Patriots vs. Loyalists

5th grade students wrote persuasive speeches from the point of view of either a Patriot or a Loyalist concerning their opinions prior to the Revolutionary War.

I then formatted what they wrote into a script for a

debate which will be performed for their parents and 

the entire 3rd grade, who are also studying the American Revolution. 

 

 

Moderator:  Good day Gentlemen.  We are here today to discuss the pressing matter that has been on the minds of all us colonists.  It is time to discuss the King’s taxes and other acts against us that many do not agree with.  There have been petitioners in the streets, planning boycotts of British goods claiming these taxes are unjust.  This in tern has caused our merchants and businessmen to lose profit. There is much tension here in our colonies and we must decide how to resolve this issue. 

What say you?

 

Francis Rotch: Fellow colonists, I thank you all for leaving your safe homes to join together here today.  My name is Francis Rotch.  I am a loyalist.  I own a tea ship that is very important to me.  If anything happens to my ship I’ll lose my shirt.  We received permission from our government to have this meeting.  But I think that having the British soldiers here is a good thing.  They are here for our protection, and to protect my ship and my tea from those who have been dumping it in the harbor! (Looks at the patriots). They deserve a clean place to live and good food to eat.  Your rejection of our British soldiers is a rejection of our country.  I am appalled at your behavior!

 

Benjamin Edes: NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!

 

Patriots clap

 

Moderator: Now, now gentlemen.  This will be an orderly debate. 

 

Ebenezer Macintosh: Good day.  My name is Captain Ebenezer Macintosh.  I am a shoemaker and am 36 years old.  I am First Captain of the Liberty Tree.  I led the riot that destroyed the Lieutenant Governors house.  I am a patriot and do not condone this new Sugar Act tax, especially the tax on tea.

 

James Otis: Good day everybody.  I am James Otis.  I am here to protest the Stamp Act.  Many colonists including myself are protesting the Stamp Act.  Some of us sign petitions, some boycott, and some, like me give speeches.  For many, the amount of money is not the thing that angers the us, it is the lack of representation.

 

Sampson Salter Blowers: Good day, my name is Sampson Salter Blowers and I am a loyalist.  I believe in the Stamp Act.  I am a lawyer you see and I think those rotten colonists should be paying even more to support our government.  We fought for you in the French and Indian war, now you have to pay us back.  Three pence is not a lot of money.  I say you should be following our rules.  You are threatening the people who are making the stamps and other taxed products and their families and running them out of Boston.  I am paying more taxes, so are all the Englishmen, and you should be too.

 

Sam Adams and Josiah Quincy: NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

 

Moderator: Gentlemen!  Mr. Sewell, Attorney General, you have shown us that you are a fair minded gentlemen.  What say you?

 

Jonathan Sewell: Good day.  As the top lawyer, I believe we must obey the laws.  I think the Sons of Liberty break the good laws that our king and parliament made to keep order and peace.  I think we should be able to solve our differences without threats of violence. 

 

Sam Adams: That’s not what your dear brother-in-law, John Hancock, thinks. 

 

Jonathan Sewell: I am not happy about these tax issues.  Yes, Mr. Adams, this is dividing families and neighbors.  John and I are constantly arguing about politics.  However, I believe we should follow the laws.  I think the patriots should just pay the taxes and get it over with.  They are causing more problems.  If they knew what was best for them then they would pay up!

 

Loyalists nod in agreement. “Here, here!”

 

George Bethume: Indeed!

 

Josiah Quincy: Hello, I am Josiah Quincy.  I am a patriot and a lawyer.  I do NOT think it is fair for England to make us pay for printed paper without letting us get a say.  We deserve to be treated just as well as the ones who live in England. 

 

Oliver Wendell: And they are not treating us like we are from England.  They are treating us badly.  British leaders have never stepped foot on this land!

 

Patriots: yea!

 

Josiah Quincy: Exactly, The leaders of England have never been to America.  They do not know how hard we work for our money.  We should get a say in what we believe in!  We must fight the Stamp Act!

 

Patriots clap.

 

Sampson Salter Blowers: I think you colonists are ungrateful and cruel.  I am now disgusted that you will not pay our taxes.  You should be obeying the rules of the king.  I will  now be supporting the Stamp Act 100 percent.

 

Francis Green: My name is Francis Green.  I am a loyalist.  I think that the Stamp Act is great.  It is a good idea.  The king really deserves the money.  He protected us during the French and Indian War.  He should get his money back.  The tax we pay on all paper goods isn’t even that much.  A few cense here or there for a newspaper or playing cards.  It’s not right that the patriots are disagreeing with the tax. 

 

Oliver Wendell: My name is Oliver Wendell and I apologize for my previous outburst.  Nevertheless, I do not believe in the Stamp Act.  The tax is running me out of business.  We should have representation in parliament before they tax us.  They don’t let us speak about the laws.  We need to know where the money goes.  We should have the right to say how it is spent.  I don’t believe this unjust law should stand.

