Image from http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanagerphotos/on-politics/2011/02/08/teaparty-208x-large.jpg
Americans have participated in political protests since the beginning of our country’s
history. How has the organization of political groups and their actions evolved over time?
The Tea Party movement is a political movement
with conservative and libertarian tendencies.
1. Members believe in an originalist interpretation
of the U.S. Constitution.
2. Its goals are less government in the form of
decreased taxation and reduction of national
debt.
3. It has sponsored protests and supported political
candidates since 2009.
• At the end of this lesson, you will be asked to
compare and contrast the original Boston Tea
Party of 1773 to the 2009 Tea Party Movement.
:
• http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/learning/pdf/2010
/20100112socialmovements.pdf
Organizer is from the NY Times Learning Network learning.blogs@nytimes.com
The Tea Party of 2009 took their name from a comment Rick Santelli, on-air editor
for the CNBC Business News network, made referencing the Boston Tea Party of
1773.
The Boston Tea Party was a group of citizens, organized by Samuel Adams,
that protested British tea taxation, which they felt was taxation without
representation, by dumping tea into Boston’s harbor.
Many people also credit a Seattle conservative activist, Keli Carender, with
organizing the first Tea Party like protests in February 2009 with the help of her
blog although she did not use the words “Tea Party”.
Image from http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bstXBEDnG9w/TJJn97UqDCI/
AAAAAAAADfE/Yq2PT2fpYdk/s1600/santelli.jpg
CNBC Rick Santelli’s Tea Party comment
from 0 seconds to 2 min 30 seconds
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=1039849853
Boston Tea Party 1773 (Choose links as needed)
Tea Party - Schoolhouse Rock - No more Kings 3 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-9pDZMRCpQ&feature=related
The Boston Tea Party Takes Place - December 16, 1773 30 seconds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8WkeFBwEyw&feature=related
The Boston Tea Party 4 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DflVLvrWgsg&feature=related
Other groups have used the imagery
of the Boston Tea Party for their causes.
.
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party
“When Mohandas K. Gandhi led a mass burning of Indian registration cards in South Africa
in 1908, a British newspaper compared the event to the Boston Tea Party.[67] When Gandhi
met with the British viceroy in 1930 after the Indian salt protest campaign, Gandhi took
some duty-free salt from his shawl and said, with a smile, that the salt was "to remind us of
the famous Boston Tea Party."[68]
“In 1973, on the 200th anniversary of the Tea Party, a mass meeting at Faneuil Hall called
for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon and protested oil companies in the
ongoing oil crisis. Afterwards, protesters boarded a replica ship in Boston Harbor, hanged
Nixon in effigy, and dumped several empty oil drums into the harbor.[69] In 1998, two
conservative US Congressmen put the federal tax code into a chest marked "tea" and
dumped it into the harbor.[70]”
^ Erik H. Erikson, Gandhi's Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence (New York: Norton, 1969), 204.
^ Erikson, Gandhi's Truth, 448.
^ Young, Shoemaker, 197.
^ Young, Shoemaker, 198.
1. Close adherence to the US Constitution
• Members commit to learning the Constitution
• Originalist view- What did
the writers mean?
2. Less Government
• Lower taxes
• Balanced budget
3. Grassroots activism*
• Using Elections to reach
Political Objectives
• Using town meetings or
tea parties to organize
The Gadsden flag appeared in 1775 . An anonymous writer
to a newspaper (many believe the writer to be Benjamin
Franklin) said of the flag “"She never begins an attack, nor,
when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an
emblem of magnanimity and true courage. ... she never
wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her
enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading
on her." Permission from N. York to use image. Information
from http://www.gadsden.info/history.html
.
*(There is debate about how much is grassroots and how much is not grassroots)
1.Close adherence to the US Constitution
• Members commit to learning the
Constitution
Tea Party members feel it is very important to
read and understand the US Constitution.
