Lesson by Nathan McAlister
Grade Level: 6–8
Number of Class Periods: 1
About This Lesson Plan
In this lesson students will analyze three short primary sources written by British intellectuals and compare their points of view. In the eighteenth century the idea of “liberty” was being discussed on both sides of the Atlantic. In Great Britain slavery, individualism, and the role of women in society were all being debated. Student understanding will be demonstrated through discussion and written analysis.
Lesson Plan Author: Nathan McAlister
Additional Information About This Lesson
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
How did British intellectuals understand the meaning of “liberty” during and after the American
Revolution?
What threats to freedom did British intellectuals identify?
Documents
Documents
Edmund Burke, The Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq; on Moving His Resolutions for Conciliation with the Colonies, March 22, 1775, London, 1775
Ottobah Cugoano, Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Humbly Submitted to the Inhabitants of Great-Britain, London, 1787
Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London, 1792