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Teach PA History
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Vanished Occupations: Life on an Iron Plantation
Equipment & Supplies
  • Folders organized by occupation with their primary source/s and coordinating worksheets (1 folder per student) An object made of iron Overhead projector Transparencies (5) Map of Pennsylvania
Procedures

Day One



Preparation note: Before class prepare occupation folders for student research. (See step 9 for details.)

1. Display transparency of Iron Plantation Workers and have the following exploratory discussion about the iron workers with your students:

  • Describe the appearance of the men. [Most men seem to be serious or proud–showing off the tools of their trade and proving the strength required for their job. The man wearing the bolero hat in the top, middle of the group seems to be dressed slightly better than the other men. This could mean he held a higher position than the others. Perhaps he was an overseer.]


  • What kind of clothes are they wearing? [Work clothes: pants, suspenders, long-sleeved shirts, hats]

  • What kind of attitude do they seem to have? [proud, stern, determined]


  • Do you think they worked alone or together? [together]


  • Why do you think most of them are wearing hats? [To protect themselves from the cold and the dust/rocks.]


  • Would they all perform the same task? [Maybe not the exact same task, but similar. They all seem to be focused on the mining of iron ore. The rocky background suggests they are posing for the picture in an iron ore pit. One clue is that they are holding the same tools–shovels and pitch forks. One man holds a mallet above his head.]


  • Do they have the appearance of being physically fit? [Yes.]


  • How do you think the tools were used? [To break up rock and shovel iron ore.]


2. Display transparency of Moses Thompson.Ask your students the questions below, encouraging them to make observations and inferences in interpreting this image of an ironmaster:

  • What kind of impression do you have of this man? [Wealthy, confident, successful, intelligent.]


  • What kind of clothes is he wearing? [Suit, bow-tie]


  • Do you think he has an important job? [Yes, most likely a non-labor job which provides wealth and status.]


  • What do you think his role is in the making of iron? [Allow for educated guesses. He is an ironmaster–the person who owns the iron works and plantation.]


  • Do you think he is rich? Why? [Yes, he can afford a nice suit.]


  • What kind of attitude does he portray? [Confident, perhaps slightly aloof (gaze looking off to the side)]


3. Show students Moses Thompson's Mansion transparency. This is the mansion of the Centre Furnace ironmaster Moses Thompson (1810-1891), the man whose portrait your students have just analyzed. Do not reveal this information until students have been given a chance to study the mansion and have answered the following questions:

  • Would you like to live in a home like this? Why or Why not? [Allow for varying responses.]


  • What makes the home a mansion? [It is large, imposing. Usually someone of wealth and importance lives there.]


  • In 1842 a family moved into this house. What kind of person would have lived in this house? What occupation might this man have had? [It would have been a person of wealth. In Pennsylvania he could be the owner of a steel corporation, oil tycoon, investor, ironmaster, railroad magnate…Clues: This is not located in the city. It is located in Centre County. What is such a fancy house doing in the middle of farm land? This land is in Nittany valley (show on Pennsylvania map), an area rich with iron ore deposits. Iron ore is one of the necessary resources for making iron. This man would have been an ironmaster.]


  • What are the duties of an ironmaster? [Oversee plantation life and create a profit from producing iron.]

  • Why would he want to live in a grand mansion? [To show his authority to his workers and his relative wealth.]


Tell your students that the family who lived in this home was the Thompson family. Moses Thompson became the owner of an iron plantation in Centre County, Pennsylvania in the mid 1800s.

4. Introduce the concept of plantation by making a student association with the word "plantation" and then continue to explain the four natural resources necessary in making iron. Ask students what they think of when they hear the word plantation? Just as the South had plantations to grow and harvest one of their natural resources–cotton, Pennsylvania had plantations to make products out several of their natural resources. (Slaves were used in iron plantations as well. After 1780 slavery slowly began to diminish.) Pennsylvania led the colonies and nation in making iron. This was possible because it had an abundance of natural resources to make iron. See if students can name the four important resources for making iron: iron ore, forests, limestone, and water (streams).

5. Discuss what the ironmaster did and his relationship to his workers. The ironmaster typically owned and supervised the plantation. He had a paternalistic relationship with his workers. He believed it was his responsibility to help take care of his workers. He usually knew the worker and his family well. Workers would often seek advice from the master. Workers have been known to even name a child after the master. The master would provide housing at a low cost and sometimes build schools and churches for them. The ironmaster would even have a store for his workers to buy necessities since they lived in a rural area.

6. Ask the students why the man who lived in this house would want to make iron?
Explain to them that the basic building materials were once wood, stone, and iron. Iron was the strongest of these materials, and many people used it and wanted to buy it. One could make a prosperous living from owning an iron plantation. It was a very challenging job and many of the ironmasters did fail.

7. Guide students in listing on the board as many iron products that would have been used in the 1700s and early 1800s. An iron skillet or other iron product could be shown to the class.

Possible products include:

  • Nails

  • Fireplace shovel

  • Saw

  • Chain

  • Tongs

  • Sickle

  • Blade for a plow

  • Horseshoe

  • Stoves

  • Cannons

  • Cannon balls

  • Door latches

  • Anvil

  • Hammer

  • Ax

  • Garden hoe

  • Tea kettle




8. Show students Hopewell Village transparency. Show them the furnace where the iron is made. The furnace is the heart and soul of the village. Show illustration transparency 19th Century Blast Furnace. This shows a cut-away of a blast furnace in operation. Tell them that they will learn about the workers that made the iron and made the village come alive.

