Last updated: March 15, 2023
Lesson Plan
Through the Oneida Carrying Place: Travel, Trade, and Conflict
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- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- Common Core Standards:
- 3.L.4, 3.L.4.a, 4.L.3.a, 5.L.3.a, 5.L.4.a, 3.RF.4.c, 4.RF.4.c, 5.RF.4.c, 6-8.RH.1, 6-8.RH.2, 6-8.RH.3, 3.RI.1, 3.RI.2, 3.RI.3, 4.RI.1, 4.RI.2, 4.RI.3, 5.RI.1, 5.RI.2, 5.RI.3, 6.RI.1, 6.RI.2, 6.RI.3, 3.RL.1, 4.RL.1, 5.RL.1, 6.RL.1
- Thinking Skills:
- Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts.
Essential Question
How did European/Native contact on the New York frontier influence the development of early America?
Objective
When done, students will have a brief overview of European/Native relations in early American history. Including how trade, war, and politics on the New York frontier affected both sides.
Background
For thousands of years the ancient trail that connects the Mohawk River and Wood Creek served as a vital link for people traveling between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Ontario. Travelers used this well-worn route through Oneida Indian territory to carry trade goods and news, as well as diseases, to others far away. When Europeans arrived, they called this trail the Oneida Carrying Place and inaugurated a significant period in American history—a period when nations fought for control of not only the Oneida Carrying Place, but the Mohawk Valley, the homelands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora), and the rich resources of North America. In this struggle Fort Stanwix would play a vital role. The carrying place was a part of the major water route between New York City and Canada. It was between one to six miles in length depending on the season of the year.
The Haudenosaunee had used it long before any Europeans moved into the area. The carrying place took on new importance for the Haudenosaunee as they became involved in the fur trade with Europeans. Furs werebrought south to trade with the Dutch and English, and northeast to trade with the French. In exchange for the furs, European trade goods traveled west. The English began to exert a presence around the carrying place as early as 1727, when they built a fortified trading post at Oswego. They later erected stockades on both ends of Oneida Lake. By the early 1750s the Oneida Carry had developed into an active station with two landings on each end: “upper landings” for high water and “lower landings” for the drier seasons. American Indians and Europeans in the area made a business out of supplying wheeled transport to haul freight over the carry.
Fort Stanwix was built in 1758 by the British with Oneida Indian acceptance. It commanded a strategic location on a bluff along the Oneida Carrying Place. The fort reflected the importance of the site and need to protect it from the French in Canada. Fort Stanwix also became an important site for trade and relations with the Haudenosaunee.
Preparation
After clicking the link below, you will be taking a virtual field trip to the Marinus Willett Center at Fort Stanwix National Monument. The visitor center showcases the many stories of the people who lived in the Mohawk Valley and at the historic fort during the American Revolution. Explore the virtual tour and use the artifacts, information panels, and digital tags to answer the questions.
Link to the virtual tour: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=shbcidoChPv
Procedure
As you take the tour of the Marinus Willett Center, there is much to see. Overlaid on the 360° images are interactive icons you can hover over that will provide you with information about the center and the objects within. Circles on the floor will allow you to move around from space to space. Use your mouse to zoom in and get a closer look at the displays.
Vocabulary
American Revolution — the war in which Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies won their independence. The colonies became a new country, the United States. The Revolution began in 1775 and ended in 1783.
Frontier — Uncharted territory. It could be a remote piece of land or a new field of study.
Fur Trade — A cultural and economic exchange between American Indians and European-Americans beginning after first contact. American Indians traded valuable furs for European made manufactured goods.
Haudenosaunee — “People of the Longhouse.” A confederation or alliance among six American Indian nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) who are commonly known as the Iroquois Confederacy.
Oneida Carrying Place — an important link in the main 18th century trade route between the Atlantic seaboard of North America and interior of the continent located between Wood Creek and Mohawk River within present-day Rome, NY.
Treaty — a formal agreement between two or more countries in reference to peace, alliance, commerce, or other international relations.
Related Lessons or Education Materials
Learn more about the Oneida Carry, the military history, and politics that occured there on the following webpage.