Enclosure Movement's Effect on Virginia's Settlement
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Objectives:

1. Student will define what the enclosure movement was and how it propelled many English men to leave their home from Virginia.
2. Students will brainstorm, and give their own reasons why a person would settle in Virginia in the Jamestown Period.

Relevance

This topic is essential to understanding why a person would travel across an ocean to live in wilderness with a 2 in 3 chance of dying in a year.

Involvement of Learners

Begin class with a brainstorming session. In this session ask each student to give a reason why a person would leave England to settle a place they’ve never even seen.

List each response on the chalk board and briefly discuss the validity or possibility of each response.

Explanation /Activity and Content

1. After the brainstorming activity tell students the basic simple fact: In England at this time, ownership of land was a sign of economic, social, and political status. If you didn’t have land, you had to use other people’s lands and pay them rent, as well as give them a significant portion of your production.

* This simple idea is extremely important - students must be aware of this.

2. Next, explain the enclosure movement was a slow moving trend to enclose land held by lords of to only the tenants he wanted. This push many people off lands and into cities. The population increases in the cities caused death and crime rates to rise. Explain, this not only was economically disastrous, but it cause a desire in many people to leave cities and have their own land.

3. Introduce the class to the ideals of Richard Hakulyt, who saw England’s future growth as a result of colonies, through:

a) Production of materials for use and trade such as: silk, timber, tar, etc.

b) Increase glory to England and a way to prevent Spain from growing stronger.

c) To serve God and Christianize the natives of America.

Closure

Before assigning homework, point out to students that life in England was short and hard. Average life expectancy only about 40 years.

As a conclusion, allow the remainder of class for each student to answer the following questions:

1. How could Virginia seem like a promised land to those who left England?

2. How did Hakulyt's goals appeal to the common man in England?

3. Was Hakulyt correct in saying colonies and trade would make England a world power?

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URL for this page: http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu.