Lesson 2: Southern Colonies
Getting Started
In this lesson, you'll explore the origins of the southern colonies, learning more about interactions with native people, early agriculture, and slavery. You'll also begin working on a year-long timeline of U.S. history that you will continue to develop throughout the social studies units at the 12-14 level.
Stuff You Need
- Great Colonial Projects You Can Build Yourself! by Kris Bordessa
- We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History by Phillip Hoose
- scissors
- tape or glue
- timeline and timeline cards
Ideas to Think About
- Why do individuals, families, and communities decide to migrate from one location to another?
- How do religion, culture, government, and economics interact in decisions about whether to remain in one location or migrate to a new place?
- In what ways can the change of place of a physical migration inspire or make possible changes in culture, community, and ways of life?
Things to Know
- There were two unsuccessful attempts to establish colonies in what is now North Carolina in the 1580s.
- The Virginia Company was granted a charted in 1606 and they founded Jamestown in 1607. By the 1650s, Virginia colonists were expanding into North Carolina.
- Lord Baltimore was granted a charter in 1632, and Maryland's first colonists arrived in 1634.
- Tobacco rapidly became a major cash crop for southern colonists.
Skills
- Describe the factors that led to the founding and settlement of the American colonies including religious persecution, economic opportunity, adventure, and forced migration. (SS)
- Analyze the important geographic, political, economic, and social aspects of life in the region prior to the Revolutionary Period. (SS)
- Compare political, economic, religious, and social reasons for the establishment of the 13 English colonies. (SS)
- Identify and describe American Indians who inhabited various colonies and assess their impacts on those colonies. (SS)
- Identify geographic and political reasons for the creation of various colonies and evaluate the effects on the government and economics of the colony. (SS)
- Describe the roles and contributions of diverse groups, such as American Indians, African Americans, European immigrants, landed gentry, tradesmen, and small farmers to everyday life in various colonies. (SS)
Introducing the Lesson
In this lesson, your child will explore the origins of the southern and middle colonies, learning more about interactions with native people, early agriculture, and slavery. She'll also begin working on a year-long timeline of U.S. history that she will continue to develop throughout the social studies units at the 12-14 level.
Materials: We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History by Phillip Hoose
Read the following sections in We Were There, Too: Young People in U.S. History by Phillip Hoose — "Pocahontas: Peacemaker, Cartwheeler, Princess" (starting on page 14), "Tom Savage: Living Two Lives" (starting on page 19), and "Orphans and Tobacco Brides: Feeding England's Newest Habit" (starting on page 23). Next, answer the following questions.
Questions
- Why did Pocahontas not give her true name, Matoaka, to the English?The Powhatan people believed that giving away one's true name gave power to others, so they kept that name secret and used a second name instead.
- What did her visit to England show Pocahontas about her tribe's situation in America?Seeing the fleet of ships, large buildings, and busy streets of London, she realized the power of the British and that her tribe would not be able to defeat them.
- Tom Savage was about your age when he ran away from home to seek his fortune in Virginia and became an indentured servant who was asked to live among the Powhatan Indians as a spy. Why do you think such a life appealed to young Tom? Would it appeal to you?Answers will vary.
- What circumstances brought children to Virginia to work on tobacco plantations?At the time, peasant farmers were evicted from their land in much of England, and many children had come to cities like London to make a way for themselves. Some of these children wound up going to Virginia voluntarily as apprentices. Others were brought forcibly to the colony as a sort of reform school for young troublemakers. Still others were kidnapped and taken to Virginia by force.