Video comprehension questions

Leaders of Early America

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At around 10:00 p.m. on April 18, 1775, two lanterns placed in the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston signaled the news that the British troops planned to travel by water.

Paul Revere shouted the warning to the colonists that the regulars, or redcoats, were coming. He did not say, "The British are coming," since everyone regarded themselves as British at the time.

Paul Revere's ride signaled the beginning of the Revolutionary War, from which there was no turning back.

Captain Parker, the commander of the minutemen, ordered his troops to, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But, if they need to have a war, let it begin here."

When the British appeared to be retreating from North Bridge, the minutemen took a shortcut to hide behind houses and trees, where they fired on the British soldiers as they marched by.

The Second Continental Congress was looking for a commander in chief who had the ability to lead an army, who was experienced in battle, and who had shown strong moral character.

George Washington had gained military experience while fighting for the British in the French and Indian War.

Mount Vernon was the name of George Washington's estate in Virginia.

George Washington was 6'3" tall and weighed 225 lbs., while the average colonial man was 5'8" tall and weighed 140 lbs. George Washington used his "commanding physical presence to provide the moral authority" needed to lead.

The colonial soldiers were poorly equipped and lacked military training, so George Washington had to meet the challenge of training mainly farmers and blacksmiths to be soldiers.

On June 7, 1776, Delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia announced independence from England, stating that the colonies were free and independent states, absolved of all allegiance, or loyalty, to the British crown.

The Second Continental Congress wanted to write a declaration of independence to notify foreign countries so that the Congress could officially negotiate with foreign governments, contract alliances, and receive aid.

The five man committee appointed to write a declaration of independence included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert Livingston of New York, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.

On July 4, 1776, John Hancock, who was the President of the Second Continental Congress, became the first signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Originally men without property, slaves, and women were not included in the rights stated in the Declaration of Independence.

The sugaring shown in the video takes place in New Hampshire, but sugaring is done wherever sugar maple trees grow across North America.

Sugaring begins each spring when the days start to become warm, but the nights still remain cold.

Sap is the watery liquid in a tree, and it takes 40 gallons of it to make one gallon of syrup.

The tools used to tell when the syrup is ready are a scoop, which is used to check the flow of the syrup, and a thermometer, which shows if the correct temperature has been reached.

Maple syrup is graded by rating its color from light to dark. The lighter the syrup, the higher the quality.

The two companies formed to build the Transcontinental Railroad were the Central Pacific, which started in California and worked east, and the Union Pacific, which started in Omaha, Nebraska, and worked west. They took six years to lay the 1,775 miles of track.

When the two transcontinental train lines met at Promontory Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven into the railroad ties to commemorate the event, which joined the Atlantic to the Pacific by railroads.

Increased rail travel made it necessary to replace the numerous local time systems with just one, beginning on November 18, 1883. Developed to keep the trains from running into each other, this new system consisted of four time zones.

Diesels are the most common kind of train in the United States today, with over 21,000 in operation.

Developed in Germany, the Transrapid is a train which has a cruising speed of over 300 mph, which it achieves through magnetic levitation.

The name cowboys was given to the trail riders required to move large cattle herds through the prairies in the 1860s.

Cattle first arrived in what is now known as Texas in 1521, when the Spanish brought them.

The rancher usually owns the horses, but the cowboy owns the saddle.

Led by the point riders, a cattle herd usually travels 12 miles each day. Swing men work the middle of the herd, and drag men are at the rear, helping to keep slow cattle moving.

Roping cattle is probably the most important skill a cowboy can have.

The Cherokee responded to the removal policy by setting up their own government, which they based on the United States Constitution.

The Cherokee chose John Ross as their principal chief, although he was only 1/8 Cherokee by blood.

President Andrew Jackson chose not to recognize the Supreme Court decision finding the Indian Removal Act to be unconstitutional and void. He said the court would have to find its own way to enforce it.

John Ridge, without any real authority from the Cherokee, and Andrew Jackson agreed to the Treaty of New Echota (1836), which required the Cherokee to relinquish all land east of the Mississippi in exchange for $5,000,000.

Historians refer to the 850 mile Cherokee journey from the southeast to Oklahoma as the "Trail of Tears."