.
VIRGINIA INDIAN & EARLY
COLONIAL HISTORY
th
17 Century
American History
Pre-Visit Informational Packet &
Post –Visit Activities
For Upper Elementary, Middle & High School
Students
Created and Provided by
Henricus Historical Park
Department of Education
February 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Historical Information
Activity 1:
Primary Sources: Analyzing People’s Lives
Through Historical Pictures
Activity 2:
Primary Sources: Analyzing Primary Documents
Activity 3:
Primary Sources: Archaeology & Powhatan Artifact
Web Search
Activity 4:
Problem- or Project-Based Learning Activities
Teachers Page
Teacher Information
Bibliography
Standard of Learning Guidelines (SOLs)
HISTORICAL INFORMATION:
17TH Century Background
Virginia’s First Peoples: @10,000 B.C. – 1600 A.D.
Long before the arrival of European colonists many Native American tribes were thriving in
Virginia. They existed on the natural resources found along what we today call the James River,
developed farming, along with their original hunting and gathering culture and traded with other
native peoples.
The area that the English chose to settle by the early 1600’s was inhabited by the Powhatan
people, which included over thirty different tribes. Wahunsunacawh, also known as Chief
Powhatan, was the Mamanatowick or “King” of the Powhatan people. He ruled over the majority
of central Virginia in an area that the Powhatan people referred to as Tsenacomaco, which
included the land between the James and Potomac Rivers all the way west to the fall line near
present-day Richmond.
All of the tribal villages were located on the river, which provided a roadway for transportation
among villages. The Powhatan Indians spoke a language called Algonquian, but did not have a
written language. Information had to be passed on by the spoken word. Dugout canoes provided
quick transportation between tribes, allowing for distant groups to coordinate their government.
As the river water was brackish (mixture of salt and fresh) all the way to the fall line, drinking
water came mainly from fresh water creeks and streams. However, the river did provide food.
John Smith writes that “the sturgeons were so many, and of such a size you could walk across
their back to the other side of the river.” Fish, crabs, mussels and edible plants could be found
around the river year round. The preferred Powhatan meat was deer, but smaller animals -rabbits, raccoons or squirrels – were also a part of the diet. Well before the 17th century, the
Powhatan’s changed from being solely nomadic hunter/gathers to being semi-sedentary farmers.
They grew three main vegetables: corn, beans, and squash, sometimes called the “three sisters” as
they were grown together.
Within the tribe, men and women had separate responsibilities; there was a division of labor.
Powhatan men hunted, fished, traded and went to war. Their work kept them outside the village
for most of the year. Women were responsible for most work done inside the village: gardening,
processing animals for food, raising children, building long houses (called yehakins) and making
clothes. The lack of hard metals such as iron or steel meant that the natives had to use natural
resources like bone, stone, and shell to make canoes, houses and tools.
Body decoration and modification was important to the Powhatans' as both a form of self
expression and as a show of wealth and status. All women would have face and body tattoos:
before marriage they shaved half their heads; after marriage they grew their hair out long. All
men would paint themselves daily and shave the right side of their heads to prevent their hair
from catching in their bows.
"A cheiff Lorde of Roanoac" by De Bry (printed 1590).
John Carter Brown Library, Brown University, Virtual Jamestown, Virginia Center for Digital History,
University of Virginia.
Cultures in Contact: 1600 -- 1622
When the English arrived at Jamestown in 1607 they found themselves in a very foreign land,
outnumbered by peoples with very different beliefs and lifestyles. The Powhatan Indians’
appearance is described by colonist Gabriel Archer:
“Their skin is tawny, not so born but with dyeing and
painting themselves in which they delight greatly.”
The arrival of the English significantly impacted Powhatan culture. Although the Powhatan lived
comfortably in this area well before the English arrived in 1607, they quickly took to trading with
the English. The two groups exchanged goods, ideas and information. The Powhatans wanted
metal tools, copper (which was highly valued by the Virginia Indians), and domesticated animals
like pigs and goats. As the English knew little about the climate or what crops to grow, they
needed to trade for food for early survival. However, once their survival needs were met they
began to focus on the reason that the Virginia Company of London had sent settlers to North
America: to make money. They experimented with items and crops that could be sent back to
England for profit: animal furs, lumber, wild sassafras and eventually, tobacco.
The two groups also exchanged religious and cultural ideas. A prime example was the conversion
of Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas to Christianity. While she changed her religion, she also
acquired the cultural trappings of English life by learning the language, eating the foods, wearing
the clothes and taking on the mannerisms of an English woman. At the same time, some
Englishmen – Thomas Savage and William Strachey – went to live with the natives, learning the
Powhatan language and culture. However, although the two cultures learned from each other,
they did not always get along. From the earliest arrival of the English, there were times of both
peace and war between the two groups. Disputes often arose over land use, competition for food,
and cultural misunderstandings.
