Teacher Resources
Ticonderoga
Inquiry Question
Why do armies keep fighting over the same ground? What makes a location permanently valuable in warfare?
Primary Sources
What Teachers and Students Use
A Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's Captivity
PRIMARY · Draper and Folsom
5 analysis prompts
Henry Knox's Journal of the Ticonderoga Artillery Expedition, 1775-1776
PRIMARY · Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings
5 analysis prompts
Fort Ticonderoga: National Historic Landmark Documentation
INSTITUTIONAL · National Park Service
5 analysis prompts
Empires in the Mountains: French and Indian War Campaigns and Forts in the Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Hudson River Corridor
SECONDARY · Purple Mountain Press (Russell Bellico)
5 analysis prompts
Continental Congress Resolutions Regarding Fort Ticonderoga, May 1775
PRIMARY · Library of Congress, Journals of the Continental Congress
5 analysis prompts
Downloads
Ready to Print
Student packet, teacher guide with answer key, and quiz — each formatted for classroom printing.
Opens in a new tab. Use your browser's Print dialog (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) and choose “Save as PDF.”
Lesson Plan
In the Classroom
Learning Objectives
- 1Explain why the Lake Champlain–Lake George corridor was the most strategically important route in the northeastern theater
- 2Trace Ticonderoga's major ownership changes and the reasons for each
- 3Analyze the role of Ethan Allen's capture in providing cannon for the Boston siege
- 4Evaluate why Burgoyne's placement of artillery on Mount Defiance made the fort suddenly indefensible
Explore Further
Ticonderoga 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.
Saratoga Springs
SHARED EVENT
Burgoyne's 1777 campaign began with his retaking of Ticonderoga in July and ended with his surrender at Saratoga in October. The two events are the opening and closing acts of the same operation — the British attempt to seize the Hudson Valley that Ticonderoga's fall made possible and Saratoga made catastrophic.
Crown Point
GEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITY
Adjacent Lake Champlain forts that controlled the northern invasion route.
Saratoga Springs
ROUTE
Burgoyne passed through Ticonderoga on his march to defeat at Saratoga.
Assessment
Ticonderoga 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 Ticonderoga 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 Ticonderoga 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.