Old Sturbridge Letters
Old Sturbridge Village Trip and Assignment
A.P. United States History
Dr. Wilson, Mr. Islaub, Mr. O’Connor
What is the impact of the first industrial revolution (market revolution) on a New England town?
Your research for this unit centers on your trip to Old Sturbridge Village, a living history museum depicting an 1830s New England town. Activities in the village reflect the changes in work, work choices, family relationships, and reform movements caused by industrialization and the market revolution in the United States in the early 19th century. By the end of this unit you should be able to define industrialization and the market revolution. You should understand how these revolutions caused change throughout society – how it was truly a market and industrial revolution.
There are several parts to your study:
a. Become part of a Sturbridge family. Look at Sturbridge from one particular person’s vantage point. Consider how industrialization and the market revolution affected this person’s life.
b. Read about the issue of the poor farm and poor reform through various documents provided. Take notes. Decide how you think your “Sturbridge personae” would feel about the issue. Prepare questions to ask interpreters at the village.
c. Participate in the town meeting on the poor farm at Sturbridge. You will be a Sturbridge citizen and you will weigh in on whether we should get rid of the vendue system.
d. Read Jack Larkin’s first chapter in Reshaping Everyday Life. You will find out about the fabric and texture of everyday life in various regions of the US in the 1830s.
e. With a partner, write a series of letters defining the changes that came with the market revolution.
OR with a partner and a video camera, document the changes caused by the market revolution in the New England and produce a video for the 8th grade US History students
OR with a partner and a still camera, document the changes caused by the market revolution in the New England and produce a photostory for the 8th grade US History students
Your writing assignment is a series of eight letters between two people, written in the year 1840, between one person from Sturbridge and either a person from the south, the textile mills, or the Midwest.
Or, you will produce a 10 minute The question you are addressing is:
What is the impact of the market revolution on the economy, social life and politics of New England, and the Midwest or South from 1815 to 1840?
You will complete this assignment with a partner, each of you taking on a different role. One person is a Sturbridge resident writing to someone who has moved to Ohio, or who lives in South Carolina or who has moved to the textile mills. In your correspondence you should reveal your feelings about the changes, you are experiencing with the market revolution.
Your letters should include:
• minimum of five images from the Old Sturbridge website (osv.org) and/or from photographs you take on the field trip and images from the mills, Ohio or South Carolina from the 1830s, one image per letter.
• a quote from four primary documents provided in class; info from text chapters 7, 8, and 9 and all of 10 and 12, Information from the Larkin article, information from field trip interviews
• One letter from each season of the year.
• map of each location.
• Information on the town meeting about the poor farm and the vendue.
• Info on your economic status, position on the tax list (put this as an introduction separate from the letters);
• How your daily life changed over the past 30 years because of the market revolution.
• How the type of work you do, your daily and seasonal routine (and that of your spouse or parent) has changed;
• Changes in choices you make about marriage, schooling, voting, leisure activities; foods you eat and how they are prepared and how that has changed.
• the range of wealth, diversity of your society (African Americans, immigrants), standard of living, control parents have over teenagers, role religion plays, transportation, role of women, peoples’ political attitudes about slavery/race (and if their point of view is determined by economics), immigration –pick a few of these
The OSV website is very good = check it out at www.osv.org, Learning Lab, historic documents and/or images
Though letters are informal pieces of writing, you will be graded on grammar and spelling.
Intro, Letters 1 and 2 – complete the day before we go to Sturbridge
Letters 3 and 4
Letters 5 and 6
Letters 7 and 8
Final Due date:
Option 2 Video/photostory
Digitally record your experience in OSV from the point of view of your person to answer the question: What is the impact of the first industrial revolution (market revolution) on a New England town? Your audience is 8th graders US History students at the middle school. You will need to edit and add your commentary to the video. You must include:
• a quote from four primary documents provided in class; info from text chapters 7, 8, and 9 and all of 10 and 12, Information from the Larkin article, information from field trip interviews
• map of each location.
• Information on the town meeting about the poor farm and the vendue.
• Info on your economic status, position on the tax list (put this as an introduction separate from the letters);
• How your daily life changed over the past 30 years because of the market revolution.
• How the type of work you do, your daily and seasonal routine (and that of your spouse or parent) has changed;
• Changes in choices you make about marriage, schooling, voting, leisure activities; foods you eat and how they are prepared and how that has changed.
• the range of wealth, diversity of your society (African Americans, immigrants), standard of living, control parents have over teenagers, role religion plays, transportation, role of women, peoples’ political attitudes about slavery/race (and if their point of view is determined by economics), immigration –pick a few of these
• changes by seasons
• 5 interviews plus town meeting (take more so you can edit)
Grading Sheet
“A” paper/video/photostory will include the following:
CONTENT:
• An introduction which includes family size, economic status, position on the tax list and a description of your S.C. or Ohio family or your situation in your textile town
• Type of house you live in, decor, and type of property you own and a comparison with the range of homes you see in your town, representing a difference in economic circumstances and in change with the market revolution;
• Type of work you do, your daily and seasonal routine (and that of your spouse or parent); farm tools and farming methods; different work choices and how that has changed and why
• Choices about marriage, schooling, voting, leisure activities; foods you eat and how they are prepared and how that has changed and why.
• You should also comment on the range of wealth, diversity of your society (African Americans, immigrants), standard of living, what people worry about, control parents have over teenagers, role religion plays, transportation, role of women, peoples’ political attitudes about slavery/race (and if their point of view is determined by economics), immigration
• What you know about the poor and your opinion on the vendue v. the poor farm. Describe the town meeting you attended as a representation of how democracy works in a New England town.
• Changes in your community in the last generation (since 1790).
WRITING/PRESENTATION
• Recognizes the audience (who you are writing to and establish a reason why)
• Establishes the author (your Sturbridge, South Carolinian or Ohioan persona)
• Has one letter from each season and one letter answers another; video notes differences by season
• Writes in the form of letters, complete with evidence and persuasive analysis; video is from point of view of 1830s OSV person
• Has five graphic illustrations
• 2500 to 3000 words/15 minutes in length
• Fewer than 8 grammar and spelling errors
• Footnotes from at least four of the following sources:
Four Documents you read in class or from OSV.org documents
People you spoke to at Sturbridge
Your text (sections of chapters 7, 8, and 9 and all of 10 and 12),
Larkin article
For video: works cited page as credit at the end of your video