9. On the board, write the following occupations on the board:

Miner, Collier, Teamster, Founder

Divide the class into four groups–one group for each occupation listed. Give each student a folder with the name of the occupation of their group. Inside they should find at least one primary source (sometimes more), a worksheet with interpretive questions for the primary source, a graphic organizer for occupations, and a map of Hopewell Village.


Miner Student Folder should contain:

Teamster Student Folder:

  • Student Worksheet 2-Teamster

  • Teamster

  • Tenant Housing

  • Student Worksheet 5-Hopewell Village

  • Student Worksheet 6-Occupations Chart


Founder Student Folder:

Collier Student Folder:

Note: no accompanying questions are provided for Charcoal Mound Charcoal Pit,Tenant Housing and Founder's House photographs. These are strictly for illustration.

10. Have each student complete the worksheet that aids in interpreting the primary source. Then direct them to use their map of Hopewell Village to mark where their occupation would be performed. (Students are to keep this copy of Hopewell Village to use again on the second day.) When individuals are finished, ask each group to quietly compare answers and discuss. Circulate and assess if students have an understanding of the occupation they are exploring.
Have each small group select a spokesperson to explain the job of the ironworker in relation to making iron on the plantation.

11. As the students share this information have them complete the graphic organizer that compares the various jobs. Briefly share about some other jobs on the plantation:

Woodcutter- He cut the wood for the collier to make the charcoal.
Blacksmith- He shaped the iron into many products such as tools and horseshoes.
Filler- He filled the furnace with the iron ore, limestone, and charcoal.
Gutterman- He prepared the sand bed of the cast house floor by raking or digging channels into which the molten iron would flow.

12. Have students put in order these jobs needed to make iron:

  • Teamster

  • Molder or blacksmith

  • Collier

  • Gutterman

  • Founder

  • Woodcutter

  • Filler



[Woodcutter, collier, teamster, filler, founder, gutterman, molder or blacksmith]

What would happen if one of the team neglected to do his job?

[The process would break down, and the final iron product would not get made.]


Day Two


1. Briefly review ironmaster and laborer's roles on a plantation. This day you will focus on what it might have been like to live and work at an iron plantation, and activities will require much student imagination.

2. Display Hopewell Village. Also, have students get their copy to observe.
Describe the location and scenery of the village. [Rural, distant from cities, forests, farmland, mountains]

3. Using the Teacher Guide to Student Worksheet 5- Hopewell Village, briefly point out the various buildings and their uses.

4. Direct your students: "Imagine yourself standing somewhere on this plantation. What sounds might you hear?"

  • The roar of the fire in the furnace

  • Women talking as the worked in the fields

  • The sound of the horses" hooves on the dirt road as they bring a load of charcoal to the charcoal house

  • The pounding of the blacksmith's hammer

  • The trickling of water from French Creek

  • Men grunting as they do hard physical labor


5. Continue to ask students to imagine with their senses. Now ask, "What would you smell at the plantation?"

  • The rotten eggs smell of the furnace

  • The fresh baked breads from homes

  • The manure of the animals

  • The sweat and dirt of the men

  • The smell of smoke or fire


6. Tell students to imagine living in Hopewell Village. Ask, "What kinds of amusements and recreation do you think you would have?" While students are looking at Hopewell Village have them imagine these recreational activities taking place. (Read aloud with pauses between each.)

It is evening, and in the barn there is much laughter and singing as the ironworkers dance the night away.

In one of the tenant houses, some women friends have gathered to make a quilt while their toddlers are playing with the fabric scraps.

It is harvest time, and the women and children have gathered together to husk the corn.

Young children are squealing with delight as they climb the high cinder piles.

During the hot summer a founder's son is watching the molders when one of the men lifts him and tossed him in the tub of water used to cool the tools after the furnace is tapped. (letting the molten iron out)

…a carriage containing a well-dressed family is coming to stay at the mansion for a lengthy visit.

A collier is relieved he will have a break from tending the charcoal pits. He decides to take his sons and go trout fishing, and maybe if he sees a rabbit or deer, he'll try to bring one home for dinner.

Around a huge copper kettle used to make apple-butter, there are women and men gossiping, children with apple butter smeared on their faces playing games, and young men and women flirting. One couple grasps the handle to stir the apple-butter together. Everyone starts clapping and cheering since this was a public announcement of engagement.

The ironmaster and his wife in their formal attire stand at their front door as they greet the ironworkers and their families filing in for the annual Christmas Dance.


7. Mention these other facts about the social life of the ironmaster and ironworkers" families:

  • The ironmaster often entertained family and guests. There were many parties and dances at the mansion.


  • The ironmaster's family members often visited cities like Philadelphia and New York for shopping, fine dining, visiting friends, and sometimes a cultural event.


  • They didn't play organized sports except a game called town ball, predecessor of baseball.

  • They didn't have a lot of leisure time. Hobbies were rare.


  • Ironworkers who had the money would take a trip to the beach.

  • Occasionally they would go to a fair.


8. Pass out Student Worksheet 7-Ironworkers Letter. Students are to imagine they are a worker on an iron plantation. They received a letter from a friend who is thinking of applying for a job on an iron plantation. The friend currently lives in the city of Philadelphia but likes the outdoors and physical labor. He would bring his wife and three children if he landed the job. He wants your thoughts on working conditions and quality of life on the plantation. He is especially concerned with how the ironmaster would treat him. Have each student/ironworker write their friend addressing these questions. Criteria for the letter are listed on the worksheet. Students can make sure they have addressed each criterion and check it off when they have done so. For teacher assessment, a rubric is also provided.
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