Day One
Scene of the Crime
History Lab Day 1
Objective: We will analyze the “crime
scene” in order to identify the possible
suspects and motives behind the crime.
Agenda…
1.Breaking down the Crime Scene
2.Crime Scene Analysis
3.Introduction to lab question
Breaking Down the Crime Scene: Quadrant 1
Breaking Down the Crime Scene: Quadrant 2
Breaking Down the Crime Scene: Quadrant 3
Breaking Down the Crime Scene: Quadrant 4
Breaking Down the Crime Scene
Art by Chelsea Geiger, Artseaink.com, based on Battle at Concord.
Digital services by Elements Designing Interiors.
History Lab Day One
Key Question: What incidents and events led to
armed conflict in Colonial America?
We need to…
– Examine the Suspects
– Determine the Motive
– Analyze the Evidence
The Suspects
French
English
Colonists
Native Americans
What is the common motive among the groups?
Which group has the most to gain?
Which group has the most to lose?
Motive
• What was the issue between
the French and the English?
• How were the Native
Americans involved?
• Treaty of Paris:
– French surrender of claims in
Canada
– Land East of the Mississippi River
– Proclamation Line of 1763
What are major problems facing England after the French & Indian War?
Explain how the Proclamation Line of 1763 would benefit England.
Day Two, Three, & Four
Digging Deeper
History Lab Day 2, 3, & 4
Objective: We will analyze primary source
evidence in order to build a case against
the suspects of the crime.
Agenda…
1.Review Crime, Suspects, & Motive
2.Review Proclamation of 1763
3.View the Evidence
Building a Case File
• Looking at the Evidence
– Directions: Work with your fellow detectives gathering
information on each piece of evidence. As you work make
sure to answer the following questions to gather as much
information for the case that you are building.
Reminder: As a detective your job is to gather and
examine evidence to build your case. If you miss
important details your case may go unsolved.
Evidence Packet
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Evidence A – Sugar Act
Evidence B – Quartering Act
Evidence C- Stamp Act
Evidence D- The Townshend Act
Evidence E- Tea Act
Evidence F –Coercive/Intolerable Acts
– Section A- Boston Port Act
– Section B- MA Government Act and Justice Act
– Section C- Quebec Act
Getting closer to understanding the crime?
Parliamentary Acts: A Summary
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Proclamation of 1763
Sugar Act
Quartering Act
Stamp Act
Townshend Act
Tea Act
Coercive/Intolerable Act
– Parts A, B, & C
Proclamation of 1763
Prohibited the
colonists from
moving West past
the Appalachian
Mountains.
Sugar Act, 1764
Tax on sugar, molasses,
and other products.
Strained colonial
importing & the
economy within the
colonies
Quartering Act, 1765
Required colonists to provide food and housing for
British troops stationed in the colonies.
Stamp Act, 1765
Required all
legal documents
to carry an
official “stamp”
showing tax
paid:
– Newspaper
– Diplomas
– Letters
Townshend Acts, 1767
Parliament suspended NY representative assembly until they
Quartered troops.
Tax on imported items (luxury): glass, paper, paint, lead and tea
Writs of Assistance: “search warrants” –
British soldiers in colonies could search
for smuggled goods.
Tea Act
Tax on imported tea from British East India
Company – gave England a monopoly on tea
importing to the colonies.
Coercive/Intolerable Act, 1774
Direct response to colonial reactions – Disciplinary act
– Closed port of Boston until cost of destroyed tea was
repaid
– British officials being tried of a crime were tried in
England
– Reinforcement of the Quartering Act
– Some land won during the French and Indian War created
the province of Quebec
So far…
• Review the material you have gathered from
the various primary and secondary sources on
British Parliamentary Actions.
• Create three questions you have from the
sources you have examined. These could be
about the specific Acts, the reasons why
Parliament may have passed the Act, impact
on the colonists and the possible reactions of
the colonists.
