5th gradeSocial Studies

Day#5

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The Tea Act of 1773 is most famous for one eventthat it eventually caused - the Boston Tea Party. OnDecember 16, 1773,a group of American colonists knownas the Sonsof Libertyjumped on board three Britishshipsinthe Bostonharbor. Theywere disguisedas Mohawk Indians.They dumped 340 chests of BritishEast India Company Teainto the Boston harbor. The amount of tea the Patriotsdestroyed would be worth almost $1 million today. TheBritishresponded by putting harsher rules in place in thecolonies. This ultimately caused even greater resistancefrom the Americans.

Boycott the BritishInstead of purchasing the BritishEastIndia Company tea at cheap prices, American colonists

boycotted it. This means that they refused to buy it.The colonists knew that by boycotting the tea they werehelping local tea merchants. They were also preventingGreat Britainfrom collecting taxes on the sale of tea. Theysaw the Tea Act as an example of "taxation withoutrepresentation" and decided that they would not evenallow Britishtea to be unloaded from the ships.Some shipscarrying tea were sent back to Britain.Others were left atsea where the tea eventually spoiled.

The American colonists did not receive the Tea Act well. The issueof unfair taxation by theBritishgovernment was already a source of conflict. Justafter the Stamp Act was repealed, the Britishgovernment issuedthe TownshendActs. Theseacts placed unfair taxes on trade. Americans thoughtthe Tea Act was unfair because it only removed the tea tax for the BritishEastIndia Tea Company. Allof the other companies were stillheavily taxed. Buying tea from any other supplierwas somuch moreexpensive than buying the Britishtea. EvenDutch tea that was iliegally smuggled into the colonies wasmore expensive than the Britishtea.

British East India CompanyGreat Britainpassed the Tea Act in 1773 in order to create a monopoly for the BritishEastIndio

Company. The BritishEast India Company was struggling at the time. The Britishgovernment thoughtthat passing this law would force American colonists to do more businesswith the tea company. horder to convince coloniststo only buy tea from the BritishEastIndia Company, the Britishgovernmentlowered the price of the company's tea. The Britishtea was considerably cheaper than that of anyother tea supplier.TheBritishwere able to do this because all legal tea had to pass through England.The BritishEast India Company paid little to no taxes on its tea as it passed through England toAmerica.

In the game "Monopoly", the goal is to own asmuch of the game board as possible.A playerthat isable to purchase and own a majority of the game board iseventually able to force opponentsinto bankruptcy. Throughout history, real-life monopolies have existed in the businessworld. Certaincompanies have owned large enough portions of one industry to force all the competing companiesout of business.When a company achieves a monopoly, it no longer has to worry about having lowprices or making high-quality products. It isnot competing with other companies anymore.

Tea ActAMERICAN REVOLUTION VOL. 1

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5. Summarizethe main ideo of the section "BritishEastIndio Company" in one sentence. RI.2

4. Explainhow the colonists responded to the Teo Act. RI.3

3. Explain the relationship between the stomp Act. the Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act. RI.3

2. Explainwhy the Britishcame up with the idea for the TeaAct. RI.3

1.What are some examples from this passage that exploin the role that the Tea Act played inthe American Revolution? Cite evidence from the text. Rl.l

KEY IDEAS & DETAILS

Directions: Answerthesequestionsafter you read the passage.Rememberto begin your answerbyrestatingpart of the question,usedirect evidence fromthe text, and explainyourthinking.

Tea ActTEXT-BASED EVIDENCE QUESTIONS

Name

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8. What is the author's message about the importance of the TeaAct? Useevidence from thetext to support your reasoning. RI.8

INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE & IDEAS

7. How isthe passage organized? (Chronological, cause/effect, comparison/contrast,description, problem/solution). Useevidence from the text to explain your answer.RI.5

6. Explainthe meaning of the word "monopoly" in the context of this article. RIA

CRAFT & STRUCTURE

Directions: Answer these questions after you read the passage. Remember to begin your answer byrestating part of the question, use direct evidence from the text, and explain your thinking.

Tea ActTEXT-BASED EVIDENCE QUESTIONS

Nome

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6. Think and Respond.Go back into the text to answer the Know/edge & Integration of Ideassection of your question sheet. Usedirect evidence from the text tosupport your thinking.

5. Read through the text a third time.At thispoint, you know the text verywell. Asyou re-read, think carefullyabout the author's message. Evaluate the evidence that the authoruses to support his/her reasoning. Pay attention to what the text issaying. Usea pencil to underline or a highlighter to note the importantideas you find asyou read.

4. Think and Respond.Go back into the text to answer the Craft & Structure section of yourquestion sheet. Use direct evidence from the text to support yourthinking.

3. Read through the text a second time.Pay attention to how the text explains the information to you as thereader. Thinkabout the author's word choices and how the author'spoint of view might impact (or affect) the meaning. Usea pencil tounderline or a highlighter to note the important ideas you find as youread.

2. Think and Respond.Go back into the text to answer the Key Ideas & Details section of yourquestion sheet. Use direct evidence from the text to support yourthinking.

1. Read through the text once.Pay attention to what the text says.Thinkof the main ideas and keydetails. Usea pencil to underline or a highlighter to note the importantideas you find asyou read.

Student Directions

NPSCN001.pdf (p.1)NPSCN002.pdf (p.2)NPSCN003.pdf (p.3)NPSCN004.pdf (p.4)NPSCN005.pdf (p.5)