1. Focus Question: How did the revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality inspire different groups in American society after independence?
Homework: p

2. Focus Question: How did the revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality inspire different groups in American society after independence?
Do Now:
Who did the founding fathers have in mind when they wrote in the preamble of the Consttiution, “We the People”? Who did they leave out?

3. Declaration of Independence Preamble
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
How might this statement have inspired less powerful members of colonial society (including African Americans, women, and white workingmen)?
What might these groups have wanted from the Revolution?

4. Selectively underline and then write two lines of notes that indicate the gist of the passage. With partner, complete chart on p. 16.
Women’s documents:
- Colonial Women Spin for Liberty (p.7 &8)
- Abigail Adams Reminds John Adams to “Remember the Ladies”  (p.5-6)
African Americans’ documents:
- Slaves Petition the Massachusetts Legislature (p.14 &15)
- A Revolutionary Veteran Describes African- American Soldiers (p.12-13)
White workingmen’s documents: 
- A Revolutionary Veteran Describes His Experience (p.9-10)
- A Radical Patriot Urges “Common Sense and a Plain Understanding” in the Pennsylvania Constitution (p.11)

5. Mark one quote from the text that you find the most interesting, shocking or surprising.

6. Goal: Identify the central idea or important details of different perspectives.
One student goes first to share the quotes s/he chose from their assigned documents (identify the document, read the quote, say why they chose it).
Other group members responds with clarifications, connections and/or questions.
Repeat for each group member
Potential Sentence Starters:
Person Sharing: “I thought this quote was the most interesting b/c…”
Person Sharing: “This quote is so surprising b/c…”
Person Responding: “ Your quote is about…..”
Person Responding: “I don’t understand…”
Person Responding: “That idea is similar to….

7. The Constitutional Convention
Difficulties experienced by the national government under the Articles of Confederation:
- lack of funds to run the government
- conflicts between states
- Shays’ Rebellion
American leaders decided to meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation and create a stronger government.
Particular groups in American society had differing viewpoints on what the new government should look like. 7

8. Guidelines for writing your petition
The petition clearly summarizes the main ideas contained in the documents.
The petition effectively incorporates at least two facts from the documents.
The petition demonstrates an understanding of how workingmen/women/African Americans contributed to the American Revolution by using at least one example from the documents.
The petition demonstrates an understanding of how workingmen/women/African Americans used revolutionary ideas about liberty to argue for their own equality by using at least one example from the documents.