revolution. Each side must debate with
the other group and try to persuade them
that their person is more famous.
Web Sites
 http://www.historycentral.com/bio/Revo
ltBIOS/INDEX.html
 www.educationalsynthesis.org/famamer
 http://www.americanrevolution.com/peo
ple.html
 http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/liberty_
menwomen.html
 www.theamericanrevolution.org