Steps:


DAY ONE

Preparation:

Prepare a transparency using Standard Map of the World. Download and make one copy for each student of Student Handout 1-Gottlieb Mittelberger Describes the System of Recruiting German Colonists, and the Suffering They Endured (1754, Student Handout 2-"Information to Those Who Would Remove to America" by Benjamin Franklin (1760), Luilekkerland ("The Land of Cockaigne"), by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1567) , and Student Worksheet 1-Understanding the Texts [link to SW1-Understanding the Texts.doc].


1. As students enter class have the Standard Map of the Worldtransparency projected. Ask students, "Where is the United States on this map?" and have a volunteer point it out. See if they can locate Philadelphia as well. Next, ask them where Germany is. Have someone point out Germany on the map. Then ask, "If someone wanted to travel from Germany to Philadelphia, what ocean would they have to cross? [Atlantic] Approximately how many miles is it from Germany to Pennsylvania? [~3,900 miles]

2. Tell students that during this lesson they will read two writings directed at people considering moving to Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s. Briefly discuss what factors people who are thinking about immigrating-especially those in the mid-eighteenth century-might have taken into account.

• What they left behind: good things like family, a familiar environment, and a common culture, but also bad things like war, famine, disease, and religious persecution.


• What they anticipated: good things like earning more money or obtaining religious freedom, but also bad things like difficult living conditions, unfamiliar climate or landforms, hostile contact with Native Americans, or not enough food.


• How to get there: At this time in history, the only transportation across the Atlantic Ocean was by ship. It was very expensive, and the journey took weeks or months even in the best of conditions. Storms and shipwrecks were very real threats. Either read the following optional passage of an immigrant describing the voyage conditions, or discuss the summary below:
  
  "...During the journey the ship is full of pitiful signs of distress-smells, fumes, horrors, vomiting, various kinds of sea sickness, fever, dysentery, headaches, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and similar afflictions, all of them caused by the age and the highly-salted state of the food, especially the meat, as well as by the very bad and filthy water, which brings about the miserable destruction and death of many. Add to all that shortage of food, hunger, thirst, frost, heat, dampness, fear, misery, vexation, and lamentation as well as other troubles. Thus, for example, there are so many lice, especially on the sick people, that they have to be scraped off the bodies. All this misery reaches its climax when in addition to everything else one must also suffer through two to three days and nights of storm, with everyone convinced that the ship with all aboard is bound to sink...."
  
  (Excerpt taken from Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania in the year 1750 and Return to Germany in the year 1754, Containing not only a Description of the Country According to its Present Condition .... Translated from the German by Carl Theo. Eben, member of the German Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia: John Jos. McVey, 1898.)
  
  To summarize: People became sick because of the old and highly-salted food they ate and the dirty water they drank. People did not have enough food or water. They were very uncomfortable on the ship-feeling too hot, too cold, or too damp. They also had lice on board the ship which bothered and covered sick people. People became scared, or annoyed, or sad when they had to suffer through these hardships. In addition, people experienced storms for 2-3 days and nights. They thought they would drown.
   

Each immigrant's decision to stay or go was based on a unique combination of these complex factors.

3. On the board, write "Gottlieb Mittelberger" and "Benjamin Franklin." Tell students a bit about each author:

• Gottlieb Mittelberger was a German who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1750. He left his wife and young child behind. For nearly four years he was employed near Philadelphia as a schoolmaster and organist. No longer wishing to remain in America, he returned to Germany in 1754. A short time later he wrote about his journey and described Pennsylvania in detail.


• Benjamin Franklin was a very famous inventor, scientist, writer, civic activist, politician, and one of the founding fathers of our country. From 1757 to 1762 Franklin lived in London, England, where he worked as a representative for several of the colonies. In 1760-midway through his time there-he wrote a pamphlet describing Pennsylvania to Europeans.

4. Group students in pairs, and give each student a copy of Student Handout 1 (Mittelberger passage), Student Handout 2 (Franklin document) , the image Luilekkerland, and Student Worksheet 1. For each passage, difficult vocabulary words are footnoted with synonyms or brief definitions. Before students begin work, draw their attention to the footnotes. Read the first line of the Mittelberger text: "Occupations vary, but work is strenuous1 in this new land..." Say to students, "Do you notice the number '1' beside the word 'strenuous'? Look at the bottom of the page and read its definition, 'tiring and difficult.' These notes will help you understand the text."

Groups should work for 20-25 minutes reading and analyzing the text and answering the questions.

5. When students finish their work, debrief on their work and conclusions about the texts. Refer to TEACHER GUIDE 1 for possible answers to the questions. Students should keep these worksheets for the next lesson.

6. Inform students that during the next class period, they will evaluate both writers' arguments. They will plan and write a persuasive letter from the perspective of an eighteenth century German immigrant in which they will judge which text was more convincing.


DAY TWO

Steps:

Preparation

Download and make one copy for each student of Student Worksheet 2-Comparing, Contrasting, and Evaluating Sources and
Student Worksheet 3-Persuassive Letter.


1. Review the learning students did during the previous period. Tell them that today they will work with the same partners to evaluate each of the arguments. Then, individually, they will judge which writer is more convincing and write about it from the perspective of a German immigrant to Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s.

2. Direct students to reread each of their handouts distributed during the last period. Give each student a copy of STUDENT WORKSHEET 2. Groups should work for 15-20 minutes comparing, contrasting, and evaluating the texts.

3. When students finish filling in their worksheets, debrief on their thinking and conclusions about the texts. Refer to TEACHER GUIDE 2 for possible answers to the questions.

4. Distribute STUDENT WORKSHEET 3. Tell students to imagine that they live in the year 1761 and they have the identity of a German immigrant who has lived in Pennsylvania for two years as and indentured servant on a farm. Ask them to imagine that a cousin of theirs who still lives in Germany has read both Mittelberger's and Franklin's writings, and he wants to know whom to believe. Writing from the perspective of the German immigrant, students should explain which author is more convinicing in his arguments based on his reasons, examples, and credibility.Using the graphic organizer on the worksheet, students should plan their letter.

If there is not enough time for students to complete the letter in class, it may be assigned as homework or completed during another class period.