Native nations and colonists: trade, alliances, land and conflict

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Nations' own choices, 1644 to the present (cards A to D). Card A, a summary in our words from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's own website: five nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca) joined in a confederacy at a time the page calls time immemorial, to unite the nations and make decisions peacefully. Each nation keeps its own council for its own affairs, and the Grand Council deals with issues that affect all of them. The main meeting place is on Onondaga territory and still exists today. Card B, a summary in our words from the National Park Service, Roger Williams National Memorial, on the Narragansett: in April 1644 the Narragansett sachem Canonicus made a formal treaty submitting the Narragansett as subjects of King Charles I, hoping this would stop English interference in tribal affairs because both would now be subjects of the same king. In 1647, near the end of his life, Canonicus called for Roger Williams, broke a stick into 10 pieces and with each one recounted a time the English had broken their word. Card C, a summary in our words from the National Park Service on King Philip's War: Metacom sent the old men, women and children of the Wampanoag across Narragansett Bay to live as refugees with the Narragansett. In October 1675 the Narragansett signed a treaty of neutrality with Massachusetts Bay, promising not to join Metacom. After the signing, Boston authorities demanded that the Narragansett hand over the refugees as hostages. The page says: "The Narragansett could not betray the safety of those who had sought refuge with them." An English force of about 1,000 men then attacked the Narragansett's main winter settlement in December 1675, and almost seven hundred Native men, women and children lost their lives. The page says this attack led the Narragansett to join forces with Metacom. Card D, a summary in our words from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's own website: the tribe, also called the People of the First Light, has lived in present-day Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. It was re-acknowledged as a federally recognized tribe in 2007 after a process of more than three decades, and has about 3,200 enrolled citizens.

2. 1.

   Card C is a National Park Service summary. What is it best evidence for, and what is its limit, Ari asks?

   • A federal summary of events, with no Narragansett leader's own words
   • A full list of English officers in the army
   • The exact orders Boston gave the Narragansett
   • A first-hand report by someone who stood at the December 1675 attack
3. 2.

   A student writes: "Native nations only reacted to English moves." How strong is that claim, given cards A to C, Bo asks?

   • Weak: cards A to C each show a nation making its own choice
   • Strong: card B shows the Narragansett obeying the king
   • Strong: card D says the Mashpee were first recognized by others
   • Strong: card C shows the English acting first in 1675
4. 3.

   Which chain does card C support for the second half of 1675, Esme asks?

   • The refugees arrived after the attack and that arrival caused the English demand
   • The English attack came first, and it caused the neutrality treaty
   • The Narragansett joined Metacom first, and the English then demanded neutrality
   • Neutrality treaty, then the demand, then the December attack, then joining Metacom
5. 4.

   Cards B and C are from different years. What do they together support, Kira asks?

   • Canonicus's doubts were shown false by the 1675 treaty, which the English kept in good faith
   • Canonicus's doubts fit 1675, when a neutrality promise was followed by a demand for refugees
   • Canonicus signed the neutrality treaty in 1675, as he had signed the treaty in 1644
   • The Narragansett had planned war against the English for decades, from 1647 onward
6. 5.

   Card D says more than 12,000 years. What share of that time has passed since Plymouth was founded in 1620 (to 2026), Luz asks?

   • At most about 3.4 percent, since 406 is about 3.4 percent of 12,000
   • About 30 percent, since 3,600 years is that share of the 12,000 years
   • About 34 percent, since 406 is about a third of 1,200
   • About 97 percent, since that is the share before 1620
7. 6.

   A student says: "Card C shows about 7 Narragansett deaths for every 10 English soldiers." What is wrong with using the numbers that way, Milo asks?

   • The 700 should be subtracted from 1,000 to find who was left standing
   • Card C gives no numbers about either the army or the lives lost
   • It compares unlike groups: all Native lives lost against soldiers
   • Nothing; 700 divided by 1,000 gives 0.7, so the ratio is correct
8. 7.

   What new evidence would best show whether Canonicus's 1644 treaty achieved its aim, Noah asks?

   • Another summary of the 1647 stick story, retold for school students today
   • Records from 1644 to 1675 of English interference in Narragansett affairs
   • More details of the December 1675 attack on the fort, from the soldiers' side
   • A map of Rhode Island today, drawn with modern roads and the town borders
9. 8.

   Which statement do cards A and D both support, Ren asks?

   • The Mashpee alone still exist
   • Both nations exist today and tell their own long histories
   • Both nations ended with the colonial wars
   • Both were first recognized by the English Crown in the 1600s
10. 9.

    From card B (1644) to card C (1675), how did the Narragansett's dealings with the English change, Tala asks?

    • They moved from independence to full English rule by 1675, as subjects
    • They stayed neutral throughout the period the cards cover, from 1644 to 1675
    • They moved from a treaty seeking protection, to neutrality, to joining Metacom
    • They moved from war to peace with the English settlers across the period
11. 10.

    A student writes: "The Narragansett chose war in 1675 before the English attacked them." How strong is that claim, given card C, Zee asks?

    • Weak: card C has the October treaty, the December English attack, then joining Metacom
    • Weak: card C says the English army had about 100 men, too few to attack their fort
    • Strong: card C says they sheltered Wampanoag refugees, which shows they had chosen war
    • Strong: card B shows Canonicus feared the English, so they were planning war by 1675