Yankee Doodle Trivia

This week’s trivia from Constance’s Corner, Boston Local:

Bostonians are heated when it comes to the Massacre on King Street so, wisely, the 14th and 29th Regiments have sailed out of town to an island in Boston Harbor.  Name that island/fort.

Good day, fellow Patriots,

Constance of the Cobbler Shoppe

The Townshend Acts

Boston, 1767:  Britain’s Chancellor of the Treasury, Charles Townshend, has succeeded in urging Parliament to pass new taxes for the colonists.  The Townshend Acts require the colonists to pay taxes on glass, lead, paper, paint and tea.  British customs agents are boarding and seizing ships in Boston’s harbor (including John Hancock’s  Liberty ship) to search for smuggled goods .  The Sons of Liberty are reacting with riots and fires.  More British troops are on the way to our port.

The Boston Local

Stamp Act Repealed

Boston, March 1766:   Huzzah! King George and Parliament have voted to repeal the Stamp Act and end the tax on paper in the colonies. William Pitt of England is to be honored with a commemorative coin; he was instrumental in convincing the King and his Parliament members that the colonists should not be taxed without proper representation.

The Boston Local

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The Quartering Act

British Regular

Dear Colonists,

The king’s soldiers, the Regulars, are permitted to stay at your home under the King’s Quartering Act.  Please know that the King’s troops are here to protect you.  Give them shelter, food, and drink, as you would any family member of your own.  You will find these English men to be friendly and caring if you treat them well.

Sincerely,

Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson

P.S.  Do care for the horses, as well.

The Stamp Act of 1765

Dear colonists,

King George III of England has issued a Stamp Act placing a small tax on paper: newspapers, documents, receipts, marriage and death certificates, diplomas, playing cards, and other paper.  That seems fair to me.  The King’s treasury dwindled while England supplied our colony with enough Redcoats to defeat the French here on our soil.  Armies and naval ships cost money.  Shall the colonists enjoy the King’s protection and yet complain about paying taxes to King George who needs to rebuild the royal treasury?

Signed,

Isabella

Proud British citizen

Proclamation Line of 1763

October 7th, London, England:  King George III orders a new proclamation for the colonies in America.   This decree forbids settlement or land grants for the colonists beyond the crest of the Appalachian Mountains.  The Royal Proclamation Line stretches from Canada to Georgia and colonists may not move west of it, per order of the honorable King George.

Proclamation Line

Bostontowne Celebrates the Treaty of Paris

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Boston 1763     British Parliament ratifies the treaty ending the French and Indian War. King George III and Parliament signed the Peace of Paris or Treaty of Paris, as it is called, on February 10, 1763.  In the treaty France loses Canada and all claims to territory east of the Mississippi.   Spain gains control of Louisiana, the land west of the Mississippi.  Spain also regains Cuba and in return cedes Florida to Great Britain.

Boston celebrates with luminations and bonfires.

The Boston Gazette

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Navigation Acts

Letter to the editor of the Boston Local:

British control of our trade is not new.  We have suffered under the Navigation Acts for a hundred years.  Thankfully the mother country was too busy fighting wars in Europe to enforce these trade laws:

1. Only British ships can transport imported and exported goods from the colonies.
2. The only people allowed to trade with the colonies have to be British citizens.
3. Commodities such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton wool which are produced in the colonies can be exported only to British ports.

Now Britain is back to enforcing these unfair “only” laws.

I’m for fair trade with all countries and may even stop importing items for my cobbler shop.  Thank goodness I have a good local tanner for leather.

Constance

Cobbler Shoppe

Trivia:    When did Great Britain first impose the Navigation Acts on our colony?