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Program Seminars
The Revolutionary War is one of four core content areas
of the “Roots of a Nation” Teaching American History Initiative. The “Roots of a Nation”
program offers three unique seminars in this content area, including:
The Royal Navy and British Taxation - Policies in the
Pre-Revolutionary Period
In an effort to generate revenue to ease Britain’s debt following the Seven Years’ War, King George III levied a series of acts imposing taxes upon his colonial subjects in North America. When the colonists reacted unfavorably to the passing of the Townsend Acts in 1767, Britain’s Royal Navy was given the onerous task of enforcing these new duties in colonial waters. One of the vessels purchased for this assignment was the 97’ topsail schooner SULTANA, which sailed from 1768 to 1772 patrolling for smugglers along the Atlantic Coast of North America. In 2001, a full-scale replica of SULTANA was constructed in Chestertown, Maryland, and launched into the Chester River to serve as a floating classroom (see www.sultanaprojects.org for additional details). During this unique summer institute, teachers use the story of the schooner SULTANA to study the broader theme of British colonial policy in the years preceding the American Revolution. Sultana Projects’ professional staff members lead discussions about the Seven Years’ War and its ramifications on Britain’s colonial policies. Teachers study SULTANA’s hand-written log books to learn about the daily challenges faced by the sailors charged with enforcing King George’s taxes in colonial waters. Participants will also have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sail the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay aboard an authentic “tall ship” while participating in a variety of hands-on activities such as standing watch, setting and striking sails, sampling traditional foods, examining 18th century maps of the Chesapeake Bay, wearing sailors’ uniforms, and learning about the eclectic makeup of SULTANA’s original crewmembers. On the final day of the seminar, teachers work with a Master Teacher to formulate lesson plans that incorporate the Sultana experience into the classroom setting. Chestertown Tea Party: Fact or Fantasy?
According to oral tradition in Chestertown, Maryland, the date of May 23, 1774 marked a pivotal moment in the history of this historic colonial port. On that date, a group of prominent merchants met to discuss the community’s response to the arrival of a shipment of dutiable East India Tea on the Chester River aboard the brigantine Geddes. The shipment of tea created a firestorm amongst local leaders due in large part to news from England of the closing of the port of Boston in the spring of 1774. The closing of the port was the Crown’s response to the dumping of tea into the harbor during the infamous “Boston Tea Party” the previous winter. Moved by the plight of their fellow colonists to the north, and fearful of what could happen to their own business interests in Maryland, Chestertown’s merchants ultimately decided to board the Geddes in broad daylight on the Chester River and dumped its cargo of tea into the harbor. Or did they? Recent research conducted by local scholars has found a wealth of primary documents indicating that the dutiable tea in question indeed arrived in Chestertown in May of 1774. Furthermore, the Maryland Gazette from that year contains several letters from Chestertown residents conveying their outrage at the Boston Port Bill. However, no primary documentation has ever been found proving that tea was ever dumped into the Chester River. In this workshop, teachers will conduct a historic investigation using primary documents to make their own conclusions about what actually happened in Chestertown on that fateful day in May, 1774. In so doing, teachers will use the story of the Chestertown Tea Party to study the broader theme of Maryland’s response to the Tea Taxes of 1773, the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts, and King George’s closing of the port of Boston. On the first day of the course, participants will learn about the political climate that existed in the thirteen colonies leading up to, and following, the Boston Tea Party. They will review the terms of the Tea Tax of 1773, read first-hand accounts of the Tea Party itself, and discuss Britain’s response to the Tea Party following this shocking event in December 1773. They will then study a wealth of primary source materials to examine Maryland’s reaction to these pivotal events in American history. Primary sources will include articles in the Maryland Gazette, Custom House records from the port of Chestertown, 18th century political cartoons, and private correspondence from Chestertown merchants written during this tumultuous time. On the second day of the seminar, teachers will discuss commerce in colonial Chestertown with professor Adam Goodheart of Washington College, who conducted the first academic study into the viability of the Chestertown Tea Party legend. They will also tour historic buildings in Chestertown to see the sites where town leaders met to discuss the port’s response to the pivotal events in Boston. At the end of the program, teachers will work collaboratively to develop lesson plans using primary documents that highlight Maryland’s response to British colonial policies in 1773 and 1774. Colonial Crossroads – The Chesapeake Bay as a Commercial Hub in Colonial America
The 1768 schooner SULTANA was used historically by the British Royal Navy to enforce the hated “tea taxes” along the coast of Colonial North America in the years preceding the American Revolution. While sailing on the decks of a full-scale reproduction of this historic vessel, teachers work with Sultana Projects’ educational experts to learn about the French and Indian War, the Townsend Acts, and SULTANA’s role in enforcing British taxation policies in colonial waters. In addition, educators participate in a wide variety of hands-on activities including setting sail, steering the ship, exploring the crew quarters, deciphering entries from SULTANA’s original log books, and examining 18th century charts of the Chesapeake Bay. Through the study of SULTANA’s unique history, teachers gain a broader understanding of the
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