Olive Branch Petition

The Olive Branch Petition written to the King was filled with an unnecessary amount of admirable comments directed towards the King. Also, a repetitive comment about how "faithful" the colonists are to the King. If I was the King I would have been insulted as I read this, thinking to myself why would they ever think I would believe this petition. The colonist's were quiet persuasive towards the King as well, telling him what he should do. If I was the King I would not have appreciated this document.

Who was justified?

The Boston Massacre

I feel that the Boston colonist's as well as the British soldiers acted disrespectfully towards each other. First off, the British soldiers intruded where they were not welcomed, and to add to that they were also extremely rude to the colonist's. The British are not the only guilty ones in this situation; the colonist's acted as instigators towards the soldiers, also being very rude. Reading the Boston Massacre and all the facts to go along with it, it is very easy to point fingers at the British soldiers saying they wounded and killed innocent colonist's. Although the soldiers shot and killed innocent colonist's, the colonist's provoked the British to do so, therefor neither party is justified.


Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was a great step for the Boston colonist's. They got to prove that they could out-smart the British as they did by pouring 342 chests of tea into the ocean. The colonist's acted against the British in a very subtle, non violent way. Although the British attempted to trick the colonist's by lowering the tax on tea, colonist's did not buy the cheaper tea either. During the colonist's act against the British there were no intentions on having violence in any way, the only object broken was a lock which was replaced. No one got hurt, nothing got broken that couldn't be immediately replaced, and the colonist's got to prove their point to the British; making the colonist's justified in this situation.


The Intolerable Acts

The Intolerable Acts was created by the British because they had felt weak, not one colony wants to feel weak; therefor they created this ridiculous act for the Boston colonist's. The British were very unjustified in this situation as they made very strict, unreasonable rules for the colonist's. This act was so unreasonable and unnecessary that I think the British are unjustified for making it so strict.

News during the French and Indian War

During the French and Indian war the newspaper was a very important asset for the colonists. The newspaper provided the colonists with important and the latest news of the war. Without the news paper the colonists would not have any idea as to what is happening in the war. Colonists were very interested as to what was happening around them, considering the war was near their homes. The colonists looked forward to reading the articles about the war, as many readers were spouses of a soldier they either heard bad news or great news about the war. This news could either crush them or ease their nervous thoughts. Reading the newspaper helped the colonists feel like they were there themselves maybe easing the morn of loss or emptiness of someone who is missing or fighting. Thanks to the newspaper, colonists were provided with all the needed information and had their questions answered about the war.

Join or Die

1. Franklin beleived the French were going to win the war for many different reasons. The colonist's were not united and they were being ruled by someone from British over 3,000 miles away. The British were unstable compared to the French. The French were united as one nation and work together, as well as ruled by themselves.

2. The French threatened to kill, seize and imprison the British. Also, murder and scalp their wives and children as well as take all the British land and destroy British Interest, Trade, and Plantations in America.

1. This cartoon was created to suggest to the colonies that they need to work/bind together if they want to succeed.

2. Although it is unclear as to why Franklin used a snake as an animal the colonies had a very narrow shape in which fitted the formation of a snake. They suggest that the outside edge represents the Atlantic coast. The eight segments definitely represent the eight colonies, the division of the segments showing that the colonies were divided throughout the war.

3. There are eight colonies included because that is the number of colonies that were divided and trying to survive at that time.

4. The cartoon was also used by Paul Reveer in the Massachusetts Spy news paper. The cartoon also appeared during the American Civil War; having one version for the Union and one for the Confederacy.

1. I think Franklin is still trying to say that the colonies are divided.

2. I think the message he is trying to say is they are worn down from not working as a group because its harder to work divided rather than united

1. Many events occured prior to the French and Indian war that increased tension between the British and the colonists. Mercantilism was one event that occured creating tension between the British and the colonists. The British sold their finished products and gained raw materials through exploitation of the colonies. The Navigation Acts also played a big part in the tension factor, these acts were passed by England's parliament in 1651 forbidding American trade with foreign nations. Making sure all profits were received by England. Sir Edmund Andros being places in charge of the colonies also cause tension. Salutary neglect is the last event that cause tension between the British and colonists.


2.Politically the war split the colonies, as well as made the trust between the colonies dwindle. Economically, many places could not afford to be in the war or support the war, America for example were considered lazy because they were not in the financial state for the war, but gave much of their money to their own army.


3. If the outcome had been different and the French had won the war the boundaries and rules for colonists would be very different. Our society today may be different as well

Beginnings of slavery

Slavery didn't happen in a small amount of time or by just one decision, many things occurred that led to slavery. Everything started in 1619 when the Dutch brought over the first 20 African Americans, they were not slaves, only indentured servants. Indentured servitude was very common throughout the colonies, the servants were not only black, but also white. In 1640 is when everything changed; 3 servants ran away together, yet got different punishments. The two white men only had to finish their contract plus one year, as the black man had to stay a servant for the rest of his life. After this had happened, owners could use this as a reference if their slave tried to free themselves. The motivation as to why this shift had occurred is economically based; people wanted money. Massachusett's was the first state to legalize slavery in 1641, not too long after the other colonies followed the legalization. Soon, it was only Christian's that weren't slaves, then it changed to be any black person alive was a slave. Realizing that you can't tell if someone was a slave or not, they made all black's slaves; including new born babies if their mother was black they became a slave too. There was no difficulting inforcing black slaves because there was no escaping skin color, unfortentely for them. Soon it became illegal to free your black slave, then in 1672 the king granted a charter allowing slavery. Therefor he gave some money, but gained more back.

themes of the colonial period

As all new colonies began to develop throughout America they all ran into obstacles and conflicts they had to overcome to be successful. There are many different themes that occur throughout the colonies as they start to grow. Land Disputes, Exploitation from colonist to colonist as well as colonist to Native, and conflict are three main themes the colonial periods ran into. When the English showed up and planned to make a colony that was successful they were approaching land that was already taken by Natives. Neither the Natives nor the English were interested in sharing their land. They fought over land very often, this fighting led to the exploitation between the colonists and Natives. Most Natives were alcoholics; the colonists took advantage of this by getting them drunk and tricking them into selling their land for less than it was worth. When the colonists first came to the land, they were oblivious to the facts on how to survive. The Natives helped them very much, showing them how to hunt and build and fight. Once the English were stronger or the same strength of the Natives they took advantage of it, by fighting with them for land. The Natives got their own ideas and tactics on how to live used against them. Conflict is one other theme that happened throughout the colonial period. No matter what new colony or who it was there was constant conflict going on. From religious freedom and power to land and money, there was constantly conflict going on during the colonial period. Those are three of many themes that occurred during this time period.

When the colonists arrived they became unwilling participants in being taken captive by the Natives, which is a tradition that is ongoing throughout the Native Americans. The theme of this is fear, there was always a constant fear of being attacked. Therefore the Natives would follow their tradition of taking captivity of the colonists.

I think the activity in the computer lab when we had a class discussion on Twitter is a much more affective way to learn than a regular class discussion because it gives everyone a chance to say something. I feel like I learned and understood more by doing this because I had time to think and write out what I wanted to say and reflect on what others were saying. I think we should try and do these type of class discussions often.