In order to ensure proper understanding and appreciation of the American Revolution and its legacy, the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati has developed this plan of instruction on the American Revolution for
students in grades nine through twelve. The plan is designed to be followed during that part of a secondary school course on U.S. history that covers the period between 1754 and 1791, beginning with the French and Indian War and ending with the ratification of the U.S. Bill of Rights. The American Revolution Institute recommends that each state, or as local circumstances may dictate, each school district, adopt a version of this plan. The plan is based on the interpretive framework
developed by the American Revolution Institute to organize and synthesize the enduring achievements of the American Revolution and presents them in a way that makes sense of an extremely complex series of social, economic, political, intellectual, legal, and constitutional developments spanning nearly forty years. That interpretive framework rests on the best advanced scholarship on the Revolution published over the last seventy years, an extraordinary body of creative work that places the
American Revolution at the center of American history. Students taught according to this plan of instruction should learn that the American Revolution: They should also learn that fulfilling and defending the ideals of the Revolution are the shared responsibility of all our citizens, and that in this way the American Revolution continues to define and shape our lives. The plan begins with an overview of the European imperial system in the middle of the eighteenth century, but presupposes that the students have completed instruction on development of society in the British colonies of eastern North America, and that they are familiar with the hierarchical structure of that society, including slavery and indentured servitude, religious diversity in the colonies, the nature of conflict between colonists and American Indians, the nature and evolution of colonial government, the nature of the late colonial economy, and the growth of the colonial population in the decades before the French and Indian War. Understanding the topics outlined in this plan of instruction is fundamental to understanding the importance of the American Revolution, but the American Revolution Institute encourages states, school districts, schools, and teachers to integrate additional topics, particularly topics of local or regional importance. The American Revolution was not restricted to the eastern seaboard of North America. In what is now the United States, the Revolutionary War reached from Florida to Canada and west to the Mississippi River. It shaped the future of the Spanish empire in the Americas and ultimately touched the lives of people living in every part of North America. By challenging monarchy and colonial dependence and promoting ideals of equality and natural rights, the American Revolution ultimately became an event of global importance. The American Revolution Institute welcomes the opportunity to work with school superintendents, school boards, state officials, and legislators to tailor this plan to local needs and circumstances. This version of the draft plan makes reference to people and events in the Revolutionary history of South Carolina of particular relevance in that state. The scope of the plan is national, leaving appropriate opportunities for the integration of themes, events, and people of regional, state, or local interest, which are often well suited to illustrate larger subjects in effective ways. The American Revolution Institute has created materials to support the implementation of this plan, and further recommends materials developed by peer organizations, that are consistent with, and advance the aims of the plan. A Plan for Instruction on the History and Legacy of the American Revolution for Use in Secondary SchoolsAll students shall be instructed in the HISTORY AND LEGACY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION according to the following plan during a course of instruction on U.S. history presented between grades nine and twelve, with a total classroom time of not less than forty hours to be devoted to this instruction. Instruction on the HISTORY AND LEGACY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION shall be divided into four sections, with not less than twelve hours of classroom instruction devoted to each of the first three sections, and not less than four hours of classroom instruction devoted to the fourth section. The first section is entitled THE SHAPING OF THE REVOLUTION. The aim of this section is to ensure that students understand why and how the people of the thirteen British colonies that became the United States resisted and ultimately rebelled against British rule and became the first colonial people to secure their independence from a European imperial power. While students should understand the chronology and major events in the imperial controversy between the colonies and Britain, the larger purpose of this section is to ensure that students understand that the people of colonial British North America were not free, in the sense that we use that term—that they may have enjoyed more personal independence and local autonomy than many people in the world, but they were ultimately subjects of a distant imperial monarchy and possessed few rights that the British government were bound to respect. The imposition of new imperial regulations and taxes during the 1760s made this clear, and led the colonists from resistance to rebellion in order to secure the rights to which they believe they were entitled. The topics covered shall include:
