Lesson by Tim Bailey
Essay by Anna Suranyi, Endicott College
Grade Level: 5–8
Number of Class Periods: 3
Primary Era: Colonization and Settlement, 1585–1763
About This Lesson Plan Unit
The three lessons in this unit focus on labor contracts and what was required of the people who signed them. The three primary sources include a 1742 contract for an apprentice in New York, a 1784 contract for an indentured servant emigrating from Northern Ireland, and a German traveler’s 1750 report on conditions for indentured servants in Pennsylvania. You will assess students’ understanding through their narrative illustrations of Gottlieb Mittelberger’s journey.
Lesson Plan Author: Tim Bailey
Historical Background Scholar: Anna Suranyi, Endicott College
Additional Information About This Unit
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade-level topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4: Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
What was it like to be an apprentice or an indentured servant?
What benefits did employers owe to apprentices or indentured servants?
What risks came with being indentured or apprenticed?
What were the trials and dangers of the transatlantic crossing?
Was the chance for a better life in America worth the dangers of the transatlantic crossing and the strict conditions of being an indentured servant?
Documents
Documents
John Reid Jr.’s Indenture of Apprenticeship with Robert Livingston Jr., signed by John Reid and John Reid Jr., November 1, 1742
James Bracken’s Indenture to Enoch Stickney, May 20, 1784
Excerpts from Gottlieb Mittelberger’s Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750 and Return to Germany in the Year 1754