Secret Colonial Society
In response to the Stamp Act of 1765, colonists in Boston, Massachusetts created a secret
society known as the Sons of Liberty (also known as the Loyal Nine), whose purpose was to organize
local resistance to this act of Parliament. The group would meet around a large elm tree that stood in
Boston - near Boston Common - which then became known as the Liberty Tree. Sons of Liberty societies
sprang up all over the Thirteen Colonies, and they worked together to protest the new British law. The
Sons of Liberty would go on to become one of the foundations for the American Revolution.
Imagine that the Sons of Liberty have been discovered by the British and are forced to go into hiding. It
is now necessary to create a new secret organization to lead the protest against the Stamp Act.
You and your partner have been given the job of creating this new secret society. Your main job is to
develop ways to protest the Stamp Act, and inform other colonists about why the Stamp Act is wrong.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Give your secret society a name.
Create a symbol that can be used to identify this new society.
Come up with a secret handshake that allows members of the society to recognize one another.
Develop a list of three (3) strategies that you will use to protest and demonstrate your
dissatisfaction with the Stamp Act.
5. Write a brief statement (1 paragraph) that you can hang on the Liberty Tree that tells why the
Stamp Act is unfair.
6. Further discussion and analysis: Should your society remain in secret or has the time come to
become more public? Think of the pros and cons of whichever decision you make.
Secret Colonial Society
1. Name of your secret colonial society
2. Symbol
3. Directions on how to do your handshake
4. Protest Strategies
1.
2.
3.
5. Statement about why the Stamp Act is unfair.
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6. Secret or Public
Secret
Pros-
Cons-
Public