GRADE LEVEL:
Elementary School/Middle
School
 |
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The year
after the Boston Tea Party – 1774 – was
a time of turmoil for Great Britain’s American
colonists. England’s attempts to gain more control
of the colonies were met with protest. Colonists began
to feel that events affecting other colonies also
affected their own. When the Port of Boston was closed
to all trade until the city paid for tea destroyed
during the “Boston Tea Party,” Virginians
showed their support of Boston by calling for a “Day
of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer” on June
1st.
Non-importation agreements to boycott certain British
goods were signed in several colonies. Nearly 500
merchants gathered in Williamsburg to sign such
an agreement and presented it to Peyton Randolph and
other delegates to Continental Congress. Just like today, political cartoons reflecting public sentiment were published. Two of
those political cartoons are used in this lesson. |
TIME REQUIRED: One to two
50-minute sessions
MATERIALS:
OBJECTIVES: As a result of this lesson,
students will be able to:
- Describe a form of protest that took place in 18th-century
Virginia
- Discuss parallel events that took place in the American
colonies as the Revolution drew near.
- Compare events or ideas that people protest about
today to events or ideas protested about as the idea
of independence from Great Britain was forming.
SETTING THE STAGE: Have
students read and discuss contemporary news articles about
protest. They should record on flip chart paper the particulars
of the article. Recorded facts should include: Who is protesting?
What are they protesting? What result are they are trying
to achieve? Discuss the findings in a large group discussion.
STRATEGIES/PROCEDURES: Have
students form groups to read Articles #1 and 2. They should
record the particulars of the articles as in the previous
activity, “Setting the Stage”.
Distribute print #1, “Bostonians Paying
the Excise Man” and have students record details of
the print. Details should include a ship at anchor in the
background from which tea is being dumped overboard, and
a tree with the phrase “Liberty Tree” carved into
it. The tree includes a noose hanging from a limb. A bucket
of tar is in the left foreground. Colonists are holding
a man (symbolizing a tax collector loyal to Great Britain)
covered with feathers while tea is being poured into and
spewing from his mouth.
Explain tar and feathering as a public punishment
in the 18th century. Discuss the protest and desired result
of having the Tea Act repealed. Explain that the Tea Act
was one of a series of regulatory acts that were unpopular
in the colonies.
Distribute print #2, “The Alternative
of Williamsburg.” Tell students that colonies were
beginning to feel more united against the regulatory acts
they perceived as the tyranny of Great Britain. Mention
another form of protest – boycotts. Have students
examine the print and record details. Details should include
the scaffold representing a “Liberty Tree” in
the background and the phrase “A Cure for the Refractory”
inscribed on the cross beam of the scaffold. Hanging from
it are a barrel of tar and a sack of feathers. There is
also a statue of the highly regarded late Royal Governor
of Virginia, Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt. The
inclusion of the statue symbolizes the eroding of relations
with Great Britain after Lord Botetourt’s death. A
merchant is signing the non-importation agreement, which
is placed on a plank supported by barrels of tobacco. Inscribed
on the barrel is “A present for John Wilkes, Lord
Mayor of London.” Wilkes was viewed as a supporter
of the colonies because he condemned the government for
its policies toward them. Militant-looking colonists bearing
clubs are looking on as the merchant signs the document.
Have students describe what they see in the
print and their ideas about its symbolism. Ask students
to elaborate on what they think the print says about how
the colonists protested and viewed the policies of Great
Britain.
EVALUATION ASSESSMENT:
Using what they have learned thus far, have the students
choose a cause they do or do not support and write a newspaper
article about it and include ways people are protesting
or supporting the cause. Or, ask students to draw an image
to symbolize a cause and show a form of support or peaceful
protest.
Historic Triangle