Teacher Resources
Providence
Inquiry Question
When does political resistance become revolution?
Primary Sources
What Teachers and Students Use
Proceedings of the Gaspee Commission, 1772-1773
PRIMARY · Rhode Island State Archives
5 analysis prompts
John Brown Papers, 1763-1803
PRIMARY · Rhode Island Historical Society
5 analysis prompts
Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Volume VII
PRIMARY · A. Crawford Greene, State Printer (John Russell Bartlett, ed.)
5 analysis prompts
Gaspee Affair Historical Overview
INSTITUTIONAL · National Park Service, American Revolution
5 analysis prompts
Rhode Island Politics and the American Revolution, 1760-1776
SECONDARY · Brown University Press (David S. Lovejoy)
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
- 1Describe the events of the Gaspee Affair and why Providence merchants burned the British revenue schooner
- 2Explain what the British Crown's response — a commission empowered to ship Americans to England for trial — revealed about the limits of colonial rights
- 3Analyze the Gaspee Affair's relationship to other pre-Revolution confrontations (Stamp Act, Tea Act)
- 4Evaluate whether the Gaspee Affair should be considered the true beginning of the American Revolution
Explore Further
Providence 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.
Newport
GEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITY
Rhode Island's two centers during the occupation.
New Haven
SHARED THEME
Providence and New Haven were both centers of intellectual and political resistance in New England. Yale College in New Haven and Rhode Island College (Brown) in Providence both trained officers, housed military hospitals, and contributed to the ideological foundations of the Revolution. The two towns represent the role of colonial educational institutions in sustaining the intellectual infrastructure of independence.
Boston
GEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITY
New England commercial centers.
Assessment
Providence in the American Revolution
Answer the following questions based on our study of Revolutionary history. · 5 questions · Answer key in Teacher Guide PDF
What makes Providence significant in Revolutionary history?
multiple choice
Primary sources are documents or objects created during the time period being studied.
true false
Name one event that occurred in Providence during the Revolutionary period and explain its significance.
short answer
+ 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.