Teach PA History
Daily Life in Pennsylvania's Historic Cloistered Religious Communities
What to Know
Teaching Time
Seven class periods
Grade Level
Middle School
  • History
Historical Period
  • Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760
  • New Nation - 1761-1800
  • Expansion and Reform - 1801-1855
Students will look at daily life in three religious communities in Pennsylvania that flourished in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: the Ephrata Cloister, Bethlehem, and Harmony. They will examine primary sources such as Conrad Beissel's Rules of the Solitary Life, three memoirs written by Moravian women, the 1766 town plan of Bethlehem, plus the Articles of Association of the Harmonists as well as written reports on the Harmonist Society by members of the community and visitors. Through an examination of daily life in these communities we learn that William Penn's "Holy Experiment" had taken hold in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lure of religious freedom initially attracted dissidents who were able to follow their dream by creating their own religious settlements.


1. Demonstrate an understanding of the significance of Penn's "Holy Experiment" in terms of the religious freedom enjoyed by state citizens during both the late colonial and early national periods. 2. Analyze and make critical judgments about information in primary sources created within the three religious communities of Ephrata Cloister, Bethlehem and Harmony. 3. Write for a variety of purposes, including to narrate, inform, and persuade. 4. Interpret town plans to understand how people organized their economic lives in a religious community. 5. Apply information gained from research to a creative project (an imaginary newspaper). 6. Respond orally and in writing to information gained in primary sources. 7. Demonstrate that they can work effectively with others.

Standards Alignment

  • History

    8.1.9. B. Analyze and interpret historical sources.
    8.1.9. D. Analyze and interpret historical research using primary sources.

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