French and Indian War

French and Indian War

2007.10.24

Today was one of the days that my ears were naturaly attracted to the words of Mr. Armstrong. As I stepped into the classroom, I found that the desk arrangements were different from any other kinds we were used to. I soon figured that one side of the class was French, the other was Britain, and in the middle the Indians.

The point of doing this was to understand why the Native Americans allied with either France or British. Native Americans liked to trade with British; in exchange for weaponary (such as guns) the British recieved fur that were sold at high price in England. But the main reason the Native Americans were allies is because they needed support; people who can back up when another tribe of Indians attacked. The Indians liked to ally with French people because they did hardly any harm to the Natives, nor take their land. Unlike the French, English colonists took away land to make massive plantations for they brought prophit from growing crops. But as some tribes allied with the French, the other tribes bacame anxious and afraid, so they allied with English colonists.
We also learned of George Washington, a name so famous and friendly felt. I always thought that George Washington was always stern, inteligent, quick, keen, and all those other nice words. But as I learned of mistakes Washington had done I was astonished how human-like he felt because he always seemed so perfect in history books. I think many other students felt like this too, because I overheard some students talk, as well as in their class reflections.
I really enjoyed today's class because the information that was flying around my from taking notes settled down on to a nest that pulled all the information together. Small details that Mr.Armstrong explained to us seemed like a missing piece or puzzle found.

Deborah K 8B