Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Zachary Taylor

For Students 9th - 10th
Facts, biography, and accomplishments of the life of Zachary Taylor and summaries of important events during his presidency.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Homestead Act

For Students 9th - 10th
The purpose of the Homestead Act of 1862 was to shape the future of the Western regions of the United States by taming the region by populating the area with farmers. This article provides an overview of this important political incident...
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Teachers: Journeys West

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A series of lessons utilizing primary texts, including narratives, photographs, and maps, through which learners explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"
Interactive
Other

Mission Us: Mission 3: A Cheyenne Odyssey

For Students 3rd - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Online game where players become Little Fox, a Northern Cheyenne boy whose life is changed by the encroachment of white settlers, railroads, and U.S. military expeditions. As buffalo diminish and the...
Lesson Plan
iCivics

I Civics: Manifest Destiny

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students will learn about the ideology of Manifest Destiny and how it affected different populations and demographics of the U.S. during its expansion.
Unit Plan
Have Fun With History

Have Fun With History: American West

For Students 9th - 10th
Learning module with videos and multi-media resources for students and teachers exploring the west and the pioneering spirit of America in 1804.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

National Park Service: Californio to American: A Study in Cultural Change

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This site has a instructional activity about the ranching industry, creation of California towns and the changes over time. Contains information, inquiry question, historical context, maps, readings, and images.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Mexican American War

For Students 9th - 10th
Summarizes the causes of the Mexican American war and provides facts about the history, famous people, and events surrounding it.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn interesting facts about the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the American Mexican War (1846-1848).
Unit Plan
Department of Defense

Do Dea: Ap Us History: Unit 3: The Growing Republic

For Students 9th - 10th
This extensive learning module examines how the United States' efforts to increase foreign trade, add new territory, and isolate itself from Europe affected its foreign policy and other initiatives. It investigates how advances in...
Website
Nebraska Studies

Nebraska Studies: Pioneer Children: Games, Toys, and Recreation

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the lives of pioneer children whose families moved to Nebraska during the period of Western Expansion. Topics include toys, games and other activities for enjoyment.
Primary
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: Staking Claims: The Gold Rush in Nineteenth Century America

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition explores the Gold Rush, a group of related gold rushes to Western territories in the second half of the nineteenth century, and its impact on American history and culture.
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Bank Fight

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Although the nullification crisis possessed the seeds of civil war, it was not as critical a political issue as a bitter struggle over the continued existence of the nation's central bank, the second Bank of the United States. The first...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Whigs, Democrats and "Know Nothings"

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Jackson's political opponents, united by little more than a common opposition to him, eventually coalesced into a common party called the Whigs, a British term signifying opposition to Jackson's "monarchial rule." Although they organized...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Women's Rights

For Students 9th - 10th
Such social reforms brought many women to a realization of their own unequal position in society. From colonial times, unmarried women had enjoyed many of the same legal rights as men, although custom required that they marry early. With...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Nullification Crisis

For Students 9th - 10th
Toward the end of his first term in office, Jackson was forced to confront the state of South Carolina, the most important of the emerging Deep South cotton states, on the issue of the protective tariff. Business and farming interests in...
Website
PBS

Pbs: Archives of the West: Songs of the Plains a Selection of Cowboy Folk Songs

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the lyrics of five cowboy songs from 1860's and 1870's.
PPT
Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University: Voices From the Trading Post

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource offers a series of slideshows, oral histories, and trade goods of the Navajo people from 1860 to the present.
Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

Huntington Library: Washington's Rise Begins: A Journal of a Noteworthy Journey

For Teachers 5th
In this lesson, 5th graders examine letters and entries from George Washington's diaries to understand more about his character and ambitions, and the conflict and cooperation that existed between the French and English colonists and the...
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: William Henry Harrison

For Students 9th - 10th
Facts, biography, and accomplishments of the life of William Henry Harrison and summaries of important events during his presidency.
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Lewis Cass: Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850

For Students 9th - 10th
An argument by the Michigan Territorial governor, Lewis Cass, that claimed state laws superseded the rights claimed by Native American tribes like the Cherokee.
Handout
Other

A Gathering of Nations: Images of History of the Indian Tribes of North America

For Students 9th - 10th
A selection of twenty-four images from The History of the Indian Tribes of North America, each representing a different Native American Nation. Each image is accompanied by a brief description.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Moving West, Natural Disasters

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Assign reasons from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to explain pioneers' migration to and return from the American plains in the 1800s. Research, write and produce a newspaper dedicated to a natural disaster such as the 19th-century drought.
Activity
Other

New York Public Library: Heading West: Mining the West

For Students 3rd - 8th
A short page on the discovery of gold at Sutter's Fort as well as the impact of mining in the west on relations with Native Americans.