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
Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie
You are Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, which means that you are the second most powerful member of the
colonial government in your colony. Having an important job is great, but it doesn’t pay for the expensive clothes that
your children want. Your daughters are getting older—old enough to get married—and in order to attract a proper
suitor, they need to dress in the latest fashions that appear in all of the finest salons in Europe. You want them to be
happy, so you need to find a way to make more money.
To make more money, you decide to sell land out west in the Ohio Valley. Because you’re the Lieutenant Governor, you
have the power to give a company the right to sell that land. You then become the president of the new Ohio Company
so you can get rich selling that land in the Ohio Valley to the colonists. This plan works well, and you are able to make
your children very happy.
The only problem with your scheme is that the French colonists in New France think that they own the land. To show
how serious they are about keeping the land, the French send 800 soldiers and start building forts in the Ohio Valley.
You are now very nervous about the future of your business and the safety of your colony.
Comprehension Questions:
1. Do you have a right to sell the land in the Ohio Valley? Why or why not?
2. Determine at least two appropriate responses that you could take to the actions of the French colonists in
the area.
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)