Map of Virginia: With a Description of the Countrey, the Commodities, People, Government and
Religion,
Virtual Jamestown, Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia
Settling Henricus: 1611 -- 1622
In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale, the appointed High Marshall of the English colonies in Virginia,
moved about 80 miles west from Jamestown up the James River. He settled at Henricus, which
would become the second successful English settlement. The location was picked for its unique
defensive position on a peninsula and its healthier location with fresher water, drier ground and
fewer insects. The Citie of Henricus allowed the colonists to gain a foothold further inland, taking
them closer to the fall line (near today’s City of Richmond) of the James River. By 1616 colonists
had established a number of private farms along the river between Henricus and Jamestown.
ACTIVITY 1
Primary Sources:
Analyzing People’s Lives Through Historical Pictures
The Powhatan’s lack of a written language forces historians to use English sources to learn more
about 17th century native life. Primary Sources are the materials, writings or pictures left
behind by the culture you are studying. Secondary Sources are the later writings of others
about the past as taken from the Primary Sources. By reading the colonists descriptions
(Primary Source) and by comparing them with archeological sites we have a better picture of
what life would have been like for both the Powhatan’s and for the English settlers. Many
primary resources exist in the form of letters to the Virginia Company, maps, art drawings, diaries
and accounts written by colonists like John Smith, John Rolfe and Christopher Newport. To
explore these resources and to learn more about 17th century Virginia and its peoples, refer to the
bibliography at the end of the packet.
Objective: Students will compare various historical drawings and wood carvings of native
peoples to learn more about the English and Powhatan cultures. Pictures are an invaluable
resource for historic research. Have the students compare the pictures and discuss what they can
tell us about the lives of the people being portrayed. Consider wealth, social status, cultural
differences and what it says about both the people being portrayed and about the perspective of
the artist and his culture.
Lesson Steps:
Step 1: Encourage the students to think about how we can learn about the past by using primary
sources such as letters, diaries, journals and pictures or drawings. What can primary sources tell
us that secondary sources cannot? Are all primary sources reliable? Why or why not?
Step 2: Pass out the information worksheet and pictures to the students individually or in groups.
Have them look through and compare them. The images of Native Americans – coastal
Algonquin peoples -- are all period images produced by Englishman John White. The woodcut of
Pocahontas was made several years after her death by Simon van de Passe. The English drawings
and woodcuts are by various European artists who depicted life in 17th century America.
Step 3: Have the students compare the pictures that correspond to one another and fill out the
worksheet. If the students were broken into groups, have them compare their answers with the
other groups.
Activity 1 Worksheet -- Analyzing Pictures
Compare & Contrast
Cultural Differences
Levels of Technology
Natural Resources
Picture Set A
Look at the pictures of both an Algonquian warrior and an English musketeer; write a few
sentences about – or discuss -- what you observe about them individually.
Then, compare the two pictures to one another; what can you tell about the each culture from
these pictures? How are they similar or different? Take into account such things as environment,
access to resources, level of technology, etc.
Picture Set B
Look at the pictures of an Algonquian and an English town – both drawn by Englishmen. Write
or discuss what you observe about each individual picture.
Then, compare the two pictures to one another. Look at similarities and differences. Take into
account levels of technology, cultural differences and environment. How could the painting of
the Powhatan village be different from what it might actually have looked like? Why might the
English have shown it in an “orderly” fashion?
Picture Set C
Look at the pictures of an Algonquian woman and the woodcut of Pocahontas. What can you tell
about how these women lived by looking at each picture?
Then, compare the two pictures to each other. What can we tell about Pocahontas’s life first as a
Powhatan woman and later as an English woman? How would her life have changed? What do
you think would have been the hardest or easiest part of this change? Why? Take into account
environmental and cultural differences.
Image A1: Algonquian Man
A weroan or great Lorde of Virginia by Debry/1590
Virtual Jamestown, John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, Virginia Center for Digital History,
University of Virginia.
(http://www.virtualjamestown.org/images/white_debry_html/debry47.html)
Image A2: English Musketeer
For Foote Companies by Captaine Lazarus Howard, 1645.
Printed in London. https://the1642goodwyfe.wordpress.com/page/31/
Image B1: Algonquian Town
"Indian Village of Secoton" by John White/ 1585-1586
Virtual Jamestown, British Museum, Virginia Center of Digital History, University of Virginia.
(http://www.virtualjamestown.org/images/white_debry_html/white35.html)
Image B2: English Town
Perspective and birds-eye view of Windsor Castle, engraved by Wenceslaus Hollar 1672
Nash Ford Publishing 1996/2015.
