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Name
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The Spy Document
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Description
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Sometime in the 1750s, an anonymous author wrote a document addressed to the Prime Minister describing the smuggling trade in extraordinary detail. He named the routes, the methods, the prices. He proposed four solutions — all punitive, none involving consultation.
Buried in the document is a passage that changes everything: in 1743, the House of Keys secretly drafted a remonstrance against the tobacco trade. The Governor suppressed it. The Manx people opposed the smuggling — and were silenced.
Key passages provided (modernised spelling). Analysis questions: Who wrote it? How do we know they were telling the truth? The author knows the Manx people oppose the trade. His solutions are still punitive. Why?
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Key Stage / Type
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Home Educator
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Ages 12+
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Source Analysis
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Period
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1750s
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Topic
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Constitutional History