Gravestone Game

What Is A Tory?

Tory was the insulting name given to those people who sympathized with the English government during the American Revolution. Many colonists in New England had become increasingly dissatisfied with English rule, and those that chose to rebel were called Patriots. Those who remained loyal to the English, or "loyal to the Crown," were known as Loyalists, or Tories.

How Tories Were Treated

Tories were not always tolerated in colonial towns. Townspeople often tried to teach the Tories a lesson by tarring and feathering them, or running them out of town. In the Documents section of this site there is a letter written from the top of a tree by a Loyalist demanding payment from a Windsor Patriot. Apparently, the Loyalist had been run out of his home, and had no other place to write but from a tree. In the picture on the right, a group of Patriot townspeople string up a Loyalist sympathizer in order to tar and feather him. One townsperson is plucking the chicken feathers in the lower right of the picture, and the next victim is being held by the hair in the lower left. The Gravestone Game is based upon this picture of "hanging a Tory."

How To Play The Game

The object of the game is to "hang the Tory." You will see five pictures of gravestones, and you must decide which time period each is from. As a Patriot, you would like to see the Tory strung up to teach him a lesson! But you must get each question right, or else the Tory walks away free.

(This was a game built in Shockwave that is no longer supported)

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