User-Created Content
By maureeml
On July 2, 2019
Bell Ringer: The Burning of the Gaspee: a Precursor to the American Revolution
The Gaspee Affair of 1772
John McNiff talked about the Gaspee, a British ship that patrolled the waterways off of Providence. In 1772 several prominent Providence residents snuck out during the middle of the night and burned the Gaspee to protest new taxes that had been levied by the British.
Description
When Great Britain attempted to collect taxes and control trade using revenue schooners, Rhode Island protested by burning the Gaspee, a revenue schooner, for they believed that Admiral Dudingston's actions were extralegal. Rhode Island's resistance sparked other colonies to take action by forming the Committees of Correspondence.
Bell Ringer Assignment
- What was the purpose of the revenue schooner, the Gaspee?
- What legal actions did the colonial government of Rhode Island take? Why did they feel that Dudingston's actions violated British law?
- Describe what happened after the Gaspee runs a ground.
- How did Rhode Island colonists resist the King's inquiry?
- How and why did Rhode Island's resistance spark the colonies to take action?
Additional Resources
Participants
Vocabulary
- Economics
- Extralegal
- Intolerable Acts
- John Brown
- King Charles Ii
- Resistance
- Revenue
- Sons Of Liberty
- Stamp Act
- Trade Restriction