The Boston
Tea Party
A WebQuest Using
Firsthand Accounts
Public domain picture from the U.S. Archives
TO U & Credits
Copyright ©2015 Brandi Wayment
a.k.a. The Research Based
Classroom
All rights reserved by author
Permission to copy for
single classroom use only
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Boston Tea Party WEbQuest Notes
• Devices: Each small group of students will need access to a device that can use a
QR code reader. You can find many different QR code reader apps for free. If you
don’t have devices in your classroom, consider having students bring their own.
This activity could also take place in a center to limit the number of devices
needed.
• I usually include the following in the timeline of events leading up to the Boston
Tea Party: 1763 End of the French and Indian War, 1764 The Sugar Act, 1765 The
Stamp Act, 1765 The Stamp Act Congress, 1767 Townshend Acts, 1770 The
Boston Massacre
• I like to have my students sign up for a participant to talk about on page 7.
That way we learn about more of the participants. On a computer, there are
links for each person on the list that you find through the QR code. The links
are very short and tell what happened to each person after the Boston Tea
Party. However, on an iPad, iPhone or iPod, they do not show as links. To
resolve this issue, I had my students click on the person of their choice on the
computer and quickly read what happened to them. Your students could also
look them up on other websites and do their own research. After everyone was
done, we introduced ourselves as the actual participants and told what happened
to each person after the Boston Tea Party. Students wrote out a few
sentences on page 7 that they then read to the class.
• Answers will vary on most pages, so I have not given answer keys. After
students completed the webquest, we discussed their findings, talked about their
remaining questions and had a great classroom discussion about the Boston Tea
Party.
King George III and Parliament wanted to punish the colonies for this act.
Create a list of pros and cons for punishing the colonies.
In support of punishment for the
colonies
Against punishment for the colonies
The
Boston
Tea
Party
Now put yourself in their shoes. Pretend you are a member of Parliament.
Would you vote to punish the colonies? Explain your reasoning.
Name:
©2015 The Research Based Classroom
Page 8
Page 1
Create a timeline of events that lead up to the Boston Tea Party.
What do you think caused the differences in the accounts?
Now choose a person who participated in the Boston Tea Party. Read about
him and be prepared to tell the class about his life.
Hello, I am __________________________.
Page 2
Page 7
Many depictions of the Boston Tea Party exist. Look through the pictures
carefully, note both the differences and similiarities between them.
The first published account of the Boston Tea Party given by a participant
was Joshua Wyeth’s. He was sixteen years old on the night of the Boston Tea
Party, although he did not tell his story until 53 years after it occurred.
Write down the important details of this account.
Page 6
Page 3
More than 50 years after the event, George Hewes gave his eyewitness
account of the event.
In 1850 David Kinnison gave his account of the event.
Why do you think some of the men tried to save some tea and why were
they not allowed to take any of the tea?
This account has a lot of information that conflicts with the previous
accounts. What differences do you find?
Page 4
Page 5
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