Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775-1776 / Edition 2

by Bill Offutt

Overview

Part of the Reacting to the Past series, Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City animates the political and social chaos of the American Revolution.

Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775–1776 draws students into the chaos of a revolutionary New York City, where patriot and loyalist forces argued and fought for advantage among a divided populace. Can students realize the liminal world of chaos, disruption, loss of privacy, and fear of victimization that accompanies any violent revolution? How do both the overall outcome and the intermediate “surprises” that reflect the shift of events in 1775–76 demonstrate the role of contingency in history? Could the Brits still win? What were the complexities, strengths, and weaknesses of the arguments on both sides? How were these affected by the social circumstances in which the Revolution occurred?

Students engage with the ideological foundations of revolution and government through close readings of Locke, Paine, and other contemporaries. Each student’s ultimate victory goal is to have his/her side in control of New York City at the end of 1776 (not at the end of the Revolution, when all know who won), as well as to achieve certain individual goals (e.g., slaves can attain freedom, propertied women can be granted voting rights, laborers can make deals for land). Winning requires the ability to master the high politics arguments for and against revolution as well as the low political skills of logrolling, bribery, and threatened force. Military force often determines the winner, much to the surprise of the students who concentrate on internal game politics.

Reacting to the Past is a series of historical role-playing games that explore important ideas by re-creating the contexts that shaped them. Students are assigned roles, informed by classic texts, set in particular moments of intellectual and social ferment.

An award-winning active-learning pedagogy, Reacting to the Past improves speaking, writing, and leadership skills, promotes engagement with classic texts and history, and builds learning communities. Reacting can be used across the curriculum, from the first-year general education class to “capstone” experiences. A Reacting game can also function as the discussion component of lecture classes, or it can be enlisted for intersession courses, honors programs, and other specialized curricular purposes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900393938899
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	02/12/2015
Series:	Reacting to the Past
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

William Offutt is Professor of History and Faculty Advisor for the Pforzheimer Honors College at Pace University. He received his AB from Stanford University, and his J.D. from Stanford Law School. Abandoning the law, he then went to graduate school, earning a Ph.D. in Early American History at Johns Hopkins University under Professor Jack P. Greene. His first book, Of Good Laws and Good Men: Law and Society in the Delaware Valley 1680–1710, was published by Illinois University Press. His academic interests focus on the relationship between law and society, particularly the methods by which legal systems obtain and keep their legitimacy. He has taught courses on colonial America, revolutionary America, the Civil War, Constitutional history, and American women’s history. In addition to his own Reacting game, he has taught eight other Reacting games to students at Pace, and he has participated in numerous Reacting conferences as Gamemaster and/or player.

Table of Contents

Contents

Â?TOC \t "Heading 1,2,Heading 2,3,Book Heading,1" I. The Game

Introduction

Prologue: New York City, February 9, 1775

Map of New York City, 1730—70

A Walk through the City

The Historical Context

The Crisis in Great Britain’s North American Colonies, 1763—1775

Social Roots of the Revolutionary Crisis

Economic Roots of the Revolutionary Crisis

Political Roots of the Revolutionary Crisis

The (Debatable) Logic of Colonial Resistance

Key Elements of the Game

Game Situation at Start

The Cast of Characters

Role Distribution by Class Size

Class Assignments and Activities

Overview

Week One (and a Half): Setting Up

Week Two (Game Sessions 1—2): Expected Issues

Week Three (Game Sessions 3—4): Expected Issues

Week Four (Game Sessions 5—6): Expected Issues

Rules for Playing the Game

Provincial Congress Procedures

Oral Presentations

Secrecy Concerning Your Role

Private/Personal Deals

Mob Action

Assignments and Grading

Written Assignments

Grades

Game Performance points [If used–consult Gamemaster]

II. Appendices

Appendix A. Chronology of Events preceding the American Revolution

Appendix B. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government

Introduction to Locke’s Second Treatise

The Second Treatise of Government (Excerpts)

Appendix C. Documents

Two Pamphlets on the Stamp Act Debate (1765)

Samuel Johnson, pamphlet, “Taxation no Tyranny” (1775)

Samuel Seabury, Letters of a Westchester Farmer: The New York Loyalist Position (1774—75)

Thomas Paine, Common Sense (Excerpts, 1776)

James Chalmers, Plain Truth (The Loyalist Response to Common Sense, 1776)

Appendix D. Bibliographical References

Editorial Reviews

"It is one of the best ways I know of engaging students in great books and significant moments in history."

Larry Carver

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Craig Caldwell

"Reacting to the Past is the most absorbing and engaging teaching I have ever done. . . . Students engage each other with a passion I have rarely seen in a classroom."

Elizabeth Robertson

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Jeffrey Hyson