Colonial Williamsburg

Three and Six-Hour Study Visits' Objectives

At the end of the tour, students will be able to:

• Describe the role of colonial government in Virginia and Williamsburg, including
• Identify Williamsburg as the capital of Virginia
  
• Compare the three levels of government – Church vestry, county courts, and General Assembly
  
• Identify the House of Burgesses as the representative body of elected officials
  
• Identify groups who were denied their political rights
  
• Describe how Virginians became Americans


• Describe Williamsburg as a community composed of different families – black and white, poor and rich, including
• Identify family structures in all levels of society and know how these structures were organized by blood, marriage, and/or extended kin
  
• Describe and compare the different social classes (gentry, middling, lower, and slaves)
  
• Explain how families obtained their basic food, clothing, shelter, and medical needs
  
• Discuss values, beliefs, and customs that parents passed on to their children


• Describe the various aspects of cultural life that shaped colonial society, including
• Identify the Church of England as being the state church and define its role in society
  
• Compare the differences in education between rich/poor, black/white, male/female
  
• Describe and compare the leisure activities (e.g., games, dancing, conversation, storytelling, etc.) among the various social levels of Virginia's eighteenth-century society.


• Describe various occupations of colonial Virginians
, including
• Identify how Virginia's economy was based on tobacco and slavery
  
• Understand the importance of exports/imports (mercantilism)
  
• Describe the money system used in Virginia
  
• Name and explain various trades that Virginians practiced in the eighteenth century

 

African-Americans in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg

Over half the population of eighteenth-century Williamsburg was African-American. Among the aspects of African-American culture this tour will explore are family life, legal issues, work, religion and resistance to slavery.

At the end of the tour, students will be able to:

1. Compare the diversity of lifestyles within the African continent.
2. Discuss the evidence of the African-American presence in tidewater Virginia.
3. Explore Colonial Williamsburg as an eighteenth-century community of families, tradesmen, African-Americans, and European Americans.
4. Define the role of African-Americans within the Williamsburg community.
   

Many women in eighteenth-century Williamsburg attended to household management and family life. Other women led lives that did not fit this traditional role.

At the end of the tour, students will be able to:

1. Discuss the role of women within the family and the eighteenth-century community of Williamsburg.
2. Compare the legal, educational and business opportunities that were offered to eighteenth-century men and women.
3. Compare the lifestyles of women from different economic and social backgrounds.
   

Work and Enterprise in Colonial Williamsburg

Williamsburg was the center of Virginia government and politics. It was a bustling economic center as well. This Discovery Visit explores trades and occupations, work of slaves, the apprentice system, and the colonial economy.

At the end of the tour, students will be able to:

1. Compare the diverse lifestyles of the population who lived, worked, and conducted business in eighteenth-century Williamsburg.
   
2. Discuss the role of the tradesperson/artisan within the eighteenth-century community of Williamsburg.
   
3. Describe the sources of the tradesperson's raw materials, the product produced, and the clientele.
   
4. Define the process by which the eighteenth-century tradesperson turned raw materials into products used in daily life.
   
5. Identify the occupational choices and training available within the community of eighteenth-century Williamsburg.
   

Explore Colonial Williamsburg to learn about the differences in education, clothing, food, and leisure activities of families who made up the community of eighteenth-century Williamsburg.

At the end of the tour, students will be able to:

1. Describe the families making up the eighteenth-century community of Williamsburg.
   
2. Relate daily life and activities of families from the eighteenth century to daily life and activities of families living in the twenty-first century.
   
3. Identify the living conditions of families from different economic and social levels of the eighteenth-century community of Williamsburg.
   
   

Choosing Revolution in Virginia

Trace the beginnings of the new nation by exploring the complex decisions every Virginian faced as the colony moved from being subjects of Great Britain to being citizens of a new independent country called the United States of America.

At the end of the tour, students will be able to:

1. Trace the order and significance of events that led to the American Revolution, between 1765 and 1780.
   
2. Compare the effects that these events had on people living in eighteenth-century Williamsburg.
   
3. Discuss the decisions that ordinary Virginians faced on the road to Revolution.