Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Establishing Borders: The Expansion of the United States 1846-48

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students investigate how the United States acquired land after the Revolutionary War ended. In this establishing borders lesson, students use maps to identify territories acquired by the US and the states that later developed. Students...
Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

Missionaries, Expansionism, and The Philippines

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students examine the quality of sources in research in the process of gaining an understanding of the Spanish American War, American expansionism, and the role of missionaries in history. They meet in groups to provide an audio/visual...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

White Man's Burden:The Expansionist/Anti-Imperialist Debate at the Turn of the Century

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explore the roles of Expansionists and Anti-imperialists and take on the identity of a historical character to defend their position before a Senate committee. Roles of newsmen, senators, and futurists are also assumed in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Purchase of Alaska and Seward's Folly

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students investigate what happened when Alaska was purchased and review what expansionism means. In this US history lesson, students listen to the book "Seward's Folly" which describes Alaska's history after which students write in their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charles Young Photographs

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students analyze photographs as an introduction to the Spanish American War. The concepts of American expansionism are explored through the process.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Road to Pearl Harbor: The United States and East Asia 1915 1941

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A four-lesson unit on the events that led up to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II. Lesson topics include the growth of hostility between the United States and Japan after WWI, the Sino-Japanese conflict, Japan's...
Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents: Resolution to Annex Hawaii (1898)

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a copy of the original Resolution for Annexation of Hawaii. There is also a copy of Queen Liliuokalani's official protest to the House of Representatives. Links to larger copies, a typed transcript and PDF download are also...
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Empire of Japan

For Students 9th - 10th
An in-depth article on the history of the Japanese Empire between 1868 and 1947.
Primary
Curated OER

History Matters: Manifest Destiny, Continued: Mc Kinley Defends u.s. Expansionism

For Students 9th - 10th
Enhanced by an introduction and commentary, read a speech given by U.S. President William McKinley to a delegation of Methodist church leaders in 1899 in which he defined the United States intervention in the Philippines as the proper...
Website
Schools of California Online Resources for Education

Score: White Man's Burden

For Students 9th - 10th
Teachers: Lesson from SCORE that explores the Expansionist/ Anti-Imperialist debate at the turn of the century. Organized as a U.S. history unit, content includes information about the debate, as well as numerous resources, online...
eBook
US Army Center

U.s. Army Center of Military History: Japan's Decision for War

For Students 9th - 10th
Chapter from a book discussing Japan's expansionism, including the move into Indochina and the negotiations that followed.
Website
Other

On Line History of the United States: The Age of Imperialism

For Students 9th - 10th
Online history page containing numerous links to specific incidents of U.S. expansion in the Pacific, Latin America, China, and Cuba.
Graphic
Other

Map: Imperialism and the Balance of Power

For Students 9th - 10th
World maps of the Colonial Empires of 1914 as well as their revenues during that time period. There are also maps depicting urban growth, type of government, wars and atrocities, and living conditions of the world in 1900.
Primary
Mount Holyoke College

Mt. Holyoke:

For Students 9th - 10th
Text of speech by William Jennings Bryan at the 1900 Democratic convention. Details his anti-imperialistic stance in terms of the U.S. involvement in the Philippines.
Website
Sam Houston State University

Shsu: Japanese Expansion in China

For Students 9th - 10th
Excerpted article exploring Japan's expansion into China in the 1920s.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: War Breaks Out

For Students 5th - 8th
A brief look at the expansionist moves of Japan in China, including a description of the Rape of Nanking. Also read about the military expansionism in Europe and Africa by both Germany and Italy, finally resulting in a declaration of war...
Handout
University of Maryland

Republican China: Anti Japanese War

For Students 9th - 10th
History of China from 1937-1949.
Article
Other

Hawai'i Independent & Sovereign: The Overthrow of the Monarchy

For Students 9th - 10th
An article from the in-flight magazine of Aloha Airlines relates the history of the events that led to the annexation of Hawaii in the 1890s.
Website
Other

World War Ii in the Ukraine

For Students 9th - 10th
Short essay describing how the Nazis easily took the Ukraine due to the fact that the Ukrainian people were unaware of Nazi beliefs regarding Slavic peoples.
Primary
Mount Holyoke College

Mt. Holyoke College: The Lust for Empire

For Students 9th - 10th
Text of speech by George Hoar denouncing U.S. involvement in the Philippines.
Graphic
Curated OER

Map: Imperialism and the Balance of Power

For Students 9th - 10th
World maps of the Colonial Empires of 1914 as well as their revenues during that time period. There are also maps depicting urban growth, type of government, wars and atrocities, and living conditions of the world in 1900.
Graphic
Curated OER

Map: Imperialism and the Balance of Power

For Students 9th - 10th
World maps of the Colonial Empires of 1914 as well as their revenues during that time period. There are also maps depicting urban growth, type of government, wars and atrocities, and living conditions of the world in 1900.