COLONY PROJECT...due on January 19

9This is a pass/fail project that is worth 5% of your overall grade. If you pass, you get the full 5%. To pass, you must turn the project in at the beginning of class on January 19. If you are late that day or do not have the project on time, you do not pass.

Here’s what the actual project entails:

1.      TO START: Choose a colony. We’ll do that together in class.

You may choose from the following:

the  13 English colonies,

the French colonies of Saint Domingue and Canada,

the Portuguese colony of Brasil,

the Swedish colony of New Sweden, and

the Spanish colonies of Florida, Peru, and Mexico.

2.      FINDING RELEVANT INFORMATION:

Do a bit of research on the colony. That “research” may be online, but you will find the librarians exceedingly helpful, so don’t hesitate to go get help from them. The following are the key questions that you must do your best to answer in this project:

DATA:

Specifically, who was in the area of your chosen colony before the Europeans arrived there? When was the colony settled by Europeans?  (do not bring in information after 1740)

Were there major conflicts over colonization?

What was the disease environment in your colony?

What type of colony was it?

Who governed the colony?

What was the economy like in the colony?

Were African servants or slaves brought into your colony?

What was the ratio of European to indigenous people?

What was the ratio of men to women in your colony?

What was the birth and/or death rate?

What was religious life like in the colony?

What was daily life like for residents there?

What types of houses, buildings, churches, roads, or other infrastructure existed at that time?

YOUR RESPONSE:

What is something strange or unique or fascinating about this colony?

             What would it have been like to live in this colony?

             THE EXPERTS:

Who are the most important historians who have written about your colony? (write them on your source list)

3.      PRESENTATION OF YOUR COLONY:

This is not a poster project…but it kind of is. I don’t want gigantic poster sized boards everywhere, but you should plan on presenting your colony on something larger than a piece of binder paper. We need to put these on the walls, so this project cannot be done electronically.

4.      SOURCES:

For sources, write out the sources that you consulted. You may use online sources, but one part of this project must be a description of who the important historians are of this colony. That corner of your project must be titled “Works Consulted” and should include bibliographic information about each source.