ACTIVITY FOR LESSON TWO

Treaty Gatherings

 

Introduction: In this activity, you will begin to explore the atmosphere of a typical treaty gathering during the mid 1700s. The various frontier characters could have been expected to come together at a treaty gathering. They came together for specific, but different reasons. After completing this activity you should have a better understanding of what motivated different frontier groups to attend a treaty gathering.

Directions: Still working in teams, select a new character to research. Imagine this is your first treaty gathering and it is such an important event in your life that you want a written record. If your character is a male, write a journal entry. If your character is a female, write a diary entry. If your character is an Iroquois, write a story (remember, the Iroquois had an oral tradition) that you might tell at the council fire. You should write about something remarkable that could have happened to you only at a treaty gathering. Maybe you would write about someone you met, or something you saw, or something you learned, or perhaps something you experienced. Note: You will need to visit the other character sites in order to gain a full understanding of what happened at a treaty gathering. Use this Timeline as a frame of reference.

Here are some questions you might want to consider when you are researching your character and what they might have experienced at a treaty gathering:

  1. What preparations would your character have made in order to attend a treaty gathering?
  2. What would your character bring to a treaty gathering?
  3. Why would your character attend a treaty gathering?
  4. What business would your character conduct at a treaty gathering?
  5. Where would the treaty gathering have been held?
  6. What kind of official business would have been done at a treaty gathering?
  7. How would people have entertained themselves at a treaty gathering?
  8. How would the community you belong to benefit from attending a treaty gathering?

Frontier Characters

 

 

Note: The table below is adapted from information available on the Colonial Williamsburg History Website. <http://www.history.org/history/>

CONSIDER THESE FACTS OF LIFE

These are averages from the

mid- to late-1700s

HEIGHT
  women 5' 2" (161.0 cm.)
  men 5' 6" (172.6 cm.)
MARRYING AGE
  women 22
  men 27
HOUSEHOLD SIZE
  nonslaveholder family 3 whites
  slaveholder family 4.5 whites
slaves per household 5 blacks
LITERATE ADULTS
  women 50%
  men 66%
AGE AT DEATH
  women 42
  men 45

 

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