Stamp Act Simulation

Today, we participated in a simulation of the Stamp Act. Each student went home with the following letter:

Dear 4-324 Student,

Today you learned about the new PS 321 Paper Tax. With this tax, each piece of paper you use at school will be taxed five cents to pay for necessary school expenses. I just want to let you know that this tax is not real. You will not be charged for each piece of paper you use.

However, the experience you went through today and the very really feelings you felt when the tax was announced are very real and have happened several times throughout America’s history.

In 1765, a very similar event occurred in the Thirteen Colonies. Remember that at this time, the French and Indian Wars had recently ended. Can you imagine how expensive those wars might have been? The British government needed more money to pay for them, and they expected the Americans to pay. King George III, the British King, passed a tax called the Stamp Act. This act said that nearly every piece of paper bought in the colonies was going to be taxed. Each piece of paper would need to have a stamp placed on it to prove the tax had been paid. And this tax, just like the tax we experienced today, was placed on the American colonists without discussing it with them or hearing their opinions.

Tonight, spend some time thinking about why King George III would need to put the Stamp Act into place and how he and the American colonists might feel about it. Then, write a journal entry from the perspective of either King George III or an American colonist describing how you feel about the Stamp Act and some reasons why. You can write on any paper you have. Be specific, and keep what you know about the time period in mind as you write.

Tomorrow, we’ll have a chance to talk about the Stamp Act and how different colonists reacted. Until then, be very glad you do not have to pay a tax on paper!

Yours,

PS 321

How did you feel about the tax? Share your thoughts here!