Lesson

Creative Resistance to Taxation on the Colonies

Lesson Overview

Background information: 
Students have previously learned of the mercantile economic system and the Navigational Act of 1651. As transatlantic trade increased it became more difficult for England to keep track of colonial trade. Colonists often resorted to illegal trade with other countries. Between 1733 and 1765, Britain enacted several “taxation” Acts. In 1765, following the French and Indian War in North America, Britain enacted The Stamp Act in order to raise money to defray the costs of the war. The colonists reacted that the Stamp Act, and other taxation Acts, were ways of raising funds in the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. Colonists resisted the Stamp Act and other Acts through demonstrations, debates in the colonial legislatures, newspaper articles, songs, and even mob actions such as tarring and feathering tax collectors. In these lessons students will explore the various ways that colonists responded to the British policies of taxation.
 

Duration
Multiple days
Lesson Type
Project Based Lesson

Essential Question

How might citizens respond when they disagree with government policies that affect their economic or personal situation?
 

Grade(s):

Subject(s):

Other Instructional Materials or Notes:

8

  • Variety of stickers
  • Bulletin board paper and tape OR sheets of self-adhesive chart paper 
  • This will be used to create a timeline for a roughly 10 year period of time (1765 – 1774) covering the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the Tea Act, and the Intolerable Acts.  When preparing for the lesson, put the paper up with the headings covered.  Leave them hidden until ready to distribute articles for students to read.
  • Plain paper (8½ x 14 if possible)
  • Stamp Act transcript
  • Graphic organizer (Moving Forward from 1765 on the Road to Revolution)
  • Articles (included):
  • The Stamp Act (1765)
  • The Townshend Acts (1767)
  • The Tea Act (1773)
  • The Intolerable Acts (1774)
  • British Acts and Colonial Responses  (teacher info)

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Standards

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Lesson Created By: Cherlyn Anderson and Margaret Lorimer

Lesson Partners: ETV Education, Knowitall.org, S2TEM Centers SC