(http://www.berkshirehistory.com/maps/windsor_cast.html).
Image C1: Algonquian Woman
Indian Woman by John White 1585-1586
Virtual Jamestown, British Museum, Virginia Center of Digital History, University of Virginia.
(http://www.virtualjamestown.org/images/white_debry_html/white46.html)
Image C2: Pocahontas Woodcut
Matoaka as Rebecca by Simon van de Passe (1616), Virtual Jamestown, Virginia Center of
Digital History, University of Virginia.
(http://www.virtualjamestown.org/map9b.html).
ACTIVITY 2
Primary Sources:
Analyzing Primary Documents
Students will analyze and draw conclusions from primary source documents to better understand
the life of a certain group of 17th century Virginia peoples. Indentured servants, in contrast to
higher status people, had little written about them or their life experiences. However, much about
their way of life and of their own experiences can be gleaned from such primary sources as
letters.
Materials:
Copy of Richard Frethorne’s letter to his parents in 1623
Analyzing documents worksheet.
Lesson Steps:
Step 1: Discuss with the students the importance of the use of primary documents (such as the
pictures shown in Activity 1) in research and in doing class projects. Reading historical accounts
-- written at the same time as the events occurred -- helps us learn not only about an individual’s
life, but about the time frame, area and circumstances in which they lived. Review with the
students what indentured servitude meant for the English coming to America. Unlike slavery,
indentured servitude involved labor for a mutually agreed upon period of time -- until a debt was
repaid. That servant, upon completion of the agreed upon period of time, was then free to pursue
his own life and work.
Step 2: Pass out copies of Richard Frethorne’s letter from Virginia to his parents in England and
the analyzing documents worksheet. Assign the students to groups; assign each group one
paragraph of the letter and the worksheet. Have them read and discuss the paragraph among their
group.
Step 3: Have the groups then discuss their paragraph as a group before the other students. What
have they learned about English life, culture and experiences at the time that the letter was
written?
Activity 2 Worksheet:
Analyzing Primary Documents
Richard Freythorne’s Letter to his
Father and Mother -- 1623
Answer these questions for each paragraph.
When was this document written? Describe generally what was happening in
Virginia at this time.
Who wrote this document; who were they writing it to? Why were they writing it?
What kind of writing does it appear to be: descriptive, persuasive or opinionated?
Why do you think so?
What can we learn about life in the past from this letter? Compare and contrast it to
how and what would be written in the present.
What can this letter tell us about the past that we might not know if it had not been
written?
How can letters, maps and drawings help us interpret the archaeological record in
telling us about the past? Discuss what we might not know if ideas or items had not
survived – through letters, maps or drawings -- from the past into the present.
Richard Frethorne’s Letter to his Father and Mother
March 20, April 2-3, 1623
Paragraph 1:
In this paragraph, Richard talks about the small amount of food available for
indentured servants working in the English colonies. Why would food be scarce?
What could prevent them from hunting or fishing?
Loveing and kind father and mother my most humble duty remembred to you hoping in
God of yor good health, as I my selfe am at the makeing hereof, this is to let you
understand that I yor Child am in a most heavie Case by reason of the nature of the
Country [which] is such that it Causeth much sicknes, as the scurvie and the bloody flix,
and divers other diseases, wch maketh the bodie very poore, and Weake, and when wee
are sick there is nothing to Comfort us; for since I came out of the ship, I never ate anie
thing but pease, and loblollie (that is water gruell)[,] as for deare or venison I never saw
anie since I came into this land, there is indeed some foule, but Wee are not allowed to
goe, and get it, but must Worke hard both earelie, and late for a messe of water gruell, and
a mouthfull of bread, and beife, a mouthfull of bread for a pennie loafe must serve for 4
men wch is most pitiful. [You would be grieved] if you did knowe as much as I, when
people crie out day, and night, Oh that they were in England without their lymbes and
would not care to lose anie lymbe to bee in England againe, yea, though they beg from
doore to doore,…
Richard Frethorne’s Letter to his Father and Mother
March 20, April 2-3, 1623
Paragraph 2:
In this paragraph, Richard talks about the Powhatans attacking the plantation where
he works. However, even before the attack, the English communities and peoples
were weakened. What could have been the source of their weakness; what left them
vulnerable to attack?
