Curated OER
National Park Service: Alcatraz Island
Part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay. Originally a lighthouse and military fort, the island is best known for being a federal prison. The island is packed full of...
Other
U.s. History Timeline: 1865 1900
A thumbnail look at the many things occurring in the United States in the last half half of the 19th century. The topics covered are Gilded Age Politics, the "New Imperialism," Industrial America, Growth of Labor, Urbanization,...
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: African Ethnography
The Anthropology Division's African collection is extensive in terms of geographic coverage. It includes North Africa, West Africa, and Madagascar, although its greatest concentration of material is from central and southern Africa. The...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Cornel West
Read about the life of Cornel West, American philosopher, scholar of African American studies, and political activist.
Read Works
Read Works: Westward Expansion the West, an American Symbol
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the recognition of American Authors in the 19th century. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Westward
Overview of U.S. westward expansion during the 1800s.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Failure of West Indian Company Farming
Chronicles the begining of company farming in the United States and what led to its faliure. Click on "next" at the bottom of each page to get more of this essay. In-depth information.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Lands of Promise
Outline about the promising economic times of an expanding America during the 1800s, including changes taking place in New England, the South, the Midwest and West.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Nieuw Amsterdam
This site lists the reasons why the Dutch trading companies were slower in colonization than the other New World countries.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: The Homestead Act and the Exodusters
The Homestead Act of 1862 gave free land to Americans willing to improve it, regardless of race, sex, or nation of origin.
Other
California Missions Resource Center
Peruse this thorough resource featuring historical California missions stretching from San Diego to San Francisco as the Spanish established themselves on the west coast of North America between 1768-1853. Read stories of the early...
Ducksters
Ducksters: Wyoming State History for Kids
Kids learn about the history and timeline of the state of Wyoming including early explorers, Native Americans, pioneers, the wild west, and becoming a state.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Canyon Deermouse
Canyon Deermice inhabit arid shrublands and grasslands in the inhospitable "slickrock" deserts of the West. In the canyons where they live, the common denominator is bare rock, and they are remarkably agile at scampering on vertical or...
Ducksters
Ducksters: Kansas State History for Kids
A site discussing the history and timeline of the state of Kansas including early explorers, Native Americans, settlers, Bleeding Kansas, the Wild West, and the Civil War.
Ducksters
Ducksters: Missouri State History for Kids
Kids learn about the history and timeline of the state of Missouri including early explorers, Native Americans, Louisiana Purchase, Gateway to the West, and the Civil War on this site.
Ducksters
Ducksters: New Mexico State History for Kids
Investigate the history and timeline of the state of New Mexico including early explorers, Native Americans, Spanish settlers, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Wild West on this website.
Ducksters
Ducksters: Arizona State History for Kids
Students can learn about the history and timeline of the state of Arizona including early explorers, Native Americans, the Wild West, and how it became a part of the United States on this website.
Other
English Royal Proclamation of 1763
This resource presents a map and a brief explanation of the royal Proclamation of 1763 that prohibited the settlement of lands west of a line drawn by the King.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Native Resistance in the Trans Appalachian West
This site gives a brief look at the Indian alliance built by Tecumseh to confront the U.S. military which wanted to protect the settlers moving west into Indian territory.
Other
Postbellum African American Society and Culture: Black Migration
From the Encyclopedia of American Social History. Read about the black migration to the West, primarily Kansas and Oklahoma after the end of Reconstruction and the institution of black codes in the South.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: West Point in the Making of America
Online part of a Smithsonian exhibit to honor the 200th anniversary of West Point, the site includes history, interactive maps, historical documents and artifacts.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Things to Do at Home
Families can come together through games designed to make history something fun and integral to family life. Build a sod house like prairie settlers did in the 1800s. Go back in time to visit five families that lived in the same house...
PBS
New Perspectives on the West: Juan Seguin
Juan Seguin, a Mexican American Tejano who helped lead the Texas revolution and independence survived the Alamo but was then exiled from the new state, a victim of prejudice.
Oklahoma State University
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture: All Black Towns
Read about the all-black towns that were settled in Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory in the mid-19th century.