Schooling In Colonial America

1. Schooling In Colonial America A Case Study: Connecticut’s Role in the Evolution of the Purpose of Education

2. Tell me what you know • List three adjectives (for each) that come to mind when you hear these terms/phrases: • Missionary • Student in colonial America 3 minutes, individually and silently.

3. Native American-Settler Relations in the late 18th Century • Events that made history • Phase 1: English recognition of the native population as owners of North American land • The Virginia Company purchases land from the native peoples • Goal: peaceful relations yield conversion to Christianity • Phase 2: “Vacancy theory” defines English acquisition of land in North America • The English settle and govern lands unoccupied by Native peoples • There exists a belief that the natives were not using the land to its full potential • Phase 3: Colonial vs. European Powers vs. Native American Wars • French and Indian War and the Proclamation of 1763

4. The lesser-known events of the colonial-Native American relationship: Moor’s Charity School, Lebanon CT Lebanon, CT, ca. 1800

5. Phases 1, 2, and 3: colonial/Native American missions • Moor's Charity School, or the Wheelock Academy, Lebanon, CT (now Columbia, CT), 1755 • Reverend Eleazar Wheelock • Great Awakening • Joseph Brant in 1761 • Dartmouth College in 1769 • The 9th oldest institution of higher learning in America • Last to be established under colonial rule

6. Primary Source analysis • Questions to answer: • In what ways does Moor’s Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut represent an important phase in Connecticut’s history of shaping American educational traditions? • How does a primary source analysis of documents pertaining to Moor’s Charity School reveal the complexities of the Colonial-Native American relationship in both the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth century?

7. activity • My task: • I will divide the class into 2 groups • I will distribute Document I to half of the class and Document II to the remaining half • Your task: • You will read the primary source document you have been given • Fill in the chart on your “Understanding Colonial-Native American Relations in Pre-Revolution Connecticut” handout • After 15 minutes, circulate the classroom and find a classmate who read a different document than you, switch documents, read, and compare responses on handout. Read the last document together (Document III will be on my desk) and finis filling in the chart. We will discuss your findings as a class.

8. discussion • Audience • Message • Importance of primary source documents • How were colonial settlers and Native Americans portrayed throughout the documents? • How has your understanding of the term “missionary” and the phrase “student in colonial America” changed?