Teacher Resources
Trenton
Inquiry Question
Were the Hessians mercenaries, or were they something more complex?
Primary Sources
What Teachers and Students Use
Washington's Orders for the Crossing of the Delaware and Attack on Trenton
PRIMARY · Library of Congress, George Washington Papers
5 analysis prompts
Hessian Colonel Rall's Papers and Battle of Trenton German Accounts
PRIMARY · Staatsarchiv Marburg (German State Archives)
5 analysis prompts
1776
SECONDARY · Simon & Schuster (David McCullough)
5 analysis prompts
Washington's Crossing
SECONDARY · Oxford University Press (David Hackett Fischer)
5 analysis prompts
Washington Crossing Historic Park: Official Site
INSTITUTIONAL · Pennsylvania/New Jersey State Parks
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
- 1Explain why German states provided soldiers to the British Crown
- 2Analyze Hessian soldiers' perspectives using primary source letters and diaries
- 3Evaluate the accuracy of the term "mercenary" as applied to Hessian soldiers
- 4Assess how the Hessian presence affected American public opinion and the Revolutionary cause
Warm-Up · 10 minutes
Ask students to write a definition of "mercenary." Then read the actual arrangements between the British Crown and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. Were the Hessian soldiers mercenaries by the students' definitions? Discuss the complexity of the term.
Direct Instruction · 20 minutes
· The system of subsidies: how German princes rented soldiers to foreign powers
· The Hessian soldiers: their training, discipline, equipment, and daily life
Closure · 10 minutes
Discussion: Many captured Hessians eventually settled in America rather than returning to Germany. Why might they have made that choice? What does that tell us about the difference between soldiers and the governments they serve? Exit ticket: Was it fair for the Declaration of Independence to criticize King George for using "foreign mercenaries"?
Differentiation Strategies
Struggling Learners
Provide a template for the letter with sentence starters. Pre-annotate primary sources with vocabulary definitions.
Advanced Learners
Research the "subsidy treaty" system and write an analytical essay comparing it to modern military contracting.
ELL Support
Pair Hessian primary sources with visual aids (maps, illustrations of uniforms). Provide translated key phrases.
Explore Further
Trenton 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
Trenton 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 Trenton 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 Trenton 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.