United States History to 1877

Exploration to Revolution: Pre-Columbian Times to the 1770s

USI.5

The student will demonstrate knowledge of the factors that shaped colonial America by

a) describing the religious and economic events and conditions that led to the colonization of America;
b) comparing and contrasting life in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies, with emphasis on how people interacted with their environment;
c) describing colonial life in America from the perspectives of large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, indentured servants, and slaves;
d) identifying the political and economic relationships between the colonies and England.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Introduce the unit on colonial life by asking students how did people's lives varied among different social groups in colonial America.
Explain that the colonies were made up of different groups of people whose lives varied depending on their social position.
Create a chart of the six different groups, large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, indentured servents, and slaves. Use graphic organizers found at http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/torganiz.htm (Score Graphic Organizers), http://teacherresourcecatalog.pwnet.org/docs/Reading.pdf (Reading Strategies for Content Teachers), or http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/readquest/strat/ (ReadingQuest: Reading Strategies for Comprehension) and have the students organize the following background information on the six different groups.
Include the following information in the chart.
Large landowners

Lived predominately in the South
Relied on indentured servants and/or slaves for labor
Were educated in some cases
Had rich social culture

Farmers

Worked the land according to the region
Relied on family members for labor

Artisans

Worked as craftsmen in towns and on the plantation
Lived in small villages and cities

Women

Worked as caretakers, house-workers, homemakers
Could not vote
Had few chances for an education

Indentured servants

Consisted of men and women who did not have money for passage to the colonies and who agreed to work without pay for the person who paid for their passage
Were free at the end of their contract

Slaves

Were captured in their native Africa and sold to slave traders, then were shipped to the colonies where they were sold into slavery
Were owned as property for life with no rights
Were often born into slavery (Children of slaves were born into slavery.)

Introduce Gabriel Prosser. Provide the following background information. On 30 August 1800, a tremendous storm dropped heavy rain on central Virginia, swelling creeks and turning Richmond's dirt streets into quagmires. The storm aborted one of the most extensive slave plots in American history, a conspiracy known to hundreds of slaves throughout central Virginia. A charismatic blacksmith named Gabriel, who was owned by Thomas Prosser, of Henrico County, planned to enter Richmond with force, capture the Capitol and the Virginia State Armory, and hold Governor James Monroe hostage to bargain for freedom for Virginia's slaves. The intensity of the storm delayed the conspirators' planned gathering, and a few nervous slaves told their masters of the plot. The arrests of the conspirators, including Gabriel, led to trials in Richmond, Petersburg, Norfolk, and several surrounding counties. See the Library of Virginia Web site for additional information at http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/deathliberty/gabriel/index.htm.
Explain that Gabriel's Conspiracy had an immediate impact on American politics and Virginia law and society. The planned rebellion was widely reported in American newspapers, and, during the 1800 presidential campaign, the Federalists cited the event as a consequence of the Democratic-Republicans' support of the French Revolution and ultra democratic ideals.
Discuss that reactions to these events contributed to the growing debate about slavery and its role in American society. White Virginia authors used both Gabriel's proposed and Nat Turner's successful rebellions as background events in novels such as The Old Dominion, Judith, and Their Shadows Before to perpetuate their belief that slavery was ultimately benign, that slaves were loyal, and that literacy, uncontrolled religion, and outside influences all threatened the stability of Virginia society. In contrast, black Virginians immortalized the story of Gabriel in song and tale, occasionally blending Gabriel with other revolutionaries, such as Denmark Vesey of South Carolina and Nat Turner, and black writers such as Martin Delany (Blake, 1858) and Arna Bontemps (Black Thunder, 1936) used the stories of these slave revolutionaries to emphasize themes of struggle and liberation.
List each of the six colonial groups on the overhead or chart paper. Instruct students to call out something they know under each category (alternatively, teacher may choose to allow students to come up and write on the overhead or chart paper).
Discuss charts and highlight essential knowledge as appropriate.
Students should write a diary entry from the perspective of a member of one of the colonial social groups. Diary entries should reflect who the student is and where they live. Students may illustrate if time allows.
Introduce the following lessons on Indentured Servants and Enslaved Africans.
Spend some time reviewing with the students the difference between primary and secondary sources. The Library of Congress' Web site, Learning Page: Using Primary Sources in the Classroom, at http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/primary.html offers useful lesson suggestions.
Explain to students that they will read two primary source documents. The first discusses the experience of an indentured servant, and the second relates the experience of a slave from West Africa. As they read, students are to consider the similarities and differences between the experiences of the two people.
Give each student a copy of an excerpt related to indentured servitude. Have students read individually or aloud as a class. A possible source is "The Life and Trials of Indentured Servants." Jamestown Virtual Colony. http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/socialstudies/projects
Give each student a copy of an excerpt from a slave narrative. Some possible sources are "Equiano's Autobiography: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African." Chapter 2. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h320t.html, American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html, American Memory: Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writer's Project, 1936-1938. Library of Congress. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html. Have students read the excerpt individually or aloud as a class.
After they have read both excerpts, have students compare the experiences of the indentured servant with those of the slave. Tell the students to find and use information from their text. Encourage them to create a graphic organizer, such as a Venn diagram, to make comparisons. Some questions are:

