American History The Revolutionary War

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR Activities for Lesson 1

Act out Triangle Trade

Tell the students that each corner of the classroom represents a different location. (See below.)

New England     England
Rum Maker     King George
Factory Workers
    gallion.gif (17288 bytes)  
       
West Indies      
Plantation Owner     Africa
      Slaves
      Rum Buyers

Next assign each student a role to play. Signs can be made with the role written on them. These can be hung around the students' necks. You will need:

Similation of Act out Triangle Trade

The New England Corner

  • 1 Rum Maker

  • 2 Factory Workers that Make the Rum

The England Corner

  • 1 King George

The West Indies Corner

  • 1 Plantation Owner

The Africa Corner

  • Rum Buyers

  • Slaves (As many as you wish)

The Ship Captain moves from corner to corner.

Tax Collector
Similation of Act out Triangle Trade
Similation of Act out Triangle Trade

Start by giving each student, except for the slaves, 100 pennies.

The ship captain begins in the Africa corner. He loads up his ship with slaves. The captain takes the slaves to the West Indies and sells them to the plantation owner for 1¢ each. The captain then loads up his ship with molasses. (Barrels can be made from poster board to represent the molasses.) This costs the captain 7¢. The tax collector collects 1¢ tax for King George. (He does not give this to King George until the simulation is over.)

Next the captain takes the molasses to New England where he sells it for 9¢ to the Rum Maker. The tax collector collects 1¢. The Rum Maker also gives 1¢ to his factory workers for making the rum.

The Rum Maker then sells the ship captain rum for 12¢. The tax collector takes 1¢. (Barrels can be made from poster board to represent the rum.)

The ship captain takes the rum to Africa and sells it to the Rum Buyers for 14¢. The tax collector takes 2¢.

Repeat this two more times. The tax collect keeps 10% of what he has collected for doing his job, then takes the rest to King George.

Next  have the students recount their pennies. 
Who has the most pennies? 
Should the colonists be angry with King George for collecting so many taxes?

 

Paying Taxes - A Simulation Activity

Booklist on the American Revolution

. . . If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution by Kay Moore

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

The Fighting Ground by Avi

Books by Jean Fritz

And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?
What's The Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May?
Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?
Will You Sign Here, John Hancock?

Book Units by Gay Miller

I Survived the American Revolution 1776

Get a FREE sample I Survived the American Revolutionary, 1776.

Purchase I Survived the American Revolutionary, 1776 on TPT

Revolutionary War on WednesdayRevolutionary War on Wednesday

 

 

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