RAFT Writing Prompt (p. 24)
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RAFT Writing Prompt:
– Role – Colonial Merchant
– Audience – Colonists
– Format – Letter to the editor of a colonial newspaper
– Topic – Protesting British taxes
British Colonial Laws and Taxes (p. 25)
Laws and
Taxes
Description
Navigation
Acts
Directed flow of goods between and the
colonies
Restricted colonial trade to only England
Proclamation
of 1763
Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Prohibited colonists from settling west of the
Appalachian Mountains
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Lowered the tax on molasses
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Allowed officers to seize goods from
smugglers without going to court
Placed a tax on almost all printed materials in the
colonies
Colonists’ Reactions
Ignored by the colonists
Smuggling
Illegal trade with other nations
Protested limits on their freedom
Feelings of distrust grow toward
Great Britain
Protested in speeches and pamphlets (e.g. James
Otis)
Sons of Liberty created
Boycotted British goods
Burned effigies
Townshend
Acts
Tea Act of
1773
Tax levied against imported goods, such as glass,
tea, paper, and lead
Made British tea cheaper than colonial
tea
East India Company exempted from
Boycotted British goods
Boston Tea Party
most of the taxes placed on tea
Coercive Acts
(Intolerable
Acts)
Harsh laws intended to punish the people of
Massachusetts for their resistance (the Boston Tea
Party)
First Continental Congress