Teaching the Causes of the American Revolution
Navigation Acts, Proclamation of 1763, Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Act, Boston Massacre, Tea Act, Boston Tea Party, Intolerable Acts, Lexington & Concord. Does this timeline of events sound familiar? I was able to rattle these off- okay, type- these traditionally taught causes of the American Revolution very quickly, but I hate teaching them chronologically […]
History in the Kitchen: Colonial Tea & Little Cakes
As American history teachers, particularly US I teachers, we always teach about a tax on tea. How often, though, do we question “Why tea?” How the world would a bunch of people in our present-day-coffee-drinking-American-society understand why *tea* of all things led to violent, destructive rioting. The backlash against taxation on tea and British control […]
Weighing the Pros & Cons of being part of the British Empire
I was bored with the usual lessons about the Causes of the American Revolution. For many years when teaching the Causes, I’ve talked about taxes, taxes, taxes with a smattering of protest and violence, and an ultimate break from the British Empire. I wanted to be more creative. I wanted my students to think about […]
Political Philosophy BEFORE the Revolution
In reading text books over the years, I’ve noticed that many mention that the colonists sought the “British rights” to which they were entitled as a cause of the American Revolution. Among other things, taxation without representation angered them and they were incensed by the Crown denying them trial by jury. However, in these same […]