A. Houlis/NPS This webpage is designed for anyone who is curious about the history of revolutionary rebels, soldiers, and ordinary workers who lived in the Blackstone Valley more than 200 years ago. For days or even months, soldiers left their homes in the Valley to fight the war, leaving others behind to maintain businesses, farms, homes, and the fraying fabric of their communities. The activities focus on the important contributions of young people to reflect the fact that the United States was both a new and young country in 1790. At the end of the War for Independence, half of the people in the United States were under the age of 16. Almost one fourth of the people who served in the war would not even be able to drive if they lived today. People who grew up during the War for Independence experienced a second revolution - the rise of industry. This webpage will give you options for exploring the history that comes just before the American Industrial Revolution. You will also find a list of heritage sites connected to the Revolution that you can explore along the way. 
A. Houlis/NPS Choosing Sides: PatriotsLeaving the Forge for FlintsIn December 1776, Thomas Paine wrote about "the times that try men's souls." Paine believed the colonies must separate from Britain. He was an outspoken patriot. Some people were moved to act because the war came very close to home. In the Blackstone Valley, people did not face battles in their own backyards. Still, many felt the call to serve and separate from England. In Northbridge, Massachusetts, a young man named James Fletcher was making tools by hand in a small forge before the Revolution. Fletcher was among the earliest colonists to join the fight, having traveled to Roxbury, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775. Fletcher joined a unit with Captain Josiah Wood and served on and off through August 1780. Fletcher joined the fight after the passage of the Massachusetts Government Act, which revoked the colony's charter, placing more power in the hands of colonial governors. These governors also now had the right to call town meetings. People in Northbridge called their own town meetings, voted to gather weapons, and refused to import English-made goods. Some people did not want to fight in the war but wanted to show their support for separating from England. Oziel Wilkinson, a member of the Society of Friends, worked as a mechanic making tools in Rhode Island. At the start of the war, Oziel and his wife Lydia had six children. One family historian wrote that as a Friend, Wilkinson's "name does not appear upon the Military rolls of that eventful period." In Pawtucket, Wilkinson worked "in his shop, and served his country as well there," making nails, anchors, chains, and more. Choosing Sides: LoyalistsA loyalist was an American colonist who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution (1775-1783). They were also known as Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. Tens of thousands of colonists who stayed loyal left the colonies during the war or by war's end, facing exile.
A. Houlis/NPS Witnessing History"I was as warm a patriot as the best of them..."Joseph Plumb Martin, age 15. Joseph P. Martin was just fifteen when he served in the American Revolution. You may think of a diary as a private place to put your ideas. Hundreds of years ago, many people used their diaries more like social media, to tell their stories for other people to read. They wrote down updates about events happening to them or around them. We are all part of history, and we all have a story to tell. ACTIVITY: Make a list of a few important events in your life. What would you want a future historian to know about these events? If you are visiting a historic site, find an important event to record for practice. Write down at least 3 important details about this event. What Was Fit to PrintDuring the War for Independence, news traveled to most people very slowly. Updates about important battles or world events might not spread for days or even weeks.In Worcester, Massachusetts, the Blackstone River begins its long journey down into Rhode Island. In this village, Isaiah Thomas worked as a publisher of The Massachusetts Spy. Thomas ran his printing press to support the patriot's cause. 
ACTIVITY: This newspaper has a masthead with a big message printed on top: "Americans! - Liberty or Death! - Join or Die!" Design your own masthead with the following:
Spinning PartiesYou may be familiar with some of the big protests involved in the War for Independence, including events that happened before 1775. From the burning of the Gaspee in Rhode Island to the Destruction of the Tea in Boston, colonists found a number of ways to show that they were unhappy with being English subjects.In the 1760s and 1770s, some women in Rhode Island and Massachusetts hosted spinning bees (parties) to make their own yarn. They did not want to buy finished yarn or cloth from England, so they became "daughters of industry." Later, a group of investors and inventors in Rhode Island would create the first water-powered cotton spinning mill, a place where this process was mechanized. But that was years away, and the war broguht the lack of local yarn production into sharper focus. ACTIVITY: Look for a tag on clothing you are wearing. Do your clothes connect you to people in another part of the world? During a boycott, people may stop buying, wearing, or doing something as a way to protest unfair conditions. ACTIVITY: Write down something you use every day. How long would you go without buying or using that product if you wanted to make a change? 
