Unit 1: Colonial Chesapeake and New England
For each unit you will be presented with two or three ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS followed by a list of reading assignments complete with note headings. What are these things, you might ask? Well essential questions are questions that I expect you to be able to answer by the end of the unit. They assess how well you have understood the central themes presented in each unit. And you guessed it, they will probably frame essay questions on the unit tests. The reading assignments vary between Nations of Nations (NON), Retrieving the American Past (RTAP), Choices, and handouts. BE CAREFUL to notice where you homework will be and bring the right book/handout home. Note headings, some of you may remember from ninth grade, are to help you structure your reading notes. I would strongly recommend that you address them all because these questions are helpful guides as to some of the more essential pieces of evidence and information in the readings. This is not a comprehensive list of everything you need, rather it is a starting point. Be warned that if you take notes only on the questions below, you will not always get the evidence and information you would need to do Honors work on unit exams. The best notes are those that have headings that represent some combination of the following questions and the headings provided in the textbook. You will also save time by paying close attention to the first or topic sentence of each paragraph in order to get a sense the overall structure and content of each paragraph. The terms in the margins of your books are also designed to help you take good notes. There is no secret to doing well in a history course: take notes.
Take good class notes and reading notes. Take good notes! Would you canoe without a paddle? Well, how can you study for a test without notes? Taking effective notes is an essential skill for academic success. Please seek individual help from your teacher if you find that homework is taking you too long or if your notes do not translate into high grades on open-note quizzes. The best way to schedule a conference is to email several free times to the teacher so she can schedule you.
ESSENTIAL UNIT ONE QUESTIONS
1. What were the motivations for colonization and their impact on the economic and social development of the new colonies?
2. What is the relationship between race and freedom?
3. What is an accurate representation of European and Native American relations? Should the U.S. celebrate Columbus Day?
Please note that in History 10 lessons may fit more than one theme (a change from last year's history), and importantly, essay questions may allow you to draw on more than one theme. For instance, a question about why Virginia was so unstable would be an opportunity to exploit evidence from the unit main theme on motivations of colonization but also from unit main themes about racism and Indian conflict.
Example of reading notes from lesson #2
1. Who was Powhatan? His position?
- Pamunkey Indian chief/ VA
- head of confederacy of 9,000, remarkable political alliance given semi-nomadic nature of tribes
2) How did Powhatan view the English?
- skeptical, only about 100 Europeans so not scared, pathetic, could not feed themselves (perspective fits UMT)
Lesson 1: Conquest and Progress: Beginning a “People’s History of the United States.”
Howard Zinn Handout: Read pp. 7-11 and pp. 12-17. Begin on pg 7 at "When he arrived . . ." and end at the top of pg. 11. For the second section begin at "In North America" and end at the top of pg. 17.
1) Look up Bartolome de las Casas on wikipedia and skim to find out who he was. He is who Zinn is refering to in the first paragraph you read.
2) Answer in a few sentences the question posed by Zinn on pg. 17 at the beginning of the first paragraph.
3) How might you go about telling an elementary student the story of colonization and “discovery” that is more accurate than “Gary’s Vision” and the Thanksgiving story yet is still PG and doesn’t leave them depressed or alienated?
Lesson 2: Colonization and Conflict: Powhatan's Perspective and the Pueblo Revolt
NON: Read pp. 52-61 skip the section on the Growth of Spanish Florida
1) Who was Powhatan and what was his position?
2) How did Powhatan view the English?
3) What about the English confused or surprised Powhattan?
4) Who was John Smith? John Rolfe? Note the impact of tobacco on English colonization.
5) Why doesn't Powhatan destroy the English? (note that after you do this heading you are shifting to a different geographical area)
6) The Founding of "New" Mexico: What were the Spanish disappointments?
7) What was a misunderstanding between the Pueblo people and the Spanish colonizers?
8) The Acoma Siege and Onate's awful decree
9) Pueblo Revolt
Discussion questions: This textbook is somewhat unique in that it explains this history through Powhatan's eyes rather than those of the English, how is this helpful in terms of illuminating or understanding Indian-White relations? How does the inclusion of Powhatan's perspective suggest how "history" changes? One author has written about the Pueblo revolt under the title: "When Jesus came the Corn Mothers went away." What do you think this title implies about culture as a tool of subjugation?
Map: Chesapeake, Virginia, Jamestown, James R.
