|
|
 |
 | 
|
   |
 |
Teacher Resources
: Lesson Plans
: Colonial Reaction To The Stamp Act
Introduction
In 1765, the British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act as a means
of raising colonial tax revenues to help defray the cost of the
French and Indian War in North America. The Colonists reacted
immediately, asserting that the Stamp Act was an attempt to raise
money in the colonies without the approval of colonial legislatures.
Resistance to the act was demonstrated through debates in the
colonial legislatures, written documents (including legislative
resolves, prints, and songs), and mob/crowd actions such as tarring
and feathering tax collectors. In this lesson, students will analyze
several eighteenth-century documents to determine the colonial
opinion of Great Britain's attempts to tax the colonists in the
1760s.
Objectives
As a result of their investigation, students will be able to:
- Analyze primary documents.
- Practice the skills of observation, analysis, and interpretation.
- Understand colonial reaction to Great Britain's tax legislation-specifically
the Stamp Act of 1765.
Materials
Strategy
- Through lecture or student reading (using textbook and reference materials
of your choice), introduce the students to the background of the American
colonies up to 1765. Use the "Virginia Time Line, 1760-1776," to
place the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Virginia Stamp Act Resolves in chronological
context for the students. Remind the students that the American colonists
are still British subjects at this time.
- Introduce the content of the Stamp Act by using the "Summary of the
1765 Stamp Act."
- Divide the students into three groups. Give each group a copy of one of
the following documents: 1) the words to the song The Glorious Seventy
Four, 2) the print The Repeal, Or the Funeral of Miss Ame-Stamp,
and 3) the print The Alternative of Williams-burg. [Note: the descriptions
provided with the prints are for instructor reference.]
- Instruct the students to analyze their document to determine what it has
to do with the Stamp Act and later attempts by British Parliament to tax the
colonies. What is the viewpoint of the document? Is it for or against the
English tax? Were the colonists pleased with the taxes? Why or why not? To
what form(s) of resistance do the documents refer? Have each group present
its findings to the class using specific references to details in the document
and defending inferences. Ask the class what it thinks the overall colonial
reaction was to England's taxes.
- Introduce Patrick Henry's "Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions." Read
the resolutions to the students. Discuss what each resolution means. Would
Parliament agree with what the resolutions propose? Why or why not? How might
Parliament react to the resolutions?
- After discussing the "Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions," remind
the students that the American colonists are still British subjects and that
the proposed Resolutions are highly controversial. Hold a class vote--with
students voting as if they were members of the Virginia House of Burgesses--on
the resolutions. Do the resolves pass or fail? Write down the results of the
vote for later reference.
| |
|
Historic Triangle