[F]or wee live in feare of the Enimy everie hower, yet wee have had a Combate with them
on the Sunday before Shrovetyde, and wee tooke two alive, and make slaves of them, but it
was by pollicie, for wee are in great danger; for o[u]r Plantation is very weake, by reason
of the dearth, and sicknes, of o[u]r Companie, for wee came but Twentie for the
marchaunts, and they are halfe dead Just; and wee looke everie hower When two more
should goe, yet there came some fo[u]r other men yet to lyve with us, of which ther[e] is
but one alive; and our Lieftenant is dead, and his ffather and his brother, and there was
some 5 or 6 of the last yeares 20 of wch there is but 3 left, so that wee are faine to get
other men to plant with us, and yet wee are but 32 to fight against 3000 if they should
Come, and the nighest helpe that Wee have is ten miles of us, and when the rogues
overcame this place last [time], they slew 80 persons[.] how then shall wee doe for wee
lye even in their teeth, they may easilie take us but that God is mercifull, and can save with
few as well as with many;
Richard Frethorne’s Letter to his Father and Mother
March 20, April 2-3, 1623
Paragraph 3:
In this paragraph Richard talks about the lack of supplies like clothing, food, and
fresh water or good mead. Without the help of the plantation owners could he have
survived? Do you think every indentured servant was as lucky as he was?
[A]s he showed to Gylead and like Gyleads Souldiers if they lapt water, wee drink water
wch is but Weake, and I have nothing to Comfort me, nor is ther[e] nothing to be gotten
here but sicknes, and death, except that one had money to lay out in some thinges for
profit; But I have nothing at all, no not a shirt to my backe, but two Ragges nor Clothes,
but one poore suite, nor but one paire of shooes, but one paire of stockins, but one Capp,
but two bands, my Cloke is stollen by one of my owne fellowes, and to his dying hower
[he] would not tell mee what he did with it but some of my fellows saw him have butter and
beife out of a ship, wch my Cloke I doubt [not] paid for, so that I have not a penny, nor a
penny Worth to helpe me to either spice, or sugar, or strong Waters, without the wch one
cannot yive here, for as strong beare in England doth fatten and strengthen them[,] so
water here doth wash and weaken theis here, onelie keepe life and soule together. but I
am not halfe a quarter so strong as I was in England, and all is for want of victualls, for I
doe protest unto you, that I have eaten more in [one] day at home then I have allowed me
here for a Weeke. you have given more then my dayes allowance to a beggar at the doore;
and if Mr Jackson had not releived me, I should bee in a poore Case, but he like a ffather
and shee like a loveing mother doth still helpe me,
Richard Frethorne’s Letter to his Father and Mother
March 20, April 2-3, 1623
Paragraph 4:
In this paragraph, Richard talks about taking goods to and from Jamestown to
resupply the colonists. However, even on the supply ships food seems to be scarce.
How did a person’s social status affect the amount and type of food they were given?
[F]or when wee goe to James Towne that is 10 myles of us, there lie all the ships that
Come to land, and there they must deliver their goods, and when wee went up to Towne as
it may bee on Moonedaye, at noone, and come there by night, then load the next day by
noone, and goe home in the afternoone, and unload, and then away againe in the night,
and bee up about midnight, then if it rayned, or blowed never so hard wee must lye in the
boate on the water, and have nothing but alitle bread, for when wee go into the boate wee
have a loafe allowed to two men, and it is all if we stayed there 2 dayes, wch is hard, and
must lye all that while in the boate, but that Goodman Jackson pityed me & made me a
Cabbin to lye in alwayes when I come up, and he would give me some poore Jacks [i.e.,
fish] [to take] home with me wch Comforted mee more then pease, or water gruell.
Richard Frethorne’s Letter to his Father and Mother
March 20, April 2-3, 1623
Paragraph 5 (First Half):
In this section of the letter, Richard requests his parents to buy him back from his
servitude. If that is not possible, he then asks them to send food; this is not only for
him to eat but to send enough to sell, in hopes that the profit made could help him
buy his way back to England. He warns his father that oil and vinegar, although
profitable, could leak and be lost on the way across. What kinds of food do you think
would last longer on the way to the colonies? Do you think he will be able to buy
his freedom? Why or why not.
Oh they bee verie godlie folkes, and love me verie well, and will do anie thing for
me, and he much marvailed that you would send me a servaunt to the Companie, he
saith I had been better knockd on the head, and Indeede so I fynd it now to my greate
greife and miserie, and saith, that if you love me you will redeeme me suddenlie, for
wch I doe Intreate and begg, and if you cannot get the marchaunts to redeeme me
for some litle money, then for Gods sake get a gathering or intreat some good folks
to lay out some little Sum of moneye, in meale, and Cheese and butter, and biefe,
anie eating meate will yeald great profit, oile and vyniger is verie good, but ffather
ther[e] is greate losse in leakinge,..
Richard Frethorne’s Letter to his Father and Mother
March 20, April 2-3, 1623
Paragraph 5 (Second Half):
In this portion of the letter Richard asks his parents to send him food to eat or to sell;
he hopes to buy his way out of indentured servitude and to return to England. He
writes about a way to keep the cheese from spoiling. What are some other problems
with sending food from England to the Colonies? Do you think he will be able to
buy his freedom back?
