The Broadside Collection can be used to create a detailed time line of the Revolutionary era and the formation of the new nation. Students can use their textbooks or other sources to create an initial time line of Revolutionary events. Students can illustrate events in their time line using documents from the collection. In the process of their research, students probably will discover supporting examples for the time line not mentioned in textbooks.
All age groups can comprehend the documents at some level.
Younger students can understand the main arguments for independence such as no taxation without representation and the right to liberty. Older students can understand how the founding generation built their government around terms such as liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The variety of broadsides allows students to examine the intentions of our nation's founders. By studying the collection, students can learn how a government of checks and balances arose from leaders who feared tyrrany and believed in individualism, equality, and the natural rights of mankind. By the union of the several states they have rescued themselves from the tyranny of a powerful nation, and established constitutions on the free consent of the people, which are the admiration of the intelligent and virtuous part of mankind, and the firm support of the civil and religious rights of all who live under the shadow of their influence.