 

John Singleton Copley: Good day, my name is John Singleton Copley.  I don’t agree with some of the English laws because ruining businesses just isn’t right, but I am still loyal to my home country of England.  The Patriots are also part of England and should follow the English laws.  I am not happy that the Patriots are quickly pushing away from England.  I think they should still be loyal to their home country.

 

Benjamin Edes: The taxes are unfair!  My name is Benjamin Edes, I am an active patriot and a printer.  I am angry that the colonists have no representation in parliament.  We no longer will be able to live quality lives without paying a tax for it.  I can’t believe that all paper goods must now be stamped to show that we paid the tax.  I am the patriots wan the Stamp Act repealed!  All I know is that if the king taxes two or three things now… I can only bet that more will follow.  We must stop him now!

 

Francis Green: There is no problem with these taxes.  It’s only 3 pence!  I’ve had enough with all this disagreeing.  We are still British citizens and we should follow the laws.  I know business is not doing great, that’s because you patriots are boycotting English goods.  You should be grateful that the king helped us.  It is shameful to disobey the king.  Patriots say the tax is not fair.  Well I will tell you what is not fair; it is not fair that you are being selfish and not paying the money back!

 

William Walter: My name is William Walter.  Many of you know me as the Minister at the Trinity Church.  We have no right to be angry and boycott English goods.  We must stop being angry with each other and follow the laws and learn to get along.  This fighting must stop.  Too many innocent people are dying.  Things are getting so bad the British soldiers had to open fire on some colonists last week!  The Sons of Liberty are calling it a massacre.  Five colonists died during this fight.  We must stop the hatred and start acting like loyal British citizens. 

 

Ebenezer Macintosh:  Exactly, people have died, which is why I say it is time for less talk and more action!  These tariffs on tea are making me furious.  I believe in “no taxation without representation.”  We should not pay the British debt from the French and Indian War, nor the fee they have imposed for the East India Company’s tea we dumped in the harbor.  We should threaten the British Loyalists with their lives.

 

Loyalists look worried.

 

William Walter: STOP!  No tax is important enough for men to lose their lives over.  I want people to get along with each other.  The king told us that we have to pay a tax on the many goods that come into our colonies to help pay the debt from the French and Indian War.  They are right, we need to repay them.  I believe we need peace! 

 

Loyalists cheer, “here here, Horray, Indeed, etc”

 

Moderator: Wait a minute.  You were the one’s who dressed up like Mohawk Indians and dumped the tea into the harbor?

 

George Bethume: Indeed they did.  My name is George Bethume, a loyalist and it is true.  The Patriots threw 342 crates of tea into the Boston harbor.

 

Benjamin Fanuiel: Hey, you know, the king chose me to sell tea, and I am a pretty successful merchant.  I am proud to say I am a loyalist.  I think it is a good idea to be a colony of England.  Why do the ill mannered colonists have to cause so much ruckus?  Everyone should obey his majesty, the King. 

 

Sam Adams: A ruckus?  A ruckus you say.  I’ll tell you about a ruckus.  My name is Samuel Adams.  I am here to discuss what happened on March 5, 1775.  The British fired upon innocent colonists, killing __ people.  These colonists were unarmed and not prepared for a fight.  How dare these soldiers, who are supposedly here for our protection, fire on innocent people?  They come from 3,000 miles away and have no idea how we live or what we believe in.  I disagree with the British who said the colonists were throwing snowballs and rocks at them.  They are just trying to make and excuse for their behavior.  We need to stand up against the British and drive the red coats out of the colonies and back to England!

 

Oliver Wendell: Rotten loyalists!

 

Ebenezer Macintosh:  I despise all loyalists!  We need to fight for our rights!

 

Patriots: NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!

 

Moderator: Now, now.  We are not here today to threaten violence against our fellow colonists.  We are here to decide how to deal with our British government.  I will not allow this debate to turn into a violent riot. 

(Pause)

 

Benjamin Fanuiel: (whispers) If the Sons of Liberty keep up their violent ways, I may have to leave Boston.  I do not think my family or I am safe. 

Moderator: (coughs) Excuse me, Mr. Fanuiel.  Do you have more to say?

 

Benjamin Fanuiel:  Well, the colonists should obey the King and Parliament.  Those colonists should pay the debt they owe to England and our good King George.  That’s what I have to say about this matter. 

 

John Singleton Copley:  Yes, yes, well I am an artist, not a politician.  You know, I used to be friends with both Loyalists and patriots, but ever since the event known as the Boston Tea Party, when the patriots and the Sons of Liberty ruined a lot of English tea, I can no longer be friends with the Patriots.  I am now a loyalist.  The patriots also have started a campaign of threats of fighting as shown here today, and I am so very much against violence.  Why can’t intelligent people like us settle this problem without so much violence?  

 

Moderator: What’s all this business about the French and Indian war about?  What does that terrible war have to do with anything?

 

Peter Erving:  My name is Peter Erving.  Mr. Moderator, there would be nothing left but dead bodies and craters in the ground if the British soldiers didn’t come and save us during the French and Indian war.  Thanks to the British we are still alive.  Now they need the money we owe paid back.  They need to buy new and useful weapons to help defend themselves and the colonies. 

