How did the Stamp Act increase tensions in the colonies?

Download Lesson: The Stamp Act

This 5th grade lesson is designed as a starting point to the study of the American Revolution. The lesson’s focus on the Stamp Act provides teachers with an opportunity to increase student reading comprehension and disciplinary understanding. Through analysis of primary sources—letters, declarations, and images—students will make historical interpretations of the revolutionary sparks ignited by the Stamp Act. In answering the focus question, How did the Stamp Act increase tensions in the colonies?,students will develop an understanding of the colonists’ frustrations with direct taxation and their demand for representation in the British Parliament. There are two components to the lesson –this lesson packet and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation. The lesson packet contains instructional procedures, student handouts, teacher keys, and primary sources. The PowerPoint presentation provides slides to guide students through a review of the Stamp Act (and its context), as well as the lesson’s primary sources for whole class analysis.