Thursday, January 21, 2016

MP 2: Patriots or Something Worse?

As we have learned, the Sons of Liberty (America's most dedicated Patriots) went to extreme measures to become free from England. Tarring and feathering tax collectors, burning down British officials' and Loyalists' homes, destroying British goods (i.e. Boston Tea Party) and creating exaggerated propaganda (i.e. Revere's engraving) are just a few examples of how far the Patriots went to express their dissatisfaction with England. Do you feel these actions were justified in order to achieve the ultimate goal of freedom or did these Sons of Liberty sometimes take things too far? Can you make any modern connections related to people going to extreme measures to show their frustration? (Post as anonymous using first name, last initial and class period only!)

British propaganda depicting the Sons of Liberty. Look closely...

47 comments:

  1. I feel that though it got our freedom today the colonies could be a little harsh on the soldiers. Though they would trying to get freedom there might have been another way around than just going all out with throwing things at them and harassing them. In ways the British could have looked at us as terrorists. The problem is that I feel people today when they do these acts aren't trying to get what we were trying to get. Most terrorist beliefs are religious or some belief that they want everyone else to follow.
    Erin S 1/2 A

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    1. A absolutely agree with Erin. I agree with her because, although I am super thankful and grateful for our patriots who have fought and risked their lives to give us our freedom, I think it was done a little harshly. I do understand that it was almost impossible for the colonists to grab the Kings attention without all of the events such as the Boston Tea Party and Boston Massacre, but it was extremely harsh. This behavior also carried on to what we call terrorists today. It's very hard to say that I don't agree with the colonist's actions because that the reason why our country is free today, but I wish that they didn't have to act as hostile as they did.

      Juliana Hedin
      Period 1-2A

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  3. I feel that most of the things the Patriots did to reach independence was necessary. However, some of the things they did were taking things a bit too far. I believe that the Boston Tea Party was an event that needed to happen, but, during this time, colonists had been covering red coats in tar and feathers. This punishment may come off as humiliating, but it is also very painful sounding. Tar can be poured only at a boiling temperature, and so having it poured on skin would be extremely painful. Not to mention the only way to get it off is by peeling it. But during the process you would be peeling your own skin too. Though I understand that the Boston Massacre was planned to spread awareness around the colonies and get people to join the fight, I also think it was wrong that they were blaming the red coats, when really the Patriots were provoking them.

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  5. I believe that sometimes we did take tings to far. The actions that we took sometimes were really harsh and rather unnecessary considering there were probably other solutions. I can make the connection to modern day because the British could have looked at us as terrorists. We could have been looked at as terrorists because we killed , tared and feathered people , and burned down their houses just to make them believe what we believed.
    -Madison C 1/2 A

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    1. I disagree with Madison because they were not terrorists and they needed to get their opinion heard because they were not being treated fairly by the British. They did what was necessary to earn their freedom.
      -Allie O. 1-2 A

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  6. I believe that the Sons of Liberty were doing the right thing. It would be wrong to call them terrorists. Today terrorists don't fight to help people and the future people living in their country. All they want to do is kill people, and strike fear into them. I believe that the Sons of Liberty were doing all of these things to help their country receive freedom, and for the future people living in the country to receive freedom. The Sons of Liberty were no terrorists, they were heroes. Nick D period 1/2 A

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  7. I believe that even though the colonists won this battle, they were still too hard on these soldiers. Although, back then, fighting and causing battles was very often in order to get what you wanted, the colonists did not have to torture the soldiers this much. For example, the Sons of Liberty, threw sticks and stone sand snowballs, whatever they could grab off the ground, and threw them at the soldiers. They also took the time to tar and feather them, which is an example of complete torture, considering how hot the tar would have to be in order for it to be a liquid. And then dumping this liquid all over the soldiers, and feathering them, was an act of embarrassment. This was not all the colonists did, they burned down houses, destroyed the British earning, and more. This goes to show that the colonists would do whatever it took for them to get what they wanted. That is why I believe the colonists were a little too harsh on the soldiers.
    Kimberly L. P 1-2A

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  8. I think that the actions that were taken by the colonists were completely within reason except for the one that involve violence. While some problems can only be resolved with violence some of the conflicts that were caused with violence were completely unreasonable. While they did get the attention of King George, they also lost a few colonists on the way to revolution. One similar conflict in the world is Isis. They are a terrorist organization Who creates violent situation to make their voices heard.

