Teacher Process
This quest is an opportunity for students to learn about New York's colonial history. It is not comprehensive and in fact should follow a unit about Eastern Woodland Indians and some lessons about European explorers. With this background knowledge, students should be able to use this quest, with support, to learn about the Dutch Colonial Period. This quest is meant to provide a two perspectives, that of a Dutch colonist and that of an African-American, most likely enslaved. It is understood, but children should be reminded that people were living here when Europeans began exploring and settling in North America.
This quest should be done over the course of several days. The outcome, a week-long diary, can be a short-term project that reflects a greater understanding of this period than the student had prior to navigating this webquest.
If you would like to explore the institution of slavery in New York during this period, the website slaveryinnewyork.com has a comprehensive online resource. In addition, a teacher's guide is available to download.
We hope that your students enjoy and benefit from their journey back in time via this webquest.