FOR TEACHERS::

This Unit can be a bit

daunting because it covers a

vast array of topics but, with

proper planning, the elements

addressed in this Unit can be

incorporated into lessons

throughout the school year.

Timelines, comparing and

contrasting, and analyzing

how the colonization period

laid the foundation for

modern day America are solid

methodologies for this

Unit.

The European Settlement of North America

roughly covers the period from the founding of

Jamestown (1607) to the Great Awakening

(1730s).

Topics addressed in this newsletter include :

the founding of Jamestown, cultivating tobacco,

comparing the House of Burgesses to town

meetings, the founding of New England, King

Phillip’s War and the Salem Witch Trials.

Unit 2 of the GaDOE

Frameworks explores the

origins of European

colonization of

North America.

UNIT 2-EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA

G e o r g i a

D e p a r t m e n t o f

E d u c a t i o n U.S. History (High School)

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F I N -

T E R E S T :

Introduction to the

Unit 2 Framework

The Jamestown

Settlement and

tobacco

Comparing and

contrasting types of

governance

Mercantilism and the

Trans-Atlantic trade

The New England

Settlement

SSUSH

1 and 2 of

the Georgia

Performance

Standards

outline the

Colonization

Period.

The Mayflower Compact

P A G E 2

Pocahontas

(c. 1595-1617) is

credited for the

success of the

Jamestown

settlement.

VIRGINIA and TOBACCO CULTIVATION

FOUNDING of JAMESTOWN

The founding of

Jamestown is both the

beginning of English

colonization and the

U.S. History course.

This lesson will be a

memorable one

because it is one of the

first things taught

when school is back in

session.

With that in mind, it

needs to be a great

lesson.

Jamestown is the story of a

money making venture that

almost went terribly wrong.

If not for the leadership of

Capt. John Smith and the

intervention of Pocahontas,

Jamestown probably would

have been a failure.

KEY QUESTIONS:

1. In what ways did

Pocahontas’ friendship

with John Smith help

ensure the future of

Jamestown?

2. Pretend you are

Chief Powhatan:

What are some of the

pros and cons of aiding

the English?

Tobacco was first

brought to Europe by

Spanish explorers, but it

was in Virginia that it

became the main cash

crop.

U . S . H I S T O R Y

SSUSH1 requires that

students explain

Virginia’s development

and its role in tobacco

cultivation.

This element allows

educators an opportunity

to bring in the modern

day viewpoints with

those of the Europeans

living in the New World

during the Age of

Colonization.

KEY QUESTIONS:

1. How does the perception

of tobacco today differ

from those of the early

settlers?

2. Why do most elementary

school students learn

about the Pilgrims (i.e.

Thanksgiving recreations)

as opposed to the

Jamestown settlers even

though Jamestown was

founded first? Is the story

of a group seeking

“religious freedom” less

troubling than one

regarding a group of

tobacco growers?

"A

custome lothsome

to the Eye,

hatefull to the

Nose, harmfull to

the Braine,

daungerous

to the Lungs, ..."

King James I on

smoking tobacco

Captain John Smith’s

“no work, no food” policy

may have saved the

Jamestown settlement.

GOVERNANCE IN THE NEW WORLD

P A G E 3

The influence of the House of Burgesses, with its usage of representative

democracy (republic), can be seen in our current form of government in

that we elect officials to speak on our behalf.

The contrasting types of

governance evidenced in

Virginia’s House of Burgesses and

town meetings in New England is

a crucial distinction that will be

instrumental in the emergence

of the United States as a federal

republic.

The word “development” is

specifically used in the GPS

because both of these systems

were part of an ongoing process

in the creation of our modern

day legislature.

KEY QUESTIONS:

1. What role did mercantilism play in fueling

European colonization of North America?

2. How were America, Europe, and Africa

interconnected and economically

interdependent on each other during the

Age of Colonization?

3. How will mercantilism eventually lead to

divisions between Great Britain and her

American colonies?

The desire to create colonies in

order to generate wealth for the

mother countries caused the

economic system of mercantilism to

flourish in the 16th and 17th

centuries.

Mercantilism plus the Trans-Atlantic

(triangular) trade created a system of

interdependence on mother country

and colony.

MERCANTALISM and the TRANS-ATLANTIC TRADE

KEY QUESTIONS:

1. How did the House of Burgesses

reflect the social structure

(aristocracy) of colonial Virginia?

2. How has direct democracy

increasingly been infused into the

federal republic of the U.S.?

3. Which advantages does each

system have? Disadvantages?

4. Why do most Americans think of

the U.S. as a “democracy”?

New England’s usage of town meetings

were geared more toward direct

democracy where every citizen was

expected to participate.

“New England, where education and liberty are the daughters of morality and religion, …, the common people are accustomed to respect intellectual and moral superiority and to submit to it without complaint…. In New England, consequently, the democ-racy makes a more judicious choice than it does elsewhere.”-Alexis de Tocqueville

NEW ENGLAND SETTLEMENT

Seal of Massachusetts Bay Colony

Most students are familiar with the story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower but not many are well

versed in King Phillip’s War and Roger Williams. The good news is that most high school

students usually have a basic framework of understanding regarding the New England settlement.

Comparing and contrasting the Jamestown settlement with the one in New England helps reinforce

previously learned concepts. As educators, it is our job to take student’s prior knowledge and scaf-

fold it into this new body of knowledge.

KEY QUESTIONS:

1. How did the settlers of New England differ from the Jamestown settlers?

2. What are some of the contradictions surrounding the Puritans’ desire to practice their religious

beliefs and how they restricted religious practices different from their own.

3. What led the relationship between the Pilgrims and Indians to sour? How did the Pilgrims go

from celebrating Thanksgiving with the Indians to fighting against them in King Philip’s War?

4. How do the communist hunts during the 1950s McCarthy era resemble the Salem Witch

Trials of 1692?

‘Who was King Phillip and why did he have a war?’ is a

question that usually arises when addressing this standard.

King Phillip (Metacomet) was a tribal leader of the

Wampanoag following the death of his brother. Metacomet

was opposed to increasing white expansion in New England.

The key teachable moment with this topic is the fact that the

Wampanoag were the same Indians that hosted the

“first Thanksgiving” in 1621. Almost every student knows the

Thanksgiving story but King Phillip’s War remains largely

unknown.

Students will enjoy the chance to find out “what happened

next” and/or “what really happened” in this story.

The Salem Witch Trials are seen as one of the final events of the early colonial period and the decline of Puritan rule in New England. In 1692, at least twenty people were accused and executed for the crime of witchcraft. Students need to analyze the environment in which something like this could take place. Teachers should use foreshadowing to upcoming events to draw parallels (i.e. the McCarthy era of the 1950s).

Created by Alan Bowers