Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

YOU WILL NEED THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION PAGE 1 HANDOUT THAT YOU PULLED OFF EDMODO IN CLASS TODAY!

Background 

As I explained in class today, to understand why there will be an American Revolution, there are some things you must know. 

• You learned about Salutary (Benign) Neglect today. REMEMBER, this was the way the British government (King and Parliament) ruled their American colonies. 
• What was the way?  Remember - it was to leave them alone, to let the Americans govern themselves. We talked about Laissez Faire (Hands Off) policy of governing.
• What did that mean? Well, each colony was allowed to have its own Assembly (legislature) to make laws and raise taxes FOR the colony. NOW, remember, these were local laws and taxes effecting only each colony. The British Government (see above) made laws that effected the whole empire. 
• Finally, I said to all of you, "Okay, this is great for the American colonies. They get the protection of the British empire, the can govern and tax themselves. This sounds awesome. BUT, what does the British government get out of it?"  Most of you understood that the British were getting MONEY!
• Yes, and this was through trade. The colonies were the natural resources for the British empire. The natural resources were sent to Britain and became "finished goods" which were shipped back to the colonies. The colonists bought the "finished goods". When these goods were purchased, included in the price was the "CUSTOMS" tax. This is how the British made their money! And a lot of it!  HERE to understand this even better - watch this video...go to this site and go to Stamp Act Part 2. Watch until 1:55. Stop the video after this and move on. Hopefully, you have a better understanding of the situation now. 

Okay, now let's go further. Your job is to understand the two big, fat problems the British face with their American colonies after the French and Indian War AND their solutions to these problems. Basically, they will try to change their policy of how they govern the colonies (remember, Benign Neglect) and nobody, I mean nobody, likes change. Get your document ready from earlier today:

THE TWO BIG, FAT PROBLEMS WERE:

A. Indian troubles, right? After the French and Indian War many tribes used to dealing with the French don't like working with the British and colonists. There is an Indian uprising called "Pontiac's Rebellion"  Why is this trouble? 

• costs money to fight wars, 
• frontier is not safe
• trade is disrupted along the frontier

B. The British government is in deep DEBT! It owes a lot of money! Look at your document - it lists some of these troubles under the TROUBLE WITH TAXES section. 

Now, I want you to learn the British Government's attempts to find solutions to these problems and how it all goes horribly wrong. 

The Proclamation of 1763? See if you can find the answers to these questions and put into your document.

• What was the Proclamation of 1763?
• Why does it anger Americans?

The Sugar Act (1764)

• What was the Sugar Act? 
• What kind of a tax was it? Indirect or Direct

Finally, the whopper of them all THE STAMP ACT (1765)

For the Stamp Act, I want you to watch these two videos:

Go Here and watch Stamp Act Part 1 and Stamp Act Part 3 (yes, part 3)

Answer these in your document: 

• What was the Stamp Act?
• What kind of a tax was it?
• What was the response from the American colonists?
• Why were leaders in the Colonial legislatures (assemblies) so alarmed? What were they worried about?

Yes, try to squish all that in the Stamp Act box on the document - go on to the back if need be.