American Revolution
From Protest to Independence
Follow the arguments, personal experiences and decisions that shaped the fight for independence, from the first colonial protests to Washington’s return of military power to Congress.
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History your students can touch,
one letter at a time.
Explore the American Revolution, the Civil War and World War II through reproductions of historical letters and documents. Teach classes with our lesson plan, worksheets and model answers.
- 10 sets per student
- Class copies delivered by mail
- Flexible classroom activities
- Free Shipping
For teachers, departments and curriculum leads. A supplement to the history course you already teach.
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Choose a themed collection
Each collection contains ten different historical documents. Your class receives a student copy of each one, with a readable transcript and historical context. Or choose all three in the Complete History of America.
American Revolution
From Protest to Independence · 1772–1783 · 10 documents · from $1,099
Central question
How did resistance to British rule become a fight for independence?
Suggested classroom use
Compare Franklin’s angry unsent letter with Abigail Adams’s appeal for change. Ask students how audience and purpose shape each writer’s language. An extended task could assess whose ideas of liberty are represented in the collection and whose perspectives require additional sources.
Suggested for grades 6–12, with teacher support for younger readers. Teachers should review the documents and topics for their class.
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1
Samuel Adams to James Warren4 November 1772How correspondence helped organise resistance.
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2
Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Otis Warren10 November 1773Tea, protest and a woman’s perspective on colonial politics.
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3
Boston Committee of Correspondence circular letter
Circular letter8 June 1774Persuasion, boycotts and collective action. -
4
Benjamin Franklin to William Strahan
Unsent letter5 July 1775An unsent letter about political conflict and a fractured friendship. -
5
Abigail Adams to John Adams31 March 1776Women’s rights and the limits of revolutionary liberty.
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6
John Adams to Abigail Adams3 July 1776Independence and expectations for its commemoration.
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7
George Washington to Benjamin Tallmadge25 July 1779Intelligence, secrecy and reliable information.
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8
Esther Reed to George Washington4 July 1780Women’s fundraising and support for the army.
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9
Alexander Hamilton to the Marquis de Lafayette15 October 1781An officer’s account of action at Yorktown.
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10
George Washington to the President of Congress20 December 1783Resignation from military command and civilian authority.
By mailFor every student, each document:reproduction, readable transcript, historical context and student worksheet
DigitalFor the teacher:suggested lesson plans and answer keys
Slavery and the Civil War
War, Freedom and Citizenship
Explore the Civil War through the words of presidents, soldiers, abolitionists and people seeking freedom, and the links between victory, emancipation and the human cost of war.
Slavery and the Civil War
War, Freedom and Citizenship · 1861–1865 · 10 documents · from $1,099
Central question
How did the struggle to preserve the Union become a struggle over freedom and citizenship?
Suggested classroom use
Compare Grant’s arguments for Black enlistment with Gooding’s request for equal pay. Use Davis’s letter to explore the limits of emancipation. Students can develop an evidence-based essay about the relationship between service, freedom and citizenship.
Suggested for grades 6–12. Teacher guidance is appropriate for slavery, violence and bereavement.
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1
Robert Anderson to the Secretary of War18 April 1861Reporting the fall of Fort Sumter.
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2
Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Hooker26 January 1863Leadership, confidence and criticism.
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3
Ulysses S. Grant to Abraham Lincoln23 August 1863Support for recruiting Black soldiers.
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4
James Henry Gooding to Abraham Lincoln28 September 1863An appeal for equal pay for Black soldiers.
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5
Edward Everett to Abraham Lincoln20 November 1863A response to the Gettysburg Address.
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6
Abraham Lincoln to Albert G. Hodges4 April 1864Emancipation, personal conviction and presidential authority.
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7
Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln25 August 1864An enslaved woman asks whether she is free.
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8
Frederick Douglass to Abraham Lincoln29 August 1864A plan to help enslaved people reach freedom.
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9
William T. Sherman to Abraham Lincoln
Telegram22 December 1864A telegram announcing the capture of Savannah. -
10
Clara Barton to the Windham family8 December 1865Missing soldiers, family uncertainty and the aftermath of war.
