Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. All were forced off their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States as part of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Young historians research the tribes' reactions to this removal and...

Imagine being forced out of your home and walking over 1,000 miles with only the things you could carry. How would you survive? What would you eat? After reading about the Trail of Tears and Cherokee resilience, middle schoolers are...

The westward expansion is the focus of a read-aloud anthology. Pupils will listen to and discuss stories about going West, an adventure on the Erie Canal, the Trail of Tears, the Oregon Trail, the Pony Express, and the transcontinental...

Young historians study the Supreme Court case "Worcester v. Georgia"  and note instances where the Justices defended the sovereign rights of the Cherokee. They also examine the actions of President Andrew Jackson and the...

What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...

Imagine what it would have been like to walk from Georgia to Texas! Perspective shifting, a key part of developing social awareness, involves just this sort of imaging. A short mini-lesson asks learners to shift their point of view and...

Introduce a study of the presidency of Andrew Jackson with a lesson that uses video clips, primary source documents, group activities, and debates to examine Jackson's early life and career. The lesson focuses on the 1828 election and...

Many know that Native Americans were forced off their lands and moved west, but how did these people react? The Red Sticks faction of the Creek nation opted to defend themselves and their lands in a series of wars called the Eastern...

Can the president of the United States defy the rulings of the Supreme Court? Students investigate the case of Worcester v. Georgia and the impact it had on society and, most importantly, Native Americans. Using a short video clip as...

Class members investigate The Indian Removal Act of 1830, U.S. Theft of Mexican Territory Timeline, and President Abraham Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley, 1862, and then conduct a mock trial of each of these documents to determine...

To better understand the Indian Removal Act of 1830, class members examine primary source documents including letters written by Alabama governors and the Cherokee chiefs. The lesson is part of a unit on the expansion of the United...