Remembering Massachusetts

Remembering Massachusetts by Grade 5 Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Nock Middle School Students Create Massachusetts History Slide Show In February, 2007, members of the Nock Middle School’s grade five Crimson Team created their first Massachusetts history slide show. Based on the Massachusetts History and Social Science Frameworks, the show consists of four segments: Overview of the Colony; Conflicts over Land; Maritime Trade and Colonial Democracy; and Education in Colonial Massachusetts. Students explored these topics via a library scavenger hunt, chose a topic of interest to them, researched the topic, and wrote a paragraph on it. Next they created a PowerPoint slide and finally they recorded their own voices reading their work. We hope you enjoy the show!

Remembering Massachusetts Maritime Trade and Colonial Democracy

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. Massachusetts’s Ships By Alex D. The Blessing of the Bay was the first ship that was launched in Massachusetts. To build ships men cut down trees. Shipbuilders put boards together to make the hulls and decks. Other men cut and stitched heavy canvas for the ship’s sails. Ships were built for sailors, fishermen, whalers, and traders. Trade ships brought back and forth fur, indigo, iron, naval products, tobacco, lumber, slaves, sugar, yarn, cloth, cheese, eggs, ale, poultry, and guns. Fishermen dried fish and shipped them to Europe. Whalers hunted whales for their oil. The oil was used to light lamps. We remember colonial ships because they helped fishermen, whalers, and traders earn money. Sources Colonial America, Vol.3 Colonial America by Nancy Day

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. Shipbuilding in Massachusetts Bay Colony By Scott M. In 1631, the first vessel, Blessing of the Bay, was built in Boston, Massachusetts. Shipbuilding was important because it served people with jobs such as lumbermen and carpenters. The building of a ship went in order like this. First, men cut pine and oak trees and floated them down a river to the shore. Next, they sawed the trees into timbers and planks. The men then built the ship from the keel up. The first boats were small fishing boats. Soon bigger boats were made so fishermen could go farther offshore to catch codfish. Then they started to build full-size ships to carry barrels of fish to far off markets. As you can see shipbuilding was very important to the growth of the Massachusetts Bay colony. Sources Colonial America Vol. .2 History at Home

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. Commercial Fishing By Bryce C. In 1624, in Salem, Massachusetts, the first center for commercial fishing started and the first ship was built by a carpenter from England. The ship was a shallop. In 1631, they launched a 30 ton sloop named Blessing of the Bay. It was the first sailing ship. Many fishermen fished in the Northeast, on the eastern seaboard, and in the North Atlantic. New Englanders were hoping to clear rocky land to make a living but often they chose fishing instead. Fishermen caught more fish then they needed so they cleaned and dried the fish to keep them from spoiling. They then shipped the fish to Europe where the dried fish was exchanged for cloth and other goods the colonists needed for survival within the settlements. Fish was in great demand by Europe’s growing population. We remember commercial fishing because it led to money, food, trade and survival for the colonists of Massachusetts. Sources Colonial America, Vol. 3, 6 and 7

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. WhalingHelps Colonists By Jessica O. The definition of whaling is hunting and killing whales. The first American whalers were Indians. The Indians killed whales with harpoons and with catcher boats. The Indians hammered stakes into the blowholes so it would stop breathing. The Indians taught the colonists how to whale. The colonists got helpful things out of whales. Whales gave oil that is made of the head and blubber. There was also oil that became an ingredient in candles. Also, it could make expensive perfumes. Whaling was important to Massachusetts because whale oil was not smoky like most lamp oil and people that could afford it had a really good light source. We remember whaling because it provided the colonists with so many things like oil and ingredients in candles and perfumes that you could trade or keep. Also, another thing is that you could easily sell those things for money. Sources Wikipedia Colonial America World Book 2003, Encyclopedia Colonial America, Vol.1 There She Blows.

Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Remembering Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio Colonists Kill Whales For Money By Sydney H. In the early 1600’s, a new industry called whaling was created by the colonists. Whaling was a new industry that was a good way to make money because farming was difficult due to the thin and rocky soil. The winters were long and cold; that made farming even harder. Whaling was reliable because the ocean nearby was full of whales and the harbors were good. Whaling is the hunting and killing of whales for the products that the whale’s blubber, head and intestines could produce. The whale’s blubber was boiled for the sperm oil that could make fuel for the oil lamps. The whale’s head was wanted for the spermaceti that would turn into a waxy material used to make candles. The whale’s intestines were wanted for the ambergris inside, used in the making of expensive perfume. This industry could be found in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Whales could be found on the Canadian and New England coasts, South American waters and the Caribbean. We remember this industry because Nantucket was the first leading whale port after the War in 1812. Sources: Ask.com Massachusetts, page 342 World Book 2003 World Book, Vol. 21, pages 256-257 Colonial America, Vol, 1, pages 100-101 Whaling and Clipper Ships, pages 28-31

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. Sperm Whale By Dave S. The sperm whale is a mammal. It is found around the world from the tropics to the poles. The female lives near the equator but males live in cooler water. It lives in water over 3,200 feet deep. The whale has a big square head which is filled with a wax-like substance used for making candles. Instead of having fins, the sperm whale has bumps that take the place of the fins. Its skin is rusty black or dark gray. It has deep wrinkles all over its body. This big whale must eat a ton of squid each day. It communicates by slamming its tail fin against the water. In colonial times whales were hunted for their oil. We remember the sperm whale because it is the largest toothed whale in the world. Sources Eyewitness Books: Whale by Vassili Papastaveau Whales by Erik Stoops & Jeffrey I. Marfin World Book, Vol. 18

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. Greek Democracy Leads the Way By Connor R. In 600 B.C. the Greek city-state of Athens developed a democratic government. This event marked a new age of government. A democratic government is a system of government in which every person has a voice or say. Democracy in Athens was started by two men, Cleisthenes and Solon. Unfortunately only men who were born in Athens, upper-class men, could vote. We remember Greek democracy because it led the way for democratic government in Massachusetts. Sources The Ancient Greeks by Allison Lassier www.Oncampus.com

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. The Creation of Democracy By Camden St.O. In the mid to late 600’s B.C., two men named Cleisthenes and Solon created democracy in the city-state of Athens. Democracy means a system in government where every person has a voice. Still only men who were born in Athens could vote. Democracy was used to lead or govern a state or country. Democracy began in Athens. Much later other countries discovered democracy and it started to spread. We remember democracy today because it’s been going on for centuries and it is still being used in Massachusetts. Sources The Ancient Greeks by Allison Lassieur Athens vs. Sparta

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. A Government Comes into Power By Maggie M. In 508 B.C.,Cleisthenes came into power and started to introduce new laws. He started to change Athens’ government to a democracy. A democracy is where the people rule themselves. He introduced ostracism which is when each year citizens could write the name of an unwanted politician on a piece of baked clay called an ostracon. If a persons name appeared on 6,000 ostraca, he could be exiled. He also introduced a council, a lottery to choose council members, a jury, a court, and an ostraca assembly. All of these changes were used to pass laws and the court appointed generals to run the military. We remember Athenian government because it was the first democracy and when the thirteen colonies became the United States of America, they were the second country to have democracy. Sources. World history by Farah Karls

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts Click on the speaker for audio. Father of the Constitution By David H. On October 30, 1735, John Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. Adams attended Harvard College and graduated at the age of 20. He graduated from Harvard and became a lawyer. When he was a lawyer he finished the Massachusetts Constitution. John Adams got married to a woman named Abigail Smith and had five children named John Quincy, Nabby, Susana, Charles and Thomas. After signing the Declaration of Independence, John Adams became the father of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1779. Then later in 1789, he became Vice President. He thought that George Washington was not a military leader but John was just jealous. But later in 1797, he became President of the United States of America. We remember John Adams because he was the father of the Massachusetts Constitution and was vice president and president of the United States of America. Sources The John Adams US History.com Signer.com

Remembering Massachusetts Grade Five Crimson Nock Middle School Newburyport, Massachusetts With thanks and appreciation to... Grade 5 Crimson teachers & staff Nock Middle School librarian Nock Middle School parent volunteers Newburyport technology integrator For more information on Remembering Massachusetts contact ebailey@newburyport.k12.ma.us

Remembering Massachusetts