The Proclamation of 1763

Transcription

1 Lesson 3 1 THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE UNIT The Proclamation of 1763 LESSON OVERVIEW Students analyze and discuss the implications of the Treaty of Paris, 1763 as well as the Proclamation of 1763, using excerpts from the documents. OBJECTIVES In this lesson, students will: Review the French and Indian War and understand how the conflict contributed to heightened tensions in the British colonies. Understand the Royal Proclamation of 1763 intended to protect Indian land beyond boundaries established by the British Government, and why this angered British subjects in America. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS What was the economic and political relationship among the major world powers, the colonists, and the Native Americans at this time? What effect did the Proclamation of 1763 have on the relationship of the British government and the British colonists? Why? KEY CONCEPTS Conflict Movements VOCABULARY Mercantilism TEACHER MATERIALS Teacher Resource: HTML/overview.html This essay on the economic causes of the American Revolution outlines the competing ideals of mercantilism and free trade. Digital projector to show online maps and images to the class Colored blocks or tokens (can be wooden blocks, unifix cubes, Legos anything with color that students can pass around during the mercantilism demonstration.) Signs for students participating in the demonstration to wear (King, Tobacco Farmer, Furniture Maker, Lumber Merchant, Member of the East India Company) 3.1: Mercantilism Map (either project an image of this map for students or make copies for them to examine STUDENT HANDOUTS 3.2: Blank map of North America for students to mark 3.3: Role play cards and signs for students 3.4: Excerpts of the Treaty of Paris, : Excerpts from the Royal Proclamation of : Questions about the Royal Proclamation of 1763 Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education

2 2 Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3 Goal 4 Goal 5 Conflict Democratic Citizenship Historical Inquiry & Historiography Historical Empathy Discussion & Deliberation X X X Procedures Teacher Notes INTRODUCTION/HOOK Today we re going to try to understand a bit more about the way the world worked in the 1700s. As you ll see, things were a lot different than they are today! The time leading up to the American Revolution was an age of empires. France, Britain, and Spain were some of the largest. These major powers were always competing with each other to see who was the most powerful and wealthiest. At that time, wealth meant one thing: how much gold and silver you had. So, when these countries spent money to send people out to other nations and establish colonies, they expected to gain wealth (in the form of gold and silver) from these colonies. If the colony didn t happen to be located in a place with gold or silver, the empire could still make money through trade. Here s how it worked. (3.1 Mercantilism Map) Where are all the raw materials coming from? Where are they going? This lesson assumes that students have recently learned about the French & Indian War and a brief recap is all that is needed. If this is not the case, an explanation of the war, either oral or in a text, will be necessary. Project the map for students to view or provide copies to student pairs Where are the finished goods coming from? Where are they going? Once students have a visual of the structure, say: This economic system is called mercantilism and it was practiced by all the big empires of the day. Now let s take a closer look at how it worked.

3 3 LEARNING ACTIVITIES (continued) Choose five students to engage in a demonstration. Pass out role-play cards (3.3), role signs, and colored blocks to students. Ask designated students to wear the signs around their necks. Then have them engage in the demonstration as follows: 1. Have the King read his belief statement to the class. 2. Have the tobacco farmer read his statement to the class and then trade his blocks for 5 gold blocks. You may want to select these students in advance and meet with them in order to give them the opportunity to practice their roles. Track the transactions in the form of a list or a diagram up on the whiteboard or smartboard to help the students see the whole system. 3. Have the furniture maker read his statement. 4. Have the Lumber merchant read his statement and trade his blocks to the furniture maker for 5 gold blocks. 5. Have the furniture maker then trade his three red blocks (furniture) with the tobacco farmer for three gold blocks. 6. Have the East India Company representative read his statement and sell three of his tea blocks to the lumber merchant in exchange for three gold blocks. Now ask students: How are the British benefitting from this system? How could they benefit more? (enforcing regulations) How are the Colonists benefitting from this system? How could they benefit more? (evading regulations when beneficial) Do you see any problems with this way of doing business? Can you think of any groups we haven t mentioned who are not benefitting under this system? (Native Americans- losing hunting grounds to farmers and lumber merchants; slaves- losing their liberty to provide cheap labor)

