Teacher Resources
Morristown
Inquiry Question
What does it mean to endure for a cause when the cause cannot provide for you?
Primary Sources
What Teachers and Students Use
Dr. James Thacher's Military Journal: The Morristown Winters
PRIMARY · Massachusetts Historical Society / Morristown NHP Archives
5 analysis prompts
Washington's Letters to Congress on the Supply Crisis (1779-1780)
PRIMARY · Library of Congress / National Archives
5 analysis prompts
Pennsylvania Line Mutiny Documents (January 1781)
PRIMARY · Pennsylvania State Archives / National Archives
5 analysis prompts
Downloads
Ready to Print
Student packet, teacher guide with answer key, and quiz — each formatted for classroom printing.
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Lesson Plan
In the Classroom
Learning Objectives
- 1Students will explain why Washington chose Morristown for winter quarters and describe the strategic advantages of the location
- 2Students will describe the conditions soldiers endured during the Hard Winter of 1779-80 using primary source evidence
- 3Students will analyze why soldiers chose to remain despite extreme hardship and broken promises from Congress
- 4Students will compare the Morristown and Valley Forge encampments and evaluate why Valley Forge dominates popular memory
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
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 Strategies
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
Explore Further
Morristown in the Knowledge Graph
The lesson packet draws from these pages. Use them to extend the lesson or give students primary source context.
Comparative Study
Connected Towns
The corroborate prompts in the student packet point to these towns. Teachers can assign cross-town comparisons.
Assessment
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. · 5 questions · Answer key in Teacher Guide PDF
Why did Washington choose Morristown for winter quarters in both 1777 and 1779?
multiple choice
What was historically significant about Washington's decision to inoculate the army against smallpox at Morristown in 1777?
multiple choice
What made the Hard Winter of 1779-80 at Morristown so devastating?
multiple choice
+ 2 more in the full quiz PDF
Ready to Print?
All three documents below — student packet, teacher guide, and quiz — are formatted for letter-size classroom printing.