Comparing and Contrasting Jamestown and Plymouth
Jamestown and Plymouth were two English colonies established in 17th century new world. Jamestown and Plymouth had some sort of Government, an economy, and some relations with Native Americans. Jamestown had a more formal government and freer economy than Plymouth, while Plymouth had better relations with the Native Americans.
Jamestown and Plymouth both had some form of government. Jamestown had written
permission from the King to form a colony and government. Jamestown had a five man counsel that was lead by a president. Many in the colony fought over who would be president. While the Plymouth colony had their original grant of land in Virginia, they signed the mayflower compact to form a …show more content…
This was
because the area Plymouth was built at had been previously populated by Natives but most of them had died before the Puritan's arrival due to a disease that wiped out their numbers. Plymouth did have some encounters and relationships with the Native Americans however, and their relationships with them were much healthier than Jamestown's relationship with the Natives in their area. Of the Natives that the Plymouth Plantation encountered, two of them, Samoset and Squanto, could speak English.
This made dealings with them go much more smoothly than if neither party could speak the other's language. Both the Native population and the people of Plymouth were also more inclined to be peaceful and friendly towards one another than the people of Jamestown and the tribes surrounding Jamestown had been. Because of this, the people of Plymouth were able to make an official peace treaty with the Natives very early on in their relationship with them. In addition to being peaceful, the Natives
the Puritans dealt with were also quite willing to help the Puritans survive in their new home. They brought food to the Puritans and taught them how to live and grow their own food. The Natives also made a point to show that there should be harmony between the groups. The Natives did this by returning some tools that had been stolen from the Puritans before the two groups had officially met. This helped to solidify the good relations that the Puritans and the Native Americans had with each
other.
Britain established the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies in the 1600s. Although they were both English colonies, they had differences in cooperation within their respective government assemblies. They also had different focuses on industries due to their geographic regions. Lastly, their native relations were vastly different due to their starkly contrasting ideologies, and due to the differences
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Jamestown & Plymouth Compare and Contrast Lesson
Use this standards-aligned lesson plan to focus on the similarities and differences between the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies. Students will focus on the purpose, location, problems, and progress of each colony.
Introductory Activity
Start the lesson with vocabulary. Have your students complete a vocabulary matrix for several terms related to the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies. I like to focus on the following four words: colonist, pilgrim, drought, and epidemic. Students define each word, record a synonym, use the word in a sentence, and draw a picture to represent the word’s meaning. Definitions, synonyms, and a sentence for each word are listed below.
colonist: a person who settles in a new place; settler; The colonists settled in North America.
pilgrim: a person who travels for a religious reason; traveler; The Pilgrims left England in 1620.
drought: a long period of little to no rainfall, causing a shortage of water; dry spell; The long drought made it impossible to grow crops.
epidemic: a sudden outbreak of disease; disease; An epidemic killed many Indigenous Americans.
Guided Practice
Use informational text, video, or a combination of both to focus on the purpose, location, problems, and progress of the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies. Presenting the information in this way will help students identify the similarities and differences between the two colonies. Key points for each of the four criteria are listed below. Click here to download a side-by-side text comparison of the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies.
If students can write on the text, have them color-code the similarities and differences between the two colonies. If you don’t have access to a text students can write on, have them record the information on their own paper. I like to have students use different color highlighters, but underlining or circling the text in different colors also works well.
CLICK HERE TO GET THIS PRINTABLE & DIGITAL LESSON
Independent Practice
After identifying the similarities and differences in purpose, location, problems, and progress between the two colonies, students will be ready to create a venn diagram or double bubble map. Working independently, students complete the graphic organizer by identifying two similarities and two differences between Jamestown and Plymouth.
Assessment
To assess understanding, have students write a compare and contrast paragraph on Jamestown and Plymouth. Like the graphic organizer completed above, students will need to identify two similarities and two differences between the two colonies.
I use an outline and close paragraph (paragraph frame) to differentiate the assessment for all levels of learners. It’s helpful to have students highlight the outline with the same colors they used to compare and contrast the text. See the image below for an example of this.
Before students begin writing their paragraphs, we review paragraph structure and transition words. Common compare and contrast transition words and sentence frames are listed below.
I also take a minute to review the grading rubric to make sure students are aware of the paragraph expectations. I use a standard 4 point grading rubric that assesses topic sentence, similarities and differences, examples, concluding sentence, transition words, and conventions.
Compare & Contrast Sentence Frames and Transition Words
Commonly used transition words for making a comparison: likewise, similarly, along the same lines, in the same way
- A similarity between ____________ and ____________ is ______________.
- _______ and ___________ both show ________________.
- _______ and _____________ are alike in that they both ____________.
- ___________ and ___________ are alike because __________________.
- Similarly, ___________ and __________ are __________________.
- In the same way, _______ and __________ are __________________.
Commonly used transition words for contrast: although, but, by contrast, conversely, despite the fact, even though, however, in contrast, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, regardless, whereas, while, yet
- _______ is ________, while ___________ is __________________.
- __________ is___________, but ____________ is _______________.
- _________ and ____________ are different in that _______________.
- While ________ shows __________, __________ shows __________.
- ______ is _______, on the other hand _______ is __________.
- ________________, yet _______________________.
- Although ______________________, ________________________.
- _________ and ____________ are different because ___________________.
- A difference between _____________ and _______________ is ________________.
“This was a great way to easily see the similarities and differences between the two colonies. It was perfect for structuring and writing a compare/contrast essay.” -Lori P.
Common Core Standards
- RH.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
- RH.6-8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
- RH.6-8.5 Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).
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