Documenting United States History

50 ChapTEr 2 | Colonial north aMeriCa | period two 1 6 07–175 4

The historical context of a document may incorporate other contexts, such as economic,

political, social, and religious.

Use the following thesis statement to write a series of claims that situate the Stono

Rebellion within its historical context:

The economic and social context of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth- century

colonial North America shaped the events that came to be known as the Stono

Rebellion of 1739.

steP 1 Using your textbook, connect the Stono Rebellion (Doc. 2.15) to at least three

broader economic and social processes of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century

colonial North America. The chart below will help you organize your thoughts. One has

already been done for you.

Thesis statement

Economic processes

(claim)

Social processes

(claim)

The economic and social

context of late seventeenth-

and early eighteenth-century

colonial North America

shaped the events that came

to be known as the Stono

Rebellion of 1739.

Since the seventeenth century,

slaves were assumed to be

nonwhite, as is shown in the

Virginia Slave Laws (Doc. 2.13). A

racial caste system was

already in place.

steP 2 Use the chart above to turn the economic and social processes that you have deter-

mined into at least one claim for each. Your statements of evidence should explain why your

claim proves a portion of your thesis statement.

steP 3 Now analyze one of your claims for the economic or social process that created the

context for the Stono Rebellion. Your evidence explains to the reader how your claim helps

prove your thesis statement. For example:

Thesis statement: The economic and social context of late seventeenth- and early

eighteenth-century colonial North America shaped the events that came to be

known as the Stono Rebellion of 1739.

Claim: Since the seventeenth century, slaves were assumed to be nonwhite, as is

shown in the Virginia Slave Laws (Doc. 2.13). A racial caste system was already in

place.

Evidence: A racial caste system that gave enslaved Africans or their children little

hope of freedom or equality created a social context where violent rebellion against

the entire society offered the only hope for many enslaved Africans.

03_STA_2012_ch2_027-056.indd 50 11/03/15 12:38 PM

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