Inquiry Question 1: How did social, economic, and political factors contribute to the events of the Boston Tea Party?
Inquiry Question 2: How did the reactions to the Boston Tea Party demonstrate the growing divisions between the various interested parties in the political and economic future of the American colonies?
Inquiry Question 1: In what ways have people of color been both present for and critical actors in turning points in American history?
Inquiry Question 2: How and why has public memory of the Boston Massacre changed over time? In what ways do available evidence and point of view impact interpretations of historical events?
Inquiry Question 1: Although we don't know exactly what happened the night of March 5, 1770, what does the existing evidence from the Boston Massacre teach us about pre-Revolutionary America?
Inquiry Question 2: In what ways did people's political beliefs, social networks, and lived experience shape their understanding of the Boston Massacre?
Inquiry Question: How did women protest the Townshend Acts and aid the patriot cause?
Student Background
In this primary source set, students will engage with a variety of letters, maps, artifacts, and more to explore diverse Bostonian experiences at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.
Inquiry Question 1: How did ordinary Bostonians experience the Siege of Boston? What were their fears and concerns?
Inquiry Question: What tactics did the authors of the Massachusetts recruitment posters use to persuade their audiences?
Inquiry Question 1: According to the Declaration of Independence, why did the colonies declare independence from Great Britain?
Inquiry Question 2: In what ways did individuals use the Declaration of Independence to argue for the end of slavery?
Inquiry Question 1: What claims did women make in support of and in opposition to suffrage?
Inquiry Question 2: Who were they trying to persuade?
In this source set, you will analyze cartoons, flyers, and graphs to understand the perspectives of suffragists and anti-suffragists in Massachusetts (and beyond) during the 1910s.
Students will trace Anthony Burns’ journey to freedom, and the growth of abolitionism in 1850s Boston, using broadsides, letters, and artifacts.
Inquiry Question 1: What was the impact of the Fugitive Slave Act on freedom seekers?
Inquiry Question 2: Who resisted the law, and how?