Oklahoma Social Studies 5.C.1

Standard Cluster

Examine and compare the Jamestown and Plymouth settlements as the foundations of American culture and society. Describe the region prior to English settlement as the home to established and self-governing Native societies representing multiple cultures and engaging in vast intertribal trade routes. Summarize the economic, political, and cultural reasons for European colonization of North America, including competition over the continent’s land and natural resources, the development of new trade relationships, and opportunities for religious freedom. Explain England’s goals for the settlement of Virginia, including attempts to stake claim on North America at Roanoke and to develop Jamestown as a profit venture for investors. Explain the personal, economic, and political forces driving labor migration to Virginia, including immigration, indentured servitude, and the enslavement of Africans. Analyze the early successes and challenges of Jamestown, by explaining the leadership and diplomacy of Captain John Smith challenges of the Starving Time and the value of Powhatan trade to sustain the colony export of natural resources and John Rolfe’s development of tobacco as a cash crop deteriorating relationships with the Powhatan, characterized by differing views on land ownership. Explain the English commitment to the permanent settlement at Jamestown as evidenced through an elected representative government (House of Burgesses), private ownership of land, and the recruitment of women and families. Describe the importance of freedom from religious persecution that motivated immigration by Pilgrims (separatists) to Plymouth Colony as opposed to economic reasons that motivated other colonists. Explain the early successes and challenges for Pilgrims of the Plymouth settlement including the adaptation to an unfamiliar and harsh environment practice of self-government established by the Mayflower Compact leadership of William Bradford. Explain the founding and development of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, including a stable government influenced by Puritan religious beliefs self-government through town meetings governors elected by freemen protection of individual rights established in the Massachusetts Body of Liberties. leadership of John Winthrop and his vision of a “city upon a hill.” Describe the contact and exchange between colonists and Native peoples by explaining how American Indian knowledge of the environment, agricultural practices (e.g., three sisters), and hunting skills contributed to the sustenance of colonial settlements early alliances with the Wampanoag under the leadership of Ousamequin (Massasoit) and the importance of Tisquantum (Squanto) to Plymouth’s survival how contact between cultures led at times to misunderstandings and conflict.

Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026)