4 4 INTRODUCTION/HOOK (continued) For the sake of this demonstration, we haven t included one big way the King made more money off of this system and that was by charging taxes all along the way. He taxed the raw materials when the entered the country and then taxed them again when they reached the colonies. But we ll talk more about taxes later. LEARNING ACTIVITIES For mercantilism to work, the Colonists needed land on which they could grow crops, cut timber, hunt for fur, or whatever else they were doing so that they could sell these raw materials to England. But they weren t the only ones who wanted that land. The Mapping Colonial America online exhibit is a great resource for Colonial era maps. The zooming tools allow the viewer a clear look at the maps in detail. Display a map of North America from the 1700s. (such as one available on Colonial Williamsburg s online exhibit: Mapping Colonial America at mappingexhibit.html ) Suggested map: A Map of the British and French Dominions in North America, Ask students: Who do you think owned this land? Who lived on this land? What did they use the land for? Encourage students to consider multiple groups (Native Americans, colonial farmers, French and British fur trappers, the British, French, or Spanish governments). Point out that many different groups of people claimed this land. You can zoom in on the map to see the names of the Native American tribes and settlements on this map. Have students brainstorm this in pairs first and then share with the larger class. Track their ideas on the board. Ask: What claims did these different groups (French, British, Colonists, Native Americans) have on this land? What did they intend to use it for? How might they come into conflict with each other over the ownership and use of this land?

5 5 LEARNING ACTIVITIES (continued) Help students recall the French and Indian War, which was a war over land rights. Give students blank maps (3.2) and the treaty of 1763 excerpt (3.4). Before reading the excerpt, orient students to map landmarks like the United States, Canada, the Mississippi River, The Appalachian Mountains, and Florida. Tell students that before the war, England had rights to the thirteen colonies, but that was about it. France had the rest, except for Spain, who had Florida. Then read through the treaty excerpt together, having students highlight unfamiliar words or phrases and discuss meanings. At this point, either break students into pairs to mark the post- treaty holdings or do so as a large group (depending on student needs.) Look at all this land that Britain just gained! If you were a British colonist, what would you want to see happen to the land gained from France east of the Mississippi? (open it up to settlers from the eastern colonies; used for expansion of the current area of the colonies). Have students attempt to draw in pencil the new borders of the British Colonies, British Canada, and Spanish holdings in North America. Note that in the treaty the landmarks and directions referenced are written from the position of facing south, not north (note the comment left of the river in particular). Help students as a group to create their borders after they have tried on their own during the reading. If you were a Native American, what would you want to see happen to your land east of the Mississippi River, based upon what happened with the Native population in the eastern colonies? (They would likely want to see settlers strictly regulated or prevented from colonizing Native lands. They wanted protection from settlers that may harm them or take advantage of their land and resources.) If you were a member of the British Parliament, what would you do about this issue? Who would you side with and why?

6 6 LEARNING ACTIVITIES (continued) Part 3: Royal Proclamation of 1763: Let s see how the British Parliament solved this problem. Keep in mind that they d just fought a war with the Native Americans and they weren t terribly interested in spending a lot more time and money protecting colonist from Native American attack. Provide students with copies of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and questions (3.5 and 3.6). Have students, in pairs, look at the document and answer the questions provided. Discuss and clarify student responses. Show students the Proclamation Line (along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains) on display map and have students mark the line on their own maps. Ask: How do you think the colonists felt about this line? How do you think the Native Americans felt about this line? This can be done as homework if you run out of time. You may want to have students color or shade in the different sections on the map and label them (e.g., New Spain, protected area of British Colonies). DEBRIEFING Ask: Knowing what we do about conflict, can you see any potential conflict? Where? Between whom? HOMEWORK Homework: Ask students to write a paragraph about how the Royal Proclamation was a source of conflict OR direct students to record their responses to the Royal Proclamation of 1763 questions (3.6). Emphasize that for either option students should use evidence from the proclamation and other data sources from the lesson.