Colonial Williamsburg

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 8

Top Stories

A Common American Soldier

Before the nineteenth century was more than a couple of decades old, certainly by the fiftieth anniversary of 1776, the United States had come to regard the veterans of its revolution with a sort of wistful romanticism. An emerging American popular culture developed a vision of the common soldier of that war which more or less reflects ours: citizen-soldiers-farmers, laborers, men of the middling sort, young and old-minutemen who picked up their muskets and fell in with their militia units to defend home and community from invading Redcoats.

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Primary Source of the Month: Continental Army Enlistment Form,
June 1776

At first glance, the duration of enlistment on this June 1776 Continental Army enlistment form seems very optimistic. Recruits who signed it were bound to the service of the United American Colonies until December 1, 1776. By late 1776, the length of service had been extended to three years. By 1777, George Washington had persuaded Congress to require newly enlisted soldiers to serve until the end of the war.

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Teaching Strategy: Equipping a Continental Soldier

The "minutemen" of Massachusetts were the first American resistance to British forces. They were citizen soldiers from all walks of life—farmers, tradesmen, merchants, and some slaves and free blacks. Though most were young, from the lower or middling classes, and novices in the art of war, they fought bravely and with a common sense of purpose.

In this lesson, students learn how the United States formed its first army and established the tradition of the citizen soldier. Then, working in small groups, they "equip" a Continental soldier by answering a series of challenge questions.

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Colonial Williamsburg Teaching Resources for Your Classroom

Colonial Williamsburg offers a variety of quality instructional materials dealing with 18th-century life, including:

• Hands-On History: Soldier’s Haversack (object kit)
• Life in the Continental Army (lesson unit)
• Red Thunder (book)
• Red Thunder Teacher’s Guide
• Echoes of Revolution (CD)

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Teaching News

New! Red Thunder Teacher's Guide
This companion guide for the novel Red Thunder was written by teachers, for teachers. It includes chapter summaries, vocabulary lists, and discussion questions, chapter activities correlated to history and English language arts standards, primary sources, graphic organizers, and a glossary. Available from the Teaching Resources Catalog.

Video Podcast: What's an EFT?
What is an Electronic Field Trip, and what can it add to your classroom? Colonial Williamsburg's Bill White narrates this behind-the-scenes look at the Emmy award-winning series.

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Quotation of the Month

"The hearts of your soldiers beat high with the spirit of freedom; they are animated with the justice of their cause . . . For my own part I ask no greater blessing than to share with you the common danger and common glory."

—Samuel Adams, speech delivered at
the State House in Philadelphia,
August 1, 1776

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