Teacher Resources
New York was the strategic prize of the entire war — British-held New York City, the turning-point at Saratoga, and a Hudson Valley that Washington fought seven years to control.
The Context
No state offers students a fuller picture of the war's complexity. New York City under British occupation became a Loyalist refuge and a city-sized prison camp for American POWs. The Hudson River was the strategic spine Washington fought seven years to protect.
Saratoga was the turning point that made an allied victory possible — the battle that brought France into the war. Washington's army spent its most desperate years in the Hudson Valley, from the humiliation of 1776 to the near-mutiny at Newburgh in 1783. The eleven towns in this collection span that full arc: from catastrophic defeat to cautious triumph.
Recommended Sequences
New York City → Harlem Heights → White Plains
4–6 class periods
Trace the catastrophic campaign of 1776: the British landing on Long Island, Washington's narrow escape from Manhattan, and the fighting retreat through Harlem Heights and White Plains. Students analyze how a string of defeats shaped the Continental Army's survival strategy.
West Point → Kingston → Newburgh
3–5 class periods
The Hudson was the war's strategic spine. Examine West Point's iron chain, the burning of Kingston as New York's first state capital, and Washington's Newburgh headquarters where he confronted a near-mutiny among his own officers in 1783.
Crown Point → Ticonderoga → Saratoga Springs
5–7 class periods
Follow Burgoyne's invasion south from Canada: the fall of Ticonderoga that shocked the nation, the skirmishes at Crown Point, and the decisive battles at Saratoga that brought France into the war and changed everything.
Town Resources
Complete teacher packets formatted for classroom printing — lesson plans, source packets, handouts, and quizzes.
6-8 · 2 class periods
6-8 · 2 class periods
6-8 · 2 class periods
6-8 · 2 class periods
6-8 · 2-3 class periods
6-8 · 2-3 class periods
6-8 · 2-3 class periods
6-8 · 2 class periods
Source Standards
Every source in our New York materials is evaluated using a three-tier credibility system. Tier 1 includes primary documents, National Park Service materials, and peer-reviewed scholarship. Teacher narratives contextualize sources — they don't replace them.