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In the Classroom > Course Overview > Unit Overview
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Lesson 8: Deerfield Matures: Deerfield's Changing Economy

Lesson Central Question:

In This Lesson:

How does a change in economics impact a community?

Lesson Length
Key Ideas
I.L.O.s
Preparation
Materials
Activities
Assessment

Lesson Length

2 class periods (85 minutes each)

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Key Content Ideas Taught in this Lesson and Teacher Background

Improvements in the economy, transportation, and communication brought about increased awareness of the world beyond Deerfield and Western Massachusetts. As a consequence, Deerfield opened itself to greater sophistication and change.

Teacher Background Essays: Deerfield Matures and About Account Books

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Intended Learning Outcomes

Understandings
Students will understand:

  • Deerfield became prosperous because of the river trade and improved agricultural practices. This prosperity led to increased refinement.
  • Transportation and communication were improved. The central government in Boston expanded the "world view" of Deerfield, heightening their interest in consumer goods and republican ideals

Skills
Students will be able to:

  • Use information gained from this and other periods to develop a continuum showing the growth of the Deerfield community.
  • Articulate the varied roles typical for the support of a small New England town.

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In Preparation for Teaching

1. Read Teacher Background Essay: Deerfield Matures and About Account Books

Further Background Reading:

Brown, Richard. Knowledge is Power: The Diffusion of Information in Early America, 1700-1865. New York: Oxford, 1989. (Especially the introduction and chapter 6.)

Rice, Kym S. Early American Taverns: For the Entertainment of Friends and Strangers. Chicago: Regenery Gateway, 1983.

Clark, Christopher. The Roots of Rural Capitalism: Western Massachusetts, 1780-1860. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1990.

Steingberg, Theodore. "The Transformation of Water." Nature Incorporated: Amherst, University of Massachusetts Press, 1994.

Garrison, J. Ritchie. Landscape and Material Life in Franklin County, MA 1770-1860. Knoxville: UP of Tennessee, 1991.

Anderson, Fred. The People's Army: Massachusetts Soldiers and Society in the Seven Years' War. University of North Carolina Press, 1996.

Clark, Christopher. The Roots of Rural Capitalism: Western Massachusetts, 1780- 1860. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1990.

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Materials

Primary and Secondary Sources:

(Unless otherwise noted, these can be found on the American Centuries website.)

  1. "Stall-fed oxen"
  2. Newspaper advertisements from the Hampshire Franklin Gazette
  3. Historical Maps from the Digital Collection, conduct a search.
  4. Land Use maps from the Digital Collection, conduct a search.
  5. Account book of Elihu Williams (accounts books of Consider Dickinson and Elihu Hoyt can be found in the PVMA archives)
  6. Account book of Zebulon White and James Strathern
  7. Account books of Elijah Williams: Ledger B, Vol. 3, Ledger C, Vol. 4, Volume 2

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Activities Materials in Context

Class Period 1: Economic Transformation of Deerfield

Divide students into three groups, choosing one of the following topics to read and explain to others using newsprint.

  • Group 1
    Ask students to read materials on mill development and control of water as a resource. Search for Historical Maps and Land Use maps from the Digital Collection. (Use dates to narrow your search.)
    Assume the identity of a member of your research family. You are about to build a mill for the community. Describe the factors that must be considered as you determine what the mill will be and where it will be located. Tell about your investment.
  • Group 2
    Ask students to read material on communication and transportation, and its implication for change in a community. See Newspaper articles from the Digital Collection at this website, specific to taverns, transportation, and newspapers. Use a general search of the Digital Collection to locate further information about communication, newspapers, and transportation.
    Assume the identity of a member of your research family member. You are a tavern keeper, a cleric, a newspaper owner, or a merchant in the community. Describe the work involved and your function in providing information in a community. Describe your enterprise.
  • Group 3
    Ask students to read material on agricultural changes in Western Massachusetts and how they impacted the Connecticut River Valley. See "Tis Sixty Years Since. The Passing of the Stall-fed Oxen and the Farm Boy," and Land Use maps from the Digital Collection. Seek additional information from a general search of the Digital Collection on agriculture in New England during the early 1800's.
    Assume the identity of a member of your research family. You have lived in your house for 10 years. Now you have decided to sell it. Write a real estate ad to appear in a Boston paper. Your ad should contain 40 to 60 words and should use information gathered from the articles above and your own research about Deerfield.

Assignment:

Discuss changes in agriculture, industry, communication and transportation and the implications for Deerfield, economically, socially, and politically. Tell how Deerfield was being connected to the wider world.

Class Period 2: Economic Exchange in the Connecticut River Valley

Share in a discussion of the importance attributed to account books in this period, based on the teacher essay.

Invite students to transcribe an account book, telling what they can learn from close examination of the document. After the initial study, have students work in pairs to share their insights.

Assignment:

Develop an account book filled with transactions relative to your life, pretending that there is no available cash. Be prepared to display and share it with the class in one week.

Read: Kerber, Linda. "Why Should Girls Be Learned or Otherwise?: Education and Intellect in the Early Republic." Women of the Republic. Chapel Hill: UP North Carolina, 1980.

 

"Stall-fed oxen"

Newspaper advertisements from the Hampshire Franklin Gazette found in the Digital Collection.

Historical Maps and Land Use maps from the Digital Collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Account book of Zebulon White and James Strathern

Account books of Elijah Williams: Ledger B, Vol. 3, Ledger C, Vol. 4, Volume 2

Account book -- Elihu Williams

(Consider Dickinson's and Elihu Hoyt's account books from the PVMA archive)

 

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Assessment

For class 1 activity: Written response to change in Deerfield.

For class 2 activity: Evaluation of the Account Book (1 week later).

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