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Chronological Reasoning and Causation

Why Timbuctoo? Exploring Motivations of Smith and Settlers

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About this Activity

  1. Load Lake Placid & Mirror Lake in Main Image Viewer
  2. Load Keene Center, Adirondack Mountains in Main Image Viewer
  3. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  4. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  5. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  6. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  7. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  8. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  9. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  10. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  11. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  12. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  13. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
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  17. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
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  22. Load An Address to the Three Thousand Colored Citizens of New York, Gerrit Smith in Main Image Viewer
  23. Load Extract from a Sermon. North Star, 12 May 1848, p. 2. in Main Image Viewer
  24. Load Extract from a Sermon. North Star, 12 May 1848, p. 2. in Main Image Viewer
  25. Load Extract from a Sermon. North Star, 12 May 1848, p. 2. in Main Image Viewer

Suggested Teaching Instructions

Students can complete this activity through the questions on Consider the Source, or use this google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lsl_6VAKQusQjRI4lBPp0Cg4XqzPTjxdGGzAs5QJFR8/edit?usp=sharing

Historical Context: Timbuctoo is deep in the land of the Adirondack Mountains. This mountain range is synonymous with rough weather and tough terrain. After New York State passed a law requiring African American men to posess $250 in real estate in order to vote, Gerrit Smith divided up his 120,000 acres into 40 acre lots and began inviting African American families to live and farm on his land. Gerrit Smith was a very wealthy land owner who invited roughly 3,000 African Americans to come and work on his 40 acre plots where these families could have new oportunities. The lands are in North Elba, New York.

Lesson Plan 

Title: Why Timbuctoo? Exploring the motivations of Smith and the Settlers

 Overview: Using an analysis of primary and secondary sources provided by PBS, John Brown Lives, and the NYS Archives, students will investigate the causes and motivations behind the land grants given by Gerrit Smith and the black New Yorkers that founded the Timbuctoo settlement in North Elba, NY in the mid 1800s. Students will examine sources to learn about the causes and motivations of Smith, the abolitionists, and the black settlers that moved to the Adirondacks. 

Goal: To invite students to investigate the causes and motivations of the founding of Timbuctoo in North Elba, NY from multiple perspectives via an analysis of primary and secondary sources. 

Objectives:

1. Students will examine and analyze primary sources to determine the causes of the settlement of Timbuctoo. 

2. Students will analyze the motivations of Gerrit Smith and the settlers who accepted the land grants. 

3. Students will evaluate the pros and cons of settlers moving to the Adirondacks. 

4. Students will create an argument in essay or google slides format addressing the compelling question. 

 

 Investigative (Compelling) Question: Why was Timbuctoo created, and what motivated people to settle there? 

Time Required

  • 4-5 40-minute class periods

  • Class 1: Introduction and Background

    • Intro Article, Timbuctoo from Adirondack.net and questions

    • PBS Searching for Timbuctoo clip and questions

    • Adirondack photo- Impact of geography on farming

  • Class 2 and 3: Examining Primary Sources

    • Address to Three Thousand Colored Citizens and questions

    • Newspaper Record- The North Star- Henry Garnet Sermon excerpt and questions

  • Class 4: Constructing Your Argument/Reflection

    • Students will have time to construct their argument in essay or google slides

    • Reflection questions: Would you have moved to Timbuctoo? Would you have given land away? 

  • Optional- Class 5: Presentation of Argument/Debate

    • Students will present their arguments with discussion of various perspectives

 Recommended Grade Range

  • 9-12

  • 7-8- modify as necessary; recommend to remove the Address or shorten the documents for day 2 and 3

Subject: Social Studies 

Standards: 

NYS Social Studies Framework- 9-12

-11.3 b Different perspectives concerning constitutional, political, economic, and social issues contributed to the growth of sectionalism.

-Students will investigate the development of the abolitionist movement, focusing on Nat Turner’s Rebellion, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator), Frederick Douglass (The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass and The North Star), and Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin).

NYS Next Generation Literacy Standards

RH1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the source as a whole.

RH2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate, objective summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

RH6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view, stance, or purpose (e.g. rhetorical language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts, images, visuals, etc.).

