Weapons of the American Revolutionary War

This lesson explores the weapons used by the British, French, Dutch, Hessians, and Americans during the Revolutionary War era. The lesson, which features Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Mechanical Arts & Numismatics Senior Curator Erik Goldstein speaking at the American Revolutionary War in the West conference hosted by the St. Charles County (MO) Historical Society, opens with two brainstorming questions that ask students to describe what types of weapons armed forces use in combat and how weapons have evolved over time. Students then view an introductory video clip in which Goldstein provides a brief history of research into the weapons used in the fight for American independence. Next, students view and analyze two video clips that provide background information about researching and categorizing Revolutionary-era weapons. From there, students learn about different forms of Revolutionary-era firearms by watching five video clips and answering related questions. Students then view and analyze three final video clips that highlight different forms of Revolutionary-era edged weapons. Putting their new knowledge in practice, students are then tasked with searching Colonial Williamsburg's digital collection of artifacts and preparing a presentation about one specific Revolutionary-era weapon of choice. Finally, students respond to a summative writing prompt that asks them to reflect on what they learned about Revolutionary-era weaponry and "assess which had the greatest impact in the fight for American independence."