Assessment Quiz

Morristown and the Continental Army

Morristown, NJ

Grades 6-8

Name: Date: Period:

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 resourcesBThe Watchung Mountains provided a natural defensive barrier against British advance from New York, and the local iron industry could supply the armyCCongress ordered Washington to camp at Morristown both timesDMorristown 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 wartimeBIt was a risky decision to deliberately weaken the army in the short term to eliminate the disease that had killed more soldiers than combatCIt was ordered by Congress over Washington's objectionsDIt 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 soldiersBTwenty-eight blizzards, complete supply collapse, starvation rations, and the worst cold in a generation combined to push the army to its breaking pointCWashington abandoned the army to return to Mount VernonDThe 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.
True False
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.
Answer:

Morristown and the Continental Army

Washington's Winter: Morristown and the Test of Endurance — Morristown, NJ

1.Why did Washington choose Morristown for winter quarters in both 1777 and 1779?
Answer:B
Morristown's strategic value lay in its geography: the Watchung Mountains shielded the camp from British attack, while the surrounding countryside provided timber, water, and iron for military supplies. The town was close enough to New York to monitor British movements but protected enough to prevent a surprise attack.
2.What was historically significant about Washington's decision to inoculate the army against smallpox at Morristown in 1777?
Answer:B
The inoculation program was not vaccination (which had not yet been invented) but variolation — deliberately infecting soldiers with live smallpox to produce a milder case and immunity. This temporarily incapacitated soldiers and carried real risk of death, but Washington judged the long-term benefit worth the short-term danger. The program dramatically reduced smallpox rates and is considered one of the first large-scale military public health campaigns.
3.What made the Hard Winter of 1779-80 at Morristown so devastating?
Answer:B
The winter of 1779-80 brought unprecedented weather — twenty-eight blizzards, six feet of snow, and temperatures so cold that New York Harbor froze solid. The supply system collapsed entirely, leaving soldiers without adequate food, clothing, or pay for months. Multiple units threatened mutiny, and two Connecticut regiments actually refused orders in May 1780.
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.
Answer:True
When British agents approached the mutineers during their march to Princeton, offering money and land in exchange for switching sides, the soldiers rejected the overtures and turned the agents over to American authorities. This is a crucial detail: the mutineers were not abandoning the Revolution but demanding that the revolutionary government honor its obligations to them.
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.
Answer:[Accept answers that connect the supply crisis to Congressional inability to tax or compel state contributions, and explain how this structural weakness left the army dependent on voluntary compliance that often failed]
Strong answers will identify the core structural problem: under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could request supplies and money from the states but could not compel them. States often failed to deliver, especially when their own citizens were struggling. Washington's letters from Morristown repeatedly describe this gap between what Congress promised and what the states actually provided. The army's suffering was not caused by lack of resources in America but by the inability of the central government to mobilize and distribute those resources effectively.