US National Archives
Docsteach: The Impact of Westward Expansion on Native American Groups
In this activity, students will examine the impact of westward expansion and settlement on Native American groups following the Civil War. Students will explore a variety of documents to get a sense of the issues faced by Native...
![Wnet: Thirteen: Whose Land Is This? Conflict Between Native Americans & Settlers [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Wnet: Thirteen: Whose Land Is This? Conflict Between Native Americans & Settlers [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Whose Land Is This? Conflict Between Native Americans & Settlers [Pdf]
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" designed to provide insights into the causes of the conflict between Native Americans and new settlers pushing west. Young scholars will examine...
Read Works
Read Works: The First Americans
[Free Registration/Login Required] Intended to support early elementary students' reading comprehension, the importance of Native Americans is discussed in this informational text. Visual cues are provided to support the passage and...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Taming the American West
Comprehensive teaching unit that explores the settling of the American West in the late 1800s and the challenges these settlers faced. Contains video and text materials, web interactives, student oriented activities, and a timeline of...
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies: Tribes in Nebraska Give Up Lands in Treaties
Review this discourse of the many treaties enacted between the settlers and Native Americans during the development of the Great Plains, the problems that arose, and the creation of reservations.
US National Archives
National Archives: Indian Nations vs. Settlers on the American Frontier
When the Revolutionary War ended, there was an ongoing conflict between the Native Americans and American settler in the Northwest Territory. Students will study two documents from each side of the issue and answer questions and/or hold...
US National Archives
Docsteach: Indian Nations vs. Settlers on the American Frontier: 1786 1788
In this activity, students will compare and contrast two documents from the Revolutionary period written by 1) a combined group of Native American tribes and 2) an American territorial governor, Arthur St. Clair. Students will analyze...
Other
Bringing History Home: Communities Long Ago
This Grade 1 unit explores U.S. communities in a historical context. By exploring their own community's buildings and services of both long ago and today, children in non-Native American communities are introduced to concepts of change,...
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies: The Conversion Struggle
The story of the problems on converting native Americans to a Christian religion. It uses the example of Christian missionaries who were trying to convert the Pawnee tribe in the 1830s.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of the American Indian: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth [Pdf]
This study guide gives information about the Native Americans who were living in the area where the Pilgrims landed in 1620 and information about the new settlers too. The myth of the title concerns the friendly meal shared by the...
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: American Indians and English Settlers in Colonial America
In this lesson, 5th graders examine the relations between Indians and the settlers in the 1600s and 1700s. Background information for teachers is included. Students will work in groups to look at three different colonies and read primary...
Other
Trail Tribes: Traditional and Contemporary Native Culture
An excellent resource on the tribal groups located along the trails followed by explorers Lewis and Clark. Each group has a section devoted to its modern and historical cultures, as well as the tribe's relationship with the United States...
Read Works
Read Works: French Native American Relations in the Great Lakes Region
[Free Registration/Login Required] This historical passage discusses the relations between the French and Native Americans in the Great Lakes Regions during the 1700's and 1800's. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that...
Tom Richey
Tom Richey: Nativism in Antebellum America
A comprehensive slideshow illustrates the history of nativism in North America. Understand the role nativism plays in immigration as well as the Native Americans who were here long before the settlers come to the nation.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: The American West: Reservation System
Discusses the Indian reservation system, the impact it had on Native Americans, violent clashes between whites and Indians, and how it was destroyed by the Dawes Act of 1887 and resurrected in the 1930s. Includes questions for students...
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies
A large site that tracks the history of the Nebraska area begins with the formation of the earth, moves through the earliest human activity in Nebraska, and then through proto-historical and historical Nebraska. The Kansas-Nebraska Act,...
Other
Trail of Tears Assoc: The Story Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
Follow the early history of Native American and European contact in America. As more settlers moved west, a law was passed to relocate the Cherokee from Arkansas. The routes they followed and the cruelties they suffered came to be known...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Contested Territories
This site highlights the westward expansion of settlers in North America and the effects this expansion had on Native Americans between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
History Is Fun: Jamestown Questions and Answers [Pdf]
This document presents important questions about the Jamestown settlement, along with detailed answers. Topics include the Native American Powhatan Indians and their interactions with the settlers, the purpose of creating the settlement...
National Geographic
National Geographic: Society: A History of Trade in New York City
A lesson based on the New York City seal that explores the trading relationship between the Dutch and Native Americans in New Amsterdam.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: What Should a House Do
Site provides an extensive lesson plan that challenges students to compare early American houses to present day houses. Very comprehensive site with several activities that will assist students in understanding common features of houses....
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: Westward Expansion
Throughout the 1800s, Americans pushed ever westward in the search of prosperity and the American dream. It was a time of growth and adventure for settlers, and loss for most American Indians. This collection includes 7 Grade-Leveled...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Pocahontas
Learn more about Pocahontas through the accounts of her adventures. This information explains the relationship between Pocahontas and the English settlers.
Other
Illinois State Museum: Native American Food
Experiences during the colonial years certainly were not the same for different cultural groups. This site compares and contrasts the housing, clothing, food, religion and family life of Native Americans, French settlers, and African...