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Lesson 4: The Work of an Historian --
Research 17th Century Colonist John Pynchon of Springfield, Massachusetts
1 class period (85 minutes)
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| Key Content Ideas Taught in this Lesson and
Teacher Background |
How historians approach their work using both
artifacts and documents will be taught. Students will practice this
craft by researching a prominent historical figure in the Connecticut
River Valley during colonial times, John Pynchon.
Teacher Background Essay: Primary
and Secondary Sources.
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| Intended Learning Outcomes |
Understandings
Students will understand:
- that it is valuable to study the lives, actions, ideas, political
experiences, and judgments of people in the past.
- that it is important NOT to judge people in the past by today's
notions and beliefs.
- how historians approach their work, using both artifacts and
documents.
- that both primary source materials and interpretive materials
of all types are rich sources of historical evidence.
- that land ownership conferred power because it was a determinant
of wealth, and a prerequisite for political participation.
- That there were increasingly in this period competing political
agendas, and competition for land, power, and wealth in Deerfield.
Skills
Students will be able to:
- transcribe a primary document.
- utilize technology to research information and present projects.
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| In Preparation for Teaching |
Read the following as background:
1. "How to Read Old Documents" from
the Memorial Hall website (link at bottom of this page.)
2. Read Student Background Essay: Reading
Primary Sources.
3. Read Teacher Background Essay: Primary
and Secondary Sources.
Further Background Reading:
Armytage, Frances and Juliette Tomlinson. The
Pynchons of Springfield: Founders and Colonizers (1636-1702)
Springfield, Massachusetts: Connecticut Historical Museum, 1969.
Hitchins, Christopher. "Goodbye to All That
– Why Americans Are Not Taught History" Harper's Magazine,
November, 1998.
Sheldon, George. The History of Deerfield,
MA. Somersworth, N.H. N.H. Publishing Company, 1972. Pp. 63-64,
201.
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Primary and Secondary Sources:
- Basic Questions Worksheet An analysis sheet for primary documents
and objects
- Primary and Secondary Source samples from Web site.
- Memorial hall Website search for "John Pynchon."
- Innes, Stephen. Early Settlement in
the Connecticut Valley. Westfield, MA: Westfield State
College, 1984. Pp. 22-35.
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| Activities |
Materials in Context |
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Activity 1
1. Write the following vignette on the
board, then ask the students to respond in their journals.
Be convincing! Use examples.
The Greek verb historein means
"to ask questions."
What needs to be combated in the study of history is the
idea, so often expressed, that "light" is preferred
to "heat". But, heat, as you all have learned
in other courses, is the source of light. History should
be a field of ardent contestation and not another patch
of arid ground. Puralism is a means as well as an end.
Consider this example:
"Such a lot of things seem to me such rot,"
says a young girl in one of Agatha Christie's mysteries.
"History, for instance. Why it's quite different
out of different books!" To this her mentor, wise
in the ways of the world replies: "That is of real
interest."
2. Invite students to tell what they
would use as historians as evidence to learn about the past,
then ask them to define the terms "primary documents"
and "secondary documents" in their own words.
3. Introduce the students to the Basic
Questions Worksheet
4. Divide students into groups to examine sample types of
documents. Using the Memorial Hall website, ask students
to locate any 5 types of the following:
Account books, inventories, diaries, photographs, maps,
town records and specific types of items such as furniture,
clothing, or household goods.
- After close examination of the documents, using the
worksheets, ask students to report some of the information
that they could "tease out" from these items.
- Conclude by reflecting on the continuing work of scholars
and the implications for adding new information to historical
events.
Assignment: Using your skills as an historian,
go to both primary and secondary sources to locate information
on an early colonial leader in Western Massachusetts, John
Pynchon. Use both print and electronic resources, especially
the Memorial Hall site, then take notes on the following:
- General biographical information
- Interaction with the native peoples
- Role as a land broker
- Political role
Once you have completed your research,
write and be prepared to present a eulogy for John Pynchon.
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Basic
Questions Worksheet
Early Settlement
in the Connecticut Valley
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Class participation and the written eulogy.
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