    Elijah V. Period 1-2App

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    1. I agree with Elijah. They were going so far that they kind of seemed like ISIS. They had to torture and do terrible things beyond extreme just to be heard and get what they want. Maybe England was right about them being like children, throwing temper tantrums and getting into trouble to get what they want.
      - Morgan Ness 8-10 A

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  9. I think that the colonists should fight for their freedom, but I think that they went way too extreme. They didn't have to tar and feather people and insult people to get what they want. The Boston massacre wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the colonists.
    - Morgan Ness 8-10 A

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  10. I do think the Sons of Liberty did take things to far but, they had to do these things because the King wasn't paying any attention to the colonists. Even when they tarred and feathered tax collectors the King didn't pay attention, only when his source of money was in trouble, his tea, then he started paying attention.

    Ethan D. P 8-10 A

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  11. I think that the things that the sons of liberty did were a little past the boundary of what they should have done, but I think that the main purpose was intended to be good for the country. I think that the purpose was good, but the way they accomplished it was a little too far out of the box.
    Paul Reinhold
    p8-10

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  12. I think in my opinion that the Sons of Liberty did not past the boundary because the things we did was to show our anger and hatred at the king and after all we did get our Independence
    Jacob S 8-10 A

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  14. I feel that the Sons of Liberty went a bit far with what they did to the British. I do understand that the Patriots wanted the King's attention and that they were upset with the British. However, I think that tarring and feathering tax collectors and burning down British homes was a bit much.
    Adrianna M
    8-10 A

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  15. I do not think that the sons of liberty were doing the write thing because if they did not harass the tax collectors because it was unfair that they had to pay taxes and others did not and I think that they deserved to be harassed because if the patriots did not stand up for themselves the red coats would of took over and know one would of been able to do anything about it.

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  16. I don't think the Son of Liberty took it to far. I think it was necessary to go tar and burn down the house of the British. I think this helped to scare the British and to really show what we could do.This must of shown and scared the British and told them not to mess with us.
    BlaiseL 810A

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  17. I do not think that the sons of liberty were doing the write thing because if they did not harass the tax collectors because it was unfair that they had to pay taxes and others did not and I think that they deserved to be harassed because if the patriots did not stand up for themselves the red coats would of took over and know one would of been able to do anything about it. AntonioS 8-10A

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  18. I feel as if the sons of liberty were not doing the right thing. Although they were not being treated right, like everyone else in their lives sometimes you just have to deal with it. Also i think that the Sons of Liberty remind me of the terrorist attacks in Paris not to long ago. I say this because they worked together but secretly.

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  20. I feel like the Sons of Liberty were taking it too far to be free. The things they did to the some British soldiers are awful. One person that is going a little to far to get people's votes is Donald Trump. Sometimes his words are very hurtful which is like what the Sons of Liberty did, but did it to people that had more pain. Sometimes people do crazy things to be recognized to get something that they want.
    DefinaG Period 10/11 B

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  21. The Sons of liberty may have gone too far but it was needed. Not everything can go smoothly but sometimes you need to do things that the people may hate. This will unite them as one and open their eyes to see what really going on.
    Nowicki,N Period 10/11 A

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  22. I think the Sons Of Liberty went a little to far but it was still necessary,I think they did that so they will get payed attention more and they will be feared of.It opend up peoples eyes and they saw what really was going on a

    Zach A Period 2-3 B

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  23. I feel as if they deserved their freedom, and deserved everything to get that freedom. But on the other hand, it is not right to do very bad things to people when they are doing bad things to you. It will just make everyone bad, and that is not a good way to have a good settlement with each other. The colonists should not have gone so far where they are burning down the official's houses, because that brings out conflict on the British and same with the colonists.

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  24. I feel as if they deserved their freedom, and deserved everything to get that freedom. But on the other hand, it is not right to do very bad things to people when they are doing bad things to you. It will just make everyone bad, and that is not a good way to have a good settlement with each other. The colonists should not have gone so far where they are burning down the official's houses, because that brings out conflict on the British and same with the colonists.

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  25. In my opinion, I think the Sons of Liberty did what was needed, but they went too far. I mean you can´t always please everyone, and sometimes you will do things people will hate you for. I think the things they did to the British soldiers were way too much, and they should of stopped.

    Matthew L 10-11 B

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  26. I think that the Sons of Liberty did what they had to do and didn't go too far. I think so because they got what they wanted which was becoming free from parliament and the British. They did it to get their attention even if it meant tarring and feathering people, they still did it to get noticed and the British did nothing about it. They had to get what they were doing out there and noticed, and they did that by doing extreme things to the government including the Boston Tea Party.

