Evan

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= = = = = = = = =**The Treasure Chest!**= = = Then I was at Sleeping Bear Dunes. I went all the way up the huge sandy hill. On the way down I raced my sister to the bottom. Half way there I tripped on a rock or something. After a couple minutes of trying to get sand out of my hair, I tried to find what I tripped on. When I found it, it was a treasure chest! I found several important looking documents and some other papers. Last but not least, I found the charter to Delaware, It was a great day. = = [|The Charter of Delaware] was dated March 22, 1682. The paper was given from King Charles II, to his brother James, the Duke of York. It has a picture of King Charles II, in the upper left hand corner. It has fancy drawings of the coat of arms from France, England, Ireland, and a picture of the Rose of the House of York. What amazes me most is that the whole thing was hand made.



I also found a [|Marriage contract] between Gisbert Dirksen and Cattalyntie Gerritz. First it says where you were born and then it talks about how when you die you will go together to heaven not separately. You have to have witnesses also. It really just talks about how the contract works and how it guides your marriage in a way.

Next I found a [|Land grant] dated November 30, 1656. It was given from Peter Stuyvesant to Alexander Boyer for a plantation of around 72 acres on the Delaware River, North of Fort Casimir, bordering on the lands of Frans Smith. Peter Stuyvesant was a Directional General for New Netherland.



The last thing I found was a very detailed [|map of the Delaware Bay]. It shows probably every little thing around the Delaware Bay on there. This map also shows the Chesopeak Bay. Every body of water in the Delaware area is on this map. It also shows all the little rivers that come and join either bay. I find it to be the coolest when two big bodies of water, just like both of the bays, form together to make one big body water which is the Atlantic Ocean.



It was amazing of how much I have learned about primary sources. Before I even found all these primary sorces, I did not know what they were. I had no idea about what a charter was. All the sources helped me because it gave me a better knowledge of the history of Delaware. It also taught me how things were back then. Delawre seemed like a pretty cool place to live.