Continual Education Component

During the process of the social studies unit on Paul Revere, I was reminded of
how little that I know about American history, therefore I had little context as to the
setting of Paul Reveres life. As a teacher, I want to be able to speak comprehensively
about the lessons that I am teaching; therefore I wanted to learn more about the
foundations of the American Revolution from a variety of perspectives. My main
objective was to establish an unyielding foundation of the historical facts of the
beginning of the American Revolution so I watched the first episode of a PBS
documentary series, LIBERTY! The American Revolution. This documentary provided
an overview of the colonial rumblings and unjust acts of the British that sparked the
Revolution. From my viewing, I gained a better understanding of the key colonial figures
involved in organizing the Patriots and establishing a strong enough force to take on
established Great British. I was intrigued by Benjamin Franklins role, as a kind of
advisor to the British Parliament, though due to his non-aristocratic roots, his suggestions
were not given much value. Never before have I been able to uncover the human emotion
from the historical facts of the American Revolution, however with a brief summary of
the Founding Fathers, I was able to empathize with their standpoint. From previous
lessons on the American Revolution, I assumed that the colonists were opposed to the
British from the beginning, however now I realize that they were revered their king and
were faithful to their country, until the country did not support them in the desired
manner. The documentary revealed how Founding Fathers such as George Washington,
John Adams, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and the aforementioned Benjamin Franklin,

thought of themselves as successful individuals who were intent on being vastly

influential, however because of the restraint put on their political power by the British,
they could not fulfill what they saw as their Patriotic destiny. From the documentary I
gained a distaste for the tyrannical British rule, so in order to reorder my historically
perspective to a more unbiased platform, I searched for an article regarding the British
side of the war.
When researching for articles, most of the information that I came across was
based on the American side of the Revolutionary War, but finally I came across a
synthesis paper written by Andrew J. OShaughnessy, called A Deluded and Infatuated
People. The title of the article stem from OShaughnessys observation that one of the
British Governments pinnacle mistakes during the American Revolution was to believe
the Patriots only made up a slight minority of the colonists and they were a deluded
presence. A piece of information that I have missed through my previous research on the
American Revolution is that the British were not only concerned with the 13 colonies
during this time period, in fact they had a plethora of other global issues such as
disruptions in India, Ireland, battles with France in the Caribbean and even domestic
unrest. In addition to that, Great Britain was not unanimously in favor of the military
action taken upon America, and without full support behind a military movement 3,000
miles away, the possibility of defeat became actualized. At first glance of the match up
between the naval powerhouse of Great Britain versus the modest colonies, it seemed like
a sure bet on the British, however with a clearer look into the reality of the situation, the
soon-to-be-united colonies were greater in this war.

Whether considering the American or British perspective of the American

Revolution, the colonies are viewed as the underdog of the situation, pushing for the
human right of freedom. As I researched my unit, watched the documentary and read the
first article, I could not help question: how could colonists so righteously fight for
freedom, while at the same time enslaving fellow humans? In search of an answer I came
across an article titled, Epic Journeys of Freedom: Runaway Slaves of the American
Revolution and Their Global Quest for Liberty by Robert Parkinson. This synthesis
paper brings to light African Americans fight for freedom which is much too often
overshadowed by that of white Americans. To parallel the black founding fathers and
their white counterparts their purpose for freedom is the same, their fight is similar and
yet the result of their conquest is unjustly dissimilar, with slavery of African American
surging on for almost another 100 years, while the white Americans freely roam their
newly claimed land.
By spending additional time and effort, away from planning my social studies
unit, to explore my own personal questions and misunderstandings on the topic, I have
developed an firm foundation of the various parties involved in the American
Revolutionary War. With this foundation I feel comfortable about teaching my students
how Paul Revere was influenced by his environment, the purpose of his actions and what
consequences arose after his Midnight Ride.

Resources

Brady, Timothy. "The Reluctant Revolutionaries." Liberty! The American Revolution.

Twin Cities Public Television. 2004. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

OShaughnessy, Andrew J. "A Deluded and Infatuated People." Reviews in American

History 43.1 (2015): 41-46. Web.

Parkinson, Robert G. "The Forgotten Fifth: African Americans in the Age of

Revolution, And: Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies and
Sparked the American Revolution, And: Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves,
and the American Revolution, And: Epic Journeys of Freedom: Runaway Slaves
of the American Revolution and Their Global Quest for Liberty (review)."
Journal of the Early Republic 27.3 (2007): 546-55. Web