BIG Nonfiction Feature Blood, Smoke, - Scholastic

BEIAGDNonfiction featureRDON’T MISSOUR VIDEOREADALOUD!A Scary SightJoseph watches as his fellowfighters take on a group ofBritish soldiers, known as“redcoats” because of theirbright-red uniforms.4ST O R YWO R K S J R .Blood,

LOOK FOR WORD NERD’S 8 WORDS IN BOLDTHINK AND READText Evidence As youread, look for evidence(examples and details) thatthe author includes to supporther description of events.Smoke,and FreedomA True Story of the American RevolutionJoseph Plumb Martin was still a boywhen he became an American soldier.Would he survive his first battle?BY LAUREN TARSHIS ART BY GARY HANNATurn thepage forthe storyÆWWW.STORY WORKSJR.SC HOL ASTIC .COM MARC H/APRIL 20 185

Boom!!moBoBoom!Americans were doomed. Hundredsof soldiers were dead. The cries ofinjured men rose up into the sky.It seemed Joseph had two choices:surrender or die.PAUSE AND THINK: How was being a soldierdifferent from what Joseph expected?Explosions shook the ground. Smokefilled the air. Fifteen-year-old JosephPlumb Martin was lying in the dirt,trying to stay alive.It was August 27, 1776. America andEngland were fighting the first big battleof the Revolutionary War, in New York.Joseph had begged his family to let himjoin the American army. He thoughtbeing a soldier would be exciting. Andhe was sure America would win!But now Joseph knew that theA New WorldJoseph was born in 1760. The UnitedStates wasn’t a country yet. Americawas still mostly wilderness, except fora strip of land along the East Coast. Thisdoomed: going to failsurrender: give up or stop fighting becauseyou know you won’t winThe 13 Colonieswilderness: a wild, natural area where fewpeople liveThe 13 ColoniesSee how much of the U.S.didn’t exist back in 1776?New HampshireNew YorkNORTHAMERICAVirginiaMAP: JIM McMAHON/MAPMAN KEY6ManhattanColonial border400GeorgiaMILESBattle ofBrooklynAug. 27-30, 1776New JerseyDelawareNorthCarolinaSouthCarolinaGulf of enIsland01MILESAmerican troopsBritish troopsBritish ships

land was ruled by England. It was dividedinto 13 areas, or colonies. Joseph lived inthe colony of Connecticut.Hundreds of thousands of peoplehad come to the colonies from Englandand other parts of Europe. Rules weretoo strict there. People had few choicesabout their religion, their jobs, or eventheir friends. In the colonies, peoplehad more choices—but they still had tofollow England’s rules.Not everyone in the colonies hada good life. Hundreds of thousands ofNative American people were killed. Theydied of diseases brought by Europeans.They died in fights over land. They starvedafter being kicked out of their homelands.During this time, African people wereLondonENGLANDInset: whereJoseph and hisfellow soldiersfought in thesummer of 1776EUROPEdragged to America in chains. They wereforced to become slaves.Meanwhile, Americans had becomeangry at England. They said it wasn’t fairthat they had to follow England’s rules.America’s anger toward Englandsmoldered like a fire. And then, inApril 1775, that anger exploded into war.The American Revolution had begun.PAUSE AND THINK: Why did people leaveEngland and other countries to come tothe colonies?Getting Ready to FightAt first, the thought of fighting scaredJoseph. But his courage grew. Soonhe wanted to join the new Americanarmy. In June 1776, his family said yes.Joseph sailed to New York City. This big,bustling city had been turned into anAmerican army camp.“I was now what I had long wished tobe,” he later wrote. “A soldier.”But Joseph wasn’t really a soldieryet. And neither were most of thenearly 20,000 men and teenagers in theAmerican army. They were just regularpeople, like Joseph. Some could barelyslaves: people who are owned by otherpeople and must work for them for freesmoldered: burned slowlyAFRICAbustling: fast-moving, busyÆWWW.STORY WORKSJR.SC HOL ASTIC .COM MARC H/APRIL 20 187

