In this primary source set, students will engage with a variety of letters, maps, artifacts, and more to explore diverse Bostonian experiences at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.
Inquiry Question 1: How did ordinary Bostonians experience the Siege of Boston? What were their fears and concerns?
Inquiry Question: What tactics did the authors of the Massachusetts recruitment posters use to persuade their audiences?
Inquiry Question 1: According to the Declaration of Independence, why did the colonies declare independence from Great Britain?
Inquiry Question 2: In what ways did individuals use the Declaration of Independence to argue for the end of slavery?
Students will trace Anthony Burns’ journey to freedom, and the growth of abolitionism in 1850s Boston, using broadsides, letters, and artifacts.
Inquiry Question 1: What was the impact of the Fugitive Slave Act on freedom seekers?
Inquiry Question 2: Who resisted the law, and how?
What biases or perspectives are depicted in the following maps of early Boston? How did the city’s geography impact the American Revolutionary War?