Introduction

The British are coming!  The British are coming!  The year is 1775 and you are an American colonist called upon to take up the fight against the oppressive British Army.  In this lesson you will assume the role of a colonial militia leader and investigate the victories and hardships that this job came with.  You will start from the beginning, gathering your troops, and you will work until the war is done.  In the end George Washington requests your help in detailing the advantages and disadvantages of a militia as a means of defense in war.  General Washington is gathering these reports from all the militia leaders in order to present them in front of the new government.  The goal for this assignment is for you, the militia leader, to be able to tell me, General Washington, what the downfalls of the old
way of life were in the colonies and how can changing just the military component in the new government lead to a better or worse country.

The Task Top

The American Revolution is upon the colonies and you have been chosen to lead the militia for your state. As leader of the new state militia, your job will be:

• Establish a militia
• Get your militia ready for battle
• Raise the money and supplies that are not available
• Map out your biggest battle
• Reflect on your term of service

You will use Power Point to show the steps for establishing your regiment as well as how you prepared them for battle. Also included in the Power Point will be the ways you gathered money and supplies. Then you will create a poster of you major battle. A paper reflection will be due at the end of the assignment.

The Process Tops

So by now you are probably wondering how do you get where you need to go? Provided below are a list of step by step instructions to walk you through this assignment.

1. You must first select a state whose militia you will lead. Keep in mind you must choose a state from those established at the time.
2. Then using classroom computers or the computer lab, you will use the links provided to look up information on colonial militias. Aside from the computers, you may also use your textbooks, encyclopedias and any other reference material in the classroom or school library.
3. While doing research, take note of any hardships (An there were some!) that militias of the time faced. Use what you have learned and your own creatvity to decide how you will overcome any problems. Problems may include: Lack of men, lack of uniforms and weapons, no money to fund militia, no training, etc..
4. After finding out all this information, create a Power Point presentation that tells the class (who will assume the role of your state's assembly) about you militia and all the information you discovered in the first research part of this assignment.
5. Research any battle from the Revolutionary War which involved a militia. You may change the name of the state to fit your project, but keep all the elements of the battle the same. Make a posterboard that shows a map of the area the battle took place and include any problems or successes. You will present this to the class as well.
6. The war is over! The colonies are now independent! But alas, General George Washington is still hard at work. He has been asked to present a military proposal for the new country which will outline how the military is set-up. He asks all the state militia leaders to detail their experiences for him so he can see what will work and what will not. Reflect on what you have learned and write a 2 page report or letter to General Washington detailing your term of service.

Links to Use:

New Jersey Militia in the Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War Links:

Upper New River Valley Revolutionary War Soldiers

American Revolutionary Facts

Pennsylvania Revolutionary War Information

Maps of the United States (For your Poster!)

Keep all your information on a certain part of the project together. This will make it easier to put it all together once the time comes to create the final presentation and paper.

Evaluation Top

Provided below for you is a rubric that will explain exactly how I will be grading these projects. If at any point you are confused or have a question that cannot be answered with this rubric, send me an email or talk to me in class.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
First Part of the Power Point Presentation	No information provided on the state or the militia. No facts or signs of research.	No name for the state and 1 to 2 facts on the militia.	State is named, there are 3-5 good facts about the militia.	State is named, 6 or more facts about the militia.
Second Part of the Power Point Presentation	No information provided on the problems encountered.	1 or 2 problems mentioned, no solutions provided.	2 or more problems provided with basic solutions.	2 or more problems provided, detailed explanation of solutions is present.
Poster Board of the Battle	No poster board	Poster board with just a print-out of a map.	Poster board with a map specific to the location of the battle. 1-2 descriptive points.	Specific map on the poster board. 3 or more descriptive points.
Reflection Paper/ Letter to General Washington	Paper is less than one page in length, very little evidence of reflection.	Paper is one page in length, has very minimal evidence of reflection.	Paper is 1 and 1/2 pages in length, shows evidence of some reflection.	Paper is 2 pages, shows a good amount of reflection. The information in it relates to your Power Point and Poster
Presentation in Class	Present only one of the two assigned projects (either poster or Power Point)	Presents both projects but does not discuss them, just shows them.	Presents both, discusses the poster and just clicks through the Power Point.	Presents both and provides commentary on the poster and Power Point.

Conclusion top

It is my hope that when you finish the assignment you will better understand both colonial militias as well as colonial hardships. Hopefully with this research will come a recognition of the problems the colonists endured and a new respect for them.

Credits & References top

Thanks to Mountain City Elementary's "Revolutionary War on Wednesday" for the picture of George Washington.

Thanks to 321 Clipart for the American Flag graphic.

Thanks to Clipart ETC for the militia leader clipart.

Teacher Page

This page is for other educators wishing to use this WebQuest in their classroom. Please consider the suggestions on this page when using this lesson.