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A candle flickers on a table near an open journal.
A candle flickers on a table near an open journal.
C-SPAN
On This Day: California Gold Rush
Upon hearing of the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill in California in the 1840s, a flood of migrants went West in search of wealth and fame. Others, such as Chinese workers, came from farther away. Using video clips from historians and...
Crash Course
War & Expansion
How did the United States come to acquire two of its largest states? Your class members will learn about the sequence of events that led to and immediately followed the acquisition of Texas and California, including the Mexican-American...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Biography of America: The Coming of the Civil War
The tenth in a series on the history of the United States, this video examines the events leading to the Civil War. Access to related links and maps is also provided. [26:40]
HipHughes History
Hip Hughes History: Manifest Destiny Explained in 5 Minutes: Us History Review
Before you dive into the specifics, get a handle on the major historical ideas related to Manifest Destiny. Just five minutes of this fun, focused video. [4:55]
A&E Television
History.com: Slavery in America
Video looks at the history of slavery in America including how it started, the impact that the invention of the cotton gin had on slavery, abolition, the slavery debate as the nation expanded westward, the Civil War, and the aftermath of...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: The Frontier, Railroads, and Mining
[Free Registration/Login Required] The Emergence of the Frontier, the Expansion of Railroads, and Mining is a round table discussion of groups who have reviewed documents, letters, etc. from movement west to either mine or acquire land,...
Choices Program, Brown University
Choices: Westward Expansion: A New History
Scholars discuss the transformation of the North American continent in the nineteenth century, examining a complicated and violent history from two historical perspectives, that of the major events and policies that accompanied U.S....
Have Fun With History
Have Fun With History: Pioneers of the Plains
Experiences of a pioneer family on their journey from Illinois to the Midwestern plains. [11:00]
Have Fun With History
Have Fun With History: Monon the Hoosier Line
Monon: the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway which operated from 1897 to 1956 mostly within the state of Indiana. This video is both a history of the origins of the railroad and a time capsule of railways in the middle of the...
Crash Course
Crash Course Us History #24: Westward Expansion
Crash Course US History video by John Green in which he discusses Westward Expansion and debunks some of the well known myths of the Wild, Wild West. [12:44]
Crash Course
Crash Course Us History #17: War & Expansion
John Green teaches you about the Mexican-American War in the late 1840s, and the expansion of the United States into the western end of North America. In this episode of Crash Course, US territory finally reaches from the Atlantic coast...
A&E Television
History.com: Conestoga Wagon Videos: Cumberland Gap
Brian Unger explores the Cumberland Gap and the mysteries behind it. [2:32]
eSpark Learning
E Spark Learning: Developing Key Events Instructional Video (6.Ri.3)
In this video, students are guided through an analysis of a piece of informational text about travelers on the Oregon Trail. The instructor shows how to use a graphic organizer to sequence the events and see how the main event, westward...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Dred Scott Case and Citizenship
This video is a brief overview of the Dred Scott vs. Sandford case that had major consequences on the definition of citizenship in the United States. [7:48]
HipHughes History
Hip Hughes History: The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Explained in 3 Minutes
A brief and humorous explanation of what the Northwest Ordinance was which may help students recall its significance when being tested. [2:38]
Other
Fifty Four Forty or Fight
Discusses the role James K. Polk played in the expansion of the United States, negotiations over the Oregon territories and Texas, and the drawing of the boundary with Canada. [4:08]