Standard: SS8H3a
Essential Question: Why was there an American Revolution?
Name: _______________________________________________
Date: ____________________ Per: ________ T.o.C. # ________
French and Indian War: Beginnings of Revolution?
Handout 1
You will be assigned ONE of the roles of a person living in the North America during the 1750s-1760s. Your
goal is to think from the perspective of that person, and come to a conclusion for this question: Why did this
group fight in the French and Indian War and how could this have led to a larger revolution? Will it be you?
YOUR Role
Jacques Gladieux
Your name is Jacques Gladieux and you are a French fur trader living in New France, about 300 miles northwest of the
Virginia border. You have lived in New France for six years, trading with the Native Americans. The natives trap animals
with valuable fur such as foxes and beavers, and you buy them in exchange for European goods such as iron pots and
steel sewing needles. The Native American tribes in this region do not have the technology to make steel and iron
products, so they are very eager to trade.
After six years in New France, you have made a comfortable life for yourself. You married a Native American woman
named Onahtah, from the Iroquois tribe. She helps you communicate with her people. You have made a lot of money
living in North America and enjoy your life here.
Things have started to change recently. English colonists from the coast have started moving into the Ohio Valley,
where you do most of your trading. Some of them have started trapping the same animals that you buy from the Native
Americans, which is upsetting the Native Americans. Other English colonists are cutting down the forest to build farms,
which is scaring the animals and taking land away from the Native Americans.
Comprehension Questions:
1. How do you feel about the actions of the British? Why are you more likely to stick up for the Native
Americans in this region?
2. Determine at least two things that you could do next to help resolve the current problem in the Ohio
Valley.
Standard: SS8H3a
Essential Question: Why was there an American Revolution?
French and Indian War: Beginnings of Revolution?
Handout 2
Use the criteria below: economic background, loyalty, and worldview to describe the passage from the point of view
of the role you were assigned. Be prepared to share your answers.
Susanna Boyd
Economic
Background
(Job, social class,
education, etc.)
Loyalty
(Which European
power or native
group do they side
with and why?)
Worldview
(Beliefs about power,
land ownership,
responsibilities, etc.)
Jacques Gladieux
Gov. Dinwiddie
George
Washington
Standard: SS8H3a
Essential Question: Why was there an American Revolution?
French and Indian War: Beginnings of Revolution?
Handout 3
Susanna Boyd
Governor Dinwiddie
Jacques Gladieux
George Washington
Standard: SS8H3a
Essential Question: Why was there an American Revolution?
French and Indian War: Beginnings of Revolution?
Handout 4
Think-Tac-Toe Activities
Select a song OR write your own that
you think reflects the sentiments of
the majority of English settlers in
North America. Explain your choice in
at least 5-7 sentences.
Create a mnemonic device to help
students remember why the French
and Native Americans were against
British expansion in the Ohio Valley.
Think about background information
from today’s lesson.
Conduct research on a real individual
who was involved in the French and
Indian War (besides George
Washington) and create a PowerPoint
presentation on their role in the war.
Must be between 6-10 sentences.
Illustrate a political cartoon based on
one of the perspectives we studied
today. It can be pro- OR anti-British
expansion into the Ohio Valley,
depending on whose perspective you
draw from. Must include at least 2-3
panels (minimum) and dialogue of 2
characters.
Create a journal entry where you
compare the territorial struggle in the
Ohio Valley to a struggle that you
have gone through yourself. Include
similarities and differences you see.
Must be 5-7 sentences.
Write out a script between TWO of
the points of view that we studied
today (Susanna, Jacques, Governor
Dinwiddie, George Washington),
imagining why they would be
speaking or how they would interact.
Be prepared to act it out! Must be at
least 10 lines long-- 5 lines per
character.
If this were a scientific experiment, do
you have enough evidence to say that
an war is inevitable? Following all
steps from the scientific method,
create a hypothesis to answer the
question and “test” it based on your
analysis.
Script out a trial between TWO of the
points of view that we studied today
(Susanna, Jacques, Governor
Dinwiddie, George Washington)
where one person has the other
person on trial for a crime. This
should be similar to a debate. Be
prepared to act it out! Must be at
least 10 lines long-- 5 lines per
character.
Activity of YOUR choice
(Must have teacher approval to work
on this option)