…but for Gods sake send beife and Cheese and butter or the more of one sort and
none of another, but if you send Cheese it must bee very old Cheese, and at the
Chesmongers you may buy good Cheese for twopence farthing or halfepenny that
will be liked verie well, but if you send Cheese you must have a Care how you packe
it in barrells, and you must put Coopers Chips between everie Cheese, or els[e] the
heat of the hold will rott them, and looke whatsoever you send me be it never so
much looke what I make of it I will deale trulie with you[,] I will send it over, and
begg the profit to redeeme me, and if I die before it Come[,] I have intreated
Goodman Jackson to send you the worth of it, who hath promised he will; If you
send you must direct yor letters to Goodman Jackson, at James Towne a Gunsmith.
(you must set downe his frayt) because there bee more of his name there;
Richard Frethorne’s Letter to his Father and Mother
March 20, April 2-3, 1623
Paragraph 6:
In this paragraph, Richard ends his letter to his parents. Think about long-distance
communications, both then and now. What were some of the problems with sending
letters in the 17th century?
[G]ood ffather doe not forget me, but have mercy and pittye my miserable Case. I know if
you did but see me you would weepe to see me, for I have but one suite, but [though] it is a
strange one, it is very well guarded, wherefore for Gods sake pittie me, I pray you to
remember my love to all my ffriends, and kindred, I hope all my Brothers and Sisters are
in good health, and as for my part I have set downe my resolution that certainelie Wilbe,
that is, that the Answeare of this letter wilbe life or death to me, therefore good ffather
send as soon as you can, and if you send me anie thing let this bee the marke. ROT
Richard Frethorne
Martyns Hundred.
ACTIVITY 3
Primary Sources:
Archaeology & Powhatan Artifact Web Search
Objectives: To use online resources to search the archaeological record and to help analyze
historical artifacts for a better understanding of the Powhatan Indians and the English colonists of
the 17th century.
Archaeology is the study of people of the past through the artifacts that they leave behind.
Artifacts are anything that has been made, used or changed by humans. They can include tools,
articles of clothing and even “post molds” (the discolored soil where posts from dwellings or
fences once were). The process of Archaeology is a form of primary source information as it
“digs into” the original evidence of the life of a culture.
Archaeology involves multiple sciences – geology, biology (zoology and botany), human
physiology, etc. – mathematics and history to try to put together small pieces of information to
fit into a “puzzle” that helps explain the past. It begins with research and use of primary
sources (original maps, drawings, pictures, letters, etc.) followed by finding and excavating
(digging) into an actual site. Researchers then analyze (study) all of the artifacts they have found
to try and answer the puzzle questions: “What happened in the past?”
Materials:
Access to a computer
Powhatan Web Search Worksheet.
Lesson Steps:
Step 1: Discuss the history of the Powhatan people who lived in Virginia before the English
arrived in 1607. What do you think can be learned about them from archaeology: What does the
environment provide that can be worn, eaten, built with or used for tools? How and why does
the culture change over time? How do we know about the parts of culture that have no
artifacts: language, government, interactions between people?
Step 2: Have students use computers to search the internet for Powhatan archeological artifacts.
These can be items such as Powhatan’s Mantle, clay pipes, arrow heads, or “post molds” left
where longhouses once stood. Important sites to research include Paspahegh and
Werowocomoco. Discuss what the artifacts can say about different parts of the culture.
Step 3: Divide the students into groups. Once they have chosen and drawn or xeroxed an
artifact, have the students tape it onto the worksheet provided. Have them answer the questions to
see what information the object can provide to help them better understand life among the
Powhatan peoples hundreds of years ago.
Activity 3 Worksheet:
Analyzing Powhatan Archaeological Artifacts
Tape picture or drawing of artifact here
What material(s) is the artifact made from: wood, bone, stone, metal, clay, shells, other
…? Include ALL materials including any evidence of paint, stone with bone, etc.
Describe how the artifact looks: shape, texture, weight and size. Does the item have a
design or decoration on it? Is there anything else that stands out about the artifact?
What was the artifact used for? What need did it fulfill (food, water, air, shelter,
education, security or government)? Who would have used it?
What can the artifact tell us about the Powhatan people? Can you think of any similar
objects that might have been used by the English? Any similar object used today for
similar or other purposes?
Activity 4
Problem- and Project-Based Learning
Through Historical Research
Level:
Upper Elementary/Middle School/High School
Problem-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning is a method by which students use an open-ended “problem” (from local to
world-wide concern) as a vehicle – an active experience -- to develop an understanding of problemsolving methods. The research and project are student centered and self directed. In small groups,
with the teacher as facilitator (a resource) helping to guide the process, students develop a series of
questions and thinking strategies, do research into the background of the “Problem” and develop
possible solutions.