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    1. Kyle O
      Period 10 - 11b

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    2. I disagree with Kyle because nobody should be put through that kind of torture. It doesn't matter what they wanted. It wasn't right to tar and feather anybody!
      Adam F Period 10 - 11B

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  27. I'd like to think that the Sons of Liberty were both righteous and very wrong with how they went about things. Some of the things they did were very strategic and very well planned, like the Boston Tea Party. This was done in a way that did not get anyone killed or present a very harsh backlash, but showed the king how angry the colonists were at him. But, things like the propaganda engraving created by Paul Revere were a little extreme and made the redcoats appear much more evil than how they were. The drawing depicts the redcoats brutally murdering unarmed citizens, which didn't actually happen at all. It was a lie, and while it did push many Patriots onto the colonists' side, it was not right. But, the redcoats did some pretty awful things to the colonists as well. In the end, I think that the actions of the American citizens were sometimes justified and other times too much.
    Georgia T
    Period 10-11b

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    1. I agree with Georgia because like she said, the Sons Of Liberty did some very wrong things but for the right reasons. However the things that they did, could have been done differently In a less harmful manner. Georgia also said that Paul Reveres engraving was extremely aggregated, and it was it mad the Red coats seem brutal and cruel, and them seem harmless and innocent which was not true.

      Ally Koeppel
      Period 1-2A

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  28. I feel like they did the right thing for their freedom. It shows how bad they wanted to be free, and they did what they had to for it. It still wasn't right to tar and feather anybody. That is very painful and embarrassing. I am sure nobody would want that done to them. They did go way to far.
    Adam F Period 10-11B

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  29. In response to Jack Zebriks answer to this question I would like to say that I agree with him. This is because I too think that the colonists / patriots needed to be ruthless in order to achieve their goal of freedom , but I also think that some of their methods of conveying their message to the British were a bit harsh. An example of this is the taring and feathering of the tax collectors. This seems harsh and unnecessary, but it did draw King George III's attention and made no one from england want to go to the colonies to collect the taxes, so in a way the colonists succeeded and got their desired results. Ultimately, I think that while the colonists methods of conveying messages to the king were harsh they were necessary to get his attention.
    - Katelyn Kennard, Periods 10-11-B DAy

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  30. I think that most of these things the Colonist did to the British were too harsh. Even though they were about to be in a war and did need something to get the kings attention, the things they did like taring and feathering were too harsh. The tar had to be really hot to stay a liquid,so it would hurt a lot when poured onto someones bare skin, tar is also sticky so taking it off could be equally painful. However not everything they did was too harsh, stuff like destroying the British's goods and boycotting products with a tax could get the kings attention with less people getting hurt.
    Sam C 10-11 B

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  31. I believe that the Sons of Liberty took things far in some cases. However when it came to King George keeping his money and his soldiers there and having the soldiers live in colonist homes, was to far. It might have been a better idea if he would have left his soldiers and money in England. Paige D period 2-3

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  32. I believe what the Sons Of Liberty were doing the right thing. However I wouldn't call them terrorist. What we consider as terrorist fight against us and don't help, they just make things worse. I admit that some of the things were taken a little to far then what they had to be, but because of that it helped us lead to independence. In conclusion, the Sons of Liberty helped our country and were not terrorist.
    Gianna R
    2-3 B

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  33. In my opinion, I do think that the Sons of Liberty went to far. I think they went to far because they did things to harm the British and tax collectors, even though it wasnt their faults, as they were just doing their job. They could have been civil and talked it out, but instead, they decided to take things to the next level and physically harm them. Something this relates to going on in the world right now is the terrorists. The terrorists take things to the extreme, because they get frustrated when people dont follow their ways of life and their beliefs, just like the colonists did.

    -Mariah Boylan (2-3B)

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  34. I think that the Sons of Liberty went too far on this. They hung people, but they also tared people and put feathers on them. If they were trying to hurt the British, they coud of done other things that would not of hurt them.
    Abigale C 2-3B

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  35. I do think they went to far like Mariah said they could have talked it out. The tax collectors though could have just pretended they were taxing the colonists instead of taxing them so I mostly think it was ok but still think they went too far

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  36. I think that the Patriots went to the extreme with the tax collectors but at the same time they did not. I think this because the British were trying to get power over us but we did not want that. We needed to do something about this but I don´t think that was the right thing because the tax collectors are innocent.
    Luke W 2-3B

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  37. I believe the colonists did take things a little to far to make appoint. This kind of reminds me of the terrorists like Isis because they also go to far to try to prove a point. But we were fighting for freedom they are fighting for no good reason.
    Joey Puglisi 2/3 B

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  38. In my opinion, I think the Patriots took things too far at certain times. Such as the tarring and feathering, the Patriots did not have to do that, because it can ruin the tax collectors whole lives. The fact that they did that just to prove a point is wrong. Even though this did scare the British the Patriots took it way to far.
    Vincent Chiaino
    1/2 A

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  39. I think that the patriots took it to far because the tax collectors were just doing there job. The Patriots shouldn't have put tar on the the people because even though your trying to prove a point, theirs probely a more peaceful way to do it. This made the British fear them but it is still wrong that they did such things.
    Matthew Corey
    2-3 B

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