Under the Mast and Below the Hill

(How “place” affected the lives of children in Fall River and New Bedford)

 

 

Grade Level:              Secondary (11th Grade History)

Subject Area:             American History

Unit Description:        Industrial and Maritime History in South Coastal Massachusetts

 

 

Essential Question:    Were the lives of the children of New Bedford easier, happier and safer than their counterparts in Fall River, based on the fact that each city developed a different industry relative to its geographic location.

 

Enduring Understandings:     Students will gain a more clear understanding of how geography can play a vital role in influencing the social and economic development of a region.

 

Objectives:    

  • Students will understand that a region’s economy is based on geographical criteria
  • Students will understand what life was like growing up in a “typical” mill town during the mid-nineteenth century. (i.e. Fall River, Ma.)
  • Students will understand what life was like growing up in a town based on a maritime industry (i.e. New Bedford and whaling)
  • Students will understand how a geographic area had a impact on immigration patterns.
  • Students will understand 19th century child labor trends and its impact on the lives of children.
  • Students will learn to research, analyze, and evaluate primary source material.

 

Standards:

  • Economic Growth in the North and South (1800-1860)

US I 26, US I 27

  • Social, Political, and Religious Change (1800-1860)

US I 29

  • Industrial America

US II 1, US II 2

  • Age of Reform: Progressivism

US II 8, Policies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activities:

  • Students will analyze maps of New England, including Fall River and New Bedford Ma.
  • Students will research Web sites and primary source materials on the development of industry in Fall River
  • Students will research Web sites and primary source materials on New Bedford’s whaling industry.
  • Students will research Web sites and primary source materials on immigration patterns in New Bedford and Fall River.
  • Students will research and analyze the history of child labor and laws pertaining to child labor from 1840-present.

 

Assessments: (TBD)

Note: Assessments will probably include traditional formal and informal objective content based assessments as well as alternative assessment activities such as journal writing, portfolios, projects, and class presentations that call for authentic application of knowledge and skills.

 

Culminating Activity:

Students will visit either the Slater Mill National Park in R.I. or Lowell Industrial National Park and on another day visit the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

 

After the unit is presented and the sites visits have been made students will develop an answer to the essential question based on  the information they have acquired in class and through their research an site visits.