Lesson Plan
Other

Bringing History Home: Native American History

For Teachers 4th - 6th
This 5th grade unit is an introduction to Native American history in the 19th and 20th centuries. The lessons focus on U.S. government policies that have determined the official relationship between the government and Native American...
Article
A&E Television

History.com: Native American History Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
Before Christopher Columbus came to America, the expansive territory was inhabited by Native Americans. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, as more explorers sought to colonize their land, Native Americans responded in various...
Article
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museum

United States Indian Policy During the Late 19th Century: Change and Continuity

For Students 9th - 10th
By the 1890's, the status of Indian people seemed to validate Frederick Jackson Turner's claim that "the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history." Natives ceased to threaten the Republic...
Website
Other

Western History Genealogy: Digital Images: Native American Women

For Students 9th - 10th
A picture gallery with information about the roles that Native American women played in everyday life in the late 19th century in the West.
Unit Plan
The Newberry Library

Newberry Library: Art and Exploration in the American West and Mexico

For Students 9th - 10th
Lesson on the 19th Century representation through art and maps of indigenous population and territory of the American West and Mexico. Primary source documents and questions for discussion are included.
Website
Purdue University

Woman Artists of the American West: Women in Photography

For Students 9th - 10th
A site by Peter Palmquist on Women photographers and the American Indian. There are biographies and images from thirteen women who were active during the latter part of the 19th century.
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Letters From Frontier: Primary Documents

For Teachers 9th - 10th
George Catlin made extensive observations on the various native peoples that he encountered on his travels in the West. He recorded his experiences in letters and notes. These documents provide us with critical information on the culture...
Website
Other

American Centuries, View From New England

For Students 9th - 10th
A multi-purpose site that provides information on history and historic artifacts from New England. There are also some interesting games that serve to enhance learning about New England. Be sure to watch video demonstrations of Early...
Handout
Other

19th Century Forts: Texas Frontier Clash of Cultures

For Students 9th - 10th
Scattered across Texas are the remnants of a fierce defense system - forts. This site talks about the fort system as a whole. There are detailed links to information about specific forts in the state. An interactive student activity...
Article
Other

American Indian Civics Project: 19th Century Indian Relations

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This article provides an overview of Indian relations within the United States during the 19th century.
PPT
University of Illinois

University of Illinois: Modern American Poetry: An Indian Boarding School Photo Gallery

For Students 9th - 10th
Photographs of Native American children at several Indian schools from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Article
PBS

Frontier House: The Extermination of the American Buffalo

For Students 9th - 10th
The reign of the buffalo across the plains ended in great slaughter by the end of the 19th century. This companion essay to the PBS series, Frontier House, recounts how the decimation of the buffalo occurred, hastened by both white and...
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Collection of Lesson Plans

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This collection presents in-depth lesson plans on American history from the 18th century to the present. Lessons include African American history, women's history, Native American history and many other topics.
Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Everyday Life and People

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of primary source photos from 19th-century California which portray what everyday life was like during the California Gold Rush.
Handout
Ancestry

Rootsweb: The Creek War

For Students 9th - 10th
Following the Revolutionary War, more and more settlers began to migrate into what was the territory of the Indians. By the early 19th century, there was open hostilty between whites and Indians. Farmers wanted more land and the Indians...
Article
Other

Federal Indian Policy: Bureaucrats or Bullets?

For Students 9th - 10th
The making of federal Indian policy in the United States during the 19th century was marked by disagreement among all parties. The areas of disagreement that stood out most were (1) What is the legal/constitutional status of Indians and...
Unit Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: People: Assimilation and the Crucible of the City: Zitkala Sa

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A photograph and an autobiographical excerpt about the changes experienced and challenges faced by Native Americans at the turn of the twentieth century.
Website
Other

Joslyn Art Museum

For Students 9th - 10th
The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha features a collection that spans the ages from antiquity to the present, with emphasis on 19th and 20th century art from Europe and America. Native American art includes decorated objects, drawings, and...
Handout
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: "Red Men," the Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870 1912

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Photographs of Native Americans and an essay that notes just how assimilated Native Americans had become in Christian America.
Handout
Oklahoma Historical Society

Oklahoma State University: Library: Chief Kicking Bird

For Students 9th - 10th
This biography discusses the life of Chief Kicking Bird, a 19th century leader and peace chief of the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma.
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 students explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"
Unit Plan
Department of Defense

Do Dea: Ap Us History: Unit 6: Becoming a Modern Nation

For Students 9th - 10th
This extensive learning module examines the role of large-scale industrialization, urbanization, and mass migrations in creating new demands on government and social organizations to design reforms, and looks at the global and domestic...
Website
University of Virginia

University of Virginia: Lydia Maria Child (1802 to 1880)

For Students 9th - 10th
Read excerpts from Lydia Maria Child's first book, Hobomok, about a Native American who helped the early New England settlers.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Closing the Frontier

For Students 5th - 8th
A brief look at the conflict between Native Americans in the last half of the 19th century. By the end of the century, Native Americans were relegated to reservation life. See how the struggle was fought and find out the advantages of...