The Revolutionary WarThe second section is entitled THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. The aim of this section is to ensure that students understand how the United States achieved its independence in an armed conflict lasting for eight years. While students should understand the chronology and major events of the war, the larger purpose of this section is to ensure that they understand that the United States won its independence in a war against a great power because of the voluntary commitment of a wide range of Americans, from all regions, ethnic and religious groups, and occupations to a common cause; the skill, character, and commitment of American military leaders, including George Washington, Nathanael Greene, Lafayette, and others; challenges the British faced in conducting a war across the Atlantic; and the support of France, which supplied arms and supplies and sent part of its army and navy to assist the Revolutionaries. Students should understand that the intervention of France and the involvement of Spain turned the war into a global conflict in the system of European empires. The topics covered shall include:
The Revolutionary RepublicThe third section is entitled THE REVOLUTIONARY REPUBLIC. The aim of this section is to ensure that students understand how the United States declared its independence from British rule and created republican governments in each of the thirteen newly independent states, how the Continental Congress and the states managed the Revolutionary War, and how the Revolutionaries created constitutions and laws based on ideals of liberty, equality, natural and civil rights, and responsible citizenship, culminating in the drafting and ratification of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. While students should understand the chronology and major events involved in the establishment of American republics, the larger purpose is to ensure that they understand that the thirteen colonies involved in the American Revolution were the first colonies of any European empire to secure their independence; that the American Revolution resulted in the establishment of republican governments dedicated to protecting and enhancing the rights and interests of ordinary people, in contrast to monarchical government, which is dedicated to advancing the interests of the monarch and the state; and that the Revolutionaries committed their new republican governments to ideals of liberty, equality, natural and civil rights, and responsible citizenship, which are reflected in the state constitutions and laws adopted between 1776 and 1787, and are reflected in the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Bill of Rights. The topics covered shall include:
The Legacy of the American RevolutionThe fourth section is entitled THE LEGACY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. The aim of this section is to ensure that students understand how the ideals of the American Revolution have shaped American culture, society, economy, and government since the beginning of the Revolution, and do so today. This section is not a substitute for instruction on American national history, but provides a framework for understanding the enduring and pervasive influence of the Revolution. The topics covered shall include:
This section is to be suggestive rather than exhaustive, and could be extended to include, among other topics, the consequences of the American Revolution for the role of the United States in the world as a model for free governments and for colonial resistance to imperial rule; the relation of Revolutionary ideals for the growth of the labor movement and demands for the rights of workers; the relationship of Revolutionary idealism for the modern movement for civil rights for African Americans as well as for the rights of women and minority groups; and for the role of the United States as a champion of natural rights around the world. We encourage all our visitors to read Why the American Revolution Matters, our basic statement about the importance of the American Revolution. It outlines what every American should understand about the central event in American history, and is integrated with the aims of this plan of instruction on the American Revolution.If you share our concern about ensuring that all Americans understand and appreciate the constructive achievements of the American Revolution, we invite you to join our movement. Sign up for news and notices from the American Revolution Institute. It costs nothing to express your commitment to thoughtful, responsible, balanced, non-partisan history education.We invite all teachers and school administrators involved with American history, civics, and social studies who have an interest in the American Revolution to join the Teaching Associates of the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati.What were the ideals of the American Revolution?Fourth, the American Revolution committed the new nation to ideals of liberty, equality, natural and civil rights, and responsible citizenship and made them the basis of a new political order. None of these ideals was new or originated with Americans.
What is similar to the American Revolution?After the American Revolution came many others, but the one that stands out the most is the French Revolution. Many people consider the American and French revolutions to be similar, which is true to an extent.
What political ideas influenced the American Revolution?In turn, the Enlightenment ideals of liberty, equality, and justice helped to create the conditions for the American Revolution and the subsequent Constitution. Democracy was not created in a heartbeat. In a world where people were ruled by monarchs from above, the idea of self-government is entirely alien.
Which was one of the key ideals of the revolutionary period?The ideas of “no taxation without representation” and “life, liberty, private property, and the pursuit of happiness” were concepts that saw popularity among the colonists who favored challenging British aggression.
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