Is it the American Revolution or The Revolutionary War?  I used to be so confused by the terminology surrounding the American Revolution since it has more than one name (including the previously mentioned ones, plus the U.S War of Independence). Truth is it’s both or either. Revolutionary America is a period of American History from 1775-1783 in which the residents of the 13 North American colonies conflicted with the British Crown over the rule of the colonies.

Our previous installments of American History Time Resources include: Before 1630 – Pre-America where we talked a lot about explorers and ended with the Mayflower journey, and Colonial America where we cover things like Thanksgiving, Colonial Life, the Salem Witch Trials, and more.  We begin this period where we left off (around the French and Indian War), with some overlap as we take a look at Revolutionary America.

American History Timeline Resources: The American Revolution

Many of the projects and brief readings for colonial life in this time period come from the Home School in the Woods – History Through the Ages – Time Traveler Series. In the case of this time period we are using History Through the Ages – Time Travelers – The American Revolution.

All the names in the red headlines are ones we will be adding to our timeline notebook. While we may not study each one in depth, we will touch on them in some manner in relation to the given time period. Each time period will be covered over the span of one week.

{NOTE: This time period – American Revolution ended up spread out over more than 5 weeks. It took us more like 7/8 weeks with all the fabulous video resources we chose to watch.}

* Please note that what movies you choose to watch with your children is a personal choice. Be sure to screen the movies and decide for yourself if you want to show them to your children.

1763 – 1770 The Sugar Act & Stamp Acts, Townshend Acts, The Boston Massacre

Books to Read: 

1. Rush Revere and the First Patriots – At the Rush Revere website you can find FREE Printable Resources, such study guides for each book with chapter by chapter questions, as well as simple activity sheets. We printed and used the study guide for this book.

Movies/Videos Watched:

1. America The Story of US – Episode 2
2. Drive Thru History American History Episode 3

Schoolhouse Teachers.com offers access to multiple Drive Thru History Series such as American History and Ancient History! We are so excited to have a membership this year! Along with each of these videos Schoolhouse Teachers has printable worksheets with straight forward comprehension questions as well as essay questions (all with an answer key) for every episode! It’s a great way to study American History!

Project: British Acts (Lesson 4) from Time Travelers The American Revolution

1773 – 1775 Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, Betsy Ross, The American Revolution, Battle of Bunker Hill

Books to Read: 

1. Rush Revere and the American Revolution – At the Rush Revere website you can find FREE Printable Resources, such study guides for each book with chapter by chapter questions, as well as simple activity sheets. We printed and used the study guide for this book.

Movies/Videos Watched:

1. Liberty’s Kids – To go along with each episode I purchased this Liberty’s Kids Movie Guide that has questions for each specific episode. You can also watch them on YouTube here: Liberty’s Kids in HD
2. Drive Thru History American History Episode 4

Project: Bad News In Boston (Lesson 6) and Soldiers of the American Revolution (Lesson 13) from Time Travelers The American Revolution

1775 – 1779 Declaration of Independence, Liberty Bell, Continental Army at Valley Forge, Battle of Saratoga

Books to Read:

1. What is the Declaration of Independence? – Use these FREE Printable Notebook Pages after reading this book to add to your history notebook.

Movies/Videos Watched: 

1. Drive Thru History American History Episode 5 & 6
2. Continue with Liberty’s Kids

Project: Liberty Bell Timeline Scavenger Hunt, Liberty Bell (Lesson 12) from Time Travelers The American Revolution, Battles of the American Revolution Map (Lesson 8) from Time Travelers The American Revolution

1780 – 1783 John Hancock, Samual Adams, George Washington vs. King George III

Books to Read:

1. George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides

Movies/Videos Watched:

1. Founding Fathers

Project: George vs. George Comparison (Lesson 3), Whig vs. Tory (Lesson 4), 1st Continental Congress vs. 2nd Continental Congress (Lesson 9) and Monarchy vs. Republic from Time Travelers The American Revolution

Looking for More?

There are tons of FREE Printable lapbook pages, as well as other links and resources for studying the American Revolution at Tina’s Dynamic American Revolution 1775-1783.

Not sure how to do all this? Check out How to Create a Timeline Based History Plan for all the details!

Timeline Based American History Series

Be sure to bookmark this Timeline Based Middle School History page and check back each month as we add our resources and projects for each time period!

We will spend approximately 5 weeks per time period. With each time period below I will include a list of multiple book and video resources, as well as a project or two for that time period. Be sure to click on each time period heading (as it gets linked along the way) to see what exactly we ended up including in our study, and how exactly we did it.

Year One

Before 1630 – Pre America

1630 – 1763 – Colonial America

1763 – 1783 – The American Revolution {This Post}

1783 – 1860 – The Young Republic & Westward Expansion

1830-1876 – Civil War/Reconstruction

Year Two

1871 – 1920 – The Gilded Age &  2nd Industrial Revolution

1914 – 1933 – WWI/Depression

1933 – 1945 – New Deal/WWII

1945 – 1960 – Postwar America

1960-1980 – The Vietnam Era

1980 – 2000 – End of the Century