RH7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

WHST1: Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

WHST5: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self generated question), analyze a topic, or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Credits: Kathy Bellows

 

PREPARATION 

Materials Used: 

  1. Timbuctoo Article

  2. PBS Searching for Timbuctoo clips: 5:20-10:03, 12:07-21:39

  3. Photo of Lake Placid

  4. Broadside: An Address to the Three Thousand Colored citizens of New York who are the Owners of One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Acres of Land, in the State of New York, Given to them by Gerrit Smith Esq. of Peterboro, September 1, 1846. Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. (p 1-7 and 9-17)  PDF file

  5. The North Star, May 12, 1948. Communications.Extract from a Sermon, Rochester, NY (Henry Highland Garnet) p.2  PDF file

  6. Google doc -Why Timbuctoo Inquiry

 

Resources Used: 

  1. Timbuctoo Article

  2. PBS Searching for Timbuctoo clips: 5:20-10:03, 12:07-21:39

  3. Photo of Lake Placid

  4. Broadside: An Address to the Three Thousand Colored citizens of New York who are the Owners of One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Acres of Land, in the State of New York, Given to them by Gerrit Smith Esq. of Peterboro, September 1, 1846. Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. (p 1-7 and 9-17)  PDF file

  5. The North Star, May 12, 1948. Communications.Extract from a Sermon, Rochester, NY (Henry Highland Garnet) p.2  PDF file

 

PROCEDURE

Description of Procedure: 

  1. Connect- Setting the Stage- Students will read the Timbuctoo article and view a clip of the PBS documentary, Searching for Timbuctoo to gain insights about Gerrit Smith and the background of the Timbuctoo settlement. Students will gain context of the wider politics of slavery in New York and the United States as a backdrop for the creation of Timbuctoo. Who was Gerrit Smith, and why did he cede land grants for Timbuctoo? What were the motivations of Smith, other abolitionists, and potential settlers?  Introduce the compelling question. 

    1. Why Timbuctoo Inquiry- contains all supporting questions and culminating task

    2. Timbuctoo Article

    3. PBS Searching for Timbuctoo clips: 5:20-10:03, 12:07-21:39

  2. Wonder- Examine the Geography- students will analyze a photo of the Adirondacks to determine 2 motivations of settlers and 3 challenges they would have faced in the mid 1800s.

    1. Photo of Lake Placid

 

  1. Investigate- Students will analyze documents of the Address to Three Thousand Colored Citizens from Gerrit Smith and The North Star Newspaper article of an excerpt from a sermon by Henry Highland Garnet on the eve of settlers leaving for the Adirondacks. Students will close read and answer supporting questions for all sources. Students will determine the causes and the motivations of Gerrit Smith and the settlers. 

    1. Broadside: An Address to the Three Thousand Colored citizens of New York who are the Owners of One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Acres of Land, in the State of New York, Given to them by Gerrit Smith Esq. of Peterboro, September 1, 1846. Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. (p 1-7 and 9-17)  PDF file

    2. The North Star, May 12, 1948. Communications. Extract from a Sermon, Rochester, NY (Henry Highland Garnet) p.2  PDF file

    3. Why Timbuctoo Inquiry- supporting questions

 

  1. Construct- Students will synthesize all sources and analysis to develop an argument that answers the compelling question: Why was Timbuctoo created, and what motivated people to settle there? Students will write an essay or google slides presentation. 

    1. Why Timbuctoo Inquiry- Culminating task

 

  1. Express- students will prepare their argument to present to the class and further discuss the compelling question. 

 

  1. Reflect- Students will answer and share insights to the questions: Would you have moved to Timbuctoo? Would you have given land away? 


Extensions- 1. What would be the modern day equivalent of Smith’s land grants? Compare and contrast with current discussions of reparations for slavery. 

2. Think about the role of religion in the settlement of Timbuctoo. To what degree is it similar or different from the role of religion in today’s society? 

 

EVALUATION

Evaluation: Students will complete the culminating task. Using evidence and analysis of the sources, construct an argument that answers the following question: Why was Timbuctoo created, and what motivated people to settle there? The augment can be completed in essay form or in google slides. Students will present and discuss with the class.

RETURN TO RESULTS