The Pig War | Reader's Theater Script & Mini Readers | Grades 9-12

Turn the strange-but-serious 1859 Pig War into a high-school historical drama about borders, jurisdiction, military escalation, restraint, and diplomacy. The Pig War is a Grades 9-12 Reader's Theater lesson that follows how one dead pig exposed an unresolved U.S.-British boundary dispute on San Juan Island and pushed two nations toward an armed confrontation.

Across ten scenes, students follow Lyman Cutlar, Charles Griffin, William Harney, George Pickett, James Douglas, Geoffrey Hornby, R. Lambert Baynes, Winfield Scott, and historically grounded supporting roles as a local property dispute becomes a question of jurisdiction, sovereignty, military occupation, and international arbitration.

Classroom Use

• Whole-class Reader's Theater performance and historical discussion
• Independent or small-group reading with Original and Accessible Mini Readers
• Sub plans, review, enrichment, or absent-student makeup work
• Written assessment plus a 20-question multiple-choice quiz and self-grading Google Forms quiz

Historical Content

• The 1846 Oregon Treaty and the unresolved Haro-versus-Rosario boundary question
• Hudson's Bay Company activity and American settlement on San Juan Island
• Lyman Cutlar, Charles Griffin, and the June 15, 1859 pig shooting
• Jurisdiction, sovereignty, occupation, and competing national claims
• William Harney's decision to send George Pickett and U.S. troops to the island
• James Douglas, Geoffrey Hornby, and the British naval response
• R. Lambert Baynes and the choice not to turn the standoff into a shooting war
• Winfield Scott's de-escalation mission and the temporary joint occupation
• The 1871 Treaty of Washington and international arbitration
• The 1872 Haro Channel decision and final settlement of the boundary

Flexible Differentiation

• Use the ensemble Reader's Theater for collaborative oral reading, historical reasoning, and discussion.
• Use the Original Mini Reader for independent or shared high-school reading.
• Use the Accessible Mini Reader for shorter sentences, explicit definitions, mixed reading levels, ELL support, or intervention.
• Use selected scenes, short-answer questions, challenge questions, or the quiz for shorter periods and targeted review.

What's Included

Student Text Options

• 10-scene Reader's Theater Script with 15 speaking roles and casting breakdown
• Original Mini Reader
• Accessible Mini Reader

Assessment Materials

• 10 vocabulary terms in context
• 10 two-part short-answer questions
• 5 two-part challenge questions
• 20-question multiple-choice quiz
• Self-grading Google Forms quiz
• Digital and printable student worksheet support

Teacher Materials

• Teacher Guide and Answer Key
• Full-period and shortened pacing options
• Discussion questions and standards alignment
• Sources Used & Further Reading
• Start Here PDF with Google Drive make-a-copy instructions

Standards Alignment

C3 D2.His.1.9-12 and D2.His.14.9-12; CCSS RH.9-10.1, RH.9-10.2, RH.9-10.9, WHST.9-10.9, and SL.9-10.1. Grades 11-12 can use the corresponding course-level literacy standards.

Skills Addressed

• Historical cause and effect
• Central ideas and supporting details
• Text evidence and historical reasoning
• Vocabulary in context
• Collaborative speaking and listening
• Distinguishing trigger from deeper cause
• Comparing escalation, restraint, and diplomatic solutions
• Evidence-based written response

Text Summary

An ambiguous treaty left Britain and the United States with competing boundary claims around the San Juan Islands. When American settler Lyman Cutlar shot a Hudson's Bay Company pig in 1859, the property dispute quickly became a jurisdiction crisis. American troops landed, British warships responded, and both sides faced the danger that one order or mistake could begin a war. Students then follow the decisions that prevented combat, the long joint occupation, and the 1872 arbitration that finally placed the islands on the U.S. side of the boundary.

Try the format free: The Guano Act Reader's Theater.