Week 13: The Battle of Yorktown and Being George Washington

Note to Parents: Please make sure your students are reading the blog completely every week, and following all the instructions, including watching all videos and doing any additional reading. This is part of their weekly homework assignments. Also, please review scores and teacher comments on all returned assignments with your student. (Every student should have all but his or her most recent paper returned and scored.) Thank you!

***NO CLASS FEBRUARY 3rd for SEMESTER BREAK***


  
George Washington making the first cannon shot for the Americans at Yorktown



Major General Benjamin Lincoln accepting British General Cornwallis' sword as surrender


Benjamin West's unfinished painting of the Treaty of Paris, depicting John Jay, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin

We finally finished the first semester! You're halfway to being a Revolutionary War and Constitution expert! Please go back to old blog posts and read and/or watch anything you might have missed (especially if you're feeling like you haven't quite reached expert level, yet!)

This week, we went over the British surrender at Yorktown--the battle that effectively ended the Revolutionary War on October 19th, 1781. The war was formally ended nearly two years later on September 3rd, 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Representatives from America, France, England and Spain met in Paris to sign the treaty, which officially recognized the original thirteen colonies as an independent nation, and gave them more land, with the new country's borders reaching from Florida in the south to the Great Lakes in the north, and from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Mississippi River in the west.

Candy Trivia Question: Why was Benjamin West's painting of the Treaty of Paris never completed?

ASSIGNMENTS:

WRITING: Consider the leadership qualities that George Washington had that you just read about in the book, and also consider the character flaws that George Washington overcame to become such a great leader. Then, apply that to your vision of yourself in the future by answering the following questions in an essay: 

What character traits do you want to develop in yourself? What habits or traits do you have that might hold you back from achieving those qualities? What can you do now to start overcoming those obstacles and start on the path to developing the qualities you desire?

*Because this assignment is a self-reflection, this paper can be written in first-person.

READING: Begin Reading The Freedom Factor by Gerald Lund. We will be discussing this book on February 10th, so be prepared with WRITTEN notes/comments/questions to share in the discussion. You will be scored on your preparation.

We will have a whole new set of award requirements to work on for second semester, so feel free to look them over while we're on break (pg. 33 in your binder). If you feel like you didn't do as well as you would have liked to do last semester, think of second semester as a fresh start, with lots of new opportunities!


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