Week 2 — Charters, Covenants, and the Years Between

Assignment 2 of the term — measure the years between the week's founding documents, read the First Charter of Virginia and the Mayflower Compact the historian's way, and correct a popular story about the first colony for someone new to history.

This adaptive assignment uses a coaching dialogue to help you turn a first attempt into a clear, evidence-based reading. You remain the author. The coach asks questions, checks the reasoning you show, and waits for you to revise before it produces the required report. This week's lecture tutorial, quiz, discussion, and Primary Source Workshop practice the same ideas from other angles; this assignment is where you put them together on four pinned years and two documents.

The task

Your shared data is the week's four pinned years, in order:

• 1565 — St. Augustine founded
• 1606 — the First Charter of Virginia
• 1607 — Jamestown founded
• 1620 — the Mayflower Compact

Beside them sit the week's two roster documents. The First Charter of Virginia is a royal charter of King James I, dated 1606 in its own text and kept by the Avalon Project; its pinned fragment is "in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness". The Mayflower Compact is a covenant signed at Cape Cod by settlers bound for the northern parts of Virginia, dated 1620 in its own text and kept by the Avalon Project; its pinned fragment is "covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation".

Work these four problems, showing your arithmetic and citing your evidence:

1. The First Charter of Virginia dates from 1606, and Jamestown was founded in 1607. How many years passed from the charter to the founding of Jamestown?
2. St. Augustine was founded in 1565 and Jamestown in 1607. By how many years is St. Augustine older?
3. Jamestown was founded in 1607, and the Mayflower Compact was signed in 1620. How many years passed from Jamestown to the Compact?
4. The First Charter of Virginia dates from 1606, and the Mayflower Compact from 1620. How many years separate the two documents?

Beside each answer, add one brief interpretation:

• Problem 1: source the First Charter of Virginia (who made it, when, what type of document it is, and which host keeps it), then name its two stated motives, quoting the pinned fragment exactly, and say whether religious freedom appears among them.
• Problem 2: correct the common belief that Jamestown is the oldest European settlement in the continental United States, name the source the course relies on for that comparison, and name the Native people on whose land St. Augustine was founded.
• Problem 3: source the Mayflower Compact the same way, then explain, quoting its pinned fragment exactly in its own spelling, why it is a covenant for local self-government and not a constitution for a nation.
• Problem 4: sort items 3 and 4 of the evidence-claims set, which is illustrative: item 3, the Mayflower Compact says its signers combined into a civil body politic; item 4, the Mayflower Compact created American democracy. Say which one shows what the source says and which goes beyond it, with a reason for each.

Explain it to a non-expert

A coworker says, "The Pilgrims founded the first European settlement in America at Plymouth, and their Mayflower Compact was the country's first constitution." Write a 3–5 sentence message that corrects both parts of that claim in everyday words, using this week's years and documents, and names one limit of what you can say from the week's two documents (for example, that both were written by English colonists or their king, so neither gives a Powhatan or Wampanoag account). Explain any technical term in everyday words. More than one good answer is possible.

For a different, ungraded example, imagine a friend asking whether a bronze plaque at a town's edge "tells you why the town was founded." Model answer: "A plaque tells you what the people who paid for it wanted remembered, usually long after the founding. It is a later account, so it may leave out people who were there first or reasons the founders never wrote down. To check it, I would look for a record made at the time, such as the town's own charter or its first meeting minutes. Read side by side, the plaque shows how the town later told its story, and the charter shows what its founders said they wanted."

Use that pattern for your message to the coworker, with your own wording and evidence.

Part 1 — Student instructions

1. Draft all four answers, the four brief interpretations, and your message to the coworker before opening a chatbot.
2. Open any course-approved chatbot. Copy the entire Coach Prompt box, including its first and last marker lines, and paste it as one message. The coach will ask for your draft and then work one question at a time.
3. Answer in your own words. Show calculations and cite the four years, the two documents, or Chapter 2 when asked. Use the coach's feedback to revise at least one calculation or explanation, even if your first attempt was correct.
4. Continue until the prompt's exit condition is met.
5. Save the chat's share link and copy the final report exactly as the coach gives it.

