The Boston Tea Party an Act of Terror?

The Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative certainly seems to think so.  The Blaze reported a lesson plan for World History and Social Studies that uses the Boston Tea Party as an example of terrorist activity.

The lesson plan asks the teacher to read the following scenario as though it’s a breaking news story:

A local militia, believed to be a terrorist organization, attacked the property of private citizens today at the port. Although no one was injured in the attack, a large quantity of merchandise, considered to be valuable to its owners and loathsome to the perpetrators, was destroyed. The terrorists, dressed as natives and apparently intoxicated, were able to escape into the night with the help of local citizens who harbor these fugitives and conceal their identities from the authorities. It is believed that the terrorist attack was a response to the policies enacted by the occupying country’s government.  

The instructional procedures that follow state:

Does this event in the news report meet the criteria of a terrorist attack? Why or why not?

Does anyone know if this act is from a previous time in our history? (It is the Boston Tea Party.)

Do you think that in the eyes of the British that the Boston Tea Party was a terrorist activity? Why or why not? Were the colonists justified in taking this action due to their beliefs? Is anyone ever justified in committing these types of activities? What drives people to do this type of activity? These are things that we will explore further

While there’s certainly nothing wrong with teaching critical thinking skills to our youngsters, using events like the Boston Tea Party to illustrate the depravity of terrorism is absolutely unacceptable.  It goes without saying that the events that led to the American Revolution are in no way tantamount to modern terrorism and any association that suggests as much should be rebuffed. 

Revisionary historians threaten America’s core values by intentionally skewing the principles and ideas that make America an exceptional nation.  Comparing patriots to terrorists is just another attempt to eradicate the principles of freedom and justice from the consciousness of young Americans.

Thankfully, we’re not helpless. Click here and tell your elected official that this type of curriculum is unacceptable. It’s up to you; up to us to fight for truth.

Requests for comment were not returned from CSCOPE (the Texas curriculum governing body) at the time this was posted.