Mid-Term Examination: American Revolution

 

The exam in Wednesday, March 25th.  It will consist of two parts – an essay and a number of identification questions.  You will do Part A first, without books or printed out documents.  For Part B, you will be able to use supplementary materials (see below).

 

A. Identification.  I will select eight and you will do FIVE.  Each should take about two-thirds of a page in a blue book.  Define, place appropriately in time and space, and explain the significance.  You need to be able to do these quickly and accurately.

 

Invasion of Canada

Battle of Fort Mercer

Thomas Paine

The American Crisis

Sugar Act

Stamp Act

Declaratory Act

Thomas Hutchinson

Jared Ingersoll

John Hughes

Benjamin Franklin

Jane Mecom

William Franklin

George Washington

George Grenville

Frederick Lord North

Fort William Henry

Fort Ticonderoga

Seven Years’ War

Marquis de Montcalm

Battle of Bunker (Breed’s) Hill

Second Continental Congress

Battle of Trenton

Battle of Saratoga

Lexington and Concord

Declaration of Independence

Sir William Howe

Richard Lord Howe

 

 

B. Essay Question (50%).  I will select two of the following three questions and you will be responsible for answering ONE of your choice from those two.  You may bring Martin’s account of the revolution; you may print out any depositions (and Preston’s account) you wish on the Boston Massacre and bring them; you may bring the documents and books needed for question three.  You are limited to underlining and marginal notes – do NOT write out an answer on any sheet you use – copying a prepared answer into a blue book will result in automatic failure.  You will be able to use these notes ONLY while doing the essay (not the identifications).

 

1. Joseph Plumb Martin’s account of his experiences covers the entire Revolution and tells us about the life of an ordinary foot soldier.  Using the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1780 & 1781 write an essay explaining why he enlisted, what day-to-day life was like, how he related to the officers (and later the soldiers he commanded), what combat was like, his relations with civilians, and why he remained with the army.  You may bring the book and use it during this part of the exam.

 

2. Explain, based on the depositions of the “Boston Massacre” and Captain Preston’s statement, what you think most likely occurred during the “Massacre.”   How was the Massacre interpreted by American resistance movement and by the British?   In what ways did the Massacre help confirm the American notions of British intentions (as articulated in William Paterson’s essay and the Declaration of Independence)?

 

3. What reasons did American patriots  have for their revolution?  Use the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense, Sam Adams’ writings, William Paterson’s essay, and Wood and the Morgans’ discussion of colonial ideology.  Your essay should not be a mere list of ideas in each.  Rather identify central themes that run through all of these, or are particularly prominent in one or more of these documents, and which together constitute the “ideological origins of the American Revolution.”