This guide is also available as a Word document (which includes call numbers).
People
Places & Events
Documents & Objects
Historical Fiction
PEOPLE
Books
Famous People
The Revolutionary John Adams by Cheryl Harness
John Adams: Second President 1797-1801 by Mike Venezia
The Real Benedict Arnold by Jim Murphy
Benjamin Franklin by Ingri D’Auliare
King George: What Was His Problem? by Steve Sheinkin
A Signer for Independence: John Hancock by Lucia Raatma
Hero of the High Seas: John Paul Jones and the American Revolution by Michael L. Cooper
Washington at Valley Forge by Russell Freedman
The Many Rides of Paul Revere by James Gilbin
Paul Revere: Patriot and Craftsman by Dan Zadra
George Washington: First President 1789-1797 by Mike Venezia
Not So Famous People
Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution by Laurie Halse Anderson
Everybody’s Revolution: A New Look at the People Who Won America’s Freedom by Thomas L. Fleming
The History and Activities of the Revolutionary War by Margaret Hall
The Making of America by Robert D. Johnston
Search Strategies
People show up in almost every book we have about the American Revolution, so if there isn’t a book in the list below about the person you are looking for, don’t despair!
- Check the table of contents to see if the person appears there
- Check the index to see if there are references to the person in the book
Electronic Library Resources
Dictionary of American History (part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library)
Search Strategies
- There will usually be entries for famous people in these sources. Information about them may also show up in other entries (for instance, Thomas Jefferson will show up in an entry about the Declaration of Independence), but a simple search for a name should get results for both.
- If you’re looking for less famous people, or for a group or type of person (e.g. women, farmers, etc.), you’ll need to brainstorm search terms and try them out: women, female, gender; farmers, agriculture, farming, crops. You will often need to skim articles in order to find the parts of them that are relevant: for instance, an entry on farming might cover many pages as it explored the history of farming in the US, but if you skimmed the article, you might be able to find the paragraph or two that dealt with agriculture during the revolutionary war.
Internet Resources
There are many, many, many sites that deal with historical figures from the American Revolution. Be sure to evaluate a site before you start taking information from it. Who made the site? When was it last updated?
PLACES & EVENTS
Books
The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong
Washington at Valley Forge by Russell Freedman
The American Revolution for Kids: A History With 21 Activities by Janis Herbert
The Making of America by Robert D. Johnston
Children’s Encyclopedia of American History by David C. King
The War for Independence: The Story of the American Revolution by Albert Marrin
Victory or Death!: Stories of the American Revolution by Doreen Rappaport
Search Strategies
Not many of our books deal specifically or exclusively with a place, but many of them will feature specific places in part.
- Check the table of contents to see if the place appears there
- Check the index to see if there are references to the place in the book
Electronic Library Resources
Dictionary of American History (part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library)
Search Strategies
Spelling matters, so be careful that you are spelling place names correctly. Some databases do not accept abbreviations, so spell out state names in full.
Internet Resources
- The National Park Service maintains this site about battlegrounds of the Revolutionary War.
- The Library of Congress has a collection of materials related to the Boston Massacre.
- The website for the PBS series Liberty!: The American Revolution has a well-documented chronology of events
Search Strategies
You will probably be able to find a lot of information about places related to the American Revolution by searching the web. Remember to evaluate the trustworthiness of a site before you start taking notes on it, though! Who put the site together? How recently has it been updated? Does it show signs of bias?
DOCUMENTS & OBJECTS
Books
Fathers of America’s Freedom: The Story of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence by Donald Edwin Cooke
Stars & Stripes: Our National Flag by Leonard Everett Fisher
Give Me Liberty! The Story of the Declaration of Indpendence by Russell Freedman.
The Making of America by Robert D. Johnston
Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation by Jacqueline Jules
Children’s Encyclopedia of American History by David C. King
The War for Independence: The Story of the American Revolution by Albert Marrin
A Signer for Independence: John Hancock by Lucia Raatma
Search Strategies
The books listed here deal in whole or in part with the Declaration of Independence. To find more information, you may need to consult other books in this guide, many of which will also have information on the document.
- Check the table of contents to see if the document appears there
- Check the index to see if there are references to the document in the book
Electronic Library Resources
Dictionary of American History (part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library)
Search Strategies
Be sure to look for images and related media when searching these resources-often you will be able to see scanned or photographed versions of the actual documents!
Internet Resources
- Rewriting the Declaration of Independence from the Library of Congress lets you try your hand at revising the Declaration.
- The University of Michigan has a collection of spy letters from the Revolutionary War.
- USA.gov has a collection of material related to Independence Day and its symbols.
Search Strategies
There are many sites that feature documents and other objects from the American Revolution. Remember to evaluate the trustworthiness of a site before you start taking notes on it, though! Who put the site together? How recently has it been updated? Does it show signs of bias?
HISTORICAL FICTION
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Volume 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart by Kristiana Gregory
Midnight Rider by Joan Hiatt Harlow
Soldier’s Secret: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Sheila Soloman Klass
Jocko: A Legend of the American Revolution by Earl Koger
Sarah Bishop by Scott O’Dell
The American Twins of the Revolution by Lucy Fitch Perkins
Sons of Liberty by Marshall Poe
