Teacher Institute in Early American History

Description

Designed for elementary social studies teachers who teach United States history and government, this intensive week-long workshop will immerse participants in early American history "on location" in Williamsburg, the restored capital city of 18th-century Virginia, and nearby Jamestown and Yorktown. 25 teachers and a returning mentor teacher will be selected for each session. Participants will be involved in an interdisciplinary approach to teaching social studies with colonial American history as the focus. Teachers will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with noted historians, meet character interpreters, and take part in reenactments of 18th-century events. They will review various interactive teaching techniques with a mentor teacher and with each other. Instructional materials in a variety of media will be provided to participants to use in their classrooms. Together with Colonial Williamsburg staff, teachers will prepare new instructional materials for use in their own classrooms.

Contact name
McKee, Amanda
Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Colonial Williamsburg
Phone number
757-565-8417
Target Audience
Elementary
Start Date
Cost
$1900
Course Credit
Three graduate credit hours available from the University of San Diego
Duration
Eight days
End Date

Slavery in New York

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Focusing on the experiences of Africans and African Americans in New York City, this collection presents nine galleries that explore various themes and time periods in the history of slavery. These include the Atlantic slave trade; slavery in Dutch New York; the growth of slavery in British Colonial New York; freedom for blacks during the Revolutionary War; the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1799; free blacks in public life; Emancipation Day (July 4, 1827), and the history of scholarship on slavery in New York City. Each gallery has three panels: a gallery overview, a main thematic presentation, and one focusing on people, places, and documents. Of special interest are two interactive maps with timelines in the Dutch New York gallery and the Revolutionary War gallery; a picture gallery on the portrayal of blacks in New York City's public life; and profiles of nine African Americans who lived in New York City during the early republic.

Colonial Connecticut Records, 1636-1776

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This scanned and partially searchable version of the 15-volume Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, from April 1636 to October 1776, was originally published between 1850 and 1890. Users can search documents by date, volume, and page number. Each of the 15 volumes, covering consecutive time periods, includes alphabetical, hyperlinked subject terms for browsing. The site also provides access by type of material: charters, documents, inventories, laws, letters, and court proceedings. Keyword searching may be available in the future, but even without this option, the site offers a wealth of accessible material on politics, legal matters, Indian affairs, military actions, social concerns, agriculture, religion, and other aspects of early Connecticut history.

Plymouth Colony Archive Project

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A wealth of documents and analytical essays emphasize the social history of Plymouth Colony from 1620 to 1691. This website also offers a tribute to the scholarly work of the late James Deetz, professor of historical archaeology. Documents include 135 probates, 24 wills, and 14 texts containing laws and court cases on land division, master-servant relations, sexual misconduct, and disputes involving Native Americans.

The site also provides more than 90 biographical studies, research papers, and topical articles that analyze "life ways" of 395 individuals who lived in the colony and offer theoretical views on the colony's legal structure, gender roles, vernacular house forms, and domestic violence. There are 25 maps or plans, approximately 50 photographs, and excerpts from Deetz's books on the history and myths of Plymouth Colony and on Anglo-American gravestone styles.

Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704

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This website documents the 1704 raid on Deerfield, MA, by 300 French and their Native American allies. Visitors are introduced to the raid by a multimedia exhibit that describes white settlement patterns that led to profound cross-cultural tensions.

Explanations includes 15 short essays that provide historical background. "Voices and Songs" provides audio commentary for the 300th anniversary of the raid, three audio versions of Native American creation stories, and 17th- and 18th-century music. Meet the Five Cultures includes brief introductions to the English, French, Mohawk, Huron, and Wobanaki.

Twenty-eight individual biographies include Native Americans, French, and English settlers. Fourteen maps depict Native American territories and the areas involved. After viewing the evidence, visitors are asked to decide whether the raid was part of a larger pattern of cross-cultural violence or an aberration.

Religion and the Founding of the American Republic

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This exhibition of 212 written documents and visual images explores the significance of religion in early American history and its relationship with the establishment of republican institutions. Materials include manuscripts, letters, books, prints, paintings, sermons, pamphlets, artifacts, and music.

There are seven sections, each with a 500-word essay and item annotations. Topics include religious persecution in Europe that led to emigration, including woodcuts depicting religious violence; religious experience in 18th-century America, including the Great Awakening; the influence of religious leaders and ideas on the War of Independence; and evangelical movements of the early 19th century. Additional topics include policies toward religion of the Continental Confederation Congress, state governments, and the new federal government, including sermons and appeals arguing for and against tax-supported religion.

Virtual Jamestown

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This is a good place to begin exploring the history of Jamestown. The site includes over 60 letters and firsthand accounts from 1570 to 1720 on voyages, settlements, Bacon's Rebellion, and early history. More than 100 public records, such as census data and laws; 55 maps and images; and a registry of servants sent to plantations from 1654 to 1686 complete the site.

Virtual Jamestown also includes records from 1607 to 1815 of Christ's Hospital in England, where orphans were trained to apprentice in the colonies. There are four interactive virtual recreations. The reference section includes a timeline from 1502 to the present, narratives by prominent historians, links to 20 related sites, a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. The Complete Works of John Smith and John Smith's Map of Virginia have recently been added to the site, while 3D recreations of Jamestown's Statehouse and Meetinghouse as well as an archive of Virginia's first Africans are being added.