IllogiBooks:The U.S. History You Never Learned in School/Colonial Taxes
When there were colonists in modern day america, those fools over in Britain charged taxes on every blinkin' thing over there. It was ridiculous! And yet very profitable.
Notable Taxes[edit | edit source]
Big Jim's Top Tip
To help improve understanding of taxes, have all of the students take out their lunch money and set it on the desk, representing colonists. One lucky volunteer gets to represent Britain, and take all of the money (he/she may or may not be allowed to keep the money).
What does this mean?: How does this represent British taxes?
Those Brits taxed everything. Not just some things, everything. Each has the tax, what the rate was, and how much money they made.
Tea Tax[edit | edit source]
A Tax on tea. Fairly obvious, really.
- Rate: 96% of sale
Canadian Tax[edit | edit source]
A tax for having anything pertaining to Canada. If you were from Canada, taxed. If you said "Eh", taxed. If a Canadian Moose walked through your yard, taxed.
- Rate: $120 per offense
Breathing Tax[edit | edit source]
A small tax fee for every twenty breaths you take. Extremely profitable for the British.
- Rate: 2 cents per twenty breaths
Colonists' Reactions[edit | edit source]
They weren't very happy.
Guided Practice Questions[edit | edit source]
- True or False: Britain taxed colonists for money to spend on clothes for their cats.
- Find the average tax rate for all Colonial taxes, mentioned or not. Find any points of discontinuity.
- How many people killed themselves to avoid paying the Incredibly Unfair Tax? Explain.
Answers[edit | edit source]
- Tralse.
- 123%; No points of discontinuity.
- Twelve; however, the tax didn't exist.