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Lesson 6: A Visit to Deerfield: Learning About
the Layout of This Colonial Village
1 class period (85 minutes)
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| Key Content Ideas Taught in this Lesson and
Teacher Background |
This lesson will describe the actual layout and
design of the Deerfield village as shown on the 1686 map. It will
go on to describe the manifestations of Puritan influences as the
town developed. Insight into the town meeting records indicates
issues that were important in the developing community of settlers.
Teacher Background Essay: Settlement
and Occupation of Deerfield
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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 both primary source materials and interpretive materials
of all types are rich sources of historical evidence.
- that in Massachusetts there was no division of church and state
as we understand it, and this condition influenced every aspect
of daily life.
- the physical boundaries of Deerfield in the context of the geologic
formations and land use and settlement.
Skills
Students will be able to:
- use a variety of primary source materials, to analyze these
sources, and to make logical inferences and supported conclusions.
- make reference to previously presented material.
- utilize technology to research information and present
projects.
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| In Preparation for Teaching |
Read the Teacher Background Essay: Settlement
and Occupation of Deerfield, MA
Further Background reading:
McGowan, Susan and Miller, Amelia. Family
and Landscape: Deerfield Homelots from
1671. Deerfield, Massachusetts: Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association,
1996.
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Primary and Secondary Sources:
1. Original
Lot Survey of Deerfield, c. 1686
2. From Memorial Hall Website, The
Turns of the Centuries Exhibit: "Newcomers 1680-1720" >
"Beliefs" and "Working" sections.
3. Puritan
Village patterns from "Historical Atlas of Massachusetts"
4. Deerfield Town Book for the following dates:
April 4, 1692
October 30, 1694
September 15, 1697
March 7, 1698 & November 11,
1698
5. "The Journal of Madame Knight" This can be found in the Anthology Journeys in a New World. Andrews, William et al., Madison WI: UP Wisconsin, 1996. Pp.
87-116.
6. "Crime and Fate of Sarah Smith" from The History of Deerfield by
George Sheldon. Volume 1, pages 263, 264.
7. "Warnings to the Unclean" a sermon by Reverend John Williams, delivered 1698. See pages 9-10, 21-22, and
55-59.
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| Activities |
Materials in Context |
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Activity 1
1. Invite the class to use the Original
Lot Survey of 1686 map, noting how the land in Deerfield
was divided by surveyor, Joshua Fisher. Compare that map
with that in an historical atlas. What factors determine
the design of a town? How were the lands divided among the
earliest Deerfield English settlers?
2. Ask students to go to the Memorial
Hall website to view the "Turns of the Centuries"
Exhibit: "Newcomers 1680-1720" to gain a sense
of the Puritan influences that came to bear on the development
of the town.
3. Invite students to read the Town Book
accounts to learn about the decisions made by the town as
the community is established. As the students read, they
should be preparing to discuss how early Deerfield was designed
and functioned.
Assignment: Complete the readings
of Madame Knight or Sara Smith, two very different stories
of colonial women during the early period of settlement
in New England.
In your journal write about those aspects
of the Madame Knight or Sara Smith story that are unique
to the colonial setting. Then tell about those aspects of
the story that could find a counterpart in today's world
by describing a similar (fictitious) situation as it could
occur in today's environment.
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Original
Lot Survey of Deerfield, c. 1686
Puritan
Village patterns from "Historical Atlas of Massachusetts"
Deerfield Town Book:
April 4, 1692
October 30, 1694
September 15, 1697
March 7, 1698 & November
11, 1698
"Crime and Fate of Sarah Smith" from The History of Deerfield by George
Sheldon. Volume 1, pages 263, 264.
"Warnings to the Unclean" a sermon by Reverend John Williams, delivered 1698.
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The journal article describing a contemporary
event such as Madame Knight's tour or Sara Smith's dilemma
will be used as an assessment.
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