People of the Revolution, and Patriot and Loyalist views
Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet
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Patriots, Loyalists and the enslaved, 1775 to 1782 (cards A to E). Card A, Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, proclamation of November 7, 1775, issued from a ship off Norfolk (spelling as in two transcriptions; cuts marked): "I do require every Person capable of bearing Arms, to resort to His Majesty's STANDARD, or be looked upon as Traitors to His Majesty's Crown and Government"; and "… (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His Majesty's Troops as soon as may be". Card B, a summary in our words from the National Park Service timeline of the Revolution: after Dunmore's proclamation, tens of thousands of African Americans sought freedom by supporting the British during the war, and a smaller number fought on the Patriot side despite policies that discouraged their enlistment. Card C, from the Mount Vernon Washington Library's encyclopedia article on Loyalists: "Approximately one-fifth of Americans supported Britain during the American Revolution." The article says the exact numbers are uncertain because it is hard to decide who counted as a Loyalist. It also says: "Seventeen people enslaved by Washington fled from Mount Vernon to the H.M.S. Savage for their freedom." Card D, from the same National Park Service timeline: on October 7, 1780, Patriot militia defeated a force of Loyalists under Major Patrick Ferguson at Kings Mountain, South Carolina. Ferguson, a Scot, was the only British soldier in the battle; everyone else who fought there was American. The timeline says: "Kings Mountain is truly a battle among Americans about their future." Card E, a summary in our words from the same timeline: in January 1782 the evacuation of Loyalists began, and about 100,000 left for Britain, Canada and the West Indies, among them about 15,000 African Americans.
Card A is a proclamation by Lord Dunmore, Virginia's royal governor. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?
- A promise from the Patriots to free enslaved people
- A law passed by the Continental Congress in 1775
- What enslaved Virginians themselves hoped for when they heard of it in 1775
- What the British governor offered and demanded to weaken the rebels
Why does Dunmore offer freedom only to those "appertaining to Rebels" who are "able and willing to bear Arms," Bo asks?
- To reward enslaved men who were already serving the Patriot army
- To end slavery everywhere in Virginia at once
- To add soldiers and weaken Patriot enslavers, not to end slavery
- To punish enslavers who stayed loyal to the king
A student writes: "Britain freed enslaved people in the Revolution." How strong is that claim, given cards A and B, Esme asks?
- Weak: card A makes no offer of freedom to anyone
- Strong: card A frees all enslaved people throughout the colonies who ask for it
- Strong: card B says Britain freed tens of thousands of enslaved people
- Partly: card A frees only people held by rebels who can fight; card B counts thousands
Card E: about 100,000 Loyalists left, among them about 15,000 African Americans. What share of those who left was African American, Jun asks?
- About 85 percent, since that is the share who were not African American
- About 18 percent, since 15,000 divided by the other 85,000
- About 1.5 percent, since 15,000 is a small part of 100,000
- About 15 percent, since 15,000 out of 100,000 is 0.15
Card C says seventeen people fled Mount Vernon, and card B says tens of thousands sought British freedom. How do they fit, Kira asks?
- The seventeen settle the exact number given in card B for the colonies as a whole
- The seventeen are one documented case of the larger movement, not a count
- The seventeen show that Washington freed them himself
- Seventeen contradicts card B, because card B says far more
How might Dunmore's offer look different to a Patriot enslaver and to an enslaved person, given cards A to C, Luz asks?
- Both would read it in the same way, as a threat to their own lives and homes
- Both would see it as an order to fight for the Patriots against the British
- Neither would notice it, since it applied to Loyalists and not to rebels
- An enslaver could see a threat to property; an enslaved person, a chance at freedom
A student writes: "The Revolution was fought only between Americans and Britain." How strong is that claim, given card D, Noah asks?
- Strong: card A shows a British governor leading the British side of the war
- Weak: Kings Mountain was fought among Americans, with Ferguson the only British soldier
- Weak: card D says the battle took place after the Treaty of Paris was signed
- Strong: card D says Patriots defeated a force of Loyalists under Major Ferguson
Comparing card A (1775) and card E (1782), what changed, Pia asks?
- From Patriots offering freedom, to Loyalists winning the war
- From a governor's call to arms to the departure of about 100,000 Loyalists
- Nothing changed, since the same people stayed where they were
- Nothing can be compared, since the two cards are seven years apart in time
Card C calls the one-fifth figure "approximately" and says the exact numbers are uncertain. How should a reader use it, Ren asks?
- As a rough estimate that the source itself warns is not exact
- As a copy of an older Loyalist article, so it adds nothing new
- As false, since a rounded figure cannot be useful
- As an exact count, since a museum is an official source
What new evidence would best test the "one-fifth" figure for Loyalists, Zee asks?
- Surviving loyalty oaths and loss claims, counted colony by colony
- A list of the battles fought in the South between 1775 and 1783
- A Patriot newspaper's guess at the number of Loyalists in its own colony
- Another article that repeats the one-fifth figure from an older book