Unexpected Connections: Using Local Primary Sources to Analyze the Five Factors of Community Development in World History

Through the examination of primary source documents demonstrating stages of community development in a community familiar to students, students will gain an understanding of Medieval History analysis of factors that occur during the development of communities. Students will work collectively, using the Library of Congress Primary Source Analysis Tool, to demonstrate their understanding of one of the following factors: Settlement, Agriculture, Towns, Population Growth, and Industrialization. The charts can be used throughout the study of World History I to make specific comparisons between local community development and the development of the rest of the world during the Middle Ages.