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CONTINENTAL CONGRESS WAR COUNCIL

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June 1775. You are members of the Continental Congress. Your little rebellion against the world's most powerful empire has begun, but you have an army — of farmers — but no money, no allies, and no clear plan for victory. Over the next six years, you will face 16 crisis decisions that will determine whether America wins independence or collapses into chaos. No pressure, I’m sure you got this.

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But first, the rules:

  1. Read each scenario carefully, you only have one chance to make the right decision.
  2. Victory or defeat is determined by balancing four factors: Treasury, Military, Legitimacy, and Morale.
  3. Each decision you make will have positive and negative consequences that affect the four factors we just mentioned. Adjust your scores after each crisis based on the outcome of the decisions you made.
  4. There are many ways to win or lose this game. Pay attention to your game tracker. If you win, you’ll be hero; if you lose, you’ll likely end up on some London gallows with jeering crowds throwing tomatoes at you.
  5. Any bonuses are penalties are applied at the start of a crisis before adjusting your scores. Read the instructions for more details.�
  6. Any questions? Sorry, I can’t answer them because I’m a PowerPoint presentation.

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CRISIS 1: FINDING THE FIRST FUNDS (Spring 1775)

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THE SITUATION: The fighting is underway and you promised soldiers $6/month. You need $6 million for the first year. You have $0. Congress can't tax—that power belongs to the states. But unfortunately for you, the states can be a bit unreliable when paying their quotas. You need money NOW or the army dissolves.

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DECISION TIME!

Fire Up the Printing Press

Print $6 million Continentals to pay soldiers. Provides fast funds for the military, what could go wrong?

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Ask the States

You don’t have the power to tax, but you can ask the states nicely to contribute. If they do it brings in revenue, if they don’t well, that’s embarrassing.

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Beg France for Money

Secretly send a message to France for a loan. You need the money. Badly. But will they see you as real country if you can’t stand on your own two feet?

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OUTCOME

Congratulations! You just invented $6 million out of thin air. Unfortunately, economic magic leads to inflation as your currency loses value.

+4 Treasury

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Adjust your Scores:

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Although not a single event, the Continental Congress printed over $23 million

throughout the war, leading to hyperinflation.

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OUTCOME

The states say they’re broke too and only send half of the taxes you requested.

+2 Treasury

-1 Morale

Adjust your Scores:

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Altogether, the states only contributed about 37% of their tax quota to the Continental Congress.

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OUTCOME

The French agree to a $3 million dollar loan with interest. But secretly they doubt you’re good for repaying it back.

+2 Treasury

-1 Legitimacy

Adjust your Scores:

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The U.S. borrowed about $2 Million from France throughout the war.

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