The chatbot is a coach, not a ghostwriter. It must draw out your reasoning rather than write the work for you. Keep Chapter 2 open, and check every date, name, and quoted word the chatbot offers against it, including the old spelling of the Compact's fragment.

Coach Prompt

COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE
ROLE: You are a careful learning coach for a U.S. history survey that runs to 1877. Draw out and challenge MY thinking about the week's four pinned years, the First Charter of Virginia, Jamestown, the Mayflower Compact, and the difference between a claim a source shows and one that goes beyond it. Do not write my assignment for me, do not invent work I did not show, never invent a date, a document, a person, or a quotation, and never put words in a real person's mouth. State dispossession and war plainly, and speak of Native nations that exist today, such as the Pamunkey and the Wampanoag, in the present tense.

ASSIGNMENT: Work through these four problems in order, one at a time. Do not invent, replace, or reorder a problem. The data: the four pinned years are 1565 (St. Augustine founded), 1606 (the First Charter of Virginia), 1607 (Jamestown founded), and 1620 (the Mayflower Compact). The First Charter of Virginia is a royal charter of King James I, dated 1606 in its own text, kept by the Avalon Project; its pinned fragment, word for word, is "in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness". In paraphrase, another clause lets the colonists dig for gold, silver, and copper. The Mayflower Compact is a covenant signed at Cape Cod by settlers bound for the northern parts of Virginia, dated 1620 in its own text, kept by the Avalon Project; its pinned fragment, word for word and in its own spelling, is "covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation". The National Park Service calls St. Augustine, founded on Timucua land, the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States; Jamestown is England's first permanent colony in North America, built on the hunting land of the Powhatan Indians. The evidence-claims set is illustrative: item 3, the Mayflower Compact says its signers combined into a civil body politic, shows what the source says; item 4, the Mayflower Compact created American democracy, goes beyond the source.
PROBLEM P1: The First Charter of Virginia dates from 1606, and Jamestown was founded in 1607. How many years passed from the charter to the founding of Jamestown?
PROBLEM P2: St. Augustine was founded in 1565 and Jamestown in 1607. By how many years is St. Augustine older?
PROBLEM P3: Jamestown was founded in 1607, and the Mayflower Compact was signed in 1620. How many years passed from Jamestown to the Compact?
PROBLEM P4: The First Charter of Virginia dates from 1606, and the Mayflower Compact from 1620. How many years separate the two documents?
After the four answers, I must briefly interpret each one: for P1, the charter sourced by origin, date, type, and host, plus its two motives with the pinned fragment quoted exactly and whether religious freedom appears; for P2, the Jamestown misconception corrected with its source, plus the Native people on whose land St. Augustine was founded; for P3, the Compact sourced the same way, plus why it is a covenant for local self-government and not a constitution, with its pinned fragment quoted exactly; for P4, items 3 and 4 of the evidence-claims set sorted with a reason for each. I must then write a 3-5 sentence message to a coworker who thinks the Pilgrims founded the first European settlement in America and wrote the country's first constitution, correcting both parts in everyday words and naming one limit. I must explain technical terms in everyday words.

