Union and West End Cemetery

On a brisk fall day, Friday, October 15, 2010, the 5th grade students from Cleveland Elementary School in Allentown, Pa. were in the Union and West End Cemetery on a class assignment. Their were approximately 60 students participating. The lesson plan dealt with the Revolutionary War (1775-1782). The students broke into 5 groups and using compasses and tape measures they located the graves of the five Revolutionary War veterans that are buried in the 156 year old cemetery.

Upon arriving at each grave site, each group read a letter written by the Revolutionary soldier in which he described what it was like to live during the war for independence and how proud they all were to be Americans..

Additionally the students gathered for a demonstration of the preparation and cooking of apple crisp using two dutch ovens, much as would be the case in revolutionary times. Each group enjoyed sampling the apple crisp, cookies and apple cider before moving on to their next assignment.


























































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Summary Of Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary war started in the year 1775 and it was set off by a British army trying to seize ammunition in Concord of Massachusetts. In 1776, General George Washington crossed the Delaware River to reach New Jersey and there he defeated the British Garrisons in Trenton and Princeton.




During the Princeton attack, several people fled to the Princeton University and started hiding there. However, this was the first formal assault and it set off a series of events that followed one after the other. The British mainly controlled the areas in New York and Philadelphia. The rest of the land was under the control of colonists.

In 1778, United States of America and France signed a pact of trade and commerce and this allowed them to depend on France as an ally. On behalf of America, France declared a war on Great Britain under the leadership of Louis XVI.

That signaled for caution on the British part and after a war between them, Great Britain Slowly started pulling their troops away from America. The House of Commons in Great Britain voted to end the war in 1782 after 4 years of starting the war. The British pulled the remaining troops from South Carolina and Georgia in 1782 finally marking the end of the American Revolutionary War.

In 1782, Britain also signed a declaration in Paris that it would cease to combat North America. This ended the war officially and the treaty between America and Great Britain was signed amicably.