How did the English colonies develop unique identities compared with the colonies of other nations? 

What factors influenced the establishment of different types of colonies in North America? 

Identify the factors that influence the establishment of different types of colonies.

How did climate and available resources affect the development of the 13 Colonies? 

Discover how mercantilism influenced the development of colonies in North America.

How did enslaved people and free Blacks shape the cultural, social, and political landscape of the colonies?

How did self-government lead to the development of unique colonies in America?

What practices and institutions did colonists create to govern themselves? 

How did existing Native communities, European colonists, religious communities, and enslaved Africans shape the cultural, social, and political landscape of the colonies?

How did various cultures interact with each other in the colonial world?

In what ways did different groups, such as religious communities, traders, and settlers in the American colonies establish and practice self-government?

An interactive that showcase major events of the year 1607-1763.

Explore different aspects of the colonial world to understand the diversity and complexity of life in the colonies.

Explain the push-pull factors that led to the earliest European settlements in North America.

Analyze excerpts from colonial charters to understand their purpose and meaning.

Analyze a map of the 13 colonies to draw conclusions and make predictions. 

Explain how enslaved people and free Blacks resisted the institution of slavery and summarize the main idea of primary source texts. 

Explain how enslaved people and free Blacks resisted the institution of slavery and summarize the main idea of primary source texts. 

Make inferences based on conclusions drawn from primary sources and reasoning.

Analyze how geographic location, physical features, and environmental conditions influenced historical events, decisions, and movements.   

Analyze how geographic location, physical features, and environmental conditions influenced historical events, decisions, and movements.   

Four primary sources that show how various cultures interacted with each other in the colonial world.

Student handout to accompany Cultural Exchange primary sources.

Investigate the Albany Plan and the French and Indian War.

Discover how mercantilism influenced the development of colonies in North America.

A pre-build slide deck to accompany this lesson.

Teacher support for implementing the Unit 1: Colonial World Deconstructed DBQ.

A pre-made slide deck to accompany this lesson.

In this middle school history lesson, travel back to 1620 to examine how early American colonists took their first steps toward self-government. Using the painting Mayflower Compact 1620 by John Leone Jerome Ferris, students explore how pilgrims and other settlers aboard the Mayflower created a social contract that laid the foundation for democratic rule in the New World. How did different groups in the American colonies establish and practice self-government? Through guided historical thinking, students begin to craft a thesis and support it with reasoning, key skills they'll apply in the unit’s scaffolded Document-Based Question (DBQ) assessment.