Outlines the political events prior to the Civil War as the United States expanded its territories to include new states and conflicts arose over the issue of slavery.

From Joy Hakim's marvelous set of books, A History of US, this webisode offers narrative, pictures, and teaching guides for the settling of the West after the Civil War.

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...

Click on the sliding bar and watch how the United States territory grew with the Louisiana Purchase, Florida Acquisitions, Texas Annexation, Oregon Country, and Mexican Cession.

In 1803, Jefferson made a controversial decision that effectively doubled the territory of the United States while transgressing his own views of proper presidential authority.

Discusses the causes, events, and consequences of the Spanish-American War and how the United States acquired several territories in the aftermath. Includes questions for students at end.

The 1848 discovery of gold in the territory of California prompted 300,000 hopeful prospectors to flood into the region, altering it forever.

In the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson pursued a policy of Indian Removal, forcing Native Americans living in Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi to trek hundreds of miles to territory in present-day Oklahoma.

World War II (WWII), a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945 involved more than 100 million people and over 30 countries. The Allied powers - including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union - worked together...

This tutorial discusses American imperialism and what drove it. The Spanish-American War is examined and the acquisition of new territories by the United States. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.

Students explore the geography of the United States as well as its territories, including Puerto Rico and Guam. Students learn a brief history of the U.S. territories as well as some of the major American landmarks.

Great resource that has background and current information about the Territory of Guam in Oceania. Content includes geography, environment, architecture, religion, food, history, economy, arts, sports, and news. Be sure to look at the...

Great resource that is full of useful information about the Territory of American Samoa. Content includes geography, environment, architecture, religion, food, history, economy, arts, sports, and news. Be sure to look at the fact sheet...

The Compromise of 1850 acted as a band-aid over the growing wound of sectional divide.

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.

A detailed, 5-page article giving an in-depth look at the problems in Kansas after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

This passionate essay provides an informative history of the battles between Northwest Indians and the US in the 1960s over fishing rights and broken treaties.

Find a brief recounting of resistance by several Indian tribes in an attempt to maintain their territory. See how the settlers participating in the Oklahoma land rush stole land set aside for several Indian tribes.

See what turmoil resulted from the acquisition of new territory after the Mexican-American War. There was great disagreement between those who wanted to abolish slavery and those who wanted to be able to carry slavery into the new lands....

See how James Polk's plan to claim the Oregon Territory, which had been shared with Great Britain since 1818, led him to victory with the slogan, Fifty-four forty or fight. Read about the settlers who traveled the Oregon Trail and why...

On this map you can see Alaska and Hawaii in relation to the contiguous United States and read brief text about their purchase/annexation, territorial status, and addition as states.

Read about the essential repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which had established which states could be slave and which would be free for thirty years, with the rancorous passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. See who supported it and why,...

Here's an overview of the turmoil caused in the Kansas-Nebraska territory as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Read about the potential of conflict between the free-soilers and the border ruffians.

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...