Money Talks

Money Talks

Practice: Get ready for some activities.

Activity 1

Step 1

For this activity, you will need a large group or class. Split students into smaller, evenly distributed teams. Students will pretend to be King George, making up taxes.

Step 2

The student’s goal is to create the “worst tax” they can think of: a tax against something everyone loves, enjoys, or uses frequently (just like the British taxes on sugar and paper).

Step 3

Each team needs to come up with a name for their tax (ex: “The Recess Act” or “The Candy Tax”), a description of what is being taxed, and how it will be applied (ex: In order to go to recess, a student must pay fifty cents, or for every piece of candy eaten, a person must brush their teeth three times afterward).

Step 4

Teachers should give feedback and support in the process. The teams will present their final tax idea to the group. Each student will vote on which they dislike the most.

Summary:

Patrick Ferguson was considered a brilliant mind but an overly-confident leader in the British military. He developed a new rifle in place of the slow and susceptible muzzle-loading, the first breech-loading rifle. It wasn’t used much due to a fellow British General’s contempt for Major Ferguson. One notable detail of Ferguson’s Revolutionary career was the Battle of Brandywine, when Ferguson got within distance to take out General George Washington. Ferguson wrote of his decision not to, noting that it was dishonorable for British officers to take out other officers. The battle at Kings Mountain against the Overmountain Men proved to be more than Ferguson and his men were prepared for. The Overmountain Men were, like many colonial militias, a rag-tag group who didn’t fight their battles the traditional way. Even without a general, they still proved themselves successful as they trapped Ferguson’s men on Kings Mountain, cutting them off from escape. Ferguson’s men wanted to surrender, but Ferguson cut the white flag, eliminating that option. Only a handful of British soldiers survived the Overmountain Men’s attack. Ferguson was killed trying to escape.

Francis Marion, a colonial military leader, had a storied military career as a well-known underdog who used unconventional tactics to slowly and steadily take down British forces. Like many American colonist troops, Marion’s men were often a small and rag-tag group who were vastly underestimated. Their passion for colonial freedom and their faith in God and each other propelled them as they used guerilla tactics to surprise British troops time and again, eventually dividing and conquering their enemy. Marion’s nickname, “Swamp Fox,” was born out of a lengthy and successful escape from British Lt. Colonel Tarleton over miles and miles of land, finally slipping into a nearby swamp where Tarleton lamented how difficult Marion was to catch. Marion spent the later years of his life supporting his newly minted country as a farmer, member of the South Carolina Assembly, and a leader of a peacetime brigade.

Activity 2
Watch the video and pay attention to the materials and supplies you will need.