View/Download PDF
The Southern and Middle Colonies
Heather Brooks
None
The Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies were as significant to the development of the United States as that of the New England colonies and the Jamestown Colony (which was a Southern Colony). The Middle Colonies included Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The Southern Colonies were Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. This lesson will focus on the development of the Middle and Southern Colonies and will target the history, types of government established, major figures in its colonial history, economic activities, major towns and settlements established, religious development, and ethnic makeup of each of the colonies.
***For more information, please see section of lesson titled Notes.
1. Transparency of Frayer Diagram. Diagram available at www.seaford.k12.de.us/it/frayer.htm
2. Board markers.
3. Directions for group activity - linked.
4. Books on Colonial America reserved from school media center.
5. Use of copier.
6. Project Materials: poster board, construction paper, glue, markers, colored pencils, scissors, tape, etc.
7. Project Directions: Linked as Brochure Project Directions - The Southern and Middle Colonies.
8. Example of Primary Document and questions for student example. The linked document is titled Gabriel Thomas Document. The entire document can be found at: http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/36-tho.html
9. Project Grading Guidelines document linked to this lesson. It is titled: Brochure Project Grading Guidelines - Southern and Middle Colonies
Sources Used for preparation of lesson:
Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995.
Danzer, Gerald A., J. Jorge Klore de Alva, Nancy Woloch, and Louis E. Wilson. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2006.
Two 90 minute blocks
4
What influenced did the settlement of the Middle and Southern Colonies have on the overall settlement of North America?
Content Specific Questions:
How did the settlement of the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies take place? Who were the major figures involved and what were the major events and results of the founding of these colonies?
Frayer Diagram - available at www.seaford.k12.de.us/it/frayer.htm
1. As students come into the room, have a Frayer diagram displayed on board. The center term should be proprietary colony. Using their textbooks, they should give the definition, characteristics, examples, and non-examples for this term. We use The Americansby McDougal Littell as our class text.
Example Follows:
Definition: A colony where the owner has full control.
Characteristics: Owner governs fully, ownership granted by the king.
Examples: New York - Duke of York, Pennsylvania - William Penn
Non-examples: Georgia - Royal Colony
Citation for material used in bellwork example:
Danzer, Gerald A., J. Jorge Klore de Alva, Nancy Woloch, and Louis E. Wilson. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2006.
2. Give the students about five minutes to complete on their own.
3. When time is up, call on students to volunteer answers.
1. Write the names of the middle and southern colonies on the board. Leave space in between each of the names: Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
2. Point to one state's name. Ask the students to relate one thing that they think of when they hear that states' name (historically). Get two or three examples for each colony/state.
3. Once all colonies/states have been discussed, ask the students how they think each state became known for the characteristics previously listed by the class. Connect the examples they have given to colonial times.
Examples:
Georgia - peaches, cotton, slaves. Goes back to the type of agriculture that developed in Georgia and the labor supply needed that was used to make it a profitable colony.
Virginia - tobacco, George Washington, planters. Economic background of state - why the colony became profitable.
Because the early colonies needed settlers (labor) to make them economically successful, the students are going to create a brochure/flier/advertisement for the colony in order to attract other settlers to come to that colony to settle.
1. The students will be divided into teams to represent each of the southern and middle colonies: The colonies of Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The teacher should decide how the groups are to be divided. The teacher can divide the groups based on student performance and work habits or simply have the students to number 1 through 9 around the room. Once groups are decided, the teacher should assign the group a colony. Take this time to pass out directions for the activity - linked).
2. The teacher should either reserve library time for research or have the media specialist to reserve books for research that you can bring to your room. (I check out all the reference books on Colonial America for 2 days. The students can use these materials to find information for their brochure. I copy pictures that the students need on the copier).
3. Provide the students with poster board, construction paper, glue, markers, colored pencils, scissors, tape, etc. in order for them to create their brochures/fliers/advertisement for their colony.
4. The brochures/fliers/advertisments should contain information dealing with the: A. History of the colonial foundations, B. Type of Government established, C. Major people and significance during colonial period, D. Economic activities, E. Major towns/settlements, F. Religions, G. Ethnic makeup, H. Anything else of interest of that colony that makes it unique, I. Design a flag for the colony that is an example of that colony's characteristics.
5. The students should also include one primary document that deals with colonial settlement or life during the colonial period for their assigned colony. This document should be presented to the class at the same time as the project. Suggestion - Students could create 3 to five questions about the document to ask classmates as they finish presentation. To make sure that students understand instructions, find a primary document to use as an example. I have provided a linked document titled Gabriel Thomas Document Middle and Southern Colonies as an example with questions. This is only an excerpt from a document located at: http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/36-tho.html
6. The students should present their posters/advertisements/brochures/primary documents to the class as part of their project grade. The students should be required to take notes on the other students work.
7. Group Grade: Should be a combination of teacher observation, student evaluations of other students and their own work withing the group, accuracy of the project altogether, and summarizing activity. There is a linked Grading Guidelines Document for the Middle and Southern Colonies linked to this lesson. It is titled Brochure Project Grading Guidelines - Southern and Middle Colonies.
Using their notes from group presentations, each student should summarize one group's project (it cannot be their own group). In this summary, they should discuss A-H of the project requirements and the primary document and answer the essential question for the lesson.
Directions for project activity will be linked to this file as Brochure Poject Directions -The Southern and Middle Colonies.
Background Information:
The Middle colonies and the Southern colonies were as significant to the development of the United States as that of the New England colonies and the Jamestown Colony (which was a Southern colony). The Middle colonies included Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The Southern colonies were Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia.
Many of the Middle colonies were created from the original Virginia Colony. The colony of Maryland was founded by Cecilius Calvert, the Second Lord Baltimore as a refuge for English Catholics, for profit incentives, and to fulfil the goals of his father George Calvert, who died before he could receive a charter from the king. New York came by way of the Dutch. It was a colony that was originally held by the Dutch and referred to as the "Dutch Wedge" between the lower British colonies and the New England Colonies. Because of this, Charles II gave his brother, James, the Duke of York, a grant to all land between the Conecticut and Delaware Rivers. Even though the land was held by the Dutch, James was able to claim the colony with little resistanc. James, who later became James II, gave part of his original land claim to Sir George Carteret. He named the territory New Jersey. The colony of Pennsylvania was created by William Penn. Charles II owed Penn's father a large sum of money. To pay off the debt, the King gave William Penn territory between New York and Maryland. Pennsylvania became a proprietary colony and a refuge for Quakers. The colony of Delaware was created from the colony of Pennsylvania in 1704, when the three lower counties of Pennsylvania asked for their own assembly and Penn allowed it to happen.
The Southern colonies developed somewhat differently from the other colonies. Virginia, of course, was the earliest of the British colonies established with the founding of Jamestown in 1607. The Carolinas were created from the original Virginia Colony. Charles II gave this land to court favorites who were the proprietors of the colony. The court favorites created large estates of land for themselves and either sold or gave away smaller tracts of land through the headright system. The last of the colonies created by the English in what became the United States was that of Georgia. This colony was founded by James Oglethorpe and the motives were economically motivated, militarily motivated, and philanthropic in nature. The goal was to create a buffer zone between the English colonies in the north and the Spanish colonies in the south. The colony was also to provide a refuge for the improvished in England.
Citation for source material:
Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995.
None
Gabriel Thomas Document - Middle and Southern Colo
Brochure Project Directions - Southern and Middle
Brochure Grading Guideline Middle and Southern col