Enduring Understandings
Early English settlers to North America came for many reasons.
Life was very difficult for the early American settlers.
The settlers took over Native American land and caused great harm to them and their civilizations.
The slave trade and slavery had a profound impact on colonial life.
Unit Objectives
(tied to MA Frameworks)
How did the English settlers change the lives of the Native Americans?
How and why were the 13 colonies founded?
How did the geography of the colonies affect their economy, government, and society?
What was daily life like in the 13 American colonies?
How did enslavement affect West Africans and the American colonists?
Concepts and Skills
5.6 Distinguish between political and topographical maps and identify specialized maps that show information such as population, income, or climate change. (G, H, E) - 3.5
(The Nystrom Atlas of Our Country’s History)
Standards
5.5 Describe the goals and extent of the Dutch settlement in New York, the French settlements in Canada, and the Spanish settlements in Florida, the Southwest, and California. (H) - 5
5.6 Explain the early relationship of the English settlers to the indigenous peoples, or Indians, in North America, including the differing views on ownership or use of land and the conflicts between them (e.g., the Pequot and King Philip’s Wars in New England). (H, G, E) - 1
5.7 Identify some of the major leaders and groups responsible for the founding of the original colonies in North America. (H, C) -1
A. Lord Baltimore in Maryland
B. William Penn in Pennsylvania
C. John Smith in Virginia
D. Roger Williams in Rhode Island
E. John Winthrop in Massachusetts
(5.9 Explain the reasons that the language, political institutions, and political principles of what became the United States of America were largely shaped by English colonists even though other major European nations also explored the New World. (H, C)
A. the relatively small number of colonists who came from other nations besides England
B. long experience with self-government
C. the high rates of literacy and education among the English colonial leaders
D. England’s strong economic, intellectual, and military position - 5)
5.10 On a map of North America, identify the first 13 colonies and describe how regional differences in climate, types of farming, populations, and sources of labor shaped their economies and societies through the 18th century. (H, G, E) - 1.5
5.12 Explain the causes of the establishment of slavery in North America. Describe the harsh conditions of the Middle Passage and slave life, and the responses of slaves to their condition. Describe the life of free African Americans in the colonies. (H, G, E, C) - 1
5.14 Explain the development of colonial governments and describe how these developments contributed to the Revolution. (H, G, E, C) - 1
A. legislative bodies
B. town meetings
C. charters on individual freedom and rights