By mailFor every student, each document:reproduction, readable transcript, historical context and student worksheet
DigitalFor the teacher:suggested lesson plans and answer keys
World War II
Decisions, Service and Responsibility
Examine wartime choices through letters about scientific discovery, alliances, service, discrimination and responsibility, and compare public encouragement with private doubt.
World War II
Decisions, Service and Responsibility · 1939–1945 · 10 documents · from $1,099
Central question
How did people justify decisions and demand action during global war?
Suggested classroom use
Compare the two Eisenhower messages and ask how audience changes tone and purpose. Examine the tensions between wartime service and discrimination using Brown and Davis. An essay could assess how wartime leaders justified difficult decisions, using several sources and additional historical context.
Suggested for grades 6–12. Teacher guidance is appropriate for genocide, discrimination and civilian casualties.
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1
Albert Einstein to Franklin D. Roosevelt2 August 1939The Einstein–Szilard letter warning of the potential of nuclear research.
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2
Winston Churchill to Franklin D. Roosevelt15 May 1940An appeal for American assistance.
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3
Franklin D. Roosevelt to Kenesaw Mountain Landis15 January 1942Baseball and morale on the home front.
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4
Clayton B. Vogel to the Commandant of the US Marine Corps6 March 1942A proposal to recruit Navajo code talkers.
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5
Elmer Davis to Franklin D. Roosevelt2 October 1942Concerns about the treatment of Japanese Americans.
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6
Stephen Wise to Franklin D. Roosevelt2 December 1942An appeal for a response to the persecution and murder of European Jews.
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7
Willa Brown to Truman Gibson24 February 1943Access to aviation training for Black trainees.
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8
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s D-Day message to Allied forces
Public messageJune 1944Public encouragement before the Normandy invasion. -
9
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s In Case of Failure message
Unissued messageJune 1944An unissued contingency message accepting personal responsibility. -
10
Harry S. Truman to Richard Russell9 August 1945Atomic warfare and the treatment of civilians.
By mailFor every student, each document:reproduction, readable transcript, historical context and student worksheet
DigitalFor the teacher:suggested lesson plans and answer keys
The Complete History of America
All three collections, from independence to world war
Every document from the American Revolution, Slavery and the Civil War, and World War II collections. Your class follows how Americans argued about liberty, union and responsibility across nearly two centuries, all in one delivery.
A historical document to hold, the context to understand it, and ideas for exploring it together.
By mail A copy for every student
Digital Supplied digitally for the teacher
Historical reproduction
Real example: American Revolution, Document 1. Samuel Adams to James Warren, 4 November 1772. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
A replica of the original letter or document, retaining its historical appearance: the handwriting, letterhead, corrections and layout students would see in an archive.
Some selections are telegrams, public messages or unsent drafts. Each one is identified in the collection details, and a document may run to more than one page.
Every reproduction arrives in a Historic Mail envelope.
Readable transcript
Real example: American Revolution, Document 1. Samuel Adams to James Warren, 4 November 1772.
The original wording, set in clear type so students can read every line without deciphering old handwriting.
The transcript keeps the writer’s own words. It is not a simplified rewrite: vocabulary support and modern-language tasks are kept separate, in the student worksheet.
Historical context
Real example: American Revolution, Document 1. Samuel Adams to James Warren, 4 November 1772.
A short briefing on who wrote the document, who received it, what was happening at the time and why it matters, so students can place the document in its moment.
Context sheets distinguish historical events from the writer’s own claims and from later interpretation.
Student worksheet
Real example: American Revolution, Document 1. Samuel Adams to James Warren, 4 November 1772.
A one-page worksheet for each document, marked out of 15, that takes students from reading the source to writing about it.
- A. Sourcing: how useful is this letter as evidence?
- B. Close reading: interpreting a key line from the letter.
- C. Historical context: the events behind the letter.
- D. Short-answer analysis: three short questions on purpose and evidence.
- E. Extended writing: a choice of three essay prompts, including one suggested for grades 7–9.
A printed copy arrives for every student with each document, so there is nothing to photocopy.
Suggested lesson plan
Real example: American Revolution, Document 1. Samuel Adams to James Warren, 4 November 1772.
An optional 50-minute lesson built around each document. Follow it as written or take individual activities.
- Learning objectives and key vocabulary.