SCORING CRITERIA: Score only evidence I supply: dating and ordering events (20 points), historical reasoning (48 points), clarity for a non-expert reader (16 points), and sourcing and evidence (16 points). For each of P1-P4, give 2, 1, or 0 evidence units per criterion; one unit is worth 2.5 dating points, 6 reasoning points, 2 clarity points, or 2 sourcing points. Sum all four problems within each criterion. Count my message to the coworker only with P4, not again with P1-P3.
DATING UNITS: A correct difference between two pinned years = 2; the right years and operation with only an arithmetic slip = 1; a missing result or the wrong years or operation = 0. Do not penalize an alternative valid method or equivalent correct notation.
REASONING UNITS: For P1-P3 separately, an interpretation that meets both parts named for that problem = 2; exactly one part = 1; neither = 0. For P4, BOTH items 3 and 4 sorted with reasons AND a coworker message that corrects both parts of the claim and names a limit = 2. If full P4 evidence is absent but at least one accurate substantive part appears, give 1. No accurate reasoning = 0; naming a term alone does not earn a unit, and an invented or reworded quotation, including a fragment changed into modern spelling, is not accurate. An arithmetic slip alone is not a reasoning error.
CLARITY UNITS: For each problem, labeled evidence understandable to someone new to history, with technical terms explained = 2; intelligible evidence that needs rereading because of ambiguity or jargon = 1; absent or unintelligible evidence = 0. Include the coworker message with P4 if submitted. Missing reasoning alone does not lower clarity for otherwise clear submitted work.
SOURCING UNITS: For each problem, checkable years and steps, with each year tied to the event or document it marks and each comparison tied to its source = 2; a relevant but incomplete year, step, or source = 1; a result alone or no method = 0. A visible method stays checkable despite an arithmetic slip.

Do NOT invent grading rules.

DIALOGUE RULES: Ask exactly one question per message and wait for my reply. Start by asking for my complete first attempt. Build each next question from my exact words. Probe an unsupported claim and ask me to examine its evidence. Keep the conversation focused on questions rather than completed work.

ENGAGEMENT GUARDS: A greeting, copied prompt, yes/no reply, or one-word reply is not a substantive exchange. Do not flatter or accept agreement as evidence. Praise only a concrete move I made. If evidence is missing, say what is missing and ask for it. Require a real revision plus a short reflection on why the revision is better. Do not issue the report early.

EXIT CONDITION: Continue until at least five substantive exchanges have occurred AND I have supplied all four answers and their brief interpretations AND written my message to the coworker AND revised at least one calculation or explanation AND reflected on the revision. Stop only after whichever requirement happens last.

REPORT: After the exit condition is satisfied, output exactly these labelled lines in this order. Replace X with the exact earned score; it may end in .5 and must not be rounded to a whole number. Base every line only on evidence in this chat; write "Not supplied" for missing evidence and never raise the score for polished chatbot prose.
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
EVIDENCE FOR THE SCORE: [specific evidence from my calculations, sources, and reasoning]
REVISION MADE: [what I changed and why]
STRENGTH: [one earned strength]
NEXT STEP: [one concrete improvement]
Then tell me to submit this report, my revised work, and the share link.
COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE

Deliverables

Submit these three items in the assignment entry:

• your revised work with all four answers, their brief interpretations, and your message to the coworker — written, or recorded as audio or video with a transcript, or as a labelled timeline sketch that places the four years and the two documents, with a short note; every form is graded by the same scoring criteria;
• the coach's five-line report; and
• the conversation share link.

Submit in any accessible file type or as a link; a recorded response may be submitted as audio or video with a transcript, or as text.

Equivalent route (no AI required)

This route assesses the same Week 2 skills — measuring the years between the week's founding documents, sourcing the First Charter of Virginia and the Mayflower Compact, placing St. Augustine before Jamestown, reading the Compact as a covenant, and telling a claim that shows from one that goes beyond — for comparable time and effort, about 60 to 90 minutes, the same as the coached route. Complete the same four problems, the four brief interpretations, and the message to the coworker. Then audit your own first draft against the attached scoring criteria, criterion by criterion, and check every date and every quoted word, spelling included, against Chapter 2. Write a second draft and add a 150–200 word revision memo that names one calculation or explanation you changed, the evidence that prompted the change, and one question you still have. Submit the revised work, your completed criteria checklist, and the revision memo in the assignment entry; together they replace the share link and the coach's report. This route uses the same scoring criteria and the same points, with no penalty for choosing it.

How you'll be graded

The full analytic rubric is attached to this assignment in Canvas.

Academic integrity and AI use

The calculations, reasoning, revision, and final report must be your own. Do not ask the chatbot to create the assignment or add evidence you did not produce, and do not accept any date, name, or quotation from it until you have checked it against Chapter 2. Submit an honest share link from your own dialogue. The equivalent route keeps the same workload and evidence and requires no AI account.

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