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Week 5 · Readings & resources

Week 5 — Readings & Resources · The American Revolution

U.S. History to 1877 · HIST 1301 Fall 2026 · Prof. Hartwell Fictional sample

Course: U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Hartwell
Objectives covered: Objective 4 — the American Revolution, the Declaration's ideas, and the Revolution's social limits.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and there is nothing to buy.

This week's load is deliberately focused: 2 short videos + 2 short readings + the primary source you'll use in the workshop, grouped by the lecture's ideas. Watch or read one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 45–55 minutes if you do everything; far less if you pick one per group.

Order that matches the lecture: ① the ideas of the Declaration → ② the war's turning points → ③ the Revolution's social limits → ④ the week's primary source (for the workshop).

A habit for this week: before you trust any claim about what the Declaration "says," open the text and read it yourself (Group ④). Chatbots, textbooks, and pundits often quote it loosely, out of context, or flat-out wrong. The habit all term: read the source.

① The Declaration of Independence and Its Ideas

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–3. The Declaration's three parts; the key ideas: natural rights, consent of the governed, the right to alter or abolish destructive government; sourcing the document.

Reading — "The Declaration of Independence and Natural Rights" (Khan Academy, US History → The American Revolution unit)
🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history
Why it's assigned: a clear, readable explanation of the Enlightenment ideas — Locke's natural rights, consent of the governed — that underpin the Declaration's preamble, and how Jefferson's draft turned them into a political argument. (Open the The American Revolution unit and find the Declaration article.)
⏱ ~10 min

Reading — "Declaration of Independence" milestone document overview (National Archives)
🔗 https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence
Why it earns the click: short, authoritative context from the institution that holds the original document — background on the drafting, the revisions by Congress, and why July 4, 1776, matters.
⏱ ~5 min

② The War's Turning Points

Maps to Lecture Segment 5. Lexington & Concord (1775); Saratoga (1777) as the turning point; the French alliance (1778); Yorktown (1781); Treaty of Paris (1783).

Video — "The American Revolution" (CrashCourse US History #8)
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlUiSBXQHCw
Why it earns the click: a brisk narrative of the war from Lexington to Yorktown that emphasizes Saratoga as the turning point and the French alliance as decisive. Good context for the chronology questions on the quiz.
⏱ ~12 min

Video — "Who Won the American Revolution?" (CrashCourse US History #7)
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGfGbDSHj4Y
Why it earns the click: focuses on the social outcomes — who actually benefited from the Revolution and who didn't. Pairs directly with Lecture Segment 6 on the Revolution's limits.
⏱ ~12 min

③ The Revolution's Social Limits

Maps to Lecture Segment 6. Slavery and the Revolution; Abigail Adams and women; Native nations and the Treaty of Paris.

Reading — "The Revolution's Unfinished Business" (OpenStax, U.S. History, Chapter 7)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/7-introduction
Why it's assigned: covers the social dimensions of the Revolution — the limits for enslaved people, women, and Native nations — in the same readable style as earlier OpenStax chapters. (Read §7.3–7.4.)
⏱ ~12 min

④ The Week's Primary Source (for the Workshop)

You'll analyze this in Primary Source Workshop 5. Read the full text at least once before the workshop so you arrive ready to source and close-read the second paragraph.

Primary source — The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)
🔗 https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript (National Archives — authoritative full transcription)
🔗 https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration (National Archives — context, images, and background)
Why it's assigned: the document itself, at the institution that holds the original. You'll close-read the second paragraph ("We hold these truths to be self-evident…") in the workshop. Read the full text at least once — it is shorter than you expect, and the list of grievances is as important as the preamble.
⏱ ~10 min

Supplementary primary source — Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31, 1776
🔗 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-01-02-0241 (Founders Online, National Archives)
Why it earns the click: the famous "Remember the Ladies" letter, in which Abigail Adams asks John Adams and the Continental Congress to "be more generous and favourable" to women in the new laws. Essential context for the workshop and the Discussion.
⏱ ~5 min

Optional one-stop references (free online)

Pick-one quick path (≈22 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Read the National Archives Declaration of Independence overview (group ①).
2. Watch CrashCourse US History #8 on the war (group ②).
3. Read the Declaration of Independence itself, full text (group ④) — especially the second paragraph for the workshop.

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Hartwell and use the National Archives or OpenStax references in the meantime. The archives.gov address for the Declaration has been stable for years and is the canonical reference.

~ Prof. Hartwell's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com