Township and Range in the Wild West

This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....

Read the text of the Land Ordinance of 1785, which was written to manage the land controlled by the Confederation government west of the Appalachian Mountains, land that became part of the United States after the Revolutionary War.

Read about the building of the first transcontinental railroad and other railroads that came after. Find out how the checkerboard land ownership system affected the railroads. Includes lots of detailed lesson activities as well as a poster.

Kids learn about the Homestead Act and Land Rush of the Old West. On this site learn about facts about Homesteaders and the grabbing land in the Midwest.

A series of lessons utilizing primary texts, including narratives, photographs, and maps, through which students explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"

Describes the impact of the California Gold Rush of 1848 which brought hundreds of thousands of gold-seeking migrants to the region. This massive influx of people to a place with little law enforcement and no infrastructure led to...

Outline about the promising economic times of an expanding America during the 1800s, including changes taking place in New England, the South, the Midwest and West.

Young scholars research a trail system. They create a display board of the trail system, generate a map of the trail system, and develop a commercial advertising of the trail system. They design a display board featuring facts about...

Read how the Confederate Congress dealt with issues about claims of land by states, Native Americans, and squatters west of the Appalachian Mountains. See how the Land Ordinance of 1785 divided up the land, supported public education,...

As white populations moved westward in the 19th century, Chinese immigrants and Hispanic Americans faced racism and discrimination and were unable to compete on an equal basis for land. Eventually, both groups settled into urban areas...