Spanish, French, Dutch and English claims, and the first English colonies

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Why Jamestown? Card A, the First Charter of Virginia (April 10, 1606; King James I to the Virginia Company; spelling modernized; cuts marked): "… propagating of Christian religion to such people, as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God … to dig, mine, and search for all manner of mines of gold, silver, and copper …" Card B, a summary in our words from the National Park Service: no gold was found at Jamestown. In the winter of 1609 to 1610 most of the settlers lost their lives. By about 1612 John Rolfe was growing a new kind of tobacco, which became the colony's cash crop. Card C, a summary in our words: the Plymouth voyage of 1620 carried Separatists who sought freedom to worship, and also other passengers. Merchants who paid for the voyage expected to make a profit.

2. 1.

   To answer 'What did the Virginia Company hope for?', which source is better, and why, Ari asks?

   • Card B, because a later summary reports the real aims
   • Neither, because a charter lists just what a king wanted
   • Card A, since it states the company's aims in its charter
   • Card C, because merchants' profit shows what Virginia hoped
3. 2.

   How do cards A and B partly conflict, and what does the conflict show, Bo asks?

   • A names gold as a goal; B says none was found
   • B shows the religion aim in card A was fully met
   • B shows the charter's writers lied about wanting gold
   • A and B agree, since both say gold was found at Jamestown
4. 3.

   Which three-step chain across cards A and B is best supported, Esme asks?

   • Gold was found, tobacco was dropped, and the colony grew rich
   • Tobacco became the profit, gold was hoped for, and none was found
   • No gold was found, so the Starving Time was caused by that
   • Gold was hoped for, none was found, and tobacco became the profit
5. 4.

   Compare religion in the charter (card A) and on the Plymouth voyage (card C). Which comparison is best supported, Kira asks?

   • Neither card names religion as an aim of its voyage
   • A speaks of freedom to worship; C describes spreading religion to others
   • Both treat religion as the sole reason for the voyage
   • A speaks of spreading religion; C of freedom to worship
6. 5.

   A student says 'the failure to find gold caused the Starving Time.' How strong is that claim from cards A to C, Luz asks?

   • Weak: B lists both events but does not say one caused the other
   • Weak: card B says the Starving Time did not take place
   • Strong: card A says the gold would feed the settlers
   • Strong: B puts the two events in the same chapter of Jamestown's story

7. Use this

   Manhattan, 1626. Card A, a letter in our words: on November 5, 1626, Pieter Schaghen, a Dutch official, wrote home that the Dutch had bought the island of Manhattan from the Indians for goods worth 60 guilders. It is the only surviving record of the deal. Card B, a summary in our words from the National Park Service and Lenape history: the Lenape, who lived in the region, did not see land as something one person could own to the exclusion of others. They granted rights to use land and its resources. Many historians doubt that both sides saw the exchange as a permanent sale. Card C: the Dutch West India Company ran New Netherland to profit from furs. It built trading posts along rivers, where Native trappers, including Lenape and Haudenosaunee people, brought furs to trade for cloth and metal goods. England took the colony in 1664 and renamed it New York.

8. 6.

   How do cards A and B partly conflict about the Manhattan exchange, Milo asks?

   • A says the Lenape kept Manhattan; B says the Dutch bought it
   • A says 'bought'; B says the Lenape granted use
   • A and B agree that the exchange was a permanent sale
   • B shows Schaghen did not write the letter in card A
9. 7.

   Which card is better for what the Dutch thought happened, and which for what the Lenape understood, Noah asks?

   • Neither, since a summary and a letter cannot show any view
   • B for the Dutch view; A for the Lenape view, since A names them
   • A for both views, since it is the sole record of the deal
   • A for the Dutch view; B for the Lenape view, as a summary
10. 8.

    A student says 'the Lenape sold Manhattan in 1626.' How strong is that claim from the cards, Pia asks?

    • Weak: card C shows the Dutch did not trade at Manhattan
    • Weak: the sole record is Dutch, and B doubts a permanent sale
    • Strong: card B says the Lenape saw land as theirs alone
    • Strong: card A says the Dutch bought the island for 60 guilders
11. 9.

    Which new evidence would best help decide whether both sides saw a permanent sale, Tala asks?

    • A Lenape or Dutch record of what was said at the exchange
    • Another copy of Schaghen's letter from a different archive
    • A map of Manhattan drawn after England took it in 1664
    • The Company's records of how many furs it sold each year
12. 10.

    Which claim about Manhattan's ownership is best supported by all three cards, Zee asks?

    • It belonged to the Dutch, whose letter is the sole evidence
    • It stayed with the Lenape until England bought it in 1664
    • It was settled in 1626 by a sale that both sides accepted
    • Contested: a purchase, another view, then English rule