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3rd grade · Social Studies · Unit 10 of 10

French Alabama

Iberville, Bienville and the founding of Mobile

What your child practices

French colonization of Alabama: the LeMoyne brothers, Mobile (1702), Fort Toulouse (1717) and Fort Condé, the deerskin trade, and relations between the French, Spanish, English and Native nations.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 3.11; 3.10 · French exploration and colonization of Alabama, its forts and trade, and relationships with Indigenous peoples

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The French brothers Iberville and Bienville founded Mobile in 1702.
  2. At first, French settlers depended on Native neighbors for food and trade.
  3. Fort Toulouse was built to trade with the Muscogee (Creek) and keep the English away.

Example: Which city did the French found in Alabama in 1702? The city is on a bay in the south. It shares its name with the bay. Answer: Mobile

French Alabama in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 10 of 10 in 3rd grade Social Studies, after Explorers & Encounters.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Why did France build forts in Alabama?

    • to protect trade and claim land against Spain and England
    • to stop rain
    • to grow oranges
    • to hold sports games

  2. Question 2

    Fort Toulouse, built by the French in 1717, stood where the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers…

    • join to form the Alabama River
    • begin in Georgia
    • dry up
    • reach the sea

  3. Question 3

    The French settlers at Mobile depended on Native neighbors at first for…

    • food and trade
    • factories
    • rockets
    • trains

  4. Question 4

    Why did conflicts sometimes happen between Europeans and Native nations?

    • they never met
    • they spoke the same language
    • they always agreed
    • they disagreed about land, trade and beliefs

  5. Question 5

    Fort Condé was a brick fort built by the French in…

    • Mobile
    • Florence
    • Selma
    • Huntsville

  6. Question 6

    Fort Condé's walls were built from…

    • ice
    • steel beams
    • glass
    • brick

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