Integrated Early American History
Life in Colonial America
SS0504
Fifth Grade Social Studies: Integrated Early American History
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America
Big Picture Graphic
Overarching Question:
How did life in the three colonial regions set the stage for colonists to join in the cause for
independence?
Previous Unit:
Colonization and
Settlement
This Unit:
Life in Colonial America
Next Unit:
Road to Revolution
Questions To Focus Assessment and Instruction:
1. How did economic activities contribute to the significant differences among the colonial
regions?
2. How did colonial political experiences influence how colonists viewed their rights and
responsibilities?
3. How did the institution of slavery affect colonial development and life in the colonies?
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Integrated Early American History
Life in Colonial America
SS0504
Graphic Organizer
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Life in Colonial America
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Middle School Foundations (see Grade 8, F1.1)
Describe the ideas, experiences, and interactions that influenced the colonists’ decision to declare
independence by analyzing
• colonial ideas about government (e.g., limited government, republicanism, protecting individual rights and
promoting the common good, representative government, natural rights)
• experiences with self-government (e.g., House of Burgesses and town meetings).
Unit Abstract:
In this unit students examine the economic and political developments in the colonies prior to the
end of the French and Indian War1 and assess how these developments affected life in the colonies.
After reviewing the three colonial regions, students focus on the economic attributes of the colonies.
They take an in-depth look at the Triangular Trade routes, including the Middle Passage, and its
consequence for both continents. Students then explore the colonial labor force, noting differences
between the New England and Southern colonies, and comparing the life of enslaved Africans and
free Africans in the American colonies. Emphasis is placed on the effect of “one-crop economies”
(plantation grown staple crops) in the south, and its influence on various groups of people and daily
life in the Southern colonies. Students then shift their focus to New England and the Middle
colonies, examining the diversity of economic activities and its affect on daily life in each region.
Next, students investigate how colonial political experiences during the first half of the 18th Century
influenced colonists’ views of their political rights and responsibilities. In doing so, they explore the
shift of power from royal appointed governors to colonial representative assemblies and their
influences on colonial life. Throughout the unit, students consider life in the British colonies from the
perspectives of different groups of people including women, wealthy landowners, indentured
servants, American Indians, free Africans, and enslaved Africans. Students explore how Africans
living in North America drew upon their African past and adapted elements of new cultures to
develop a distinct African-American culture. By the end of the unit, students construct
generalizations about the reasons for regional differences in colonial America.
Focus Questions
1. How did economic activities contribute to the significant differences among the colonial
regions?
2. How did colonial political experiences influence how colonists viewed their rights and
responsibilities?
3. How did the institution of slavery affect colonial development and life in the colonies?
Content Expectations
5 – U2.1.1: Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies, including:
• development of colonial representative assemblies (House of Burgesses)
1
The French and Indian War is more commonly referenced in the academic world as the Seven Years’ War.
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Integrated Early American History
Life in Colonial America
SS0504
•
development of one-crop economies (plantation land use and growing season for
rice in Carolinas and tobacco in Virginia).2
(portions omitted)
5 – U2.1.2:
Describe significant developments in the New England colonies, including:
• the development of government including establishment of town meetings,
development of colonial legislatures and growth of royal government
• growth of agricultural (small farms) and non-agricultural (shipping, manufacturing)
economies.
(portions omitted)
5 – U2.1.3:
Describe significant developments in the Middle Colonies, including:
• patterns of settlement and control including the impact of geography (landforms
and climate) on settlement
• the growth of Middle Colonies economies (e.g., breadbasket).
(portions omitted)
5 – U2.2.1:
Describe Triangular Trade including:
• the trade routes
• the people and goods that were traded
• the Middle Passage
• its impact on life in Africa.
5 – U2.2.2:
Describe the life of enslaved Africans and free Africans in the American colonies.
5 – U2.2.3:
Describe how Africans living in North America drew upon their African past (e.g.,
sense of family, role of oral tradition) and adapted elements of new cultures to develop
a distinct African-American culture.
5 – U2.3.1:
Locate the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies on a map.
5 – U2.3.2:
Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern
colonies.
5 – U2.3.3:
Describe colonial life in America from the perspectives of at least three different
groups of people (e.g., wealthy landowners, farmers, merchants, indentured servants,
laborers and the poor, women, enslaved people, free Africans, and American Indians).
5 – U2.3.4:
Describe the development of the emerging labor force in the colonies (e.g., cash crop
farming, slavery, indentured servants).
5 – U2.3.5:
Make generalizations about the reasons for regional differences in colonial America.
