Lesson Plan: William Penn: A look at Historical Perspectives through Art
Lesson Origin: original
Georgia Performance Standard:
• GPS: SSUSH1 The student will describe European settlement in North America during the 17th century (c.) Explain the development and settlement of Pennsylvania
• AP Outline Topics
o 1. Pre-Columbian Societies English settlement of New England Religious diversity in the American colonies
o 2. Transatlantic Encounters and Colonial Beginnings, 1492-1690 American Indian cultures of North America at the time of European contact
o 3. Colonial North America, 1690 – 1754 Population growth and immigration
• AP Themes
o American Diversity: The diversity of the American people and the relationship among different groups. The roles of race, class, ethnicity, and gender in the history of the United States
o Religion: The variety of religious beliefs and practices in America from prehistory to the twenty-first century; influence of religion on politics, economics, and society
Essential Question / Learning Goal:
• AP = Analyze the connections between the Holy Experiment and Penn’s encounters with the Delaware.
• Onlevel / Honors = Analyze the connections between religious toleration of the Quakers and their interactions with the Native Americans of Pennsylvania. (Extension of the LG: Analyze the role of religious toleration between the Mass Bay, Rhode Island, & Penn colonies.)
Materials: (all attached)
• Written Sources:
o “Excerpt, Letter from William Penn to the Committee of the Free Society of Traders, 1683”
• Visual Sources:
o Birch, Thomas; The Landing of William Penn, 1850
o Duval, P.S.; Landing of William Penn
o Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome; The Landing of William Penn, Late 19th Century
o Frontispiece, Der Hoch-Deutsche Americanishche Calendar, 1770
o Holm, Thomas Campanius; Engraving, Novae Svecia scu Pensylvania in America, 1702
o Walter, Thomas; William Penn and the Indians Rotunda “Frieze of American History” scene from the US Capitol, 1878
o West, Benjamin; William Penn’s Treaty with the Indians when he founded the Province of Pennsylvania in North America, 1771 o “William Penn” portrayed with an Indian family, 19th century engraving
o “William Penn” early 20th century image
Instructions for class activities with suggested time (AP = 20min station, Onlevel/Honors will vary)
Introduction, warm up/hook:
• Review basics of Quaker background
• Look at pictures of the William Penn statue on top of the Philadelphia City Hall and the Quaker Oats logo. Discuss the idea of points of view and imagery.
Step by step instructions:
• AP Lesson Steps (on instruction / cover page of handout) – to be a short activity or a station
• Onlevel / Honors Steps:
o Separate handout of Benjamin West painting with questions (for individuals or groups)
Students will look at the painting and answer the questions and circle key figures and interactions within the painting
o Powerpoint slides / images of other paintings and documents to be projected for discussion / comparison
17th century: Excerpt, Letter from William Penn to the Committee of the Free Society of Traders
18th century: Benjamin West painting, Treaty with Indians
19th century: P.S. Duval painting, Landing of William Penn
20th century: William Penn image
o Teacher Guide for comparisons: focus on the main / center figures of the images or text. How does this change over time, and how does the depiction of the natives change overtime.
Closure:
• Discussion of the change of imagery overtime, and linking this to what are the major events in history during the other centuries to influence the depictions of Penn and the Delaware.
• Additional Resources for further investigation:
o www.quaker.org/wmpenn.html
o www.ushistory.org/tour/arch-street-friends.html
Assessment: Formative = class discussion
Technology use:
• Projector to see details of images and images in color to look at the shading etc. of each of the images.
Suggestions for differentiation/modification:
• Individual handouts of paintings in color that are laminated so students could use overhead markers to circle and mark on the images to help students who are more tactile in their learning style.
Extensions (advanced students):
• AP: More exploration on addition resource websites and expand on other examples in history of Quaker involvement with minorities (i.e. abolition and women’s rights)
• Onlevel/Honors: follow the AP lesson, however more time may be needed Depth of Knowledge level:
• Level 2: “skill/concept” = interpret, summarize, compare
• Level 3: “strategic thinking” = compare, draw conclusions
• Level 4: “extended thinking” = analyze, connect
Modeling/Guided Practice/Independent Practice elements:
• Example painting of Benjamin West – “Death of General Wolf at the Battle of Quebec”
o Compare the location of the characters, and the shading of the background of the painting, who or what is highlighted, etc.
