Founding A Colony Pre-site Activities

Founding a Colony - Pre-site Activity/Teacher Led

Grade Level: 8
Content Area: History
Time to Complete: 45 minutes
Title of Lesson: Founding a Colony

South Carolina State Standards Addressed:

8.2.4

Address ways in which South Carolina and other colonies addressed the labor shortage, including slavery.

Process Standards
Historical Comprehension
•Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage.
Historical Analysis and Interpretation
•Compare different stories about a historical figure, era, or event.

Lesson Description:

Two-thirds of the first colonists in Carolina were indentured servants. Their passage to America was paid with the understanding that they would work it off under a master. Why did they agree to come here under these circumstances? This lesson examines the terms of indentured servitude and circumstances of indentured servants in Carolina.

Focus Question for Students:

1.	Would you agree to be an indentured servant?

Materials/Resources:
Indentured Servant's Contract
Copies of newspaper advertisements (2)
Handout comparing rights and responsibilities of servants and masters
Materials for #7 under Procedures

Teacher Preparation:

1.	Make copies of the indentured servant’s contract, advertisements and handout.
2.	Review lesson plans for all three lessons. Decide whether you will conduct the optional indigo experiment in the post-site lesson. (If so, you may pick up the materials the day of your field trip.)
3.	Implement the pre-site lesson before your scheduled visit. Contact Charles Towne Landing with any questions.
	Advertisements were originally published in the Charleston newspaper. The servant’s contract is a paraphrase taken from several contracts recorded in the Journal of the Grand Council of Carolina.

Procedures:

1.	Hand out copies of an indentured servant’s contract. After students have read it, ask if they think they would agree to sign it. Why or why not?
2.	About two-thirds of the original colonists who came to Carolina came as indentured servants. Signing a contract was important in ensuring that they were treated fairly. Both the servant and the master were obligated toward one another. Review the specifics of the contract.
3.	Whether or not life as an indentured servant seems appealing to us today, the truth is that many men and women did become servants. Use the handout listing the rights and responsibilities of servants and masters to lead a discussion about why a person might become an indentured servant, their circumstances after signing a contract and whether or not indentured servitude seems like a good choice for anyone.
4.	The Grand Council of Carolina was responsible for settling disputes in the colony and many problems arose because of the indentured servant arrangement. They handled cases of servants’ stealing, refusing to work, threatening their masters, and running away. They also handled cases of masters’ failing to adequately feed, clothe and shelter their servants and of being abusive.
	Many indentured servants ran away. Why do you think they did so? How might they be punished if caught (according to the handout)? How did masters view their servants (based on the advertisement)?
5.	Read the newspaper advertisement offering a servant for sale. Were indentured servants slaves? Read the later advertisement offering African slaves for sale. What made them different from each other? How were they similar? Indentured servitude varied greatly. Despite the differences from colony to colony and master to master, the following statements can be made:
	• Indentured servants served under a contract limiting their time of service. Slaves were slaves for life.
	• A contract of indenture applied only to the person under contract. The children of slaves were also slaves. (Both could be sold or inherited, but this applied to servants only for time remaining on their indenture, and to slaves and their children for life.)
	• Indentured servitude was usually voluntary; slavery never was. (The practice of kidnapping servants to send to the colonies was notorious, but most servants did go voluntarily.)
6.	Everyone will sign an indenture as a servant. The Lords Proprietors governed the daily life of all of the colonists, servants and freemen, right down to what crops they planted. The subject of the field trip will be how the proprietors regulated the colony.
7.	In preparation for the crop garden activity at Charles Towne Landing, make a marker for the row your class will plant. A 3” x 5” laminated marker should be placed on a 12” post. Use any materials you wish to create this marker and include your school and class name and date of your field trip.