Focus on the Main Idea: British taxes led to greater cooperation among colonies.
Questions to think about as you read:
Answers to the lesson:
Questions to think about as you read:
- How is the sales tax you may pay similar to or different from the stamp tax?
- What argument did the colonist use as a basis to protest the Stamp Act?
- Why is the slogan "No taxation without representation" an effective for the anti-tax protestors?
- What common goal began to create a sense of unity among the colonists?
- Why was thinking of themselves as American a change for the colonists?
- What actions did the Sons of Liberty take? What would you have done if you were a member of this group?
- Why did Parliament repeal the Stamp Act?
- How were the Townsend Acts similar to or different from the Stamp Act?
- What evidence shows women supported the boycott?
Answers to the lesson:
- Similar: Both attempt to raise money. Different: Citizens elect the people who impose the sales tax.
- Since the colonist did not vote for Parliament, the Parliament had no right to tax them.
- It was short, catchy, and effectively addressed colonists' grievances.
- The repeal of the Stamp Act.
- Before, they had thought of themselves as British subjects or residents of a specific colony.
- They burned stamps. They threatened, attacked, and destroyed the homes of tax agents. The goal was to scare tax agents. Accept all answers to the third question, but insist that students explain their answers.
- It was nearly impossible to collect any money from the stamp tax.
- Similar: Both attempted to raise money from colonists. Different: The Stamp Act taxed printed goods; the Townshend Acts placed a tariff on goods imported from Britain.
- Rather than use British imports, they made "liberty tea" and wove cloth.