CONTENTS
Myth and Reality in 18th-Century Agriculture
Primary
Source
Teaching
Strategy
Colonial Williamsburg Teaching Resources
Teaching News
Quote of the Month
The
Next
Electronic Field Trip is
Mr. Alderson's Farm
April 15, 2004
NEW!
2004–2005 Teaching
Resources Catalog
2004–2005 Electronic Field
Trip Scholarships
|
TOP STORIES
Myth and Reality in 18th-Century Agriculture
Many myths surround farming in the past. At Colonial Williamsburg, the past is 230 years ago... but dealing with myths is part of the daily interpretation for the Rural Trades agriculturalists working at the Great Hopes Plantation site. Learn
More.
Primary Source: Probate Inventories: Voices from the Past
Virginia's eighteenth-century economy was based largely on credit. Before a deceased person's outstanding debts could be properly settled, his or her personal property was inventoried to determine the value of their estate. Historians examine inventories for the wealth of information they yield about eighteenth-century daily life and social status. Inventories can also be used as a teaching tool in the classroom. Students will find inventories fascinating! Learn
More
Teaching Stategy: Lesson on Colonial Virginia's Agricultural Economy
Tobacco was the basis of Virginia’s colonial economy. During the eighteenth century, many planters, as a way to diversify, also grew corn and wheat as export crops. Use a lesson exploring the work necessary to grow these three crops, the way tobacco was marketed, and the Tobacco Inspection Act of 1730. This lesson is available as a PDF file.
Colonial
Williamsburg Teaching Resources for Your
Classroom
Colonial
Williamsburg offers a variety of quality
instructional materials dealing with 18th-century
life, including:
—A Day in the Life (instructional video series)
—Hands-On
History: Slave's Bag (object kit)
—Hands-On History: Lady's Pocket (object kit)
—Mary Geddy's Day (book)
—If You Lived in Williamsburg in Colonial Days (book)
—Our Common Passage (videotape)
Learn More!
Teaching
News
The 2004–2005 Colonial Williamsburg Teaching Resources Catalog is ready to meet your early American history teaching needs. The newest edition includes detailed information about the 2004–2005 Electronic Field Trip series, our award-winning videos and audio CDs, history kits, lesson units, books, and even cocked hats and tin whistles! You can even download your own copy of the catalog. Learn More!
Quote
of the Month
"EVERY day last week it rained more or less, and sometimes continued chief part of the night; but on Saturday it never ceased pouring down, and towards noon the winds began to rise... blowing most furiously.... Infinite damage has been done to the crops of corn and tobacco, much wheat spoiled in barns, a great number of trees blown down, and almost every mill-dam in the country given way."
Virginia Gazette (Purdie), September 8, 1775
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Volume
2, Issue 8 
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