World of Naaya - Teacher's Guide - Environment 1: The Woodlands

Part 3: Life in the British Colonies


Introduction: Life in the New World was filled with struggle and change! There were revolts, wars and growing anger with British Rule.  Meanwhile, colonists built new farms and business, and began to think about governing themselves.  Little by little, a new country was taking shape.
Areas: The Beach and The Pier
Eliza Lucas

Portraits

Historical Figure: Eliza Lucas

Date Story (told by Eliza Lucas)
1722 - 1793 "I'm Eliza Lucas. I was born on the British Island of Antigua in the Carribean. My family moved to South Carolina, but my father returned to be Governor of Antigua. At the age of 16, I was put in charge of all of my family's farms."
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Eliza was put in charge of her family's farms when she was 16 years old. She ran three plantions in South Carolina. Her farm was the first to plant indigo, a crop that was used for blue dye.  

Historical Figure: Johnny Appleseed

Date Story (told by )
1774 - 1847 "I'm Johnny Appleseed. I traveled the frontier forests helping people to plant flowers and fruit trees, so everyone could enjoy glorious, wonderful fruit, including my favorites... apples! During my travels, I saw more of nature than most people do in their whole lives. Follow my stories, and I'll tell you about the plants and animals that you can find in America."
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John Chapman was born in Massachusetts and grew up to travel the country for more than 50 years. He planted flowers and fruit trees, and taught settlers how to grow them. He spread his knowledge throughout the frontier forests that became Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Most people remember him by his nickname: Johnny Appleseed.

Time Tokens

Pueblo Revolt

Date Story (told by Eliza Lucas)
1680 "We heard news coming from out in the West that the Pueblo Indians were fighting the Spanish Government. I guess not everybody in North America wanted to be ruled by a European country."
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In the Southwest, Native Americans rebelled against Spanish Rulers. Their leader was Pope, a Pueblo medicine man. The rebellion succeeded, but 12 years later, the Spanish reconquered the territory.  

The Stamp Act

Date Story (told by Eliza Lucas)
1765 "When I took a walk to the corner store, I counted more than a dozen angry men and women in the street. They were shouting and complaining to each other about the new Stamp Act. But I guess that's all they could do about it. Once again, England was making us pay taxes and we didn't get any say in the matter."
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England put taxes on stamps, newspapers and almost anything that was printed. It was passed by British Parliament… not the Colonies. This was "taxation without representation." The Stamp Act even taxed playing cards!

French and Indian War

Date Story (told by Eliza Lucas)
1754 "France and England were always fighting about who owned what parts of North America. And then... it turned into a full scale war which went on for ten years! In the end, England got to rule Canada, and everything East of the Mississippi River."
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England and France fought for control of  lands in North America. The war lasted until 1763. England won, keeping the colonies and gaining control of Canada and more. It's called the French and Indian War because most of the Native American tribes fought alongside the French. George Washington became a famous soldier fighting for the British!

The Creation of North Carolina

Date Story (told by Eliza Lucas)
1729 "North Carolina was the site of the lost colony of Roanoke. In the 1580s, two groups of English settlers tried to create a colony there... but they dissappeared. Nobody is sure where they went or what happened to them! All that was found was the word 'CROATOAN' carved into a tree."
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People from Virginia moved south to create new farms and plantations.  This became the colony of Carolina in 1653. Carolina was named after the King's son Charles.  In 1729, Carolina was split into two colonies: North Carolina and South Carolina. With Rice, Timber and Tobacco farms, North Carolina was one of the wealthiest of all the British colonies.

Fact Files

Title Fact Story (told by Eliza Lucas)
New Amsterdam New York was first called "New Amsterdam" after a Dutch city.  When the British captured it from the Dutch, they renamed it. "Many places were given names of famous people and rulers back in Europe.  New York was named after England's Duke of York."
Forkless! Until the 1800s, most people didn't eat with forks.  They scooped food up with their knives. "I was sent to school in England, where I learned music and languages, and how to eat with proper manners: I pick up everything nice and neatly… with the tip of my knife."
Breadbasket The middle colonies were often called the "breadbasket" because they grew so much food.  Farmers grew wheat, barley, oats, corn and rice. "Farms like mine had some of the best farmland on the continent.  I heard it said that rice crops were as valuable to England as gold mines were to Spain."
 Fish and More Fish In New England, farming was difficult, because the soil was hard and rocky and the climate was cold.  People depended on fish and whale meat for much of their food. "The folks up in the northern colonies had a lot harder time farming than we did in the south.  Now I like fish, but I wouldn't want to eat it almost every day, like they did in New England."
Tobacco Tobacco was the first crop the colonies started selling to Europe. It became one of the most valuable crops in the southern colonies. "In my time, people didn't know that smoking was bad for you.  They thought it was GOOD for your health, and sometimes doctors would even prescribe it to people who got sick."
Hornbooks To practice reading in schools, kids read from paddles protected by covers made from slices of cow horns. "In our schools, we used hornbooks to practice our ABCs, our prayers, and we wrote math problems on them.  And no, they look like paddles, but we never used them to hit things, or to row a boat."

Nature Frames

Black Rat Snake

Story (told by Johnny Appleseed)
"Actually, snakes weren't such bad animals for the colonists to have around. Snakes ate rats. This helped protect some of the colonists' rice, corn and other crops. Rats would have been busy snacking if it weren't for these helpful creatures."
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The black rat snake is one of the largest snakes in North America. It can grow to be more than 8 feet long. This reptile eats birds and frogs, rats, squirrels, mice and many small mammals. Don't worry, it is not poisonous.

Red Maple

Story (told by Johnny Appleseed)
"The red maple tree was found all over the place and was very useful to British colonists. Its soft wood was perfect for furniture, and the bark could be used to make dark brown dye and writing ink."
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The red maple is a fast-growing tree. It can grow to be 40-60 feet tall. It lives for about 150 years, a shorter lifespan than most trees. It often grows in wet places, so it has the nickame "The Swamp Maple."

Great Horned Owl

Story (told by Johnny Appleseed)
"Many colonists hunted and ate owls. This goes to show how different things were in the New World. Back in Europe, it was forbidden to hunt owls unless you were the king or other royalty."
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The Great horned owl is a bird of prey that can be found all over the world, except for Antarctica.  It often makes its home in cities, too. This predator can grow to be almost two feet tall with a wingspan of up to five feet. A great horned owl uses keen eyesight to hunt during the day, and sharp hearing to hunt at night. It hunts for many smaller animals… and is one of the only animals that will eat a skunk!

Cottontail Rabbit

Story (told by Johnny Appleseed)
"Cottontail rabbits can be found all over North America. People hunted rabbits in every one of British Colonies. They ate them, and they also used rabbit fur to make warm clothes."
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The cottontail rabbit can be found in many environments, including forests, deserts, mountains, swamps and meadows.  It has long ears and a white fluffy tail.  (The tail is how it got its name.) This mammal is an excellent runner and jumper.  It has to be, in order to avoid  coyotes, snakes, weasels, eagles and many other predators. A cottontail can leap up to 10 feet in a single jump!