Day Five
Simulation
History Lab Day 5
Objective: We will identify and assess colonial
reactions to British taxation in the years leading
up to the scene of the crime.
Agenda…
1. Review the Evidence
2. Simulation - Colonial Reactions
The King’s M &Ms
We are going to recreate British taxation by
having a “King” and “Parliament” assign taxes
to a group of “colonists.” Colonists will need
to pay the taxes that apply to them with their
own currency (M &Ms® candies).
Tar and Feathering
The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring
and Feathering, attributed to Philip Dawe, 1774,
in the Colonial Williamsburg collection.
Day Six and Seven
Colonial Reactions
and
Incidents
History Lab Day 6 and 7
Objective: We will examine emotions of the era in
order to build a case against the suspects of the
crime.
Agenda…
1. Review Simulation
2. What do we know so far about our crime scene?
3. Colonial Reactions – Boston Massacre
What do we know so far?
1. Who are the four suspects in our case? Have we
narrowed this down?
2. What was the cause of the French and Indian War?
3. Name one condition of the Proclamation Line of
1763.
4. Why did King George III decide to tax the colonists?
5. Name one act imposed by the Parliament. Give
some information about it.
What do we know about the
Boston Massacre?
Document A: Example
The Boston Massacre "Document A: Captain Thomas Preston's Account of the Boston
Massacre” (13 march 1770)
On a freezing March day in 1770, one of the king's soldiers was looking for work to earn some
extra money. Someone started making fun of him and told him to get a job cleaning toilets
[...] One thing led to another and there was a fight. That started things. Soon a noisy, jeering
group of mischief-makers gathered in front of the Boston Customs House. They began
pushing and shoving and throwing stones and pieces of ice at the British sentry. He got
knocked down and he called for help. Captain Thomas Preston came to the rescue with eight
British soldiers.
There is some confusion about what happened next. The mob is said to have taunted the
redcoats yelling, "Fire! Fire!" Captain Preston is said to have yelled, "Hold your fire!" Then the
British soldier was hit with a big stick. He said he heard the word, "fire," so fired his gun into
the crowd. The street gang moved forward; the redcoats panicked and fired at unarmed
people. Five Americans died; seven were wounded.
None of them was a hero. The victims were troublemakers who got worse than they
deserved. The soldiers were professionals...who shouldn't have panicked. The whole thing
shouldn't have happened.
From Hakim, J. (1993). From Colonies to Country (pp.64-65). New York: Oxford University
Press.
John Adams
Would you have chosen to defend the British
soldiers in court for their actions during the
Boston Massacre?
Further Scene Investigations
Boston Tea Party
1st Continental Congress
The Battle of Lexington
Day 8 and 9
Cracking the Case
History Lab Day 6 and 7
Objective: We will analyze the events that led to
conflict in Colonial America.
Agenda…
1. Review Colonial Reactions and Incidents
2. Recipe for Conflict
3. Solving the Case
Key Question
What incidents and events led to armed conflict in
Colonial America?
Recipe for Conflict
Many historians site different events as the start
of the American Revolution.
“March 5, 1770…what’s about to happen will
change America forever….This is how war
starts.”
Do you agree or disagree with the statement
from the History Channel’s America: The Story
of US series? Use details and examples from
the evidence files to support your response.
Assessment
From the years 1763- 1775 there were many areas of discontent between the
King George III and the Colonists in North America. Armed conflict
erupted at Lexington and Concord, which were the first actions of the
American Revolution, with the colonists seeking independence from the
British crown.
“…The sword is now unsheathed (drawn), and our friends are
slaughtered by cruel enemies. Expresses (messengers) are
hastening from town to town, in all directions through the
country…rousing people To Arms! To Arms.”
(Quoted in the Military Journal of the American Revolution, 1775.)
War now seems inevitable, but this question remains…
• Who was most responsible (the British or American colonists) for moving
these two groups towards armed conflict and could this conflict have
been avoided? Support your argument with facts from the History Lab!