Teaching with Primary Sources
H. S. I. Historical Scene Investigation This site has many C.S.I. type investigations into historical events. For the American Revolution, check out the investigations of the Boston Massacre and the confrontation at Lexington and Concord.
http://web.wm.edu/hsi/index.html
Primary Source Materials
Pictures of the Revolutionary War from the National Archives At this site, you can download jpgs of works of art in the collections of the National Archives related to the Revolutionary War. It's an excellent site, but be careful, because not all of the materials are primary. Also check out the associated lesson plan.
http://www.archives.gov/research/american-revolution/pictures/
Maps and Charts of the Revolutionary Era from the Library of Congress This site provides a wide selection of primary source maps from the collections of the Library of Congress.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/armhtml/armhome.html
The Decisive Day is Come: The Battle of Bunker Hill This site from the Massachusetts Historical Society provides personal accounts and eyewitness descriptions of the battle, along with contemporary maps, drawings, engravings, broadsides, and artifacts, either preserved by the participants or found on the battlefield. There is also an overview essay by historian Bernard Bailyn, a timeline, and biographical sketches of participants.
http://www.masshist.org/bh/
Religion and the American Revolution This site is part of a Library of Congress online exhibit about Religion and the Founding of the American Republic. It provides an overview of the topic and primary source materials related to the topic.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel03.html
Spy Letters of the American Revolution This site from the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan highlights the University's collection of the letters of Sir Henry Clinton, a spy during the Revolutionary War.The exhibit aims to showcase the spy letters of the Sir Henry Clinton Collection and to situate them in an educational framework. The letters form the core of the exhibit. Because the exhibit provides large, readable images of the letters as well as transcriptions, the letters may be used substantively in the classroom. Furthermore, the letters may be accessed and understood in multiple ways. The letters may be reached through their stories, their methods, a timeline, biographies, or a map. The stories provide background contextual information about each letter; while the methods describe their techniques and formats. The map provides a visual representation of the letters' travels. Biographies and a timeline provide supplementary information for further reference. Prints, portraits, and maps also supply additional background to the contents of the letters. Check out the Teachers Lounge.
http://www.si.umich.edu/spies/
Battle Lines: Letters from America's Wars This site from the Gilder Lehrman Institute provides letters from America's 200 years of conflicts. Students can listen to the letters, or read them in the original using a really cool transcription device that moves down the handwritten letters.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/battlelines
General Information
Liberty! The American Revolution on PBS This is the companion site to the PBS series. Check out the Teacher's Guide and the Road to Revolution Game.
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/
Digital History Guide to the Revolutionary War This site provides general information, primary source documents, and learning tools like fact sheets, timelines, etc.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/revwar/index.cfm
