Sacred Honor Study Guide, Colony 8: Delaware

Delaware was small, the three counties that lived in Pennsylvania's shadow, but it produced one of the most dramatic stories of the founding and the most nuanced lesson in civic courage in the whole series.

This guide introduces its three signers. Caesar Rodney rode about eighty miles through a thunderstorm, sick with facial cancer and asthma, to cast Delaware's deciding vote, and then came home to be voted out of office. George Read is the only signer who voted against independence on July 2 and signed it anyway, then defended it completely, a model of how to lose a vote gracefully and commit fully. Thomas McKean sent the dispatch that brought Rodney back and was very likely the last of all fifty-six to sign.

The Hero of Your Story moment belongs to Caesar Rodney, the man who did the right thing, lost the election for it, and showed up for work the next morning.

INSIDE THIS GUIDE:

• The Delaware Colony Introduction
• Profiles of Caesar Rodney, George Read, and Thomas McKean
• A Primary Source Encounter: Rodney's own letter reporting the vote
• Explorer Questions (grades four through six) and Challenger Questions (grades seven through twelve)
• Vocabulary Builder, Discussion Questions, and a hands-on Activity
• A Faith Connection drawn from the colony's story
• The Hero of Your Story moment and a student reflection page

Honest history, devotional depth, and real conversation for your family or classroom. A branded navy-and-gold PDF in the Sacred Honor series.

Part of the 250th Anniversary Founders Reference System. Save by purchasing the complete thirteen-colony set.