Towns

NJ, USA

Morristown

Lesson plans and classroom materials.

Washington's Winter: Morristown and the Test of Endurance

6-8 · 3 class periods

What you'll get

  • Full lesson plan (3 class periods)
  • 3 primary sources with analysis prompts
  • Quiz with answer key (5 questions)
  • Differentiation strategies (struggling / advanced / ELL)
  • 2 printable handouts
Print full packet
6-83 class periodsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sourcesCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary sourceD2.His.1.6-8: Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts

Learning Objectives

  1. Students will explain why Washington chose Morristown for winter quarters and describe the strategic advantages of the location
  2. Students will describe the conditions soldiers endured during the Hard Winter of 1779-80 using primary source evidence
  3. Students will analyze why soldiers chose to remain despite extreme hardship and broken promises from Congress
  4. Students will compare the Morristown and Valley Forge encampments and evaluate why Valley Forge dominates popular memory

Essential Questions

  • What does it mean to endure for a cause when the cause cannot provide for you?
  • Why is the story of Morristown less well-known than Valley Forge, and what does that tell us about how we remember history?
  • How did ordinary soldiers experience the Revolution differently from officers and politicians?

Procedure

Warm-Up

10 minutes

Show students a photograph of the reconstructed soldier huts at Jockey Hollow. Ask: "These huts were about 12 feet by 16 feet — roughly the size of this corner of the classroom. Twelve soldiers slept in each one. What would that be like for an entire winter?" Then display a period map showing Morristown's location behind the Watchung Mountains. Ask: "Why would a general choose to camp here?"

Direct Instruction

20 minutes
  • •Context: why Morristown — the Watchung Mountains as a natural barrier, the iron industry, the distance from British-held New York
  • •The first winter (1777): smallpox, inoculation, and the decision that saved the army
  • •The Hard Winter (1779-80): twenty-eight blizzards, supply collapse, and starvation at Jockey Hollow
  • •Life in the huts: daily routines, rations (when available), and the struggle to stay warm
  • •The Connecticut Line near-mutiny (May 1780): soldiers who had reached their breaking point

Guided Practice

25 minutes
  • •Small groups read and annotate excerpts from Joseph Plumb Martin's memoir describing the Hard Winter
  • •Groups complete the Morristown vs. Valley Forge comparison organizer using provided data
  • •Class discussion: Why do students think Valley Forge is famous while Morristown is not? What makes some stories "stick" in national memory?

Independent Practice

20 minutes

Write a one-paragraph response: "Imagine you are a Continental soldier at Jockey Hollow in January 1780. You have not been paid in months, you are hungry, and your enlistment may have technically expired. Why do you stay — or why do you leave?" Use at least one detail from Martin's memoir to support your answer.

Closure

10 minutes

Exit ticket: "Joseph Plumb Martin could not fully explain why he stayed at Morristown. What does it tell us about the Revolution that its own participants couldn't always explain their commitment?" Brief share-out discussion.

Differentiation

Struggling Learners

Annotated memoir excerpts with vocabulary support, sentence starters for writing, visual comparison chart with pre-filled Valley Forge column

Advanced Learners

Additional reading on the Pennsylvania Line mutiny of January 1781; essay comparing enlisted soldiers' motivations with officers' motivations for service

ELL Support

Bilingual key terms glossary, visual timeline of the two encampments, partner reading of primary source excerpts

Primary Sources

Dr. James Thacher's Military Journal: The Morristown Winters

Massachusetts Historical Society / Morristown NHP Archives · PRIMARY · Tier 1 — Primary/Academic

Washington's Letters to Congress on the Supply Crisis (1779-1780)

Library of Congress / National Archives · PRIMARY · Tier 1 — Primary/Academic

Pennsylvania Line Mutiny Documents (January 1781)

Pennsylvania State Archives / National Archives · PRIMARY · Tier 1 — Primary/Academic

Handouts & Materials

Comparing Morristown and Valley Forge

graphic organizer

A structured comparison worksheet helping students analyze the similarities and differences between the Continental Army's two most famous winter encampments: Valley Forge (1777-78) and Morristown (1779-80).

Reading: Joseph Martin's Morristown Diary Excerpts

reading

A guided reading worksheet featuring excerpts from Joseph Plumb Martin's memoir describing the Hard Winter at Morristown, with comprehension questions, vocabulary support, and analysis prompts.

Morristown and the Continental Army

Answer all questions based on our study of Morristown in the American Revolution. For short answer questions, use specific evidence from the sources and materials we studied.

1.

Why did Washington choose Morristown for winter quarters in both 1777 and 1779?

AMorristown was the largest city in New Jersey and had the most resources
BThe Watchung Mountains provided a natural defensive barrier against British advance from New York, and the local iron industry could supply the army
CCongress ordered Washington to camp at Morristown both times
DMorristown was the closest town to the British lines in New York
2.

What was historically significant about Washington's decision to inoculate the army against smallpox at Morristown in 1777?

AIt was the first time any army had used vaccination in wartime
BIt was a risky decision to deliberately weaken the army in the short term to eliminate the disease that had killed more soldiers than combat
CIt was ordered by Congress over Washington's objections
DIt failed and caused more deaths than the disease itself
3.

What made the Hard Winter of 1779-80 at Morristown so devastating?

AA British attack destroyed the camp and killed hundreds of soldiers
BTwenty-eight blizzards, complete supply collapse, starvation rations, and the worst cold in a generation combined to push the army to its breaking point
CWashington abandoned the army to return to Mount Vernon
DThe French alliance collapsed, leaving the army without allies
4.

The Pennsylvania Line mutineers who marched on Congress in January 1781 rejected British offers to switch sides, demonstrating that their protest was against Congress, not against the cause of independence.

TTrue
FFalse
5.

Joseph Plumb Martin wrote that he "did not put a single morsel of victuals into my mouth for four days and as many nights" at Morristown. Using Martin's account and other evidence, explain what the Continental Army's supply crisis reveals about the weaknesses of the government under the Articles of Confederation.