Teacher Resources
New Haven
Students analyze the April 22, 1775 confrontation between Benedict Arnold and New Haven's selectmen to explore how ordinary citizens and local leaders made irreversible decisions in the days after Lexington and Concord — before any central authority existed to guide them.
Grade Range
8-10
Duration
50 minutes
Included
3 Resources
What's Included
Everything
You Need
- 5 primary sources with analysis prompts
- Quiz with answer key (5 questions)
- 3 printable handouts
Lesson Overview
Students analyze the April 22, 1775 confrontation between Benedict Arnold and New Haven's selectmen to explore how ordinary citizens and local leaders made irreversible decisions in the days after Lexington and Concord — before any central authority existed to guide them.
Essential Questions
- Who had the authority to make military decisions in April 1775, and how was that authority contested?
- How did ordinary citizens and local officials decide when to act and whom to follow?
- What does the Arnold powder house episode reveal about the relationship between civic order and revolutionary urgency?
Primary Sources
5 Sources for Analysis
PRIMARY · TIER1
Governor Jonathan Trumbull to General Washington, July 6, 1779
Connecticut State Library, Jonathan Trumbull Papers
PRIMARY · TIER1
Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles, Volume II (1776-1781)
Yale University Library, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
INSTITUTIONAL · TIER1
Connecticut's Revolutionary War Coastal Raids: A National Register Context
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places
View SourceSECONDARY · TIER1
Three Centuries of New Haven, 1638-1938
Yale University Press (Rollin G. Osterweis)
Lesson Plan
In the Classroom
Learning Objectives
- 1Explain the political and military context of the days immediately following Lexington and Concord
- 2Analyze the competing considerations facing New Haven's selectmen when Arnold demanded the powder house key
- 3Evaluate how local decision-making shaped the early Revolutionary War mobilization
- 4Connect individual episodes to larger patterns of colonial self-governance
Assessment
New Haven in the American Revolution
Answer the following questions based on our study of Revolutionary history.
What makes New Haven significant in Revolutionary history?
multiple choice
Primary sources are documents or objects created during the time period being studied.
true false
Name one event that occurred in New Haven during the Revolutionary period and explain its significance.
short answer
+ 2 more questions in the full packet
Ready to Print?
The full teacher packet includes cover page, lesson plan, all primary source worksheets, quiz, answer key, and standards alignment — formatted for classroom printing.