Elements of Teaching American History Grant activities incorporated into the lesson:
- Sourcing:
o Questions for Letter and Images (Date, Title, Author, Why Written)
- Contextualization:
o Questions for Images (What is the focal point, how is Penn and the Natives represented)
o Discussion Questions (What events of US History might reflect the depictions of the Natives)
- Corroboration:
o Questions for Images (How does the image compare with the letter)
- Close Reading:
o Questions for Letter (Summarize, What information is left out / overlooked) Over the years, images of William Penn's encounter and negotiations with the Lenni Lenape Native Americans (The Delaware Indians) shifted and coalesced (come together and form one mass or whole) into the popular image we see on the top of Philadelphia's City Hall and on any box of Quaker Oats.
Objective: to encourage students to look critically at the ways in which Europeans imagined and represented, both visually and in text, Native Americans and their interactions with them. Europeans imagined the inhabitants of the New World before they encountered them in the flesh, shaped by the few stock images that print makers generated of the New World and circulated throughout Europe. By looking at historical engravings and reading accounts of the Leni Lenape by William Penn and others, students draw conclusions about some of the European assumptions that structured Native American‐European encounters and interactions
Activity:
¾ Step 1: In small groups read the Letter from William Penn and jot down the answers to the questions (see handout) ¾ Step 2: As a group analyze the paintings, prints, and carvings. (you may write on the images as a group by circling key figures, location of the natives compared to the settlers, the focal point of the paintings etc.) ¾ Step 3: Fill out the document questions for each image & then outline the discussion questions that follow. (see handout)
William Penn, as imagined in the early
20th century
"William Penn." William Penn portrayed with an Indian family. This engraving from a 19th century
"Landing of William Penn," Chromolithograph by P.S. Duval 19th century
Benjamin West William Penn's Treaty with the Indians when he founded the Province of Pennsylvania in North America, 1771 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Engraving, Novae Svecia scu Pensylvania in America, from Kort beskrifning om beskrifning om provincien Nya Swerige uit America...[A short description of the province of New Sweden], by Thomas Campanius Holm, 1702 (Am 1702 Cam)
The Landing of William Penn 1850 Thomas Birch – Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Frontispiece, Der Hoch‐Deutsche Americanische Calendar,
1770, Society Collection
Jean Leon Gerome Ferris The Landing of William Penn Late 19th century
Walter, Thomas: William Penn and the Indians Rotunda “Frieze of American History” scene from the U.S. Capitol 1878
Name: ______
Letter from William Penn:
¾ Author & Date? ¾ Why was it written? ¾ ¾ Summarize the document by Roman numeral sections. (a sentence summary for each of the 6 sections) ¾ XI. ¾ XV. ¾ XVI. ¾ XIX. ¾ XXI. ¾ XXV. ¾ What information does the author leave out / overlook about the lives of the Lenni Lenape (the Delaware)? ¾
Discussion Questions:
¾ Do the images reflect the vision of William Penn and his Holy Experiment? Explain why or why not. ¾
¾ When looking at the dates / time periods of the images and letter; what changes or trends do you come across? ¾
¾ From your knowledge of US History what events or feelings might account for the change in imagery of colonists and natives? ¾
¾ Final thoughts & Group Conclusions: (jot down a few insights that have arisen from the exploration of primary sources) ¾
Name: ______
Title: Title: Title:
Date: Date: Date:
What/ Who is the focus? What/ Who is the focus? What/ Who is the focus?
How is Penn represented? How is Penn represented? How is Penn represented?
How are the Natives represented? How are the Natives represented? How are the Natives represented?
How does it compare to Penn’s Letter? How does it compare to Penn’s Letter? How does it compare to Penn’s Letter?
Title: Title: Title: Date: Date: Date: What/ Who is the focus? What/ Who is the focus? What/ Who is the focus? Hoow is Penn represented? How is Penn represented? How is Penn represented? Hoow are the Natives represented? How are the Natives represented? How are the Natives represented? Hoow does it compare to Penn’s Letter? How does it compare to Penn’s Letter? How does it compare to Penn’s Letter?
Title: Title: Title:
Date: Date: Date:
What/ Who is the focus? What/ Who is the focus? What/ Who is the focus?
How is Penn represented? How is Penn represented? Hoow is Penn represented?
How are the Natives represented? How are the Natives represented? Hoow are the Natives represented?
How does it compare to Penn’s Letter? How does it compare to Penn’s Letter? Hoow does it compare to Penn’s Letter?
Native-European Contact Primary Reading
Excerpt, Letter From William Penn to the Committee of the Free Society of Traders, 1683
Seeking to populate his new colony, William Penn published accounts of life in Pennsylvania aimed at encouraging immigration and settlement. These pamphlets were published in several European languages and provided detailed descriptions of the land, people, flora, and fauna of the new world. This section of the pamphlet describes the appearance and lifeways of the Lenni Lenape, or Delawares.
