| Lesson 5: The Middling Class
in Deerfield:
Two People on Albany Road: A Case study
1 class period (85 minutes)
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| Key Content Ideas Taught in this Lesson and
Teacher Background |
As the villages grew in population and sophistication,
craftsmen, apprentices, and professionals all became important members
of the expanding Deerfield community.
Teacher Background Essay: The Middling Sort
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| Intended Learning Outcomes |
Understandings
Students will understand:
- Deerfield was a complex community with members
taking on a variety of roles and jobs, i.e. servant, craftsman,
housewife, clergy, apprentice, and yeoman.
- Deerfield became prosperous because of the
river trade and improved agricultural practices. This prosperity
led to increased desire for material goods and refinement.
Skills
Students will be able to:
- Articulate the varied roles typical for support
of a small New England town.
- Use information gained from this and other
periods to develop a continuum showing the growth of the Deerfield
community.
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| In Preparation for Teaching |
1. Read Teacher Background Essay: The
Middling Sort
Further Background Reading:
Rorabaugh, W.J. The Craft Apprentice: From Franklin to the Machine
Age. New York: Oxford UP., 1986.
"Town Lot V". McGowan, Susan and Miller,
Amelia. Family and Landscape:Deerfield Homelots from 1671.
Deerfield, MA: Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, 1996.
Wood, Joseph. The New England Village.
Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1997.
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Primary and Secondary Sources:
(all on American Centuries Website)
- Justin Hitchcock's Indenture
- Justin Hitchcock's letter to David Hoyt
- Sarah Greene's Indenture
- Elizabeth Amsden's Inventory, Will, Sale of
Goods
- Justin Hitchcock’s "A Sort of an
Autobiography"
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| Activities |
Materials in Context |
- Instruct students to transcribe the
will, sale of goods, and inventory of Elizabeth Amsden (1724-1768),
who lived on Town Lot # V on Deerfield's Albany Rd. Discuss
what you determined to be her story from reading these.
Do not be afraid to use conjecture here and infer from what
facts are evident.
- Involve students in the discussion of
Justin Hitchcock (1752-1822), who moved to Deerfield in
1774 and built his home on Town Lot #V in 1779. Read the
article, "A Sort of an Autobiography". Ask students
to transcribe Hitchcock's indenture papers and read his
letter to David Hoyt.
- Ask students to write descriptions of
these two individuals (both of whom lived on Town Lot #V,
Albany Road at different times) using facts from the documents.
They should allude to the ways in which these people were
typical and atypical.
- Conclude by reading together the indenture
statement of Sarah Greene. How does it compare with that
of Justin Hitchcock? Was there a difference because of gender?
Assignment: In preparation
for the discussion of the Revolutionary War in Western Massachusetts,
read:
Smith, Barbara Clark. "The War at
Home: Samuel Colton, Merchant of Longmeadow, Massachusetts."
After the Revolution: The Smithsonian History of Everyday
Life in the Eighteenth Century. New York: Smithsonian,
1985.
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Class participation and the descriptive writing
about Amsden and Hitchcock.
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