Revolution and Rhetoric

CASE BRIEF: Words were weapons in Revolutionary America. Patriots and Loyalists both claimed the language of liberty and loyalty to make their case to ordinary colonists.

TASK: Compare Patriot and Loyalist pamphlets to assess how language shaped colonial identity and choice of sides.

EVIDENCE: Excerpt from Common Sense (Paine) - A Loyalist pamphlet response - A broadside aimed at undecided colonists

ANALYZE: What emotional appeals does each side use? Whose argument better fit the everyday colonist's experience? How does word choice reveal each author's assumptions about the reader?

BUILD A CLAIM: Argue which pamphlet was more persuasive to a still-undecided colonist in 1776, and why.

RUBRIC: Cites specific language from both sources - Explains the intended audience - Considers counterarguments