XI. The Natives I shall consider in their Persons, Language, Manners, Religion and Government, with my sence of their Original. For their Persons, they are generally tall, streight, well-built, and of singular Proportion; they tread strong and clever, and mostly walk with a lofty Chin: Of Complexion, Black, but by design, as the Gypsies in England: They grease themselves with Bears-fat clarified, and using no defence against Sun or Weather, their skins must needs be swarthy; Their Eye is little and black, not unlike a straighy-look’t Jew: The thick Lip and flat Nose, so frequent with the East-Indians and Blacks, are not common to them; for I have seen as comely European-like faces among them of both, as on your side the Sea; and truly an Italian Complexion hath not much more of the White, and the Noses of several of them have as much of the Roman.
XV. Their Houses are Mats, or Barks of Trees set on Poles, in the fashion of an English Barn, but out of the power of the Winds, for they are hardly higher than a Man; they lie on Reeds or Grass. In Travel they lodge in the Woods about a great Fire, with the Mantle of Duffills they wear by day, wrapt about them, and a few Boughs stuck round them.
XVI. Their Diet is Maze, or Indian Corn, divers ways prepared: sometimes Roasted in the Ashes, sometimes beaten and Boyled with Water, which they call Homine; they also make Cakes, not unpleasant to eat: They have likewise several sorts of Beans and Pease that are good Nourishment; and the Woods and Rivers are their Larder.
XIX. But in Liberality they excell, nothing is too good for their friend; give them a fine Gun, Coat or other thing, it may pass twenty hands, before it sticks; light of Heart, strong Affections, but soon spent; the most merry Creatures that live, Feast, and Dance perpetually; they never have much, nor want much: Wealth circulateth like the Blood, all parts partake; and though none shall want what another hath, yet exact Observers of Property...They care little, because they want but little; and the Reason is, a little contents them: In this they are sufficiently revenged on us; If they are ignorant of our Pleasures, they are also free from our Pains. They are not disquieted with Bills of Lading and Exchange, nor perplexed with Chancery-Suits and Exchequer-Reckonings…Since the European came into these parts, they are grown great lovers of strong Liquors, Rum especially, and for it, exchange the richest of their Skins and Furs: If they are heated with Liquors, they are restless till they have enough to sleep; that is their cry, Some more, and I will go to sleep; but when Drunk, one of the most wretchedst Spectacles in the world.
XXI. These poor People are under a dark Night in things relating to Religion, to be sure, the Tradition of it; yet they believe a God and Immortality, without the help of Metaphysicks; for they say, There is a great King that made them, who dwells in a glorious Country to the Southward of them, and that the Souls of the good shall go thither, where they shall live again. Their Sacrifice is their first Fruits; the first and fattest Buck they can kill, goeth to the fire, where he is all burnt with a Mournful Ditty of him that performeth the Ceremony, buth with such marvellous Fervency and Labour of Body that he will even sweat to a foam. The othe rpart is their Cantico, performed by round-Dances, sometimes Words, sometimes Songs, then Shouts, two being in the middle that begin, and by Singing and Drumming on a Board direct the Chorus: Their Postures in the Dance are very Antick and differing, but all keep measure. This is done with equal Earnestness and Labour, but great appearance of Joy. In the Fall, when the Corn cometh in, they begin to feast one another; there have been two great Festivals already, to which all come that will: I was at one my self; their Entertainment was a green Seat by a Spring, under some shady Trees, and twenty Bucks with hot Cakes of new Corn, both Wheat and Beans, which they make up in a square form, in the leaves of the Stem, and bake them in the Ashes: And after that they fell to Dance, But they that go, must carry a small Present in their Money, it may be six Pence, which is made of the Bone of a Fish; the black is with them as Gold, the white, Silver; they call it all Wampum.
XXV. We have agreed, that in all Differences between us, Six of each side shall end the matter: Don’t abuse them, but let them have Justice, and you win them: The worst is, that they are the worse for the Christians, who have propagated their Vices, and yielded them Tradition for ill, and not for good things. But as low an Ebb as they are at, and as glorious as their Condition looks, the Christians have not out-liv’d their sight with all their Pretensions to an higher Manifestation: What good then might not a good People graft, where there is so distinct a Knowledge left between Good and Evil? I beseech God to incline the Hearts of all that come into these parts, to out-live the Knowledge of the Natives, but a fixt obedience to their greater Knowledge of the Will of God, for it were miserable indeed for us to fall under the just censure of the poor Indian Conscience, while we make profession of things so far transcending.
Letter From William Penn to the Committee of the Free Society of Traders 2