Objective:
Students will select an “open-ended problem, question or challenge” of modern concern (such as
“racial inequality”) with ties to early American history. They will form a question, problem or
challenge and begin to investigate it from an historical perspective. They will research its’
development in America to the present day. A series of questions will be developed to help guide
the research; they will then find Primary Sources (books, original documents, web searches,
archaeological evidence, etc.) to help them understand the historical background of their
“problem”. To share this information with other groups, they can then design a “display or
exhibit” that illustrates their understanding of the problem.
Materials:
Primary Source books, maps, pictures
Three-dimensional objects that illustrate your point of view (optional)
Display board or other display background
Objects to manipulate
Lesson Steps:
Step 1: Discuss with Students Project- and Problem-Based Learning and how to begin a project.
Form an open-ended question, problem or challenge that they will then investigate and suggest
solutions. Discuss what constitutes an “Open Ended” problem or challenge.
• List what is known about the problem or challenge. Include any historical background.
• Develop and present a statement of the problem.
• List what resources are needed for research; where can they be found.
• List actions, solutions or hypotheses.
• Present and support the solution with your project (exhibit or display).
Step 2: Divide into groups (of 6 – 10 per group) and discuss problems or challenges that can be
traced in early American history.
Step 3: Set up a series of questions regarding this problem or challenge; add questions as you
continue the project.
Step 4: Each group will design a display or exhibit that helps illustrate the problem or challenge.
How to utilize this packet for a Problem-Based-Learning Project.
Have the students work through the different activities in the packet that explore primary and
secondary sources. Once they have learned how to analyze different historical documents, have
them find some of their own primary or secondary sources then apply their knowledge to the
problem or challenge that they have chosen for their project.
• This project can explore the original causes of today’s problems and challenges.
• This project can help develop team-working skills.
• This project can help improve communication skills.
• This project can help students in processing information with a “goal” in mind.
Ideas for possible Problem-Based Learning activities. Design Modern-Day problems or
challenges that could have arisen from these historical concerns:
• If you were a colonist coming to the new world -- a new and mysterious environment
inhabited by people with very different customs -- what would you do to prepare before you
arrived; what would you do to make profits (the reason for which you came) after you made it
to Virginia?
• Tobacco becomes a major cash crop for Virginia colonists. Tobacco grown for profit needs a
great deal of space and human labor to raise successful crops. What are some of the
unintended consequences of growing tobacco? Is there any way to avoid the consequences?
• If you had been a Powhatan Indian when the English arrived would you have chosen to
convert to the English religion and ways? What would be both the benefits and setbacks of
adopting English ways?
To Do Your Team Project
Explore the relevant issues
List what we already know about them – both historically and in modern times
Find Primary and Secondary Sources to support the information
Hold interviews with “experts” (witnesses to the events or scholars of the events)
Develop a Problem (or Challenge) Statement
List possible Solutions – actions to be taken
List the actions you think need be taken to reach a solution
Write out the problem, solution, documents and steps taken
Present conclusions – state and defend your position with sound arguments and ideas
Review positions – be willing to be flexible and to consider alternate ideas
Display it to others:
Written
Classroom Style Exhibit (for your classmates)
Museum Style Exhibit (for a wide range of audiences)
Film
Role playing
Other
TEACHERS PAGE
This Pre-Visit Packet – along with pre- and post-video activities – is designed for
classroom use for grades 4 – 12. Materials can be easily adjusted for use with
different grade levels. If you have any questions regarding this packet, please call
Henricus Historical Park Education Department at (804) 318-8797.
RESOURCE MATERIALS for Students
Key Primary Source Books:
Haile, E. W. (Editor), Jamestown Narratives: Eyewitness Accounts of the Virginia
Colony. The First Decade: 1607 – 1617. Champlain, Virginia: Roundhouse, 1998.
Harriot, Thomas. A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia. New
York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1972.
Captain John Smith and James Horn (Editor). Captain John Smith: Writings With Other
Narratives of Roanoke, Jamestown, and the first English Settlement of America. Library
of America, 2007.
Secondary Source Books:
Rasmussen, William. Pocahontas Her life and Legend. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia
Historical Society, Richmond, 1994.
Rountree, Helen C. Pocahontas’s People: The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through
Four Centuries. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
Walker, Sally M. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland.
Carolrhoda Publishers, 2009.
Shifflett, Crandall. Virtual Jamestown. Virginia Center for Digital History, University of
Virginia, 2007.
