The US History. Team One.

	The American Revolution Hot Links You can access the links below to read more about the American Revolution. American Revolution. By Britannica Encyclopedia. Formation of the United States of America (1776-1789). [Short text] By NationMaster Encyclopedia. American revolution. By NationMaster Encyclopedia. American Revolution. By Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Ultimate Resource for the American Revolution. The History Place. American Revolution. The Revolutionary War. A Journey Towards Freedom. Revolutionary War: Birth Of A Nation. American Revolution. By Infoplease. The American Revolution.

The American Revolution

Being a member of TEAM ONE, you have just opened the envelope with some tasks for you.

Read the question:

• What historic event led to the formation of the United States of America?

LOOKING DEEPER. Having some background knowledge about the English colonization of the New World and keeping in mind the reasons of their arrival to the continent - political, commercial and religious - you are to go further to discover one of the turning moments in the US history that was very conducive to appearance and development of the USA.

The articles below deal with this moment. Please, read and/or listen to them carefully and then try to find answers to the questions below:

• What were the reasons for the Revolution?
• What and when were the major events of the American Revolution?
• What was the aftermath of the war/Revolution?

To listen to the articles, you will have to download the audio files [.mp3]. You can use any player available that support mp3 format to play the recordings.

Read/listen to the articles:

1. "American History Series: Britain Says No to 'No Taxation Without Representation'." The Stamp Act said the colonists had to buy a British stamp for every piece of printed paper they used. They refused. Parliament finally cancelled the law -- but passed an act saying Britain could pass any law it wanted.
2. "American History Series: A Tea Party at Night, on the Road to Revolution." Relations between Britain and its American colonies changed after the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The colonists began to prepare to fight for their independence.
3. "US History: A Declaration for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." A 33-year-old Virginia planter, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration of Independence in 17 days. America’s colonial leaders wanted the world to understand why they were rebelling against Britain.
• Optional reading/listening - "American History Series: How the Revolution Against Britain Divided Families and Friends." Political disagreement about the war divided Benjamin Franklin and his son, William, for the rest of their lives.
4. "US History: How Britain’s Defeat at Saratoga Marked a Turning Point." After the American victory at Saratoga, the French decided to enter the Revolutionary War on the American side.

TEAM DISCUSSION. Having researched on your historic event you are to discuss your findings with the rest of the team. Do you have the same answers to the questions above? If not, try to reconcile them. Use the phrases [Click here to open them in a new window] to help you express ideas.

TEAM PRESENTATION PREPARATION PROCESS. After discussing the answers, you are to get ready with your team presentation. Follow the questions below to develop your presentation.

• What was the event [your team studied] that contributed to the formation of the United States of America?
• What were the causes/reasons?
• What and when were the major events?
• What was the aftermath?

TEAM PRESENTATION. Choose two or three people to make the presentaion in front of the rest of the group. The presentations must rotate among the team members. It means you have to regularly change who gives a presentation.

You are also expected to use the resources of the American Revolution Hot Links to get ready with the issues that require additional research.

Now, go to step THREE.

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