E/MS Unit I

Activity 2: Reading Early Settlers’ Accounts

Share with the students information from the Mass Moments about the Pilgrims landing in Provincetown and John Winthrop’s arrival in Salem. Divide the class into groups of three. Document E/MS I-2 includes several excerpts from Mourt’s Relation; each group can read a different part of this document. Another group should read the excerpt from Roger Clapp’s journal.

Mourt's Relation, first published in London in 1622, describes the Pilgrims’ experiences between November 1620, when the Mayflower anchored off of what is now Provincetown, and November 1621. Based on their map work, ask students which native people the Pilgrims would have encountered on the tip of Cape Cod? Which tribe did the English meet in what is now Watertown?

After students read their assignments, have them individually answer the questions listed at the bottom of the primary source and discuss their answers in groups. Have one member of each group report what they learned from their reading about the early settlers and the Wampanoag or Massachusett people to the class.

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