Shall We Go to War?
The American Revolution
What was going on?
On the edge of the Revolution, there
were two sides, the patriots and the
loyalists, within the colonies. The
patriots wanted to go to war, and the
loyalists remained loyal to the king.
This caused division within the colonial
people. In colonial times, towns held
meetings within the local church in
order to make decisions regarding
things such as, Shall we go to war?
What is the task?
According to your assignment by your teacher, you
will be either a loyalist or a patriot. As a class we
are going to hold a town meeting in which we will
be debating whether or not the colonists should go
to war. Throughout this web quest each of you will
be looking at both sides, the loyalists and the
patriots, and will be preparing a mini speech to be
given at the beginning of the town meeting. Your
speech will be trying to persuade the town to join
your side. Also prepare to debate this issue with the
opposing side, which means prepare several
arguments as to why we should go to war or not.
Specific Tasks
• Patriots, look for:
• Loyalists, look for:
– Your feelings
towards England
– Your feelings
towards England
– Reasons you believe
taxes are unfair
– Why the taxes are
fair
Patriots vs. Loyalists
Regardless of your assignment, you
need to know what each side’s
viewpoint was regarding certain
events. You need to know the
opposing team’s views in order to be
able to present an argument for their
different views. Let’s take a look at
each side.
Patriots
These were mostly farmers which were
skilled rifle men. These people are
whom we remember most from the
Revolutionary War, and wanted to fight
for their freedom from England. The
following websites labeled Patriots will
help you research information about
the Patriots.
Loyalists
Loyalists were those colonists who felt
that the colonists should remain loyal
to England and not start a revolution.
Most were merchants, which meant
that they were wealthy, but there were
some whom were farmers and of other
occupations. The following websites
labeled Loyalists will help you research
information of loyalist view points.
Patriots
Before you can make an argument, you
need to understand how the patriots
felt about England taxing them. This
website gives information about how
the patriots felt about England taxing
them. Click on the words Stamp Act on
the timeline to take you to the right
page.
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle_timeline.html
Loyalists
First, you need to understand who the loyalists
were and what they thought about England’s
actions against the colonies. The following
website will give you information on who the
loyalists were and what they believed about
England. Make sure you note the feelings
and concerns of the loyalists during this
time.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h568.html
Patriots
The following website gives some great
information about the different acts
passed imposing taxes upon the
colonists. This would give some good
insight into why the patriots may react
in the way that they did. On this page
there is a table where you can click on
events between 1765-1768.
http://www.historycentral.com/Revolt/causes.html
Loyalists
This next site tells about some of the
events leading up to the Revolution
and how loyalists viewed these events.
Pay attention to the argument this
loyalist makes.
http://www.americanrevolution.org/loyalist2.html
Patriots and Loyalists
As a patriot, you need to decide
whether or not England’s acts are fair.
As a loyalist, you need to look for
reasons why you think England has the
right to tax the colonies. On this
website, there is information on why
England was taxing the colonists and
why some colonists were upset about
being taxed.
http://americanrevolution.com/SugarActStampAct.htm
Debate
Throughout this web quest you were to
be formulating your opinion as either a
loyalist or a patriot. Now you should be
ready to express your opinion in a
speech or debate during our town
meeting, “Do you think we should go
to war?”
Resources
http://americanrevolution.com/SugarActStampAct.htm
http://www.americanrevolution.org/loyalist2.html
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h568.html
http://www.historycentral.com/Revolt/causes.html
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle_timeline.html
http://www.britishbattles.com/american-revolution.htm
http://www.u-aricona.edu/~roxanne/362/stampact.gif
State Standards
4.5.08a-Demonstrate an understanding that people in different times
and places view the world differently.
4.6.02b- Identify and describe examples of tension between a group’s
belief system and the government’s policies and laws.
4.6.01.a Analyze a particular event to identify reasons individuals might
respond to it in different ways.
4.6.spi.1 Recognize how groups work cooperatively to accomplish
goals and encourage change (i.e., American Revolution, founding of
Tennessee, the failure of the Articles of Confederation, and colonies).