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Lesson Plans
The American Journey: A History of the United States ©2000
by David Goldfield, Carl Abbott, Virginia DeJohn Anderson, Jo Ann E. Argersinger, Peter H. Argersinger, William L. Barney, Robert M. Weir
Focus Lesson 3
Chapter 4: "Convergence and Conflict, 1660s–1763"
AP* Course Description
- America and the British Empire, 1650–1754
- Mercantilism; the Dominion of New England
- Origins of slavery
- Colonial Society in the Mid-Eighteenth Century
- Culture
- Great Awakening
- The American mind
- "Folkways"
- Culture
- Road to Revolution, 1754–1775
- Anglo-French rivalries and Seven Years' War
Key Components
- Instructor's Manual: pp. 33–37
- Study Guide, Vol. I to 1877: pp. 25–32
- Test Item File: pp. 40–52
Key Web Sites
Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Always check PHSchool.com for updated links to U.S. history sites.
- Colonial Williamsburg
- Virtual Museum of New France
- How Newspapers Covered the French and Indian War
- The Museum of African Slavery
- Documenting the American South: North American Slave Narratives
- University of Georgia: African Americans in U.S. History
Key Words and Terms
- mercantilism
- Navigation Act of 1651
- Age of Enlightenment
- Halfway Covenant
- Dominion of New England
- Great Awakening
- Board of Trade
- Vice-Admiralty Courts
- salutary neglect
Suggested Pacing
Chapter 4, which lays the framework for independence, should take approximately one week, two 90-minute class sessions or four 45-minute sessions.
Test Strategy
Many of the essays a student will be asked to write for the AP* exam are expository in nature. Exposition informs the reader. A piece of expository writing presents, explains, or defines information, or gives instructions. An essay prompt on the AP* exam may ask students to compare and contrast events, or explain a cause-and-effect relationship. Exposition writing is objective and factual. It does not call for a student's opinion or for a persuasive tone. It does require that students present facts and details to support the thesis statement. The Test Item File presents a number of suggestions for essays; it might be useful to duplicate some of them and have students determine which call for expository essays and what type (definitional, explanatory, presentational).
Key Concepts
- Mercantilism
Mercantilism is an important concept and one that high school U.S. history textbooks often glide over with just an explanation of balance of trade. Mercantilism was more than trade. It involved the total political control of the economy by the government. This meant that in time European nations would come into conflict because they all believed in mercantilism and thus worked for their own advantage against one another. However, for more than a century, England followed a policy of salutary neglect and its colonies in North American thrived. - Unintended effects of the French and Indian War
While the British army was settling old scores with the Iroquois, the British colonists were learning to work together. The idea of alien New Yorkers or Virginians gave way to a spirit of cooperation as colonists from various regions found that they had more in common than they had differences. The colonists were also aware of the ideas of the British Whigs who believed that the government was trying to usurp the rights of the English. These ideas met a receptive audience among colonists who had their own experiences of royal governors and newly passed and enforced laws that supported British mercantilism. (Colonists who supported colonial rights began to call themselves Whigs.) The need for increased revenue to support the British army in the American colonies and in newly won colonies in Asia added to the pressure on the government to enforce the Navigation Acts and pass additional regulations banning certain manufacturing ventures such as hat making and iron production.
Summing Up Student Understanding
Instruct students to read the "Overview Chart" on p. 119 titled "The Colonial Wars, 1689–1763." Have students discuss the outcome for Great Britain in each war. Continue the discussion of the French and Indian war by having students read the map on p. 122. As the class discussion continues, ask students to answer the question: How did the French and Indian War change European control in America? Use the circle essay technique to answer this question. Divide students into groups of five members. Randomly select a leader for each group. The first student writes the thesis statement and introductory paragraph. The second student writes the second paragraph, and so on. The last group member writes the conclusion. The groups share their essays and critique them on accuracy and completeness rather than style. Refer students back to the concept of expository writing.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
You might also find these additional readings useful in developing students' background knowledge or for DBQ activities:
- The Power of Words: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Breen—Chapter 5
- Constructing the American Past, Vol. I, edited by Gorn, Roberts, and Bilhartz—Chapter 4