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fandomhigh2006-01-25 02:29 pm
professor-lyman.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2006-01-25 02:29 pm
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US History (Wednesday, January 25, 7th period)
Josh looked up from the paper airplanes he had absolutely not been making during his office hours when the history class began to arrive.
"Okay. On Monday we talked about the foundation of the thirteen colonies in the United States. Today I'm going to show you how the wheels started coming off of the whole 'yay, we love England' thing.
"The English colonies were different because you didn't have to be English to live there--you could be from anywhere and if you were in an English colony, and admittedly, were a white guy, you were granted the same rights and privileges as an Englishman living back in England.
"The 13 colonies in North America had a pretty decent relationship with England. But they had been colonies for 150 years, and that's important to remember. Generations had grown up in America and were developing their own culture, and wanted their voice to be heard in decision making. England? Not so interested in that.
"Things came to a boiling point when England instituted a series of taxes on the colonies to help pay off the debt for the French and Indian Wars. Without asking the colonists' opinion on the matter, or really caring that their response was, to paraphrase, 'aw, hell no.' The tax on paper--the Stamp Act, passed in 1765--pissed people off because before there was TV, the only way to get news circulated was on paper, and the colonists were huge into letter-writing, pamphlet making, and newspapers. The colonists were so enraged that the tax was repealed because the money couldn't be collected. Tarring and feathering collection agents will do that, apparently.
England retaliated with a tax on lead, glass, paper, paint and tea. The colonists retaliated by boycotting all English goods, so the Townsend Acts--as these were known as in England." He snickered. "The colonists cut to the chase and called them the Intolerable Acts--were repealed. Except for the tax on tea, which proved to be the last straw. The colonists came up with the super-spiffy chanty motto 'no taxation without representation'--something you'll see on license plates from Washington DC, which is a conversation for another time--and threw all of the tea that was supposed to be taxed into Boston Harbor."
Josh looked up. "This was called the Boston Tea Party because we have a sense of humor about things sometimes. The British, as you might imagine, didn't react with laughter. They closed Boston Harbor, clamped down on the Massachusetts government, and pretty much led directly to the battles of Lexington and Concord that started the Revolutionary War."
Josh put down his notes. "Which we will get to next week. Today I want you to answer this question: if you were trying to make people really cranky, what would you put a tax on?"
"Okay. On Monday we talked about the foundation of the thirteen colonies in the United States. Today I'm going to show you how the wheels started coming off of the whole 'yay, we love England' thing.
"The English colonies were different because you didn't have to be English to live there--you could be from anywhere and if you were in an English colony, and admittedly, were a white guy, you were granted the same rights and privileges as an Englishman living back in England.
"The 13 colonies in North America had a pretty decent relationship with England. But they had been colonies for 150 years, and that's important to remember. Generations had grown up in America and were developing their own culture, and wanted their voice to be heard in decision making. England? Not so interested in that.
"Things came to a boiling point when England instituted a series of taxes on the colonies to help pay off the debt for the French and Indian Wars. Without asking the colonists' opinion on the matter, or really caring that their response was, to paraphrase, 'aw, hell no.' The tax on paper--the Stamp Act, passed in 1765--pissed people off because before there was TV, the only way to get news circulated was on paper, and the colonists were huge into letter-writing, pamphlet making, and newspapers. The colonists were so enraged that the tax was repealed because the money couldn't be collected. Tarring and feathering collection agents will do that, apparently.
England retaliated with a tax on lead, glass, paper, paint and tea. The colonists retaliated by boycotting all English goods, so the Townsend Acts--as these were known as in England." He snickered. "The colonists cut to the chase and called them the Intolerable Acts--were repealed. Except for the tax on tea, which proved to be the last straw. The colonists came up with the super-spiffy chanty motto 'no taxation without representation'--something you'll see on license plates from Washington DC, which is a conversation for another time--and threw all of the tea that was supposed to be taxed into Boston Harbor."
Josh looked up. "This was called the Boston Tea Party because we have a sense of humor about things sometimes. The British, as you might imagine, didn't react with laughter. They closed Boston Harbor, clamped down on the Massachusetts government, and pretty much led directly to the battles of Lexington and Concord that started the Revolutionary War."
Josh put down his notes. "Which we will get to next week. Today I want you to answer this question: if you were trying to make people really cranky, what would you put a tax on?"
Re: During the lecture
Re: During the lecture
Re: During the lecture
Which also meant he heard what Bel was threatening to tell him.
"Oh god," she finally said, blinking back tears of her own. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."
Re: During the lecture