PAUSE AND THINK: What did Joseph andothers need to learn to become soldiers?Surprise AttackMeanwhile, the British planned ahuge attack on New York. They’d sailedships packed with weapons. Josephcould see the soldiers on those ships.They were waiting like caged beasts.They were hungry for blood and readyto strike.They struck early one morning atthe end of August. While it was stilldark, more than 15,000 British soldiersarrived on the shores of Brooklyn.Brooklyn was a village across the riverfrom New York City. There were a fewthousand American soldiers there. Theywere all caught by surprise.Washington rushed to send moremen to Brooklyn. Joseph was one of8ST O R Y W O R K S J R .These leaderswere enemies—but they weresimilar. Both menwere popularand cared abouttheir countries.Both werefarmers.And both weremore than 6feet tall, in atime when mostmen were muchshorter.U.S. GeneralGeorge Washingtonthem. He saw a scene of horror. Menwere lying in the grass: “some withbroken arms, some with broken legs,some with broken heads,” Joseph wrote.He and other soldiers tried to stop theBritish from reaching American forts.But the British forces were toopowerful. Hundreds of Americansoldiers were killed or injured.PAUSE AND THINK: What did Washingtondo when the British attacked Brooklyn?Secret EscapeEven with all the blood and fear,General George Washington stayedcalm. Then he came up with a brilliantplan. He would sneak the Americanforts: buildings for troops that arestrengthened to protect against attacksLEEMAGE/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES (GEORGE WASHINGTON); NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOTLAND/GETTY IMAGES (KING GEORGE III); WESTEND61/GETTY IMAGES (EEL); GUNSTON HALL (SCHOOL);THE COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG FOUNDATION (SHOES); ALEKSANDR BELUGIN/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (CORN)fire a gun. Their leader, General GeorgeWashington, had never led an armybefore. All summer, he struggled to turnthis group into strong fighters.Joseph didn’t complain aboutshooting practice or endless marching.He choked down the Army meals, suchas wormy biscuits and flavorless meat.He coped with the summer heat and thestink of garbage and human waste. Still,he was excited to be a soldier.The TwoGeorges

King George IIIof EnglandIF YOU HAD LIVED IN 1776.Life was different back in Joseph’s day.Here are just a few reasons why:Kids loved eel pie.New shoes werereally painful.Eew! These slimywater snakes, bakedin a pie, were anAmerican favorite.Shoes wereexpensive and hardto get. There were noleft or right shoes, andit took months to breakin a new pair.Schoolswere justone room.There was no toiletpaper. People usedA single teachertaught childrenof all ages—together.army out of Brooklyn during the night.He sent an urgent message: “Weneed boats in Brooklyn now!” Becauseit was dark and foggy, thousands ofsoldiers were able to sneak back to NewYork City. This included Joseph. In themorning, the British attacked the forts.They were shocked to find them empty.The Americans still lost the Battle ofBrooklyn. But their army had survived.And they would keep fighting.The American Revolution lasted forcorn cobs to cleanthemselves. (Ouch!)eight years. Towns were burned down.Thousands of soldiers were killed. ManyAmericans felt afraid all the time. But in1783, the war finally ended. The Britishsurrendered. America had won the war.Joseph fought during the entire war.He later moved to Maine, married, andraised five children. He died at age 89. Healways remembered the terrors of war.But he was also proud that he helpedAmerica win its fight for freedom. PAUSE AND THINK: How long did theAmerican Revolution last? Who won?urgent: very importantTHINK AND WRITEPretend you’re Joseph in 1776. Write a journal entry explaining how hard itis to be an American soldier. Include at least five details from the story. Sendit to “War Contest” by May 15. Five winners will each receive I Survived theAmerican Revolution, 1776, by Lauren Tarshis. See details on page 2.FINDACTIVITYSHEETSONLINE!WWW.STORY WORKSJR.SC HOL ASTIC .COM MARC H/APRIL 20 189

A single teacher taught children of all ages— together. King George III of England New shoes were really painful. Shoes were expensive and hard to get. There were no left or right shoes, and it took months to break in a new pair. There was no toilet paper. People used corn cobs to clean themselves. (Ouch!) IF YOU HAD LIVED IN 1776.