Key Concepts
African-American culture
2
Note that the term "one-crop economies” as used in this expectation is not the proper historical term. Rather, the
proper reference should be to "staple-crops." For instance, South Carolina planters grew rice, cotton, and indigo. While
the South Carolina economy grew more than one type of crop, it relied heavily on plantation-grown staple crops, which
increased reliance of slave labor.
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Integrated Early American History
Life in Colonial America
SS0504
colonial self-government
economic activities
generalizations
indentured servants
labor force
point of view/perspective
regional differences
royal government
slavery
staple-crops
Triangular Trade
Duration
6 weeks
Lesson Sequence
Lesson 1: Colonial Regions
Lesson 2: Triangular Trade and the Middle Passage
Lesson 3: The Economy in the Southern Colonies
Lesson 4: The Role of Slavery in the South
Lesson 5: The Economy in New England and the Middle Colonies
Lesson 6: The Influence of the Economy on Daily Colonial Life
Lesson 7: The Growth of Colonial Legislative Power
Lesson 8: Colonial Life from Different Perspectives
Lesson 9: Africans in the Colonies
Lesson 10: Constructing Generalizations about the Past
Assessment
Selected Response Items
Constructed Response Items
Extended Response Items
Performance Assessments
Resources
Equipment/Manipulative
Overhead Projector or Document Camera and Projector
Student Resource
Archiving Early America. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.earlyamerica.com/>.
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Life in Colonial America
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Berson, Michael J. Horizons: United States History: Beginnings. Orlando: Harcourt School
Publishers, 2005 (or similar 5th grade Early American History textbook).
Colonial Coins in America. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/market_to_market/pages/ForeignCoins.html>.
Colonial Currency. Notre Dame. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCurrency/>.
Colonial Williamsburg Trades. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/trades/tradehdr.cfm>.
A Colonial Family and Community. The Henry Ford. 3 Sept. 2008
http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/smartfun/colonial/intro/index.html
KidZone. Colonial Williamsburg. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.history.org/kids/games/>.
Lester, Julius. From Slave Ship to Freedom Road. New York: Dial, 1998.
Living under Enslavement. The Henry Ford. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/smartfun/hermitage/open.html>.
A Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie. Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society, Inc.
3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.historical-museum.org/exhibits/hm/henmarie.htm>.
The Slave Ship Zong. The Transatlantic Slave Trade. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.antislavery.org/breakingthesilence/main/Activities/04_SlaveShipZong.pdf>.
The Virginia House of Burgesses. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/houseofburgesses.htm>.
Yates, Elizabeth. Amos Fortune Free Man. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1950.
You Be the Historian. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Hands On History Room.
3 Sept. 2008 <http://americanhistory.si.edu/kids/springer/>.
Teacher Resource
Account of the Middle Passage. Virtual Jamestown. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.virtualjamestown.org/mpassage.html>.
Africans in America. PBS/WGBH. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia>.
Black Resistance: Slavery in the United States. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.afro.com/history/slavery/main.html>.
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Life in Colonial America
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Description of a Slave Ship. PBS. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://africanhistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=africanhistory&zu=http:/
/www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h295b.html>.
Inside a Slave Fort. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.antislavery.org/breakingthesilence/main/PickandMix/Inside%20a%20Slave%20F
ort.doc>.
Map of the Middle Colonies. Holt, Reinhart, Winston. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://go.hrw.com/ndNSAPI.nd/gohrw_rls1/pKeywordResults?ST9%20Middle%20Colonies
Map of the New England Colonies in 1650. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://loki.stockton.edu/~gilmorew/0colhis/neng13.jpg>.
Map of the Southern Colonies. The Thirteen Colonies. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.mce.k12tn.net/colonial_america/southern_colonies.htm>.
Native American Cultures. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.sagehistory.net/colonial/topics/nativeam.htm>.
The Original Thirteen Colonies. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/release/taks/2003/gr10takssocstud
ies.pdf>.
Stuff Imported From London. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/market_to_market/pages/JohnGreenhow.html>.
Thomson, Melissa and Ruth Dean. Life in the American Colonies. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1999.
Triangular Trade Routes. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g5s_u3/index.html>.
Resources for Further Professional Knowledge
American History Websites. 3 Sept. 2008
<http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/history/hista.html>.
Binder, Frederick M. and David M. Reimers. The Way We Lived: Essays and Documents in
American Social History. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2003.
Digital History. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/>.
Foner, Eric. The Story of American Freedom. New York: WW Norton & Co., Inc., 1998.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.gilderlehrman.org/>.
