Alabama Social Studies SS24.3.11a
The Standard
- SS24.3.11
- Describe French expeditions and colonization of Alabama, including the efforts of the LeMoyne brothers (Iberville and Bienville), establishment of forts, relationships with Indigenous peoples, and fur trade.
Locate on maps the French settlements in early Alabama, including Mobile (1702), Fort Toulouse (1717), and Fort Condé (1723), and describe their significance.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find three French sites on an Alabama map. They use rivers and the Gulf to describe where each site was and explain why the French used it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students place the first Mobile site upriver from today's city, Fort Condé at Mobile, and Fort Toulouse near Wetumpka. They explain that Mobile was a French base, Fort Condé guarded the town, and Fort Toulouse supported trade with Creek people.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may put both forts in Mobile, though Fort Toulouse was farther north. They may place Mobile's first site at the exact spot of today's city. Some assume forts were only for fighting and miss the role of trade.
How to Assess It
- Give students a map labeled with Mobile, Wetumpka, and major rivers. Ask them to mark the three sites and write one reason each mattered.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs three paper site labels and a river map; have them place the labels, then check their choices against a historical map.
Ask: Why would the French build Fort Toulouse where two rivers meet? Have students point to map evidence as they answer.
Play a matching game with site cards, location clues, and purpose cards; have students explain each match.
Find Mobile and Wetumpka on a current Alabama map, then compare their locations with the French sites on a historical map.
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Printable SS24.3.11a Worksheet
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- SS24.AS.6
Identify the locations of the major Native American tribes of Alabama during the colonial period into the nineteenth century.
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- SS24.4.1a
Map the locations of significant European settlements and major Indigenous nations in North America and Alabama.
- SS24.3.11
Describe French expeditions and colonization of Alabama, including the efforts of the LeMoyne brothers (Iberville and Bienville), establishment of forts, relati...
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