What were the terms or arrangements of the two labor systems?
How were indentured servants treated?
Why did indentured servitude become an economically ineffective labor system?
Why was slavery an economically effective labor system?
What were the consequences of adopting a system of slave labor?
How did the system of slavery clash with the ideas that were later expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States?

As a follow up to this lesson, show segments from the Africans in America series produced by PBS. The first program, The Terrible Transformation, discusses the evolution from indentured servitude to the institution of slavery. The companion Web site offers suggested lessons, a teacher's guide, and additional resources. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html.
Another follow up is to discuss with students the purpose and methods of oral histories. Ask students what they learned from the oral histories they read. Have them focus on a more recent historical event (e.g., September 11) and create an oral-history collection related to the event. The Library of Congress' Web site, The Learning Page: Using Oral History, located at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/oralhist, offers lessons on how to conduct oral history.
Introduce the following lessons on The Middle Passage.
Provide students with historical background on the origins of the slave trade. Most students should be familiar with the geography of the slave trade and the mechanics of the triangular trade route. Emphasize to students that after West Africans were sold into slavery, they had to endure a horrific voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. To familiarize students with the voyage, termed "The Middle Passage," have students read some first-hand accounts. "Equiano's Autobiography: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African." Chapter 2, found at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h320t.html, offers a vivid description of the Middle Passage. The PBS Africans in America Web site at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html offers paintings and drawings from the time period. Another source for accounts of the Middle Passage is To Be a Slave by Julius Lester.
After students are familiar with the historical background of the Middle Passage, show them illustrations by Tom Feelings that depict the Middle Passage. These images are available in the book, The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo by Tom Feelings and on the Web site, McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina, located at http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa677.htm. Select five to seven images for students to examine, either individually, in pairs, or in trios. Have students analyze all the images, or assign different images to each individual or group. As students examine these pictures, have them consider the following questions: What do you think is going on in these paintings? What do you see? Be specific in your description. Which of the following adjectives do you think applies to the moods or feelings suggested by this image? How has the artist used color to suggest the moods or feelings you have identified? How has the artist suggested an experience that forever altered the life of Europeans and Africans?
After students have completed viewing and responding to the images, hold a whole-group discussion in which students share their answers.
To complete the lesson, have students write captions or historical explanations for a particular image. Encourage students to use their notes, textbook, and additional readings for assistance. Explain that they are not simply writing a description of the picture but a historical explanation or caption that exemplifies the image.

WEB SITES

http://chnm.gmu.edu/fairfaxtah/index.html
Lessons by Fairfax County Public Schools teachers participating in the Teaching American History Grant program

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/colonial.htm
Numerous documents and other resources, including many primary source documents

http://www.history.org/
Information about the colonial capital

http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_Colonial_print.html
Collection of sites on colonial American history

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