Tea + Salt Water = Fire + Gasoline

Here we go... That little stunt the colonists pulled at Griffin's Wharf in the Boston Harbor.... You know, the one where they thought it would be a brilliant act of defiance against British rule to dress up as American Indians, board British merchant ships holding 90,000 pounds of tea and dump all of it into the harbor. What were the colonists thinking and how would His Majesty react to such a scandalous act? "Take that, King George III!" a member of the Sons of Liberty was overheard saying. 

Hold your horses. Not so fast.

"Colonists" (aka students) arrived today delighted that it was "pay day" in the colonies. They eagerly waited for the payroll manager to visit them with the beloved "till" - hands out, ready to add a fresh sum of money to their stash and tally up their new fortune. You can imagine how quickly the mood changed when they learned that His Majesty, in response to the colonists little late night "escapade", declared several new acts; these Intolerable Acts were much more punitive in nature. It sure took the wind out of these scallywags' sails. In addition to a host of new laws that would hamper economic growth in the colony of Massachusetts, prohibit town meetings or the creation of government charters within the colonies, Parliament insisted that all colonists must hand over all of their money to the King to make up for the loss of income from the tea (this last part for purposes of our simulation to demonstrate the harshness of The Intolerable Acts). Let's just say it got loud. Real loud. Close to what some might even call [shhhh..whisper] anarchy. Such a harsh punishment might prove to be the end for the colonists. How would they support their families? How would they be able to keep their businesses open? How would the colony survive? Colonists firmly decided that something had to be done and they were pretty darn tired of letting the King decide their fate. In yet another act of defiance, colonists formed the First Continental Congress and held their meeting today to vote on opposing and rejecting these most recent laws, refusing to engage in any further trade with Great Britain, and establishing a Grand Council that would allow colonists to create their own laws, tax its own citizens and raise an army. Pardon me? Did the colonists just say "raise an army"? I think I smell a revolutionary war brewing...

Speaking of The Boston Tea Party... we spent some time this week analyzing political cartoons depicting this event and the presence of bias and how it can influence our beliefs and understanding of history. Students were very quick to detect the presence of bias in each of the images below. We discussed why one artist might depict the event as a heroic act of defiance, while another artist might show it as an unruly, criminal act? How does bias influence our own thinking? It was the perfect introduction to learning more about how to identify bias and think critically about information, always seeking to understand both sides of an issue and the quest for fact-based information to make informed decisions about not just history, but the world we live in today. This may be one of our most important explorations as fifth graders yet. 

(Above): See if you can identify the bias in each of these artistic interpretations of The Boston Tea Party.

(Above): Talk about angry protests...

(Above): Patriots deliver their strongest arguments in support of the congressional proposals. 

1. (Above): Colonists meet with their political groups and strategize for the congress. 
   

(Above): Chairpersons from two of the congressional meetings attempt to maintain order throughout the event.