For our second Humanities project of the year, we were tasked with exploring famous revolutions and arguing their effectiveness or ineffectiveness in a simulated court of law. Our driving question was “How did revolutions bring down empires and change societies around the world?” To kick off the project, we participated in a multi-day simulation called “Let’s Start a Revolution” and learned about Crane Brinton’s “Anatomy of a Revolution” through creating a graphic organizer.

In groups, we were assigned a specific revolution to research and were either the prosecution or defence in our simulated court case. My group was assigned the American Revolution and was given the role of prosecution, meaning we had to argue the ineffectiveness of the revolution. After conducting extensive research and creating a graphic organizer to display our findings. Click here to view. We used the evidence we gathered to write a script for our video presentation.

I spent weeks researching this case and preparing documents, determined to present my argument as effectively as possible. As I stood in front of the judge with all of my evidence, I was confident in my preparation. We also incorporated costumes and added effects and music to our video during the editing process. This is our video:

Though we faced challenges and had to adapt to multiple changes of plans, we were able to produce a successful final product. Through this project, I gained a deeper understanding of the justice system, the American Revolution, and how revolutions function. My research skills have also greatly improved as a result of this project, and I have learned that revolutions have the power to bring down empires and significantly alter societies, for better or for worse.