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You have read how Thomas Smith first raised rice in Carolina. After his death, there lived in South Carolina a wise young woman. She showed the people how to raise another plant. Her name was Eliza Lucas.

The father of Miss Lucas did not live in Carolina. He was governor of one of the islands of the West Indies. Miss Lucas was fond of trying new things. She often got seeds from her father. These she planted in South Carolina.

Her father sent her some seeds of the indigo plant. She sowed some of these in March. But there came a frost. The indigo plant cannot stand frost. Her plants all died.

But Miss Lucas did not give up. She sowed some more seeds in April. These grew very well until a cutworm found them. The worm wished to try new things, too. So he ate off the indigo plants.

But Miss Lucas was one of the people who try, try again. She had lost her indigo plants twice. Once more she sowed some of the seed. This time the plants grew very well.

Miss Lucas wrote to her father about it. He sent her a man who knew how to get the indigo out of the plant.

The man tried not to show Miss Lucas how to make the indigo. He did not wish the people in South Carolina to learn how to make it. He was afraid his own people would not get so much for their indigo.

So he would not explain just how it ought to be done. He spoiled the indigo on purpose.

But Miss Lucas watched him closely. She found out how the indigo ought to be made. Some of her father's land in South Carolina was now planted with the indigo plants.

Then Miss Lucas was married. She became Mrs. Pinckney. Her father gave her all the indigo growing on his land in South Carolina. It was all saved for seed. Some of the seed Mrs. Pinckney gave to her friends. Some of it her husband sowed. It all grew, and was made into that blue dye that we call indigo. When it is used in washing clothes, it is called bluing.

In a few years, more than a million pounds of indigo were made in South Carolina every year. Many people got rich by it. And it was all because Miss Lucas did not give up.

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read the story multiple times.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Learn the concepts.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Eliza Lucas tried to grow the indigo plant in South Carolina. Her father gave her some seeds from the West Indies. Eliza's first crop failed due to frost. Her second failed due to cutworms. A bad man ruined her next crop. But Eliza did not give up. She kept trying. Eventually, she learned how to grow the indigo plant in South Carolina. She also helped other people to grow indigo. In a few years, millions of pounds of indigo were being grown, all because Eliza Lucas refused to give up.

Vocabulary

Indigo Plant: A tropical plant used to produce indigo dye.
West Indies: A group of islands south of the US including Cuba, Jamaica, Bahamas, and the Virgin Islands.
Cutworm: A moth caterpillar that eats through the stems of plants at ground level.
Spoil: Diminish or destroy the value of something.

Concepts

The indigo plant is used to produce a dye called indigo.

Facts about indigo:

  1. Indigo is a dye, which is a substance used to change the color of other things.
  2. Indigo is a dark blue colored dye.
  3. Indigo is used to dye cloth blue. It is used to give blue jeans their blue color.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

  • After reading or listening to the story, narrate the story events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Explore the Story

Experiment with dye by dyeing strips of paper.

  • Cut long, rectangular strips of white paper.
  • Dress in old clothes, or cover your clothes to prevent them from being ruined by the dye.
  • Use food dye, water color paints (use a paintbrush to transfer the color from the palette to the water), or berries (crush and filter through a fine sieve) as your source of dye. Dissolve your dyes in glasses of water.
  • Dip the pieces of paper into the colored water to dye them.
  • What happens when you dip one piece of paper into multiple colors of water?

Activity 3: Color the Story   

  • Click the crayon above, and complete page 11 of 'History Coloring Pages for First Grade.'

Activity 4: Study the Story Picture

Study the picture of the plant used to make indigo. Zoom in to see the details.

  • Describe the plant. (Green leaves, cones of small pinkish-purple flowers.)
  • Look at the leaves, from which the blue indigo dye is derived. What shape are the leaves? (Oval.)
  • Look at the leaves again. Note how other than the leaf at the end of each stem, each leaf has a partner attached to the stem directly across from it.

Activity 5: Map the Story

Eliza Lucas' father brought her indigo plant seeds from the West Indies (Caribbean). Find the following Caribbean countries on the map below:

  • Jamaica
  • Cuba
  • Haiti
  • Dominican Republic
  • Puerto Rico
  • The Bahamas
  • Virgin Islands

Review

Question 1

Where did Eliza Lucas try to grow indigo plants?
1 / 4

Answer 1

Eliza Lucas tried to grow indigo plants in South Carolina.
1 / 4

Question 2

Where did Eliza Lucas get the indigo plant seeds?
2 / 4

Answer 2

Eliza Lucas procured the seeds from her father.
2 / 4

Question 3

Why did Eliza Lucas' early indigo crops fail?
3 / 4

Answer 3

Eliza's indigo crops were ruined by frost, cutworms, and a bad man.
3 / 4

Question 4

How did Eliza Lucas eventually succeed in growing the indigo plant?
4 / 4

Answer 4

Eliza Lucas kept trying and did not give up.
4 / 4

  1. Where did Eliza Lucas try to grow indigo plants? Eliza Lucas tried to grow indigo plants in South Carolina.
  2. Where did Eliza Lucas get the indigo plant seeds? Eliza Lucas procured the seeds from her father.
  3. Why did Eliza Lucas' early indigo crops fail? Eliza's indigo crops were ruined by frost, cutworms, and a bad man.
  4. How did Eliza Lucas eventually succeed in growing the indigo plant? Eliza Lucas kept trying and did not give up.

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