A. Houlis/NPS A Man Named PrinceWhile fighting for their independence, many soldiers also participated in and benefited from a system of human trafficking known as the Atlantic slave trade. In some communities in Rhode Island, up to 1/3 of people were not free and were held in bondage in the 1770s and 1780s. In Massachusetts, there were many towns that were home to very few enslaved people, but the system and trade remained legal.At the end of the war, there were nearly 700,000 people held in bondage in 1790 during the first census of the United States. Almost half of the people who served as delegates to the Constitutional Convention enslaved African people. Some enslaved people fought for their freedom during the War for Independence by joining a colonial militia, others fought for the Crown, and some left the continent altogether. In Providence, a man named Prince Jenckes was forced to fight in a war on behalf of people who owned him. His captor, John Jenckes, was involved in government and likely enlisted Prince in 1777 to claim his bounty. At the end of the war, Prince was disabled and penniless. In 1799, he wrote a letter to the local paper about his time serving with George Washington and his work "in achieving the liberties of America." There is no monument to Prince Jenckes and no one knows where he was buried. ACTIVITY: After reading Prince's letter, sketch a monument in honor of Prince's service to his young country. "TO the good Mrs. F******, whose condition supplies the means, and whose heart, - the disposition to enjoy and bestow - poor Prince Jenckes wishes health and long life. I am poor, Madam - so miserably poor that all my possessions are about two thirds of a human body, containing, however, a grateful heart. There is not left for me even to choose between working and begging. I have not limbs enough; by two or three, for the one - and your Ladyship's goodness had almost deprived me of the other. To him who has nothing, anything will be acceptable, and ever so little will be valuable. I assisted GENERAL WASHINGTON, Madam, in achieving the liberties of America. - When we had nothing to eat, he and I were messmates; and when we Lay on the cold ground, he was my bedfellow. The honest ambitions of his soul has been deservedly gratified; and if I can succeed to keep the cold weather a quarter of an inch from my skin, and make my dinner last as long as my appetite, mine will also be gratified. - Prince Jenckes." 
Sons of the American Revolution Soldiers Resting PlacesThe Blackstone Valley is full of resting places where soldiers have been buried. In addition to monuments with soldiers' names, some cemetaries have small American flags and plaques, such as this one created by the Sons of the American Revolution, planted next to gravestones as a tribute to departed veterans.One of the ways that we can learn about people who fought during the War for Independence is through gravestones and memorials. ACTIVITY: Visit one of the communities in the Blackstone Valley with a historic cemetery and locate the grave of a soldier. Look for the following: Name Important Dates Symbols Additional Writing A Military Marker Make a sketch of the grave you selected. If you can't see a Revolutionary War veteran's grave in person, visit a virtual cemetery online. 
Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Reading and Writing During the RevolutionMany students in the United States today learn how to write on paper and on a computer or tablet. During the War for Independence, some young women practiced their letters and numbers using the art of embroidery.ACTIVITY: From the list below, choose and least 3 commonly used elements of a sampler to design your own. At the bottom, do not forget to sign your name and age so everyone will know it was your work! Common Sampler Elements:
A. Houlis/NPS Cursive is Communication!Reading cursive is a superpower!Historians are still learning abou the people who lived during the American Revolution. You can be part of their detective work by reading letters and other documents written by people in their hand. There are records from 80,000 of our country's first veterans that need to be transcribed. If you can read cursive and type, you can be part of making a permanent contribution to the historical record for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. ACTIVITY: Write your own letter to practice your skills! New and Dangerous IdeasAfter leaving England, Roger Williams was forced to flee the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his "new and dangerous opinions" in 1636. Williams created a refuge and a new colony in what is now called Providence, Rhode Island. The colonists in Providence agreed to "hold forth LIberty of Conscience," making laws "only in civil things."Roger Williams believed people had a right to "Liberty of Conscience," and to worship freely. More than 100 years later, Williams's ideas were written into the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. ACTIVITY: What is a new and dangerous opinion in our world today? 
Revolutionary Road Trip Suggestions and ChecklistA Soldier's Grave
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Last updated: April 2, 2025