Before Christopher Columbus came to America, the expansive territory was inhabited by Native Americans. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, as more explorers sought to colonize their land, Native Americans responded in various...

Lesson on the 19th Century representation through art and maps of indigenous population and territory of the American West and Mexico. Primary source documents and questions for discussion are included.

A site by Peter Palmquist on Women photographers and the American Indian. There are biographies and images from thirteen women who were active during the latter part of the 19th century.

Scattered across Texas are the remnants of a fierce defense system - forts. This site talks about the fort system as a whole. There are detailed links to information about specific forts in the state. An interactive student activity...

The reign of the buffalo across the plains ended in great slaughter by the end of the 19th century. This companion essay to the PBS series, Frontier House, recounts how the decimation of the buffalo occurred, hastened by both white and...

A collection of primary source photos from 19th-century California which portray what everyday life was like during the California Gold Rush.

It is fairly well-accepted that American slavery of the 19th century developed from three distinct traditions of slavery that were mutated into a new, racialized, institutionalized form: European indentured servitude, West African...

A good description of the life of the Woodland Moundbuilding culture in what is now Wisconsin. Learn about the effigy mounds built by these Native Americans, and access primary source manuscripts of writers trying to figure out these...

Eighteen primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the industrial, racial, and technological progress of the late-nineteenth century.