Colonial Developments
Unit description: Students will analyze how the American colonies were established for a variety of reasons and developed differently based on economic, social, religious and geographic factors. They will compare and contrast the social, economic, and scientific improvements that helped European nations launch an Age of Exploration. Students will investigate the varied relationships and interactions Europeans had with Native American societies they encountered and the losses Native American societies suffered, and begin to investigate slavery over the 17th and 18th centuries and its growth among the colonies.
Standards
- (Standards: 1, 2, 3, 4; Themes: MOV, GEO, ECO, TECH, EXCH)
Essential Questions and Big Ideas
- Big Idea: European exploration of the New World resulted in contributions that were long lasting to the Americas during the Age of Exploration.
- What are the reasons European exploration?
- Social, economic, and scientific improvements helped European nations launch an Age of Exploration
- What were the effects of interactions between European groups and Native American societies during this time of exploration?
- Different European groups had varied interactions and relationships with the Native American societies they encountered. Native American societies suffered from loss of life due to disease and conflict and loss of land due to encroachment of European settlers and differing conceptions of property and land ownership.
- What effect did the natural habitat of different areas of the Americas have on the development of different economies?
- Differences in climate, physical features, access to water, and sources of labor contributed to the development of different economies in the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies.
- How did the initial interaction between Europeans and Native Americans lay the foundation for future race relations in America?
- Over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, slavery grew in the colonies. Enslaved Africans utilized a variety of strategies to both survive and resist their conditions.
Prerequisite Skills
This unit represents unifying themes of social studies – Colonial Development, Exploration and “Doctrine of Discovery” and enduring issues of social studies such as Impact of Colonization, Impact of Cultural Diffusion, Conflict. Students develop their skills to explain the significance of the technological developments and scientific understandings that improved European exploration; examine the voyage of Columbus, leading to the Columbian Exchange and the voyages of other explorers; investigate other Indigenous societies and their interactions with Europeans; assess the effects of contact on the Indigenous Peoples and Europeans.
Download the complete Grade 7 Social Studies – Colonial Developments framework to customize for your own planning.