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THEMES
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Framing Questions
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Between 1763 and 1775, what changed many Americans from loyal British subjects to rebellious Patriots? |
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Why did many Americans remain loyal to Great Britain and oppose rebellion? |
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How did Patriots and Loyalists convey their views through the media outlets of the time? |
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Was the American Revolution inevitable? If so, was there a "point of no return"? |
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Framing Questions
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What rebellions and "civil wars" occurred within the colonies as war approached in the mid 1770s? |
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How did colonists express and debate their differing opinions? |
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How did they deal with political opponents? |
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What caused the moderate voice to fade from the political arena? |
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What led Americans to support or oppose the ultimate goal of independence? |
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Framing Questions
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How did Patriot leadership—military, diplomatic, and governmental—promote and hinder the war effort? |
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How did the war affect Patriots, Loyalists, Indians, African Americans, and women? How were power relationships changed? |
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How were decisions by Britain and France critical to the outcome of the war? |
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Was victory the last achievement of the thirteen colonies or the first achievement of the new nation? |
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Framing Questions
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How did Americans envision independence and nationhood in the first years after the Revolutionary War? |
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How did they begin to construct a national identity separate from their colonial identity as British subjects? |
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In what ways was the new nation like "a child just learning to walk"? What postwar challenges most reflected this "state of infancy"? |
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Framing Questions
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How did Americans' concept of self-governance change from 1776 to 1789? Why? |
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How did their emerging national identity affect this process? |
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What divisions of political ideology coalesced in this process? |
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How did the process lead to the final Constitution and Bill of Rights? |
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How do the Constitution and the Bill of Rights reflect the ideals of the American Revolution? |
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Left image: State portrait of King George III in coronation robes by Allan Ramsay, oil on canvas, 1761-62. Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, RCIN 405307. Photograph: The Royal Collection © 2011, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Permission pending.
Right image: Portrait of President George Washington by Gilbert Stuart (the Lansdowne Portrait), oil on canvas, 1796 (detail). Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Bequest of William Bingham, 1811.2; permission pending. |
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