Teacher Resources for At the Mercy of the Sea

Bring the history behind At the Mercy of the Sea into your classroom.

Designed for eighth-grade classrooms and homeschool studies, this companion teacher resource invites students to investigate the world of Etienne’s adventures through engaging activities, projects, and simulations.

Students explore the Atlantic slave trade and its human consequences, the English takeover of New Netherland in 1664 and the colony’s transformation into New York amid Anglo-Dutch rivalry, and the development of offshore whaling within the Atlantic trading economy.

Through primary and secondary sources, students examine competing perspectives, identify point of view, weigh evidence, and strengthen their critical thinking skills. Lessons connect historical events with the experiences and choices of the people who lived through them.

 

It is an interdisciplinary unit study based on themes from my novel, including:

  • Literature and poetry analysis
  • Discussion questions
  • Study of the scientific discoveries of the 17th century
  • History lessons on the Montauk people. development of shore whaling, and early smallpox innoculation
  • Primary source analysis and impact of the Atlantic Triangle Trade Network
  • Student-driven exploratory activities on the Second Anglo-Dutch War