Cherokee and British Relations
GRADES: 8
DURATION: 90 minutes (two sessions)
MATERIALS:
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Introduction:![]() With the booming trade in deerskins, the Cherokee began a close relationship with the British. They traded deerskins for firearms, ammunition, and other trade goods. The firearms proved important as the Cherokee used them to successfully drive out other tribes and expand their territory, moving into what is now East Tennessee. This meant they could secure even more deerskins.
Through trade, the Cherokee and British forged a strong alliance in the first part of the 1700s. The Cherokee were dependent upon British trade goods, while the British needed the Cherokee as a defense against French attacks.
The war between England and France in North America began in 1754 and was later known as the French and Indian War. England called on the Cherokee to fight on their side under terms of the treaty of 1730.
The Cherokee agreed to fight with the British against the French in Virginia, but wanted protection for their villages left without warriors to defend them. The British agreed to construct a fort in what is now Tennessee. It was completed in July 1757 and was named Fort Loudoun.
Events surrounding the fort led to tragedy in 1758 when the Cherokees and settlers had a misunderstanding resulting in loss of life. Your students will be given a handout with a short explanation of the tragedy at Ft. Loudoun. They will identify instances of conflict and cooperation between the British and Cherokee and fill in a time line of important events. In the second lesson, students will be asked to compare modern and historic maps of the Overhill Cherokee towns. Guiding Questions:
Objectives:
Assessments:
Procedures:SESSION 1: THE FORT LOUDOUN TRAGEDY
SESSION 2: OVERHILL CHEROKEE TOWNS
1. Divide the class into teams of 4 “historians”.
2. Pass out copies of the Timberlake map, the archeological sites map, & Overhill Cherokee town handout
3. Make sure the students have the maps so that north is the same for both maps.
4. Have the students use different colors to color-code each town on Timberlake's map and then use the same color for the town on the modern map. (In Timberlake's time, people used a "long s" (which looks like a "f" for words that have double ss. So Tennessee looks like Tennefsee to us today.)
5. Help them locate the area that is now Tennessee on that map. (Show them a TN map with the major rivers and teach them to recognize the pattern of the U-shaped Tennessee River.)
6. Go over the answers using the key.Project the artifacts from the Citico site so the students can answer the #7 question. The artifact images are of a brass sleigh bell that was made by Europeans and an iron padlock.
Extensions:
Resources:"Fort Loudoun" Tennessee Encyclopedia for History and Culture, online at https://tenneseeencyclopedia.net/entries/fort-loudoun/
Standards:
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National History Standards:
Era 2: Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
Standard 1B
The student understands the European struggle for control of North America.
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