Road to Revolution 1754-1776
Essential Vocab & Questions: Your project team will be responsible for answering the essential questions and
vocabulary listed below. You will be asked to answer a random essential question during class discussion and your
grade will be determined by how well you respond. Each team member must be able to respond.
1. How did Britain’s “neglect” of the colonies gradually lead to independence?
2. Assess the validity of the following statement: “1763 is the most significant year in the history of the colonies
before the Revolutionary War.”
3. In many revolutions, violence precedes a change of government. In the American history, the ten years between
1765 and 1775 provided the colonists a long period to think through what they were going to do before
resorting to armed revolt. Discuss some of the changes in colonial thinking during this ten-year period.
4. To what extent is the American government a product of the Enlightenment
5. How and in what ways was the American Revolution revolutionary?
Enlightenment
(PRODS)
Quartering Act
John Locke
The Great Awakening
Tea Act
Benjamin Franklin
French and Indian War
Boston Tea Party
Samuel Adams
Albany Plan of Union
Common Sense
Paul Revere
Treaty of Paris of 1763
Boston Massacre
John Adams
Pontiac’s Rebellion &
Proclamation of 1763
Committees of Correspondence
Thomas Paine
Parliament
1st Continental Congress
Thomas Jefferson
Salutary Neglect
Mercantilism
Concord & Lexington
“shot heard round the world”
2nd Continental Congress
(Olive Branch Petition)
Navigation Acts
Battle of Bunker Hill
Stamp Act
Declaration of Independence
John Hancock
Sons of Liberty
1. Were the colonists’ grievances justified? Were their behaviors justified? Explain.
2. When was the point of no return? (When could a war no longer have been avoided)?
Road to Revolution 1754-1776
The purpose of this project is to learn about the major events that led up to the American Revolution. You
must include the following information in your project: The year the event occurred; definition or
explanation of the event in a few sentences; describe what the impact of the event was and/or how Colonists
reacted to the event; & a metaphorical representation (e.g. Stamp Act = post office burning down…)
The “Road to Revolution” is an illustrated Metaphorical Timeline analyzing the years from 1763-1776. Your
“Road” can be represented by anything that follows a linear progression. You need to include all of the major
events in the time period and analyze the impact that each had in causing the American Revolution.
Procedure:
1. Start by making a brief timeline of the events in the time period on a rough draft.
2. Make sure that you understand what each of these events entailed and how the colonists and Britain
responded to each action.
3. Decide what your road should look like. Is it a freeway, dirt road, path, waterway, local road, golf
course, miniature golf course, theme park, etc.
4. Once you have decided on the theme you have other decisions to make
a. What signs are along the road?
b. Who is traveling on the road?
c. What kind of vehicle are you traveling in?
d. What other kinds of obstacles are on the road? Potholes, bridges, toll gates, on ramps and off
ramps?
Each event should be a metaphor in and of itself that comprises a smaller part of the Road as a whole. Think .
. . if the Road is a freeway, what is the Stamp Act?
7 Themes Question
Obviously, this topic deals largely with our theme of Politics & Power; however, there
are other themes that could be tied to these events. In a brief paragraph (using SFIs), discuss
which theme(s) you believe is most relevant (other than Politics & Power).
Review Game: http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/road_q1.html
Resource List
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www.ushistory.org
www.Hippocampus.org
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=1&smtID=1
www.gilderlehrman.org