Lesson Two Activity

ACTIVITY FOR LESSON TWO: Treaty Gatherings

Introduction: In this activity, you will begin to explore the atmosphere of a typical treaty gathering during the mid 1700s. The various frontier characters could have been expected to come together at a treaty gathering. They came together for specific, but different reasons. After completing this activity you should have a better understanding of what motivated different frontier groups to attend a treaty gathering.

Directions: Still working in teams, select a new character to research. Imagine this is your first treaty gathering and it is such an important event in your life that you want a written record. If your character is a male, write a journal entry. If your character is a female, write a diary entry. If your character is an Iroquois, write a story (remember, the Iroquois had an oral tradition) that you might tell at the council fire. You should write about something remarkable that could have happened to you only at a treaty gathering. Maybe you would write about someone you met, or something you saw, or something you learned, or perhaps something you experienced. Note: You will need to visit the other character sites in order to gain a full understanding of what happened at a treaty gathering. Use this Timeline as a frame of reference.

Here are some questions you might want to consider when you are researching your character and what they might have experienced at a treaty gathering:

1. What preparations would your character have made in order to attend a treaty gathering?
2. What would your character bring to a treaty gathering?
3. Why would your character attend a treaty gathering?
4. What business would your character conduct at a treaty gathering?
5. Where would the treaty gathering have been held?
6. What kind of official business would have been done at a treaty gathering?
7. How would people have entertained themselves at a treaty gathering?
8. How would the community you belong to benefit from attending a treaty gathering?

Frontier Characters

• Fur Trader
• Colonial Man
• Colonial Leader
• Iroquois Leader
• Iroquois Man
• Interpreter
• Colonial Woman
• British Leader
• Colonial Soldier
• Iroquois Woman

Consider These Facts of Life
(Averages are from the mid-to late-1700s)

Height
women: 5' 2" (161.0 cm.)
men:5' 6" (172.6 cm.)
 

Marrying age
women: 22
men: 27
 

Household size
non-slaveholder family: 3 whites
slaveholder family: 4.5 whites
slaves per household: 5 blacks
 

Literate adults 
women: 50%
men: 66%
 

Age at death
women:42
men: 45