History Cooperative. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.historycooperative.org/>.
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Life in Colonial America
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The History Place. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.historyplace.com/>.
A Hypertext on American History. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/usa.htm>.
Making of America. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moagrp/>.
National Council for History Education. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://www.nche.net/>.
National History Education Clearinghouse. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://teachinghistory.org/>.
National History Standards: Era I. 3 Sept. 2008 <http://nchs.ucla.edu/standards/era1-5-12.html>.
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Integrated Early American History
Life in Colonial America
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Instructional Organization
Lesson 1: Colonial Regions
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.3.1: Locate the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies on a map.
Key Concepts: regional differences
Lesson 2: Triangular Trade and the Middle Passage
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.2.1: Describe Triangular Trade including:
• the trade routes
• the people and goods that were traded
• the Middle Passage
• its impact on life in Africa.
Key Concepts: labor force, slavery, Triangular Trade
Lesson 3: The Economy in the Southern Colonies
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.1.1: Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies, including:
• development of one-crop economies (plantation land use and growing season for
rice in Carolinas and tobacco in Virginia).
(portions omitted)
5 – U2.3.2:
Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern
colonies.
5 – U2.3.4:
Describe the development of the emerging labor force in the colonies (e.g., cash crop
farming, slavery, indentured servants).
Key Concepts: economic activities, indentured servants, labor force, staple-crops, slavery
Lesson 4: The Role of Slavery in the South
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.2.2: Describe the life of enslaved Africans and free Africans in the American colonies.
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Life in Colonial America
SS0504
5 – U2.3.2:
Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern
colonies.
5 – U2.3.4:
Describe the development of the emerging labor force in the colonies (e.g., cash crop
farming, slavery, indentured servants).
Key Concepts: labor force, staple-crops, slavery
Lesson 5: The Economy in New England and the Middle Colonies
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.1.2: Describe significant developments in the New England colonies, including:
• growth of agricultural (small farms) and non-agricultural (shipping, manufacturing)
economies.
(portions omitted)
5 – U2.1.3:
Describe significant developments in the Middle Colonies, including:
• patterns of settlement and control including the impact of geography (landforms
and climate) on settlement
• the growth of Middle Colonies economies (e.g., breadbasket).
(portions omitted)
5 – U2.3.1:
Locate the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies on a map.
5 – U2.3.4:
Describe the development of the emerging labor force in the colonies (e.g., cash crop
farming, slavery, indentured servants).
Key Concepts: economic activities, indentured servants, labor force, regional differences
Lesson 6: The Influence of the Economy on Daily Colonial Life
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.2.2: Describe the life of enslaved Africans and free Africans in the American colonies.
5 – U2.3.2:
Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern
colonies.
5 – U2.3.4:
Describe the development of the emerging labor force in the colonies (e.g., cash crop
farming, slavery, indentured servants).
Key Concepts: economic activities, indentured servants, labor force, staple-crops, regional
differences, slavery
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Integrated Early American History
Life in Colonial America
SS0504
Lesson 7: The Growth of Colonial Legislative Power
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.1.1: Describe significant developments in the Southern colonies, including:
• development of colonial representative assemblies (House of Burgesses)
(portions omitted)
5 – U2.1.2:
Describe significant developments in the New England colonies, including:
• the development of government including establishment of town meetings,
development of colonial legislatures and growth of royal government
(portions omitted)
5 – U2.3.2:
Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern
colonies.
Key Concepts: colonial self-government, royal government
Lesson 8: Colonial Life from Different Perspectives
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.2.2: Describe the life of enslaved Africans and free Africans in the American colonies.
5 – U2.3.2:
Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern
colonies.
5 – U2.3.3:
Describe colonial life in America from the perspectives of at least three different
groups of people (e.g., wealthy landowners, farmers, merchants, indentured servants,
laborers and the poor, women, enslaved people, free Africans, and American Indians).
Key Concepts: point of view/perspective, regional differences
Lesson 9: Africans in the Colonies
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.2.2: Describe the life of enslaved Africans and free Africans in the American colonies.
5 – U2.2.3:
Describe how Africans living in North America drew upon their African past (e.g.,
sense of family, role of oral tradition) and adapted elements of new cultures to develop
a distinct African-American culture.
Key Concepts: African-American culture, point of view/perspective, slavery
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Integrated Early American History
Life in Colonial America
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Lesson 10: Constructing Generalizations about the Past
Content Expectations:
5 – U2.3.5: Make generalizations about the reasons for regional differences in colonial America.
Key Concepts: generalizations, regional differences
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