Students will warm up by responding to a hypothetical situation in which they are engaging in economic activity that violates the school’s rules and results in increased scrutiny. Next, students will analyze images to describe the economy of Boston and then read a background essay designed to explore the vocabulary in context. Students will work together to define the vocabulary before reading a primary source in which James Otis defends the colonists against British enforcement policies. Finally, students will address an exit ticket relating economic rights to basic liberties.

Students will learn to explain how economic rights are related to other liberties, such as freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, by describing how American colonists were affected by British trade restrictions and enforcement.

• Mercantilism 
• Salutary neglect
• Scrutiny
• Smuggling 
• Surveillance
• Triangular trade
• Writs of assistance

• Hypothetical warm‐​up
• Image analysis
• Vocabulary in context reading
• Vocabulary in context organizer
• James Otis excerpt
• Exit ticket

This lesson involves working in pairs. If you have taught microeconomic concepts, some of the answers here can be supported by graphs. However, this lesson describes these concepts without depending on or drawing the graphs. Students should also have a preexisting knowledge of the French and Indian War.

Distribute the warm‐​up and have students read the hypothetical and answer the questions.

Last month, your friend group decided to do something silly at lunch, so you brought a five‐​course potluck meal with silverware, a fancy tablecloth, and cloth napkins from home. Your friends even brought electric candles to make the meal feel truly fancy. While your friends brought plates, napkins, silverware, a tablecloth, beverages, and vegetables, you were responsible for the main course. It was so delicious that all the students around your table became jealous. Word was out that you were an excellent chef, and so a business was born. Since then, you have allowed other students to order custom hot meals that you made and packed at home, stored in an insulated bag in a teacher’s classroom, and distributed before lunch. But the cafeteria workers have a monopoly on sales in the cafeteria, so what you were doing violated school rules. Nevertheless, several teachers bought meals from you, and the teacher who stored the bag received a cut of your profits, which were sizable. Everything was going great until someone called the school administration and told them you were engaging in these transactions. The administrators asked you to show them your bag, and they found your homemade food, a list of orders, and cash. The school released a statement that students are not allowed to engage in business transactions on school property, and they demanded that you end your business immediately. They asked that you show them your school bag and locker every day for the rest of the school year, stating that they need to ensure all students are eating the nutritious food the cafeteria provides.

• How did your business affect the market for lunch at your school?

  • The business diversified the offerings available at school lunch. It gave students more choices but decreased the number of students buying lunch from the cafeteria.

  • When students are reporting out, you may want to support this answer with microeconomic graphs for substitute goods. If the homemade food acts as a substitute good for the cafeteria food, demand for cafeteria food will decrease, which will also decrease the quantity of cafeteria food. This should reduce prices, which means the cafeteria is losing money.

• Besides you and the teacher you paid, who benefited from your lunch business? Why? 

  • Customers, both students and teachers, benefited from the business. 

  • Customers enjoyed a greater variety in their lunch options and likely better food.

• Who was hurt by the business operation? Why?

  • The cafeteria and school were hurt by the business operation because the cafeteria could not sell as much food.

  • See explanation 2 for the first question.

• Do you think the school reacted appropriately to your violation of the rules? Why or why not?

  • Answers will vary.

  • Most students may see the reaction as unnecessarily harsh.

• Have students share and compare their answers with a partner. Have each pair report out an answer to at least one question.

• Discuss with the class how this relates to the colonial situation in Boston during the French and Indian War.

  • The British Empire was a mercantile empire, which meant that the colonies were expected to provide raw material to fuel British industry and to consume British manufactured goods. The British enforced this economic system through the Navigation Acts prior to the war. As the war ensued, this exacerbated tensions between the British and the colonists.

  • The colonies of North America were importing illegal goods and avoiding British taxation. 

  • The British government was largely unaware of these violations until British troops were stationed in port cities during the French and Indian War.

  • Given the expenses of the war, the British cracked down on colonial trade to generate tax revenue, which it needed to fund the war efforts that would, in essence, protect the colonies from the French and their indigenous allies.