- A minute-by-minute sequence, from warm-up to exit ticket, showing what the teacher does and what students do.
- Adaptations for grades 7–8, advanced students, 40-minute periods, block schedules and English language learners.
- Assessment notes and a bridge to the next letter.
Answer key and scoring guide
Real example: American Revolution, Document 1. Samuel Adams to James Warren, 4 November 1772.
Everything you need to mark the worksheet out of 15.
- The marks for each question and how they are awarded.
- Model answers, plus other answers to accept.
- A 6-mark scoring matrix for the essay.
- Common errors and model outlines for all three essay prompts.
Supplied to the teacher only, so the answers stay out of students’ hands.
Reproductions, transcripts, context sheets and student worksheets arrive by mail, a printed set for every student. Lesson plans and answer keys are supplied digitally to the teacher.
From order to classroom
Choose your theme
Select one of the three collections to match the period you are teaching.
Choose your class size
Order a set for 20 or 30 students and tell us the name the mail should be addressed to, such as your class or department.
Receive your classroom set
All ten document sets arrive at your school together in one delivery: about ten weeks of material, ready to use whenever you choose.
Read, discuss and write
Use the suggested activities or adapt the documents to your own lesson plans.
A class of 20 receives 20 student copies of each of the 10 documents: 200 document copies across the collection, for $1,099 at $54.95 per student.
This counts document copies, not mailings or printed pages. Some documents run to more than one page. Shipping is free.
All ten document sets arrive together, so you can use them at your own pace.
A menu of activities, not a script
Understand the context
Short factual questions about author, recipient, date and events, using the transcript and context sheet.
Read for evidence
Identify a claim, select supporting words and explain what they suggest about the writer’s perspective.
Discuss and compare
Compare authors, purposes or documents and consider what each source leaves out.
Rewrite and reflect
Rewrite a short passage in modern language, preserving its meaning, then explain what changed. Student writing stays clearly separate from the historical text.
Build an argument
Write a longer response using two or more documents and relevant historical context.
Use a letter as a lesson starter, a group discussion, a source-analysis exercise or the starting point for extended writing. The activities are there to support your teaching; you choose how far to take them.
Page 1 of 2. Image from the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Sample classroom activity
Samuel Adams asks the towns of Massachusetts to stand with Boston
In November 1772, Samuel Adams wrote from Boston to his friend and political ally James Warren in Plymouth. Boston had just set up a Committee of Correspondence to “open a free Communication with every town”, and Adams urged Plymouth to “second Boston” with a committee of its own.
The letter shows students how resistance was being organised years before the fighting began, and asks them to weigh what a private letter between allies can and cannot tell a historian.
FAQ for schools
Are these original historical letters?
They are reproductions of historical letters and documents, accompanied by readable transcripts and context. Some selections are telegrams, public messages or unsent drafts, identified in the collection details.
Does every student receive a copy?
Yes. Choose a class set for 20 or 30 students, and each student receives their own copy of every document in the collection. If your class falls between the two, choose the 30-student set. Teaching more than one class? Add a set for each class.
How are the materials delivered?
All ten document sets for your collection arrive at your school together in one delivery, giving you about ten weeks of material to use whenever it suits your course. Shipping is free.
Do I have to use one letter a week?
No. Everything arrives at once, so you can use the letters when they fit your course: one a week, several in a single unit, or spread across the year. The activities can support a short discussion, source analysis or a longer writing task.
What teaching support is included?
Every student receives a printed worksheet with each document, alongside its transcript and context sheet. The teacher also receives a suggested 50-minute lesson plan and an answer key with an essay scoring guide for each document, supplied digitally. You choose which questions and activities to use.
Is this a complete curriculum?
It is a supplementary resource for your existing history teaching. Suggested grade ranges help you choose a collection; teachers should review its documents and topics for their class.
How much does it cost?
Each collection comes as a class set: $1,099 for 20 students or $1,549 for 30 students, down from $1,600 and $2,300. That covers a student copy of all ten documents, each with its readable transcript, historical context and printed worksheet, plus the teacher’s lesson plans and answer keys.
The Complete History of America includes all three collections, 30 documents, for $2,499 (20 students) or $3,699 (30 students), down from $4,600 and $6,800. Shipping is free, and any applicable tax is added at checkout.