Britain’s Problems, Solutions & Colonists’ Responses

1. Copy this chart onto notebook page 17. (You may want to turn your notebook sideways) Britain’s Problems Britain’s Solutions Colonists’ Responses

2. Lesson 6.1b: Tighter British Control Today we will discuss the Stamp Act and relate colonists’ actions to its repeal.

3. Vocabulary • discuss – talk about • relate – describe the connection between two things • repeal – to take back a law • boycott – a protest based on non–participation, usually a refusal to buy • merchant – someone who owns a store and sells things to his customers

4. Check for Understanding • What are we going to do today? • How are you related to your cousin? • What is one school rule you’d like to see repealed? • How is a merchant related to his merchandise? • Would you boycott a merchant who sold items made by slave workers?

5. What We Already Know After the French and Indian War, Britain was heavily in debt.

6. What We Already Know Parliament began to pass laws designed to raise revenue or reduce expenses, so as to pay off their debts.

7. What We Already Know People in the colonies, who were used to running their affairs without interference from Parliament, became angry with the British government because of these laws.

8. Britain Passes the Stamp Act • The Stamp Act (1765) created revenue by levying a tax on legal and commercial documents. • It required colonists to buy and place stamps on many goods such as diplomas, contracts, and newspapers. • While the Sugar Act had mainly affected merchants and importers, the Stamp Act affected all colonists directly. But the Stamp Act was different from the Sugar Act in one important way.

9. Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

10. Whiteboard Policies • Use the marker only to write your answers – no doodling, no coloring, no fancy letters, etc. • Put the cap on your marker when you’re not using it. • Display your answers by holding your boards under your chin (“Chin it!”) • When the period is over, leave the whiteboard with the marker and eraser on your desk top.

11. 3. What was the Stamp Act? • It levied a tax on all legal and commercial documents. • It was a direct tax on all the colonists, unlike the Sugar Act. • It gave the colonies representation in Parliament. • It reduced the penalties for smuggling. • It replaced the Sugar Act as a way of generating revenue. Choose all that are true!

12. 4. How was the Stamp Act different from the Sugar Act? • The Stamp Act was passed by Parliament, but the colonial assemblies passed the Sugar Act. • The Sugar Act reduced the penalties for smuggling, while the Stamp Act increased them. • Unlike the Stamp Act, the Sugar Act was meant to create revenue. • The Stamp Act taxed the colonists while the Sugar Act taxed trade.

13. The Stamp Act Angered Colonists • Britain taxed the colonists even though they sent no elected representatives to Parliament. • The colonists felt that this was against their rights as British citizens.

14. Protests Against the Stamp Act • “No taxation without representation” was the colonial battle cry. • Delegates from nine colonies met in New York City (the Stamp Act Congress) and drew up a petition of protest to the king. • They insisted that only the colonial assemblies – not Parliament – could tax the colonies.

15. Colonial Merchants Protested • They organized a boycott of British goods (a refusal to buy goods). • Secret groups (e.g., the Sons of Liberty) formed, and began to organize protests against British policies.

16. Colonial Protests • The Sons of Liberty burned stamped paper. • They attacked customs officials who collected the tax, tarring and feathering them and parading them in public. • Fearing for their safety, many officials quit their jobs.

17. Britain’s Problems Britain’s Solutions Colonists’ Responses

18. Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

19. Whiteboard Policies • Use the marker only to write your answers – no doodling, no coloring, no fancy letters, etc. • Put the cap on your marker when you’re not using it. • Display your answers by holding your boards under your chin (“Chin it!”) • When the period is over, leave the whiteboard with the marker and eraser on your desk top.

20. Fill out the next two boxes on your chart, then answer the following question on your whiteboard: How did the colonists react to the Stamp Act?

21. Repeal of the Stamp Act • British merchants, whose trade had been hurt by the boycotts, began to complain to Parliament. • Under pressure from home and the colonies, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766. • At the same time, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. • “Parliament has the right to govern and tax the colonies!”

22. Reaction to the Declaratory Act • Colonists celebrated the repeal of the Stamp Act. • Most ignored the Declaratory Act. • But the tension between the colonies and the British government would continue to grow.

23. Britain’s Problems Britain’s Solutions Colonists’ Responses

24. Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

25. Fill out the next two boxes on your chart, then answer the following question on your whiteboard: How did the colonists react to the Declaratory Act?

26. Britain’s Problems Britain’s Solutions Colonists’ Responses