Topic: Economics

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Notes on the State of Virginia

This document is an excerpt of Thomas Jefferson’s only book-length publication. Jefferson wrote the work during the early 1780s in response to a series of questions from Frenchman Francois de...
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Plan and Section of a Slave Ship

This image depicts the cramped and inhumane conditions existing on a British slave ship. Anti-slavery advocates publicized such images in order to generate public outrage and garner support for banning...
Lesson Plan

Lewis and Clark: Explorers or Conquerors?

When Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory from France, he commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore the new territory. What was the purpose behind this mission? Were they sent as explorers...
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"London’s Virginia" Tobacco Label

Tobacco labels appeared on packages of tobacco or snuff. Within a decade of Virginia’s founding, tobacco was the colony’s major export. This label depicts white gentlemen relaxing in leisure while...
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5-Shilling Tax Stamp

This image shows what was imprinted on a five-shilling seal under the Stamp Act. The 1765 act required colonists to buy stamps from royal officials and affix them to a...
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A General View of the Conduct of the French in America

This article in a Maryland newspaper was reprinted from an English source. It acknowledges the fact that by the mid-eighteenth century, many English people had become aware of the importance...
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Almanack

Boston printer Nathaniel Ames printed a publication called an almanac. Containing a wide variety of information, almanacs represented an important source of knowledge for ordinary people about issues as diverse...
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An Act for Regulating Government

The Massachusetts Government Act set aside the colony’s existing charter and replaced it with a system of government that was directly under royal control. Representative institutions were severely limited. This...
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An East Indiaman in Stays with a Fleet Chase Beyond

In the foreground, an East Indiaman, a large ship that carried trade goods between Asia, Britain, and the colonies, hovers in the ocean. In the distance, ships from the British...
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Association of the Sons of Liberty

In response to Parliament’s passage of the Tea Act in 1773, New York merchants banded together and signed an agreement vowing not to import or sell East India Company Tea....