NOTE: Words underlined in blue have hyperlinks that take you to information off the school server. Some are required readings others are merely for your own interest. For example to read more on Pocahontas, click on the link.
Lesson 3: Early Jamestown
NON: Read pp. 61-65 begin at English Society on the Chesapeake and stop at Changes in English Policy
This assignment is a little long but "doable" in 45 minutes, so be concise and succinct when taking notes.
1) Note the general description of English colonies in the Chesapeake and New World.
2) Define mercantilism.
3) What was the Virginia Company?
4) What were some of the problems that the colonists faced at Jamestown?
5) What reforms boosted the colony's chances of survival and economic success? Note the early political structure of the Virginia colony.
6) Describe briefly the lives of indentured servants. Handout given in class & available online.
7) Note the impact of tobacco on Indian-White relations. How did Indian Wars change Virginia politics and government? Note Opechancanough's attack on p. 65.
8) Decline in mortality rates
Discussion Question: How does the readings change your understanding of why colonies in America were founded? Or does it?
Lesson 4: Unrest and Bacon's Rebellion
NON: Read pp. 65-67. Start at "Changes in English Policy in the Chesapeake" and stop at "From Servitude to Slavery."
1) Identify the reasons for the Navigation acts (note how they put mercantilism into action).
2) Why was Chesapeake society in a state of economic crisis in the mid-1600s?
3) Be sure to understand Bacon's rebellion. You will also read about Coode's but only need notes on Bacon's.
Discussion Question: What is the relationship between economic crisis and political action? What other situations can you think of where a similar relationship between economic crisis and political action was at work?
Map: Maryland, Piedmont, Delaware, New Jersey, Tidewater, and Appalachians
Lesson 5: African Slavery in North America
NON: Read pp. 67-71 "From Servitude to Slavery"
1) Be sure to understand the development of slavery in British North America? Identify the middle passage.
2) Be sure to note the relationship between racism and economic opportunity for Whites?
3) How did the labor system of slavery affect the character of Chesapeake society?
4) Note the emergence of the gentry as the ruling class of Chesapeake society? What was the foundation of their power?
5) How did slavery make Virginia society more "stable"?
Discussion question: Could the colonists in Virginia have survived had they not exploited African labor and Indian land?
Link for class discussion: Who is responsible for slavery in North America?
Lesson 6: Founding of New England
Read handouts on Puritans and John Winthrop's "City Upon a Hill". Available online.
Discussion Question: Which was the primary factor behind the Puritan movement in England: religious beliefs or political desires? Or, was it some combination?
Read NON p. 88 starting at "The Founding of New England" to 93 stopping at stability and order. In class page 94 and 95 will be covered as well.
1. The Puritan Movement
2. Predestination
3. The Mayflower Compact
4. John Winthrop
Map: Massachusetts
Lesson 6: Puritan and Indian Relations
Read handout from class on Anne Hutchinson
Write a paragraph that explains why you think the court ruled against Hutchinson. You do not have to understand all of this document. Focus on a part of it that you can use to support an answer and back up your answer with specific text. The langauge may seem difficult, but use what you know about the Puritans in general to try to decode it.
Lesson 8: Exploring Puritan/Indian Encounters
Read Demos handout: The Unredeemed Captive, pp.13-18 at left unburned.
1. The selection starts on p. 13. John Williams has appealed to the colonial government in Boston for tax relief because the townspeople fear Indian attacks and have not paid much attention to their property and livelihoods lately. Some have abandoned their homes for refuge in the nearby fort.
2. Mood in Deerfield
3. Why did the scriptural references resonate among Deerfield's inhabitants?
4. How did the French hold on to so much land when they were outnumbered by their English counterparts?
5. “Domiciled Indians”
6. Vaudreuil's motives
Lesson 9: The Unredeemed Captive (continued)
Demos: Read p.18 at the minister's house to 20, 29-33 to Williams River. Also read NON, 98-99
1. Experience of the Williams family
2. Defense
3. p. 29, decisions behind the killings
4. (The master is the Indian assigned to take charge of a particular captive.)
5. Why is Williams spared?
6. How do the captives sustain themselves?
7. Similarities between Puritans and Indians
8. Metacom's War
In class, show edited version of film “Black Robe” and clips from the film "The New World"
Unit One Test (60% short answer, 40% essay)