They feel elected officials need to consider
what the Constitution states for all of their
decisions.
School House Rock - Preamble (America Rock) 3 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=SQdDjBAJt7c&feature=endscreen
Tea Party Members try many different ways to learn the Constitution.
Some use American Sign Language as a way to memorize the document.
from p. 64 of Boiling Mad Inside Tea Party America by Kate Zernike
ASL Translation of the Preamble to The Constitution of the United States of America 1 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGNbFqaIo28
The preamble in sign language!
1 minute ASL translation by students
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FKRHEMGuYQ
1.Close adherence to the US Constitution
• Members commit to learning the Constitution.
• Originalist view
An originalist view of the Constitution means that the reader of
the Constitution tries to figure out what the original meaning
was at the time it was written.
What did the writers of the Constitution have in mind when
they drafted the different parts?
Originalists believe that judges should uphold the laws and
that they should not try to change them.
Famous originalists are Supreme Court Justices Antonin
Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
The Supreme Court case BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, ET AL. v.
ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION ET AL. Argued November 2, 2010—
Decided June 27, 2011 was about a California law that made it illegal to sell violent
video games to minors. It was decided by 7-2 vote that the law was unconstitutional
because it violated the First Amendment (freedom of speech).
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissent (it means he disagreed with
the ruling). His reasoning was that the original intent of the Constitution did not define
freedom of speech involving minors in accordance to the majority ruling.
Some Supreme Court Justices feel that the Constitution is a “living document”
that should change as times change.
Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote
Reflections on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution explaining
why he thought the Constitution needs to be changed.
IT IS A CONSTITUTION WE ARE EXPOUNDING
Collected Writings on Interpreting Our Founding Document
Foreword by Laurence H. Tribe
http://www.acslaw.org/pdf/ACS_Expounding_FNL.pdf
Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas
“Originalism”
Image from
http://www.conservapedia.com/images/thumb/4/40
/Thmas.jpg/200px-Thmas.jpg
Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall
“Living Document”
Image from
http://www.biography.com/imported/images/
Biography/Images/Profiles/M/ThurgoodMarshall-9400241-1-402.jpg
2. Less Government
• Lower taxes
• Balanced budget
.
The Tea Party believes there needs to be less government. Article 1 Section 8 of
the Constitution lists what responsibilities/powers the government had at the
time the Constitution was drafted. The Tea Party believes that the government
has grown too big, that all of the newer programs are not necessary and/or
Constitutional. Every government program uses taxes to fund them.
The Tea Party believes that there should be less taxes. Tax is collected from the
majority of citizens from their paycheck to pay for government (federal and
state) programs.
The Tea Party believes that the Federal and State budgets need to be balanced.
To balance a budget means that you are not spending more money than you
have.
The next slide contains Article 1 Section 8 of the
Constitution.
An example of a government agency is the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). It was not originally mentioned in
Article 1 Section 8. The EPA attempts to reduce pollution and
to protect the environment.
If you need to see a list of Government Agencies look at this
link http://www.usa.gov/directory/federal/index.shtml
Section. 8.
Clause 1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the
common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United
States;
Clause 2: To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
Clause 3: To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
Clause 4: To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
Clause 5: To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
Clause 6: To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
Clause 8: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right
to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
Clause 9: To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
Clause 10: To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
Clause 11: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
Clause 12: To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
Clause 13: To provide and maintain a Navy;
Clause 14: To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
Clause 15: To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
Clause 16: To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in
the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the
Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
Clause 17: To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may,
byCession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to
exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the
Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And
Clause 18: To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers
vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
http://www.house.gov/house/Constitution/Constitution.html
3. Grassroots activism
• Using Elections to reach Political Objectives
• Using town meetings or tea parties to organize
One of their first successful political actions was to have a Tea Party candidate,
Republican Scott P. Brown pulled off one of the biggest upsets in
Massachusetts political history. He defeated Democrat Martha Coakley to win
the 2010 Massachusetts senate election. This was the first time a Republican
had won in this senate election since 1972.
Scott P. Brown’s slogan was:
'I'm Scott Brown. I'm from Wrentham. I drive a truck.‘
The truck was used to prove his point that he was a “common”
man and not a career politician. Many times in grassroots
campaigns a local person is supported over incumbents (people
who have held a political position for a long time). Image from
http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1002/scott_browns_truck_sets_the_pace.html
Using the term “grassroots” to define the 2010 Massachusetts
senate election has been questioned. Although Mr. Brown
started out with very little money to run his campaign he
received thousands of dollars from different political interests
toward the end of his campaign.
From Ballotpedia.org- Scott Brown
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Scott_Brown
From Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/02/01/late_in_senate_race_finan
cial_sector_donations_swelled_browns_coffers/
3. Grassroots activism
• Using Elections to reach Political Objectives
• Using town meetings or tea parties to
organize
One reason that the Tea Party Movement has grown so fast is that they have used
social media (Facebook, email, etc.) to organize.
How Scott Brown Friended, Tweeted and LOLed His Way Into The Senate from
Epicenter- http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/02/how-scott-brown-friended-tweetedand-loled-his-way-into-the-senate/
Many students see Facebook just as a way to socialize with friends.
Grassroots Activism has changed in many ways over the years.
George Hewes- first person account of Boston Tea Party
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/teaparty.htm
Scott Brown Volunteer in Fitchburg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01nsPGWNtd8
1. Close adherence to the US Constitution
• Members commit to learning the Constitution
• Originalist view
2. Less Government
• Lower taxes
• Balanced budget
3. Grassroots activism*
• Using Elections to reach
Political Objectives
• Using town meetings or
tea parties to organize
The Gadsden flag appeared in 1775 . An anonymous writer
to a newspaper (many believe the writer to be Benjamin
Franklin) said of the flag “"She never begins an attack, nor,
when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an
emblem of magnanimity and true courage. ... she never
wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her
enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading
on her." Permission from N. York to use image. Information
from http://www.gadsden.info/history.html
*(There is debate about how much is grassroots and how much is not grassroots)
Conservative- Holding to traditional attitudes and values.
Grassroots Activism- A grassroots movement is politics at a local level. It is
usually spontaneous and has many volunteers in the community that give
their time to support a local party.
Libertarian- “One who advocates maximizing individual rights and
minimizing the role of the state.” from the freedictionary.com
Living document- concept that the Constitution will need to change with
the times.
Minor- A young person, not an adult
Originalism- concept that the Constitution needs to be interpreted based
on what the original writers intended it to mean.
Social Media- web-based and mobile technologies that create interactive
conversations.
Uphold the law- to carry out the law as it is written.
• Compare Tea Party Movement to Occupy Wall
Street Movement
•
•
See the previous lesson from HNN about Occupy Wall Street in
Historical Context as reference material
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/learning/pdf/2010
/20100112socialmovements.pdf
•
Organizer is from the NY Times Learning Network
learning.blogs@nytimes.com
• Have students debate their Constitutional
preference (Originalism versus Living Document)
The Life of the (Tea) Party: Comparing Social Protest Movements
By DINAH MACK and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/the-life-of-the-tea-party-comparingsocial-protest-movements/
The Tea Party Movement- C-Span
http://www.cspanclassroom.org/Lesson/319/Featured+Lesson+Idea+The+Tea+Party+Movement.aspx
Books
Boiling Mad- Inside Tea Party America by Kate Zernike
Links
US Constitution http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
Boston Tea Party Historical Society- site contains pictures and facts
http://www.boston-tea-party.org/pictures/picture7.html
Boston Tea Party Historical Society- play about original tea party
http://www.boston-tea-party.org/reenactment/Act1.html
No Time for Tea (3-5 Grade)
http://publications.socialstudies.org/se/6905/6905244.pdf