Grade Levels

4 - 11

Objectives

    Students will investigate changes over time by:

• observing clues;
• making inferences about the history of human use of the area.

Standards of Learning

History and Social Science:

• Grade Four: 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.7
• Grade Five: 5.9, 5.10
• Grade Eleven: 11.6, 11.17

Background

    The River House, built in the early 1800s is believed to be sitting int he same spot as an earlier house, built in 1642. The foundation has a definite seam in the brick, indicating that the house was later expanded. The dimensions of the older section of the current house match the dimensions specified in a 1642 lease. The house was to be 40 feet long by 20 feet wide with two chimneys, glass windows and a cellar. Though historians have no proof that the house was actually built, the fact that the River House's original dimensions fit those specifications leads them to believe that the house did indeed exist. However, because the brick bond is typical of nineteenth century America, the current house is believed to be a reconstruction. One chimney has a different brick bond pattern from the rest of the foundation, suggesting that it has been repaired.

    Outbuildings along College Run Trail were previously used as the kitchen, tenant and slave quarters, barns and farm buildings. Though most have been converted for private residences or other functions, visitors can still visualize their former uses. By comparing slave/tenant farm quarters to the owners homes, one gets a feel for the difference in social roles and the attitudes towards slaves. The owners' spacious homes offered a view of the river, while shave/tenant farmers' quarters were cramped, often with more than one family occupying them. Chippokes, like many Virginia plantations, relied on sharecroppers to farm the land after the Civil War. Sharecroppers typically received one-half of the crop for themselves if they used the owner's draft teams, or three-fourths if they farmed with their own animals.

    The mansion, built in 1854 by Albert Jones, is very upscale for a rural Virginia house. The owner intended it to be a symbol of his wealth and status in society. The stucco front is inscribed to resemble large stone blocks. Such blocks were considered more prestigious than red brick, but because a painted surface required additional upkeep, often only the front was finished this way.

    The formal gardens replanted during the 1920s, contain ornamental species typical of the period: azaleas, boxwood, and crepe myrtle. Ornamental fruit trees and a wild flower garden are also present.

    Unlike many plantations, Chippokes never relied solely on a tobacco crop, which may partly explain why it prospered long after many others failed. Chippokes is still a working farm with a variety of crops and cattle.

Materials

• Clues to the Past Student Work sheet
• clipboard
• pencils

Resources

Gill, H.B. and A. Finlayson. 1973.

Colonial Virginia. Thomas Nelson, Ind., Nashville.

History of Chippokes   (pamphlet). Chippokes Plantation State Park, Surrey, Virginia.

Procedure

Before the Trip:

1. Contact the park staff to arrange the date and time and to ensure facilities will be open. Make reservations to tour the mansion.

2. Discuss plantation life with the class. Encourage them to think about the many activities on a plantation as well as the workers needed to run it.

3. Discuss how historians learn about the past, by reading old documents, studying pictures, and examining artifacts for clues. Explain that the students will act as historians as they study the buildings at Chippokes to learn about plantation life.

4. Divide the class into teams of three to four students each. Provide each team with a copy of the accompanying Clues to the Past Student Work sheet.   The students will work as teams to answer the questions about the historical buildings along the 1.3 mile College Run Trail.

At the Park:

1. Tour the visitor center before beginning the walk.

2. Lead the class to the beginning of College Run Trail. Stop there and point out that Virginia's first successful settlers landed here before crossing the James River to settle on Jamestown Island. While on this side of the river they met and were befriended by Chief Chippokes. Stimulate discussion with some questions such as:
   • How do you think the settlers felt when they landed here?

   • What do you think this site looked like at that time?

   • What natural features may have made this place seem suitable for establishing a settlement?

   • Why do you think the settlers moved across the river to build their settlement?

3. Keep the group together until the first stop at the River House, about 0.5 mile down the trail. (As an option, students may be transported closer to River House by road.)

4. Allow student groups to proceed at their own pace from here but set a time (about 1 hour) for everyone to gather at the end of the trail. Assign adult leaders to assist the groups as needed. Encourage students to use their observational skills to answer th questions.

5. One adult should proceed to the mansion to meet the first group to finish. Conduct informal discussions about what it would be like to live and work on a plantation until everyone finishes.

6. When the entire group is reassembled, lead a discussion of the findings. Accept all inferences as long as students can support their opinions. (A suggested format for student reporting is: "We think _________ because ________.") Some questions to guide further thought might be:
   • How is a plantation similar to a farm today? How is it different?

   • How is a plantation similar to a town today? How is it different?

   • What kind of activities do you think the owner's children participated in each day? Slave children?

   • Which jobs do you think you'd most like to do if you worked on the plantation? Least like to do?

   • What would you have done for fun if you lived on the plantation?

   • What could we do to learn more about this plantation?

7. Optional: Take the guided tour of the mansion.

Follow Up

• If you wanted to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the kitchen in 1800, what would you have to do?
  1. Raise wheat. Visit grist mill to grind flour for bread.
  2. Raise the peanuts. Shell, roast, and grind them with a hand grinder.
  3. Go to the orchard and pick fruit. Cook over fire for several hours. Pour into jar, seal with wax.
  4. Milk the cow, churn the butter.
  5. Bake the bread on the hearth (mixing, kneading, rising takes several hours).
  6. Haul water and heat it to clean up.
  7. Assemble your sandwich.

Extensions

1. Students write a sample journal entry for a day in the life of the owner's child or a slave child living on the farm, including details about typical activities as well as their feelings about their lives.

2. Students make a model of a typical plantation showing outbuildings and crop lands.

Variations

Where in the Park

When

Time Required at the Park:

1.5 to 2 hours, daylight hours.

Time of Year:

Any time is suitable for the walk, visitor center and mansion open seasonally.

• Student Worksheet
• Teacher Worksheet