LIGHTS OF LIBERTY

This teaching unit, using Philadelphia and Pennsylvania as a case study, gives students the opportunity to examine critical events leading to the outbreak of the American Revolution, the political maneuvers resulting in Pennsylvania’s support of a declaration of independence, the revolutionary goals of different groups, and the economic issues confronting Revolutionary America. Students compare the "radical" Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 to the more conservative Virginia Constitution of the same year. In addition, students examine a variety of reform movements and the Pennsylvania debate over the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.