Analyzing the songs of the Regulators
In this lesson plan, students read songs written by the Regulators -- protesters against high taxes in North Carolina's Piedmont just before the American Revolution. Students analyze the lyrics of the songs to determine the political, economic, and social concerns of the Regulators.
A lesson plan for grade 8 Social Studies
Learn more
- Songs of the Regulators Lyrics to songs making fun of lawyers and colonial leaders who got rich at the expense of small farmers. Includes historical commentary.
Related pages
- Songs of the Regulators: Lyrics to songs making fun of lawyers and colonial leaders who got rich at the expense of small farmers. Includes historical commentary.
- Orange County inhabitants petition Governor Tryon: Petition from residents of Orange County, North Carolina, to Governor William Tryon, May 1768, apologizing for recent acts of violence by Regulators and asking him to address the illegal fees demanded by court officials. Includes historical commentary.
- Address from inhabitants near Haw River: The request of the Inhabitants of the West side of Haw river to the Assembly men and Vestry men of Orange...
Related topics
- Learn more about North Carolina, Regulators, history, and music.
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Learning outcomes
Content
Students will know the tensions that existed within colonial North Carolina.
Skill
Students will analyze a primary source document.
Teacher planning
Materials needed
Student computers with internet access to access the web page used in the activities. Alternatively, the page could be projected for the class or printed copies may be used.
Time required
One class period
Activities
- Have the students read the lyrics on the page “Songs of the Regulators” in the North Carolina digital history textbook.
- Instruct the students to complete the following chart by writing the political, economic, and social concerns of the Regulators in the appropriate columns with evidence from the song or contextual evidence from the history of the time period in North Carolina:
Political concerns of the Regulators as mentioned in the lyrics Economic concerns of the Regulators as mentioned in the lyrics Social concerns of the Regulators as mentioned in the lyrics
Teacher guide to chart
- For the political category on the chart, the students could include the line: “As I’ve been often told / But by his civil robberies / He’s laced his coat with gold.” Students could argue that the “civil robberies” were accomplished through political means. In terms of historical context for the political category, the students could mention the lack of political and legal rights and representation.
- For the economic category, the students could mention most of the lines from the song.
- For the social category, the students could mention the historical context of the lower class being treated with contempt and lacking protection from Native Americans on the frontier as the primary evidence.
Assessment
| √+ | Chart includes all three categories of concerns (political, economic, and social) of the Regulators with evidence from the lyrics or the historical time period. |
| √ | Chart includes two categories of concerns of the Regulators with evidence from the lyrics or the historical time period. |
| √- | Chart includes none of the categories of concerns of the Regulators. |
Supplemental information
This lesson could be extended by having students write a song appropriate to the time period expressing frustration with the rule of King George III of England.
North Carolina curriculum alignment
Social Studies (2003)
Grade 8
- Goal 2: The learner will trace the causes and effects of the Revolutionary War, and assess the impact of major events, problems, and personalities during the Constitutional Period in North Carolina and the new nation.
- Objective 2.01: Trace the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and evaluate their relative significance in the onset of hostilities.
- Objective 2.02: Describe the contributions of key North Carolina and national personalities from the Revolutionary War era and assess their influence on the outcome of the war.
- North Carolina Essential Standards
- Social Studies (2010)
Grade 8
- 8.H.2 Understand the ways in which conflict, compromise and negotiation have shaped North Carolina and the United States. 8.H.2.1 Explain the impact of economic, political, social, and military conflicts (e.g. war, slavery, states’ rights and citizenship...
- Social Studies (2010)
