Preparing for the 2nd Continental Congress

The annual 2nd Continental Congress reenactment is upon us!  Next Thursday (Red Day) and Friday (White Day), we will spend an hour and 20 minutes as delegates at the Congress in 1775 and 1776.  This week, you will learn who you will portray.  Will it be John Adams?  Thomas Jefferson? Or Button Gwinnett (Who the heck is that guy?)?  Once you find out who you will portray, here are some things you need to do:

1). RESEARCH THEM!!!!  Even though we will spend part of a class researching our delegates, you cannot learn enough about how to portray them in that amount of time.  This will require YOU to do some research on your own.  There will be some helpful links and websites that will be given to you when you are given your delegate's identity that should really help you in your research.  You can also look up YouTube videos about the guys.  I'm pretty sure there are some out there since these men were so important.  What did these guys look like?  How did they act?  Were they well liked or practically hated by the other delegates?  Did they have anything physical about them that made them stick out (Like Benny Franklin's skullet, or Richard Henry Lee's missing fingers)?  You also need to know what they thought about the colonists' rights as "natural born Englishmen" and whether they would have truly supported something like declaring independence from the most powerful nation on the face of the Earth (I mean....that sounds smart, right?).  The bottom line is, is that you will be an actor portraying one of the most important men in our nation's history for an hour and 20 minutes, and we want to make sure that we honor them the right way by portraying them the right way.

2). RESEARCH YOUR COLONY!!!! Even though it isn't on the bio sheet, it would do you well to look into the colony of your delegate.  What was the general opinion about the British in Colony _____ in 1776?  This will help you in your portrayal of your delegate as the delegates were supposed to represent the people of their colony.

3). LOOK LIKE A STUD IN YOUR COSTUME!!! Okay, maybe not a stud, but pretty darn close.  Do NOT go buy a costume unless you just absolutely want to.  Use the Colonial Clothing Guide we went over in class and use the things from your house, your relative's house, your friend's house, from anywhere!  Heck, share costumes with someone from another class if you can pull that off.  Since dressing up is a requirement, you'll want to make sure that you put some effort into this.  Remember, if you have questions, ask me or do some clothing research on your own.  There's practically nothing you cannot find about historical clothing on the internet.

4).  HAVE A GREAT ATTITUDE ABOUT THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE!!!  No explanation needed here.

So if you are having any trouble at all about this please come talk to me.  I beseech you (Ah, new word)!  Parents, if you are reading this, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns and we will figure our a solution to those.

For your reference this week, here is a clip from the miniseries John Adams that is set during the 2nd Continental Congress which we will be portraying.