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1. 1 2018-03-02T03:14:32-08:00 Will Fenton 82bf9011a953584cd702d069a30cbdb6ef90650a Account of the Indian murders, December 27, 1763 - 1 Will Fenton 4 (annotation) plain 2018-03-02T03:15:59-08:00 Will Fenton 82bf9011a953584cd702d069a30cbdb6ef90650a

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1. 1 2016-10-31T05:17:21-07:00 Will Fenton 82bf9011a953584cd702d069a30cbdb6ef90650a Account of the Indian murders, December 27, 1763 Will Fenton 2 D.A. Henderson's account of Indian murders gallery 2018-02-13T03:24:36-08:00 1763 Henderson, D.A. Call Number: HC11-24104 (manuscript collection 1250, AA4.4) Available in the "Philadelphia Yearly Meeting records (Vol. 4)" in the Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections, Haverford College. Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections Will Fenton 82bf9011a953584cd702d069a30cbdb6ef90650a

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• 1 2017-03-29T05:45:14-07:00 Early Condemnations 7 plain 2019-08-31T06:33:09-07:00 Accounts of the Paxton incident published between December 1763 and January 1764 did not look favorably upon the conduct of the Paxton Boys. Emphasizing the particulars of Indian violence and condemning the vigilantes’ violation of law and order, these early pamphlets shaped future critiques. Paxton apologists didn’t gain traction until the spring of 1764.

  David Henderson, Account of the Indian Murders (Lancaster, December 27, 1763).

  In a letter written after the march on the Lancaster jailhouse but before their march to Philadelphia, David Henderson emphasizes the injustice of the Paxton attacks.

  John Penn. By the Honourable John Penn (Philadelphia, 1764).

  Governor Penn calls for the immediate arrest of the Paxton Boys in this proclamation. Printed on January 2, 1764, this broadside reflects the governor’s second condemnatory proclamation, the first printed on December 22, 1763, after their massacre at Conestoga Indiantown but before their attack on the Lancaster jailhouse.

  Charles Read, Copy of a Letter from Charles Read (Philadelphia, 1764).

  This early account the Conestoga massacre anticipates arguments Franklin popularizes with Narrative. Read presents the Paxtons as the real savages, murderers who should suffer the punishment of the law. He holds that the Susquehannock are subjects of the crown and entitled to security, an argument less grounded in ethics than economics.

  Benjamin Franklin. Narrative of the Late Massacres (Philadelphia, 1764).

  Benjamin Franklin’s influential pamphlet created a template for Paxton critiques. He emphasizes the need for law and order. Franklin also personalizes the Susquehannock by using their English names, describing familial relationships, and providing detailed accounts of their slaughter. Meanwhile, he condemns the Scotch-Irish frontiersmen as “CHRISTIAN WHITE SAVAGES.”

  Anonymous, A Serious Address (Philadelphia, 1764).

  Published contemporaneously with Narrative, this pamphlet provides the first insinuations of Paxton apology. The author complains of “too general Approbation” of the killings, despite their being “contrary to the Laws of Nations.” The pamphlet’s appearance of impartiality earned it significant popularity: Serious Address was republished in four editions.

  Continue to Quakers in the Crosshairs: The Early Paxton Debate.

• 1 media/brubaker cover iamge.jpg 2020-08-30T18:41:29-07:00 Lynching and Terrorism: The Paxton Boys 2 Jacqueline Katz, Wellesley High School image_header 2020-03-05T05:54:56-08:00 This lesson reviews contemporary definitions of terrorism and lynching and applies them to the massacre of the Conestoga people by the Paxton Boys in 1763. Students will learn vocabulary, read primary and secondary sources, and perform their own research using Digital Paxton. For assessment, have students create a pamphlet that applies what they learned.
  
  Lesson Objectives:
  • Students will apply contemporary terms in new ways to the Paxton massacre.
  • Students will perform primary and secondary source research to analyze the  massacre.
  • Students will produce a pamphlet that answers the essential questions and reflects the media of the time.
  
  Historical Thinking Skills:
  • Analysis of Primary and Secondary Sources
  • Sourcing
  • Understanding Historical Context
  
  Essential Questions:
  •    Was the massacre of the Conestoga people a lynching?
  •    Were the Paxton Boys terrorists?
  
  Grade Level: Grades 8-12
  
  Duration: 120 minutes
  
  Standards:
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8: Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information. 
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9: Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
  
  Teacher Background: Teachers should be familiar with the Paxton Boys and the massacre of the Conestoga people. Teachers should read Dr. Fenton's overview, browse Digital Paxton, and/or ask a librarian for help with the research excerpted in the lesson.
  
  Materials
  • Digital Paxton
  • Worksheet Packet
  • SPARC Handout
  
  Procedures:
  1. Distribute Worksheet Packet
  2. Have students define the word "lynching" and "terrorism" using the Worksheet Packet (pages 1-2 of packet).
     1. Where have they heard these words before?
     2. Do they know what they mean?
  3. Review definitions with students, ensuring that each part of the definition is reviewed. For instance, it is key that terrorists have a political purpose—make sure students understand that they need to look for political reasons as they research. For lynching, the action must be extralegal and conducted by a mob of 2+ people (pages 3-4).
  4. Show students the research graphic organizers (pages 7-8), and check that students understand that they have to find all the parts of the definition as they research.
  5. Review Historical Context (pages 5-6). Set up the major players and locations. Only answer questions that are integral for understanding the sources. Do not answer the focus questions.
  6. Have students read through the primary sources first to find answers to the essential questions (begins on page 10).
  7. Have students read through the secondary sources. Struggling students may start with the secondary sources. Advanced students may skip the secondary (so they have to piece together the primary sources—a more difficult skill).
  8. When students have completed the readings, review the Research Worksheet (page 9) to set up the online research. Depending upon the grade level, students may perform this research in-class or as homework. Once students can answer the focus questions with evidence, they may stop research.
  
  Assessment: Have students create their own pamphlet that addresses the focus questions. (Other options might include a letter, account, discussion, op-ed, political cartoon, or poem.) Students should answer the questions using primary and secondary source materials. They may evaluate evidence the SPARC technique (SPARC Handout).
  
  This lesson was created during the 2019 Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Teacher Seminar, "Native Peoples, Settlers, and European Empires in North America, 1600-1840" (July 28-August 3, 2019). You may also download a printable version of this lesson.