Distribute the image analysis and have students work in pairs to answer the questions.

• According to the images, how would you describe the economy of Boston?

  • Boston appears to be involved in shipping and international trade.

  • The first image depicts ships in Boston Harbor. The second image is of the harbor itself. The third image illustrates trade routes.

• After looking at the images, how would you describe the relationship between Boston and Britain?
  • Boston and Britain are trade partners. 

  • The third image shows the trade routes between Britain and Boston, but the fourth image depicts a war.

• How might Britain’s relationship to Boston have changed during the French and Indian War?

  • War might have disrupted trade. 

  • Boston falls within the fourth map. This means it was within the locus of war, which would have disrupted trade.

• If the people of Boston were breaking British trade regulations before the French and Indian War, how might the war have changed that? Why? 

  • If British troops were based in Boston for the war, they might have been able to block illegal trade. 

  • Images 3 and 4 indicate that trade goes through the war area.

• Why would Britain have been especially interested in enforcing its trade rules during a time of war?

  • The British government needed money to conduct the war.

  • Image 3 is titled “Greed,” which means that these trade routes existed to enrich a specific group. In the case of mercantilism, this was the empire.

• Have pairs report out to check for understanding and economic thinking.

• Vocabulary in context

  • Distribute “Vocabulary in Context” reading and organizer

  • Have students work in pairs to identify the vocabulary words embedded in the reading in bold.

  • For each word, they should identify how the word is used in a sentence. 

  • They should develop a rough definition for each word.

    • Mercantilism: An economic theory in which imports are minimized and exports are maximized.

    • Salutary neglect: Allowing the colonies to self‐​govern to a degree.

    • Scrutiny: The act of paying close attention to something.

    • Smuggling: The act of avoiding trade regulations or taxes by importing things illegally.

    • Surveillance: Overseeing, often by invasive means.

    • Triangular trade: A system in which European countries exchanged manufactured goods with Africa for enslaved people, who harvested raw materials in the Americas to manufacture goods in Europe.

    • Writs of assistance: General warrants that allowed officers broad power to search and seize property.

  • Each pair should provide an example; these examples may vary.

  • Have pairs report out findings to check for understanding and to refine definitions.

• “Writs of Assistance” excerpt

  • Distribute “Writs of Assistance” excerpt. This is a fun one to dramatically read out loud if a student volunteer will do so.

  • Have students read through the primary source and circle words that are unfamiliar.

  • Have students talk about these words in pairs to determine the meaning of the words from context.

  • If you have a one‐​to‐​one environment, you may allow students to look up words.

  • Check to see if the students understand the basic meaning of the text.

  • Have students read through a second time and underline examples of misuse or abuse of the writs of assistance.

  • Ask students to address this question: According to James Otis, how might someone use claims of smuggling to deprive people of other rights? Do these claims have to be accurate?

    • Otis provides the example of a man who was accused of violating the holy day of rest and had his entire house searched by the government as a display of power. This had nothing to do with economic wrongdoing.

    • Otis suggests that people will use these writs against their neighbors for a range of things that have nothing to do with economic wrongdoing.

    • Otis lost the case to defend the colonists from writs of assistance. Why do you think that John Adams considered his efforts the beginning of the Revolutionary War?

      • Answers will vary.

      • Colonists felt that their basic rights had been violated.

      • If students are struggling to answer, remind them of the warm‐​up.

    • What elements of this excerpt from Otis set the precedent for some of the grievances in the Declaration of Independence? While the writs are not called out specifically, how do the concerns outlined by Otis mirror those in the Declaration?

      • The words “officers” and “harass” should be the most obvious clues, even though the last part is a reference to the Quartering Act. There is also an entire grievance dedicated to the Quartering Act. 

      • Concerns about privacy and property protections.

  • Have students engage in a class discussion to check for understanding.

  • Writs of assistance formative assessment exit ticket

• Using the ACE (answer, cite, explain) format, in a paragraph, describe how the economic policy that evolved from the French and Indian War shaped colonial attitudes toward the British government and paved the way to the Revolution.