 

George Bethume: I am a loyalist and I also believe that the colonists should pay taxes for all the money the king used to pay for the soldiers that fought for and with us, and who have stayed here to make sure the French do not come back again.

 

Paul Revere: Good day, my name is Paul Revere.  I believe the king has no right to tax us either.  Buy my opponents think the king has every right to impose taxes on us because they protected us during the French and Indian war. 

 

Josiah Quincy: England paid for our protection and sent soldiers and now that they spent all their money on the war they are taxing us because they are broke!

 

Patriots call out in agreement

 

William Brattle: Ok ok.  I’d like to tell you about the tariff.  Yes, we agree with the King’s law to tax a few items because we just saved you ungrateful colonists from the French!  It disgusts me that you can’t be grateful that we came and saved your souls.  We could have left you to the mercy of the French and it looks like you wanted us to.  BUT NO!  We came and battled the French and Indian allies, spent a lot of money, lost hundreds of men, and you show gratitude by refusing to give us a few pence?!  You call it unfair.  I call it Treason!  That’s all I have to say.

 

Peter Irving:  I think all these patriots are ungrateful and their behavior is shameful.  Their words and actions are terrible and harmful.  If it weren’t for the British army risking their lives to save us we would never have had the opportunity to be here today.

 

Loyalists: LONG LIVE THE KING!

 

Edward C. Howe: My name is Edward C. Howe and I am a patriot.  I disagree.  I don’t want to pay for soldiers that the king sent here during the French and Indian war.  I didn’t ask for the soldiers to come.  We could have won the war without their help.  I think that King George should pay for the British soldiers out of his own pocket, and not out of my money.  Why should I pay an extra tax that I do not believe in?  We should have the right and freedom to make our own decisions, and we should be able to vote to have a tax or not.

 

Francis Rotch: You think we would have won without their help do you?  We thought as British citizens we would be fine during the French and Indian war, but in reality we barely survived!  We never will know what the outcome would have been if the British soldiers hadn’t come to our rescue.  We could have lost everything to the French.  How dare we complain about a few taxes on paper, tea, and sugar.  They saved our lives and we need to help pay them back.  How dare you throw precious tea into the harbor!  You deserve the consequences you call the Intolerable Acts, especially the Quartering Act.

 

Loyalists nod

 

Adam Collson:  Excuse me!  My name is Adam Collson, a leather dresser and more importantly, a patriot.  I am very against the Intolerable Acts.  I do not despise the British troops or anybody in England, but I think I speak for a lot of colonists when I say, I don’t want a British soldier living in my home.  I think it is too much to ask that a British soldier move into my home instead of in the tents provided for them.  The King should be providing for them, not us.  They said they are broke, oh please!  Why don’t you just tax your own citizens, because we didn’t need you then, and we don’t want you in our homes now.  We have no representation in parliament, and so we should not have to follow your rules.  I say, NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. 

 

Patriots clap and cheer

 

Jonathan Sewell: Hogwash!  I think that the patriots wouldn’t have survived the French and Indian war if we didn’t help them.  Our fine British army protected them; the least they could do is pay for it.  That’s how it works.  They came across the ocean to help you colonists and now we’re broke and you need to pay them back.  English citizens are already paying their own heavy taxes to King George.  They rightly refuse to pay more taxes to take care of a colonial problem.  King George and Parliament have decided that the colonists should pay.

 

Paul Revere: My opponents like the king.  My father and his friends argued with the king and the king’s men about the taxes.  I listened closely to my father and his friends and I believe they are right.  My friend Reverend Mayhew said that it’s his duty to rebel against the awful king.  I completely agree with him.  Loyalists think that the Patriots should stop complaining, that the taxes are fair and that we colonists owe them a debt.  But we do not have a representative in Parliament.  I say again NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

 

Peter Irving: If they think they can win against the largest empire and biggest army and navy they are mad!  We do not need to have another war.  We need to listen and save ourselves and our once and still loved country, England.  We must use our money and all the power we have and make a better life for all. 

 

Loyalists clap

 

James Otis: We believe that the colonists should have representatives in parliament.  We should be able to say that we do not accept the law, or that we will follow it happily.  If Britain puts at least one colonist in Parliament many problems will be solved.  I think the main problem is that parliament does not include colonists.  All colonists are British; they just live in the colonies.  We are British citizens but now that we moved here the colonies we don’t have any representation.  The colonists will do what ever it takes to fix this.  The patriots will unite!

 

Patriots cheer

 

Moderator: Thank you gentlemen for this lively debate!  I understand that we are taxed without proper representation in England, and that people have died in the streets of Boston, and many feel the British are to blame.  Though on the other hand, it was the British that saved us during the French and Indian War and insured our way of life.  There has been talk of rebellion and revolution from some, but for others this rash behavior has caused great strain on business and commerce, and feelings of personal safety.  Only time will tell what is to come.  Good day!