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Digital Paxton: Digital Collection, Critical Edition, and Teaching Platform

Murder on the Frontier - Lesson 3

Students will read two additional primary source documents, two pamphlets representing the Paxton Pamphlet War, and complete activity sheets for each one. They will then develop a mock debate using the documents from Lessons 2 and 3 to deepen their understanding of the documents and demonstrate their comprehension. The unit concludes with an essay that builds on the assessment from Lesson 2.

Objectives

Write insightful questions on a specific topic
Draw conclusions based on direct evidence found in the text
Demonstrate an effective oral presentation
Synthesize multiple sources of information in order to arrive at a logical conclusion that is supported by textual evidence

Essential Questions

To what extent was the violence of the Paxton Boys motivated by fear, economics, politics, and/or racism?
To what extent should the Paxton Boys be viewed as democratic freedom fighters or brutal murderers on the Pennsylvania frontier?
To what extent were the Paxton Boys justified or not justified in attacking and annihilating the Conestoga Indians in Lancaster?
To what extent were the factors of excessive competition and fear influential in the relationship between the colonists and the Conestoga Indians?

Materials

A Declaration and Remonstrance (1764)
A Dialogue between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot (1764)
Apology of the Paxton Volunteers (1764)
Benjamin Franklin, A Narrative of the Late Massacres (1764)

Handouts

Historical Background: "Peaceable Kingdom Lost (Part 3)" by Kevin Kenny, Glucksman Professor in Irish Studies, New York University. Commissioned for Digital Paxton.
Activity Sheets
- Analyzing an Essay (Lesson 3): Important phrases only, no critical thinking questions
- Analyzing a Pamphlet
- News Conference Organizer
Primary Sources
- Excerpts from A Declaration and Remonstrance of the Distressed and Bleeding Frontier Inhabitants of the Province of Pennsylvania, Presented by Them to the Hounourable the Governor and Assembly of the Province, Shewing the Causes of Their Late Discontent and Uneasiness and the Grievances under Which They Have Laboured, and Which They Humbly Pray to Have Redress'd, 1764, pp. 10–17.
- A Dialogue between Andrew Trueman, and Thomas Zealot; About the Kiilling the Indians at Cannestogoe and Lancaster, [1764]. Some spelling and punctuation in this text have been modernized to aid comprehension.
- From Lesson 2: "The Apology of the Paxton Volunteers Addressed to the Candid & Impartial World," in The Paxton Papers, ed. John Dunbar (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1957), pp. 193–194. Some spelling and punctuation have been modernized in the transcript.
- From Lesson 2: Benjamin Franklin, A Narrative of the Late Massacres, in Lancaster County, of a Number of Indians, Friends of the Province, by Persons Unknown. With Some Observations on the Same, 1764, pp. 12–14 and 25–27.

Procedure

Assign and distribute the two readings from the Paxton Pamphlet War—excerpts from A Declaration and Remonstrance and A Dialogue between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot.
Divide the class into groups of four to six students. Within their groups they will work collaboratively to complete an Analyzing a Pamphlet activity sheet for each of the new documents.
After the groups have completed the Analyzing a Pamphlet activity sheets, each group is assigned or chooses one of the four Digital Paxton documents (two from this lesson and two from the previous lesson). It is best if all four texts are used before doubling up on any of the documents.
Students select who will portray the speaker, and the rest of the group members will take the roles of reporters at a news conference.
If possible, have the students watch an actual news conference prior to this activity.
Hand out the News Conference organizer. Together the students in each group will write both the questions and the answers to the questions for each reporter. The questions should highlight the major issues in the document. If time permits, the students could script follow-up questions. They should be careful to cite evidence from the text for the answers given by the speaker. All students will write out their own complete copy of the questions and answers, not just their own question.
Presentation:
1. The speaker reads the text aloud to the class.
2. The reporters raise their hands and the speaker selects them one by one to ask their question.
3. Continue until all of the questions have been asked, one per reporter; if time permits, they may ask their follow-up questions.
4. Repeat the process with all of the groups. This may mean going into another class period to allow time for all of the presentations as well as time to debrief the experience.
Have the class debrief the presentations: Which were the most effective? What made them effective? How could the presentations have been improved? Focus on good oral presentation skills as well as which questions elicited the most meaningful answers and whether the answers were based on evidence in the text.
Students should now write an essay addressing one of the Essential Questions from Lesson 2. The students may elaborate on their short essay or exit card from the previous lesson or a new essay on the alternate question:
1. To what extent were the Paxton Boys justified or not justified in attacking and annihilating the Conestoga Indians in Lancaster?
2. To what extent were the factors of excessive competition and fear influential in the relationship between the colonists and the Conestoga Indians?

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A Dialogue Between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot - Title Page