People of the Revolution, and Patriot and Loyalist views
Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
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Freedom claimed in different ways, 1774 to 1787 (cards A to D). Card A, Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved poet in Boston, to the Reverend Samson Occom, a Mohegan minister, February 11, 1774; the letter was printed in a Connecticut newspaper in 1774 (text from the Teaching Hard History library; cuts marked): "… for in every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; it is impatient of Oppression, and pants for Deliverance …" and "How well the Cry for Liberty, and the reverse Disposition for the exercise of oppressive Power over others agree, I humbly think it does not require the Penetration of a Philosopher to determine." Card B, an abstract by the Digital Library on American Slavery of a petition to the Virginia General Assembly begun on November 30, 1786, with the petition's own words in quotation marks: James, "a slave belonging to Will Armistead of New Kent county," says that "with an honest desire to serve this country" he served as a spy for the Marquis de Lafayette, and that "he often at the peril of his life found means to frequent the British Camp." He "intreats that he may be granted that Freedom, which he flatters himself he has in some degree contributed to establish," and asks that "his present master shall be made adequate compensation for the loss of a valuable workman." A related record is General Lafayette's certificate of November 21, 1784. Card C, a summary in our words of a modern biography reposted by the American Battlefield Trust: James Armistead, born into slavery around 1760, enlisted with his master's permission, posed as a runaway to reach General Cornwallis's headquarters and passed information to Lafayette in 1781. The biography says that as a spy he did not benefit from the Act of 1783, which freed enslaved men who had fought for the Revolution, and that he began petitioning Congress. With a letter from Lafayette, he was freed in 1787 and took the name Lafayette. Card D, a summary in our words from the National Park Service timeline: in September and October 1781 a joint French and American force trapped a British army at Yorktown, Virginia, and General Cornwallis surrendered. The Treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783, ratified the independence of the 13 North American states.
Card A was written by an enslaved poet to a Mohegan minister and printed in a newspaper. What does the printing suggest, Ari asks?
- It shows most enslaved people could publish their letters
- Her argument reached readers beyond Occom, who could judge it
- She wrote it for newspaper readers and not for Occom
- It was a government document issued by the colony
A student writes: "Wheatley said the colonists' Cry for Liberty agreed well with holding others in oppressive power." How strong is that claim, Bo asks?
- Weak: she says no philosopher is needed to see they do not agree
- Weak: card A does not mention liberty or oppression
- Strong: she wrote in 1774, so she repeated the Declaration of 1776
- Strong: card A uses the word "agree" about the Cry for Liberty
Armistead spied in 1781 (card C) and was freed in 1787. About how many years passed between the two, Jun asks?
- About three years, since Lafayette's certificate is from 1784
- About six years, since 1787 minus 1781 is 6
- About eleven years, since the Revolution began in 1776
- About one year, since the petition began in 1786
Which chain best explains why Armistead stayed enslaved until 1787, given cards B to D, Kira asks?
- The Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended slavery in Virginia
- He chose to stay enslaved to protect Lafayette
- He broke the law by spying, so the Act of 1783 punished him with more years
- As a spy he was not covered by the Act of 1783, so he needed a petition
Why might the petition stress "peril of his life" and an "honest desire to serve this country," Milo asks?
- He wrote it to boast of his daring to Lafayette and win his thanks
- He wrote it to admit he had also served the British army for a time
- He was asking the Assembly for freedom and stressed service worth a reward
- He wrote it to ask Congress for a soldier's pension and land
Comparing card A (1774) and card B (1786), what do the two show, Ren asks?
- Both asked for freedom in the same words and for the same reason, one after the other
- Two enslaved people argued for freedom: one by principle, one by service
- Neither card says anything about freedom or about being enslaved
- Wheatley was enslaved, but Armistead was a free soldier
A student writes: "The Revolution ended slavery in Virginia." How strong is that claim, given cards C and D, Tala asks?
- Weak: Armistead still needed a petition; card D says nothing of ending slavery
- Strong: card D says the Treaty of Paris ratified independence
- Strong: card C says Armistead was freed in 1787, so slavery had ended in Virginia
- Weak: card C says no enslaved person was ever freed
Yorktown was in 1781 and the Treaty of Paris in 1783 (card D); Armistead petitioned in 1786. What does the order show, Zee asks?
- His petition caused the Treaty of Paris in 1783
- He waited years after the war was won, so service alone did not bring freedom
- He petitioned before Yorktown, so his service was still ahead
- Yorktown came five years before the Treaty of Paris, which explains the delay
What new evidence would best show how the General Assembly decided Armistead's petition, Noah asks?
- A map of the Yorktown battlefield in 1781
- The Assembly's own record of its vote on the petition
- Another biography that repeats the claims in card C
- A report of Lafayette's visit to America in 1824
Card B is an archive's abstract of a petition, with the petition's words in quotation marks. What is its strength and its limit, Pia asks?
- It was written by Armistead in 1786 in his own hand
- It is a modern opinion with no link to the petition
- It is the complete petition, so nothing is missing from the words it quotes here
- It quotes the petition's words but is a summary, so the full petition holds more