Adapted by William Kellogg
from a unit prepared by Betty Ann Sutton, Henniker Elementary School, Henniker.
This lesson focuses on the
pine tree riot, a result of british actions that built resentment among
the colonists and that led to the division into rebels and tories. The
unit uses two focus questions in one era.
FOCUS QUESTION IV:
How have government and politics affected New Hampshire groups and individuals?
FOCUS QUESTION VI:
How have groups and organizations contributed to New Hampshire life?
ERA: 3. Revolution
and the New Nation (1754-1820's)
INSTRUCTIONAL OUTCOMES:
Students should be able to understand how one group reacted to government
directives and how the government dealt with them. Students should be able
to describe how one non-governmental group acted to create NH history.
QUESTIONS
TO EXPLORE: (inquiry questions from NH History Curriculum)
1. How
have people in NH history made or changed the rules and laws that they
had to obey?
Methods:
A. Maintain
a bulletin board time line of national and regional events covered in this
era (pre-Revolution) to include: Sugar Act, April 1764; Stamp Act. March
1765; Repeal of Stamp Act, March 1766; Townshend Acts, June 1767; British
Troops land in Boston, Oct. 1768; Boston
Massacre, March 1770; Repeal
of Townshend Acts, 1770; Pine Tree Riot, April 1772; Boston Tea Party,
Dec. 1774; Raid on Fort William and Mary, 1774; fighting at Lexington and
Concord , April 1775 Declaration of Independence, July 1776. Have students
write brief descriptions of each event to put on the board.
B. Read article
on "Colonial Masting" from Perspectives '76 (see Resource list.) Have students
read orally in cooperative groups. Then do closed-book note taking and
have each student write a short summary of the article, OR have the cooperative
groups list the order for cutting and hauling the mast
trees and the events that
affected the operation of masting. Then develop a master list of the steps
and events. Have each student select an item from the list to illustrate
on poster paper. Finally, create a linear bulletin board using the posters
or insert them on the bulletin board described above.
2. What
non-governmental groups have helped form NH history?
Methods:
A. Read the
summary article on the Pine Tree Riot (attached). Have each student select
the role of a person involved in the Pine Tree Riot (see attached list
of 21 people mentioned in the article). Have each student write a letter
to Gov. John Wentworth describing and explaining one character's
participation in and opinion
about the riot. The letters can be read aloud in front of the class. In
art class have students draw portraits of their characters using reference
books to help them make accurate clothing and hair styles.
B. (Optional)
Develop a role play based on the summary article on the Pine Tree Riot.
Use the court meeting in Portsmouth with Blodget and the trial before the
four judges for the role play.
C. Hold a class
discussion on how one can change or affect laws with which they disagree.
Include analysis of the techniques used by the Pine Tree Rioters. Discuss
how they might have achieved their goals without violence. Emphasize that
this was action by a nongovernmental group. You will probably want to compare
the Pine Tree Riot to other actions at the time of the Revolution and/or
with more recent events such as the Civil Rights Movement or local events
where citizens petitioned or acted independently to change rules or laws.
ASSESSMENT:
Within the Methods described
above are items fof assessment. They include discussion, writing and artistic
presentations. Each teacher can vary the assessment depending on the approach
taken within the class and the ability of the students. In designing any
assessment be certain to keep in mind the Instructional Objectives stated
above. For any written evaluations create rubrics to use in discussing
the writing with individual students. Develop rubrics for the evaluation
of any group work.
SOURCES:
[Those preceded by an S are suitable for students.]
S
Appelbaum. Diana. Giants in the Land. Houghton Mifflin, 1993. A picture
book about colonial masting. An excellent resource.
S
Begor, Kathy Lyn. New Hampshire Through the Years. Littletown Enterprises,
1986.
S
Cobblestone Magazine. September 1983. Patriotic Tales of the American Revolution.
S
Grant, Louise. The Fort and the Flag. Regional Center for Educational Training,
1977. Fictionalized account of the raid on Fort William and Mary.
S
King, David C. America's Ston': Forming a New Nation. Sundance Publishers.
1993. Contains short, grade level articles with study questions.
S
Randall, Peter. New Hampshire: Years of Revolution 1774-1783. Article on
the raid on Fort William and Mary by Anne and Charles Eastman.
S
Shackburg. Richard. Yankee Doodle. Half Moon Book, 1965. Words and music
about the song.
S
Sutton, Betty Ann. A Summon- of the Pine Tree Riot. Written for Fourth
Graders. Attached. From Weare, NH's Town History.
S
Weber. Laurence. "Colonial Masting," Perspectives '76. Hanover: Regional
Center for Educational Training. 1976. (Available at the Museum of New
Hampshire History store.)
NH STANDARDS: Civics
1. 2: Geography 14; History 16, 17
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