Road to Independence

Every year, people in America celebrate their Independence Day. Do you know when it is?

When do the Americans celebrate their indepedence? (!2nd June) (4th July) (!15th September) (!the 2nd Friday in November)

Great! On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed. But what happened between the colonization of America and their independence from Great Britain? Follow our road to independence to find out!

Lernpfad

Road to Independence

Before you start this learning path, you should know about the settlement of America. If you need some revision, click here.

In this learning path, you will learn

• about the main events leading to the American Independence
• about the Declaration of Independence

If there are any unknown words, use online dictionaries such as dict.cc

Note: This learning path is designed to use it in class. If you're doing it at home, just work through it and skip the partner tasks.

Steps on the Road to Independence

To get a first overview of the topic, watch either the video below or use this interactive map.

Aufgabe

Pay attention to the events named in the video or the events you can find in the map

oder: "A Brief History of America's Independence: Part I"

<popup name="Task"> Tick the correct boxes!

Which events were named in the video or in the map?

	Battle of Lexington
	Thanksgiving
	Discovery of America
	Stamp Act
	Boston Tea Party
	Battle of the Little Bighorn
	French-Indian War
	Founding the First Colony

</popup>
Very good! Now, having a rough idea, you will go into more detail concerning the events. Vorlage:ZUM-Wiki

French-Indian War

Research about the French and Indian War. In the end, you should be able to answer the following questions:

• Who fought against whom in the French and Indian War?
• Why did the war happen in the first place?
• What was the result of the war?
• What was its meaning for the American independence?
• Who was an important figure in this war?

Use the following sources to gain information. You can choose if you want to work on your listening skills by choosing the audio file or the video or if you want to work on your reading skills. Of course, you are allowed to use any other sources as well.

• Website: "French and Indian War"
• Audio (text from above website read out): "French and Indian War"
• Video: "What was the French and Indian War?"

Now, you can choose if you want to take a quiz or do the cloze text.

Quiz

Cloze text

Who fought against whom in the French-Indian War? (!French vs. Indians)(!Indians vs. British + French)(British + Indian tribes vs. French + Indian tribes)(!Spanish + Indian tribes vs. French) Why did the war happen in the first place? (!The Indians wanted their land back.)(!The British raised taxes on the Indians.)(!The Spanish left America and France and Britain fought about the "new" land.)(The French expanded South and the British expanded West.) What was the result of the war? (The British won and gained a significant part of North America's territory.) (!The French won and gained a significant part of North America's territory.) (!The Indians won and gained a significant part of North America's territory.) (!Nobody won and the territory was divided equally.) What was its meaning for the American Independence? (!King George III and the British were defeated, so they left America and the colonies became independent.) (!The Indians declared their independence from the colonies.)(King George III had to pay the war debts, raised taxes on the colonies to get the money and the wish for independence grew.) Who was an important figure in this war? (!Thomas Jefferson) (George Washington) (!Queen Elizabeth I.) (!Louis XIV.)