Individual Lesson View

Early Contacts:
Native American and European Women

From: Gilder Lehrman
Grade Level: HS, College
Remote Ready: With Modifications
Time: 3- 5 class periods if you assign readings as Homework. More if you don't.
Length of Reading: Chapters

Our Summary of:
Early Contacts: Native American and European Women in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Fave! 3 Activities. In the first, students read short primary sources about European and Native American women to determine what rights they had. In the second activity, half the class reads lengthy primary and secondary sources about particular white women while the other half of the class reads primary and secondary sources about white women held captive by Native Americans. Each half teaches the other, and the class writes a textbook section. In the third activity, the class reads excerpts of European accounts of Native American women and discusses.

  1. Activity 1: The class reads 6 short primary source docs about European women (about a half-page each). Based on these docs, the class writes a summary defining the legal rights of women in Europe. The class then reads 2 primary sources about Iroquois women (6 pages total) and writes a summary of their rights . Discussion.

  2. Activity 2: The entire class reads 2-3 primary and 2-3 secondary sources but half the class reads those docs about white women and the other half reads those docs about white women held captive by Native Americans. These sources are fairly long, web-based sources. Students will need a computer. Each group presents their material to the other, and the class writes a section for a textbook.

  3. Activity 3: Students read 5 accounts about Native American women written by European men (each is one half to one page long). And the class discusses 2 big questions.

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Lesson Identifier: 4X

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Grade Level:  (MS), (HS), (College)

  • This lesson is recommended for high school (HS) and college students

Remote Ready:  With Modifications

  • Links to the reading assignments can easily be emailed or posted for students.
  • It’s much easier for small groups or pairs to coordinate a phone call or video conference meeting than for the entire class to sync their schedules.  Have these small groups post answers, a synopsis, or a video of their discussion to your LMS. 
  • Paraphrase questions into your LMS so you can grade student’s written answers online rather than in an email or on a worksheet.  Or if a graphic organizer is amazingly well done, you could have your students take a picture of their completed work and email it to you.

Primary Source Icon

This means that this activity utilizes primary sources

Group Work Icon

This activity calls for working in pairs, a group, and/or having a class discussion

Writing Icon

The class writes a textbook section together in Activity 2.

Computer Icon

A computer is recommended for Activity 2. Though it might be possible to print, the printouts would be lengthy.

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Early Contacts: Native American and European Women

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