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General
Howe's Dog
Letter from
General George Washington, October 6, 1777
Teacher Directions:
Duplicate the Primary Source and scroll pages.
Read and discuss the Background Information material with students.
Hand out the primary source and scroll page after discussing what
a primary source is and how important primary sources are to us.
Background information
of the primary source:
George Washington was commander of the soldiers during the American
Revolution. The American Revolution was fought to win our independence
from England. One of the English generals was William Howe. General
Washington was fighting against General Howe in Pennsylvania in
1777.
General Howe's
dog wandered off from his owner's army camp. The dog was found by
some American soldiers and he was turned over to General Washington.
The dog was wearing a collar so George Washington knew who the owner
was - his enemy!
Student Activity:
Write a story about General Howe's lost dog. The dog you describe
can be any breed or color you want because we don't know what the
dog looked like. We don't know its name. We don't know how the dog
became lost. Was he looking for food?
Chasing a deer? We can imagine that the dog was very happy to be
returned to his master.
Describe the
adventures of Howe's dog as he wandered into the enemy camp. Use
your imagination and have fun! You may want to draw a picture of
the dog.
Follow-up Activity:
Discuss with students what this incident says about George Washington's
character.
(honesty, fairness, compassion for someone who lost his pet, a caring
feeling for an animal that was lost).
Primary Source
Below is a copy
of a handwritten note General George Washington sent to General
William Howe when Washington returned Howe's lost dog. This note
is an example of a primary source.
What is a primary
source?
A primary source is a firsthand source of information.
People who study and write history use many primary sources because
they are the best sources of information.
Some examples of primary sources would be letters, diaries, photographs,
and newspapers.
Why are primary
sources valuable to us?
Primary Sources give us eyewitness information about a person or
event. They also tell us about the life-style of people in the past.
Discussion
question:
People in the future will use primary sources to learn about us.
What kinds of primary sources will they use to learn about America
in the 21st century?
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S
NOTE TO GENERAL HOWE
Note to Sir
William Howe.
General Washington's
compliments to General
Howe, does himself the pleasure to return him a Dog, which accidentally
fell into his hands, and by the inscription on the collar, appears
to belong to General Howe.
October 6th 1777
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