Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase
Read about the fortuitous purchase made that doubled the size of the United States. See why Napoleon was willing to sell the land, and find out about the quandary Thomas Jefferson was in as he had to go against his strict construction...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1800 1848: Expanding Democracy
A quick comprehension check over the expansion of democracy in the early 1800s.
Other
Study Notes: The New England Colonies
An outline of the important information to study on the establishment of the New England Colonies by the Puritans, first in the Massachusetts Bay area, and their evolution and expansion beyond that.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts, Grade 12: Undaunted Courage
Students explore ideas prominent throughout westward expansion and American literature: myth versus reality. The texts present various perspectives of the West. Students consider the idealism and romance of the American spirit versus the...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Students engage in a discussion of "Manifest Destiny" using a timeline of events from 1830 - 1860, and a biographical sketch of a real person who lived during that time period. During the discussion, students will use the biography to...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Spice Up the Nineteenth Century!
Young scholars will make interactive outlines using the Internet of the reform movements, literature, trails, religion or technology of the early nineteenth century.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Mexican American War
The Mexican-American War fulfilled James Polk's desire to acquire the territory of New Mexico and California from Mexico. See how the fight was provoked, and read about Stephen Kearny's actions in New Mexico and John Fremont's in...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Cold War Erupts
World War II ended in 1945 and the Cold War began immediately. Read about the mistrust Western Europe and the United States felt towards the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin. Learn how the Soviets expanded their realm of influence and...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Pony Express: History and Culture
A good article from the National Park Service which recounts the history of the brief existence of the Pony Express. Read about the route, what caused the demise of the Pony Express, and what part of the trail can still be seen.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The Panic of 1837
This collection uses primary sources to explore the Panic of 1837.
OpenStax
Open Stax: The Missouri Crisis
This section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion" explains why the North and South differed over the admission of Missouri as a state and how the admission of new states to the Union threatened to upset the balance between free and slave...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: Chinese Immigrants and Mexican Americans
Discusses the conflict with Mexican American and Chinese groups as white settlers pushed westward in the nineteenth century. Explains what brought so many Chinese immigrants to America and the roadblocks and discrimination that they had...
University of Illinois
University of Illinois: Early American Trade in China: The Sea Man's Vade Mecum, 1707 [Pdf]
The following is excerpted from a book called Vade Mecum published in France in 1707. Although the book was written to establish basic standards of behavior, punishment, protocol, and procedure on French naval ships, it served as...
Curated OER
Etc: The Territory of the Us Before and After the Louisiana Purchase, 1783 1803
A map of the United States showing the extent of the country prior to, and after the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Expanding Republic and the War of 1812
A brief overview of the Jeffersonian Era up through the War of 1812.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Us History Map Assessment: Test Your Skills
Test how much you know about major U.S geographic features, Indian tribes, states and regions, European colonists and territorial expansion. View your correct and incorrect answers, and print out your assessment.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Manifest Destiny
This Khan Academy resource provides notes for American History. "Manifest Destiny" is explained on this resource, along with the implications associated with expansion of the North American continent.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: Reaching to Connecticut
Read about how the colony of Connecticut grew from an expansion of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. See how Thomas Hooker's idea of government resulted in a model of colonial charters, and find out how two very different settlements in...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Popular Sovereignty
Read about the concept of popular sovereignty in relation to issue of expansion of slavery in the territories. It was not as simple as it seemed. Find out about how the issue of slavery was addressed in the election of 1848. Included is...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Wilmot's Proviso
Congressman David Wilmot, even before the end of the Mexican-War, proposed legislation that would outlaw the expansion of slavery into the new territory, should the United States acquire it. Read about his reasons for proposing the...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster
Read about these three titans of the Senate from 1812 until their deaths in the 1850s. Their last struggle against each other was the issue of slavery. See how Henry Clay, the great compromiser, offered one last compromise to try to keep...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: State Constitutions
The new states did a great deal of experimentation within the bounds of the new republican ideals. Read about three very different takes on how a state should be organized governmentally.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Jeffersonian Ideology
An easy to understand overview of the thinking of Thomas Jefferson in terms of politics and the role of the people in political action. See what he feared as the nation was becoming industrialized, and read about the contradictions in...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Federalist No. 70
This study resource from Khan Academy discusses the Federalist No.70. This information is intended for students taking high school or college level American Government and Civics courses, including the AP Government course.