Project- & Problem-Based Learning:
http://www.rfwp.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/engaged-educated-keynote.pdf.
http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-learning-outcomes
http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-annotated-bibliography
Standard of Learning Guidelines for Activities
History & Social Science Standard of Learning Guidelines
For Virginia Public Schools (Approved March 2015)
Virginia Studies:
VS.1
a) Analyze and interpret artifacts and primary and secondary sources to understand events in Virginia history;
b) Analyze the impact of geographic features on people, places and events to support and understand events in
Virginia history;
c) Interpret pictures to determine characteristics of people, places or events in Virginia history;
d) Recognize points of view and historical perspectives;
e) Compare and contrast ideas and cultural perspectives in Virginia history;
f) Explain connections across time and place;
g) Use a decision-making model to identify costs and benefits of a specific choice made;
h) Practice good citizenship skills and respect for rules and laws through collaboration, compromise and
participation in classroom activities;
i) Investigate and research to develop products orally and in writing.
VS.2
e) Describe how American Indians related to the climate and their environment to secure food, clothing and
shelter;
f) Describe how archaeologists have recovered new material evidence at sites including Werowocomoco and
Jamestown.
VS.3
a) Explain the reasons for English colonization;
b) Describe the economic and geographic influences on the decision to settle at Jamestown (later Henricus);
g) Describe the interactions between the English settlers and the native peoples, including the role of the
Powhatan in the survival of the settlers.
VS.4
a) Explain the importance of agriculture and its influence on the institution of slavery;
b) Describe how the culture of colonial Virginia reflected the origins of American Indians, European
immigrants and Africans;
c) Explain the reasons for the relocation of Virginia’s capital from Jamestown.
United States History (to 1865)
USI.1
a) Analyze and interpret artifacts and primary and secondary sources to understand events in United States
history;
b) Analyze and interpret geographic information to determine patterns and trends in United States history;
c) Interpret charts, graphs and pictures to determine characteristics of people, places or events in United States
history;
d) Using evidence to draw conclusions and make generalizations;
e) Compare and contrast historical, cultural and political perspectives in United States history;
j) Investigate and research how to develop products orally and in writing.
USI.3
a) Describe how archaeologists have recovered material evidence of ancient settlements, including Cactus Hill
in Virginia;
b) Locate where the American Indians lived with emphasis on the Eastern Woodlands;
c) Describe how the American Indians used the resources in their environment.
USI.4
a) Describe the motivations for, obstacles to, and accomplishments of the English explorations in North
America;
b) Describe cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians that led to
cooperation and conflict, with emphasis on the American Indian and European concept of land;
USI.5
a) Describe the religious and economic events and conditions that led to the colonization of America;
d) Describe colonial life in America from the perspectives of large landowners, farmers, artisans, merchants,
women, free African Americans, indentured servants and enslaved African Americans;
e) Explain the political and economic relationships between the colonies and Great Britain.
Civics & Economics:
CE.1
a) Analyze and interpreting evidence from primary and secondary sources;
b) Analyze how political and economic trends influence public policy using demographic information and
other data sources;
d) Determine the accuracy and validity of information by separating fact and opinion and recognizing bias;
e) Construct informed, evidence-based arguments from multiple sources;
f) Determine multiple cause-and-effect relationships that impact political and economic events;
g) Take informed action to address school, community, local, state, national and global issues;
i) Apply civic virtue and democratic principles to make collaborative decisions;
j) Defend conclusions orally and in writing to a wide range of audiences, using evidence from sources.
CE.2
b) Examine and evaluating the impact of the Charter of the Virginia Company of London.
World Geography
WG.1
a) Synthesize evidence from artifacts and primary and secondary sources to obtain information about the
world’s countries, cities, and environments;
b) Use geographic information to determine patterns and trends to understand world regions;
c) Create, compare and interpret maps, charts, graphs and pictures to determine characteristics of world
regions;
d) Evaluate sources for accuracy, creditability, bias and propaganda;
e) Use maps and other visual images to compare and contrast historical, cultural, economic and political
perspectives;
f) Explain indirect cause-and-effect relationships to understand geospatial connections;
g) Analyze multiple connections across time and place;
h) Use a decision-making-model to analyze and explain the incentives for and consequences for a specific
choice made.
WG.2
a) Explain regional climatic patterns and weather phenomena and their effects on people and places;
b) Describe how humans influence the environment and are influenced by it;
c) Explain how technology affects ones’ ability to modify and adapt to the environment.
WG.3
b) Describe how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their
inhabitants;
c) Analyze how cultural characteristics, including the world’s major languages, ethnicities and religions, link
or divide regions.
WG.4
a) Compare the distribution of major natural resources throughout world regions;
b) Show the influence of resources on patterns of economic activity and land use;
c) Evaluate perspectives regarding the use of resources.
WG.14
a) Examine demographic data to determine the relative level of development;
b) Distinguish between developed and developing countries;
c) Compare and contrast the level of economic development to the standard of living and quality of life.
