The following standards have been taken from the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McRel) standards.

Students will understand:

• The characteristics of mercantilism in colonial America (e.g., the Atlantic economy and triangular trade, overseas trade and the Navigation Acts, economic development in French, English, and Spanish colonies).


• Elements of slavery in the colonies in the 17^th century (e.g., the emergence of chattel slavery in Virginia and Maryland, why free labor and chattel slavery did not provide an alternative for labor in the Chesapeake colonies before 1675).


• The contribution of African slaves to economic development in the Americas (e.g., contributions of rice cultivation and cattle-raising in South Carolina) and the transmission of African cultural heritage (e.g., through religious practices, dances, and work songs).


• Social and economic characteristics of European colonization in the 17^th and 18^th centuries (e.g., changing immigration and settlement patterns of Puritans, Quakers, Germans, and Scots-Irish; the slave trade and chattel slavery in the Spanish, English, and French Caribbean; Louisiana; the Dutch West Indies; and the Chesapeake).