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Student Worksheet Packet

The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence

Alexandria, VA

Grades 8-10·2 class periods

Students analyze the Fairfax Resolves of July 1774 as a pre-independence document that articulated the constitutional arguments underlying the Revolution more than two years before the Declaration of Independence. Using Alexandria and Fairfax County as the local context, students examine how George Mason constructed a legal and philosophical argument against Parliamentary authority, compare the Resolves to the Declaration of Independence, and explore how local documents shaped national ones.

This Packet Includes

  • Learning Objectives & Essential Questions
  • 5 Primary Source Analysis Worksheets
  • 3 Reading & Activity Handouts
  • Assessment Quiz (5 questions)
Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Lesson Overview
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Learning Objectives

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Students will analyze the Fairfax Resolves as a primary source document articulating colonial constitutional grievances
  2. Students will compare the language and arguments of the Fairfax Resolves to the Declaration of Independence
  3. Students will explain how local political documents contributed to the development of national revolutionary ideology
  4. Students will evaluate George Mason's constitutional reasoning and its influence on Virginia's revolutionary legal framework

Essential Questions

Keep these questions in mind as you work through this packet:

  • How do local documents become national ones? What path did the Fairfax Resolves travel from Alexandria courthouse to the Declaration of Independence?
  • What does it mean to argue for rights you do not extend to everyone? How do we read documents written by slaveholders about liberty?
  • Why did the colonists frame their revolution in legal and constitutional terms rather than simply declaring resistance?
Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Primary Source Analysis
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Primary Source 1 of 5
Document Information
DocumentGeorge Washington's Letters from Alexandria, 1769-1775
SourceLibrary of Congress, George Washington Papers
TypePRIMARY
George Washington's Letters from Alexandria, 1769-1775

George Washington's Letters from Alexandria, 1769-1775

Analysis Questions

Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.

  1. Who created this source and why?

  2. When was this source created?

  3. What perspective does this source represent?

  4. What was happening when this was written?

  5. How might the author's position affect their account?

Reflection

How does this source connect to what happened in Alexandria, VA? What does it tell you about the people involved?

Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Primary Source Analysis
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Primary Source 2 of 5
Document Information
DocumentFairfax County Resolves, July 18, 1774
SourceLibrary of Congress
TypePRIMARY
Fairfax County Resolves, July 18, 1774

Fairfax County Resolves, July 18, 1774

Analysis Questions

Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.

  1. Who created this source and why?

  2. When was this source created?

  3. What perspective does this source represent?

  4. What was happening when this was written?

  5. How might the author's position affect their account?

Reflection

How does this source connect to what happened in Alexandria, VA? What does it tell you about the people involved?

Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Primary Source Analysis
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Primary Source 3 of 5
Document Information
DocumentPapers of George Mason, 1725-1792
SourceUniversity of North Carolina Press (Robert A. Rutland, ed.)
TypePRIMARY

Analysis Questions

Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.

  1. Who created this source and why?

  2. When was this source created?

  3. What perspective does this source represent?

  4. What was happening when this was written?

  5. How might the author's position affect their account?

Reflection

How does this source connect to what happened in Alexandria, VA? What does it tell you about the people involved?

Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Primary Source Analysis
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Primary Source 4 of 5
Document Information
DocumentPort of Alexandria Customs Records, 1770-1785
SourceNational Archives and Records Administration
TypePRIMARY

Analysis Questions

Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.

  1. Who created this source and why?

  2. When was this source created?

  3. What perspective does this source represent?

  4. What was happening when this was written?

  5. How might the author's position affect their account?

Reflection

How does this source connect to what happened in Alexandria, VA? What does it tell you about the people involved?

Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Primary Source Analysis
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Primary Source 5 of 5
Document Information
DocumentGeorge Washington's Mount Vernon: Alexandria and the Revolutionary Context
SourceMount Vernon Ladies' Association
TypeINSTITUTIONAL
George Washington's Mount Vernon: Alexandria and the Revolutionary Context

George Washington's Mount Vernon: Alexandria and the Revolutionary Context

Analysis Questions

Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.

  1. Who created this source and why?

  2. When was this source created?

  3. What perspective does this source represent?

  4. What is the institution's mission?

  5. How does that mission shape the presentation?

Reflection

How does this source connect to what happened in Alexandria, VA? What does it tell you about the people involved?

Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Alexandria Event Timeline
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Alexandria Event Timeline

timeline

Students place key events in chronological order and add details

# Alexandria Revolutionary Timeline


Instructions: Place the following events in order and add one detail about each.


  • [ ] Fairfax Resolves Adopted
  • [ ] Washington Departs for Continental Congress
  • [ ] Carlyle House Serves as Braddock's War Council Headquarters
  • [ ] Alexandria Bids Washington Farewell Before Inaugural Journey
  • [ ] Fairfax Independent Company Mustered

---


| Event | Date | Significance |

|-------|------|-------------|

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Primary Source Analysis
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Primary Source Analysis

graphic organizer

Structured analysis of Revolutionary-era documents

# Primary Source Analysis Worksheet


## Source Information

  • Title: _________________
  • Author: _________________
  • Date: _________________
  • Type: _________________

## Observation

What do you notice? (List 3 things)

1.

2.

3.


## Reflection

What do you wonder? (List 2 questions)

1.

2.


## Analysis

What does this source tell us about Alexandria during the Revolution?


_______________________________________________


## Perspective

Whose voice is represented? Whose might be missing?


_______________________________________________

Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Key Figures Profile
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Key Figures Profile

worksheet

Research template for Revolutionary figures

# Revolutionary Figure Profile


## Basic Information

  • Name: _________________
  • Birth/Death Years: _________________
  • Occupation(s): _________________

## Role in the Revolution

### George Washington

Virginia planter and Continental Army commander-in-chief who owned and managed Mount Vernon's enslaved workforce. Absent from his estate for most of the war, he directed Lund Washington's management by correspondence and returned to find the plantation's human community shaped by eight years of wartime disruption.


My questions about this person:

1.

2.


### George Mason

Fairfax County planter and constitutional thinker who authored the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) and the Virginia Constitution. Closely associated with Alexandria's Patriot networks and a regular presence at Carlyle House and town meetings. Refused to sign the federal Constitution over the absence of a bill of rights.


My questions about this person:

1.

2.



## Reflection

Which figure interests you most and why?


_______________________________________________

Unit:The Fairfax Resolves: Writing the Revolution Before Independence — Assessment
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Name: Date: Period:

Alexandria in the American Revolution

Answer the following questions based on our study of Revolutionary history.

  1. 1.  What makes Alexandria significant in Revolutionary history?

  2. 2.  Primary sources are documents or objects created during the time period being studied.

  3. 3.  Name one event that occurred in Alexandria during the Revolutionary period and explain its significance.

    Answer:

  4. 4.  Why is it important to consider multiple perspectives when studying history?

  5. 5.  Describe one connection between this town and another Revolutionary-era town we discussed.

    Answer: