Episode 22: The Intolerable Acts

After the Boston Tea Party, Britain wanted to punish the American colonies. They passed a series of laws that became known as the Intolerable Acts or Coercive Acts. They were supposed to prove to the colonists that they were in charge, but do you think the colonists obeyed? Find out in this episode!

The five "Intolerable Acts" were:

1. The Boston Port Act

2. The Massachusetts Government Act

3. The Administration of Justice Act

4. The Quartering Act of 1774

5. The Quebec Act of 1774

 

The Boston Tea Party

When Britain taxed tea, colonists proved that they meant it when they said "no taxation without representation!" In December of 1773, patriots snuck onto a ship carrying tea into Boston and threw it into the harbor. Hear all about how that happened, why, and what happened next.

The Destruction of the Tea at Boston Harbor. Lithograph by Nathaniel Currier, 1846. 

1789 engraving of The Destruction of the Tea

This notice from the "Chairman of the Committee for Tarring and Feathering" in Boston denounced the tea consignees as "traitors to their country".

Source: Supercoloring

Source

Episode 20: The Boston Massacre

Things just kept getting worse between Britain and the American Colonies, and tensions boil over in Boston in what is now called "The Boston Massacre." How the people reacted is just as important as how it happened. Find out all the details in this episode!

That image is from an engraving Paul Revere made to illustrate the Boston Massacre. You can look at the whole image with the words here. 

Check out that engraving, and six others, here to get seven different perspectives on what happened that day! 

Coloring page from Supercoloring

Coloring page source

Episode 19: No Taxation Without Representation

Britain had to pay for the French and Indian War and, through things like the Stamp Act, were raising taxes on American Colonists to do it. The colonists didn't think it was fair that they could be taxed when their voices weren't even being heard by the British- they weren't being represented. The cry of "no taxation without representation" took hold in the American Colonies, and the idea that people deserved to be heard by their government was one that would change the world.

Source

Tax Stamps from the tax act of 1765

This cartoon by Benjamin Franklin was popular when protesting the Stamp Act to symbolize colonial unity against the British. It was sometimes printed saying "Unite or Die." You can read more about it here. 

Episode 18: The Trouble Begins

After the French and Indian War, Great Britain needed to raise money. They did that by taxing the American colonies- without giving colonists any say in it. Here comes trouble between Britain and the American Colonies, and the colonists' favorite saying: "no taxation without representation." 

Women spin wool at home after the Wool Act

Coloring Page. Source

Coloring page. Source.

Patrick Henry coloring page. Source.