Although Westward Expansion is often romanticized, its impact was devastating on Native American communities. Primary source documents, including pictures of United States troops invading indigenous lands and Native American tribes, tell...

Once Americans won the Revolutionary War, their quest to gain land did not end. An interesting activity focuses on Americans' expansion into the frontier following the war and how it conflicted with Native Americans living in the area....

Vote ... it's your right! An enlightening lesson examines the history of voting rights for Native Americans. Leaners analyze primary documents and place them in chronological order. Academics also create a list of other events that took...

An informative activity focuses on the law preventing Native Americans from voting until 1947. Scholars read documents from the Office of Indian Affairs, complete an online worksheet, and participate in group discussion. Academics learn...

A true glimpse of the past, Angelic La Moose smiles back from more than 100 years ago. Young learners examine the picture of a young girl on a Montana Native American reservation from 1913 to comb it for historical details. A form, which...

Fitting in to a dominant culture comes at a price—especially for native peoples. Class members consider this concept using a photo matching game of indigenous people in Alaska. Discussion questions help them consider to what extent these...

In this online interactive Native American worksheet, students examine 16 Native American words and then write them in alphabetical order on the lines provided. This worksheet may also be printed for classroom use.

What do Abraham Lincoln and the Transcontinental Railroad have in common? Using a set of primary source documents, including pictures, maps, and treaties, class members link together the common themes of expansion into the American West....

A photo catches a moment in time that provides a glimpse into the past. An interesting resource focuses on historical analysis using an image from a treaty council with Native Americans. Budding historians complete an online worksheet...

Although popular culture tells the story of the American West simplistically, its reality is far more complex. Native American tribes—while already on the land—didn't have the same interests, and conflicts between white settlers and...

Imagine being forced to give up your culture and then being graded on how well you complied with orders to do so. Documents show young historians the price indigenous peoples paid as a result of the Dawes Act, which was essentially a...

Barbed wire may have made cattle farming easier, but it brought to an end the free-roaming days of the plains. No longer could Native American groups continue their nomadic lifestyle, and the days of cowboys herding large groups of...

For this "The Birchbark House" Internet activity worksheet, students, after reading the novel, use links to web resources to answer 12 questions about the story and native American culture.  This page has numerous links to web...

Can history distort the true story behind famous people? Scholars analyze the many faces of the Native American Pocahontas. Incorporating technology and historical thinking skills, they uncover the many different sides to the Pocahontas...

White reformers thought they were "killing the Indian" to "save the man." Native children were taken from their parents and placed at boarding schools, such as the Carlisle School. Using a comparative photo analysis of children before...

"Go West, young man!" is a familiar refrain in American history. But why did people leave their homes in the East to travel westward and what impact did that movement have on people already living in the American West? By examining...

Lewis and Clark's famous expedition is a prime example of the United States' westward expansion. Aspiring historians examine maps from Lewis and Clark's journey, as well as discuss their interactions with Native American tribes. The...

In this maple, Sugarbush and the Anishinabe activity, students use Internet research to answer 15 questions based on the book, Ininatig's Gift of Sugar--The Tradition of Native Sugarmaking. This page has numerous links to web resources.

What led Americans to head west in the 1800s? Using an interactive map and journals from those who traveled, pupils explore the stories of those who migrated. In addition, they see how the numbers fluctuated in response to the push-pull...

Stop westward expansion! The quick activity delves into the past to understand the petition against the annexation of Hawaii by the United States. Scholars analyze the petition to understand why native Hawaiians were against the...

While most Americans connect the celebration of Thanksgiving to a colonial celebration of pilgrims and Native Americans, the national holiday was actually the product of a war-time measure by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War....

Examine a time of political division and upheaval— not unlike our own—using firsthand accounts. While study of the Civil War often takes center stage in the classroom, the 1850s and 1860s were a period of profound change in other areas...

In this general knowledge of American history #67 worksheet, 6th graders interactively answer 10 multiple choice questions with immediate online feedback.

In this The Birchbark House math activity instructional activity, students, after reading the story, complete 10 story problems based on the events in the story;  this page has links to helpful websites.