WG.15
a) Determine how human migration and cultural diffusion are influenced by social, economic, political and
environmental factors;
b) Determine how human migration and cultural diffusion influence the current human characteristics of
places and regions.
WG.17
a) Identify factors, including comparative advantage, that influence the distribution of economic activities and
trade;
b) Describe ways that economic and social interactions change over time.
WG.18
a) Explain and evaluate reasons for the creation of different political divisions;
b) Describe ways cooperation among political jurisdictions is used to solve problems and settle disputes.
World History & Geography to 1500 A.D.
WHI.1
a) Synthesize evidence from artifacts and primary and secondary sources to obtain information about events
in world history;
b) Use geographic information to determine patterns and trends to understand world history;
c) Interpret charts, graphs and pictures to determine characteristics of people, places or events in world
history;
d) Evaluate sources for accuracy, creditability, bias and propaganda;
e) Compare and contrast historical, cultural, economic and political perspectives in world history;
f) Explain how indirect cause-and-effect relationships impacted people, places and events in world history;
g) Analyze multiple connections across time and place;
h) Use a decision-making model to analyze and explain the incentives for and consequences of a specific
choice made;
i) Identify the rights and responsibilities of citizens and ethical use of materials and intellectual property;
j) Investigate and research to develop products orally and in writing.
WH.2
a) Explain the impact of geographic environments on hunter-gather societies;
b) Describe characteristics of hunter-gatherer societies, including their use of tools and fire;
c) Analyze how technological and social developments gave rise to sedentary communities;
d) Analyze how archaeological discoveries are changing current understanding of early societies.
World History & Geography: 1500 A.D. to the Present
WHII.1
a) Synthesize evidence from artifacts and primary and secondary sources to obtain information about events
and life in world history;
b) Use geographic information to determine patterns and trends in world history;
c) Interpret charts, graphs and pictures to determine characteristics of people, places or events in world
history;
d) Evaluate sources for accuracy, credibility, bias and propaganda;
e) Compare and contrast historical, cultural, economic and political perspectives in world history;
f) Explain how indirect cause-and-effect relationships impacted people, places and events in world history;
g) Analyze multiple connections across time and place;
h) Use a decision-making model to analyze and explain the incentives for and consequences of a specific
choice made.
WHII.4
a) Explain the political and economic goals of European exploration and colonization;
b) Describe the geographic expansion into the Americas;
c) Compare and contrast the social and cultural influences of European settlement in the Americas;
d) Analyze how competition for colonies changed the economic system of Europe;
e) Define and describe how the Scientific Revolution led to social and technological changes that influenced
the European view of the world.
Virginia and United States History
VUS.1
a) Synthesize evidence from artifacts and primary and secondary sources to obtain information about events
in Virginia and United States history;
b) Use geographic information to determine patterns and trends in Virginia and United States history;
c) Interpret charts, graphs and pictures to determine characteristics of people, places or events in Virginia and
United States history;
d) Construct arguments, using evidence from multiple sources;
e) Compare and contrast historical, cultural, economic and political perspectives in Virginia and United States
history;
f) Explain how indirect cause-and-effect relationships impact people, places and events in Virginia and
United States history;
g) Analyze multiple connections across time and place;
h) Use a decision-making model to analyze and explain the incentives for and consequences of a specific
choice made.
VUS.2
a) Describe the characteristics of early exploration and evaluate the impact of European settlement in the
Americas;
b) Analyze the cultural interactions among American Indians, Europeans and Africans.
VUS.3
a) Evaluate the economic characteristics of the colonies;
b) Analyze how social and political factors impacted the culture of the colonies;
c) Explain the impact of the development of indentured servitude and slavery in the colonies.
Virginia and United States Government
GOVT.1
a) Plan inquiries by synthesizing information from diverse primary and secondary sources;
b) Analyze how political and economic trends influence public policy, using demographic information and
other data sources;
c) Compare and contrast historical, cultural, economic and political perspectives;
d) Evaluate crucially the quality, accuracy and validity of information to determine misconceptions, fact and
opinion and bias;
e) Construct informed, analytic arguments using evidence from multiple sources to introduce and support
substantive and significant claims;
f) Explain how cause-and-effect relationships impact political and economic events;
g) Take knowledgeable, constructive action, individually and collaboratively, to address school, community,
local, state, national and global issues;
h) Use a decision-making model to analyze the costs and benefits of a specific choice, considering incentives
and possible consequences;
i) Apply civic virtues and democratic principles to make collaborative decisions;
j) Communicate conclusions orally and in writing to a wide range of audiences, using evidence from multiple
sources and citing specific sources.
GOVT.2
d) Explain the guarantee of the “rights of Englishmen” set forth in the charters of the Virginia Company of
London.