Scholastic
Scholastic: Our America: Western Expansion
Reviews of children's literature, student activities, and interactive games from Scholastic that enrich a student's understanding and appreciation of western expansion before the Civil War.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad
This exhibition explores the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad and its impact on American westward expansion.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Movement South and Westward
Following Eli Whitney's invention in 1793 of the cotton gin -- a machine that separated raw cotton from seeds and other waste -- the cotton market boomed. Planters in the South bought land from small farmers who frequently moved farther...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts, Grade 12: Undaunted Courage
Students explore ideas prominent throughout westward expansion and American literature: myth versus reality. The texts present various perspectives of the West. Students consider the idealism and romance of the American spirit versus the...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Seeds of Empirebuilding
Essay on European-American westward expansion and the conflict new settlement created with Native Americans. Author describes the development of a hierarchical structure in which indigenous peoples were exploited and unprotected.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Art to Zoo What Can You Do With a Portrait?
This is the very first published issue of Art to Zoo. Unlike later issues, it features three separate topics instead of one larger theme. For this issue you can find information and resources for teaching westward expansion and its...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Infectious Disease
Investigate the spread of infectious diseases from whites to Native Americans during the westward expansion of the 1800s, and compare cholera to Ebola and other infectious diseases.
The History Cat
The History Cat: u.s. History: The Oregon Trail
A glimpse at life on the Oregon Trail during 19th-century westward expansion. Written humorously with teen learners in mind, students can view original photographs and read excerpts from pioneer diaries for a sense of the arduous journey.
Tom Richey
Tom richey.net: The Trials of the Jeffersonians [Ppt]
Presents key ideas for examining the impact of westward expansion on concepts of nationalism and democracy. Covers the Louisiana Purchase, conflict with native peoples, the War of 1812, and other events.
Library of Congress
Loc: Merica's Story: Oregon Territory
Read about the settling of Oregon country and how westward expansion prompted Congress to make it a territory.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: Quiz 1
A five-question quiz mainly over westward expansion in the late 1800s.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Full Steam Ahead: The Steam Engine and Transportation in the Nineteenth Century
This primary source set uses illustrations, documents, and photographs to tell the story of how the steam engine transformed the railroad industry and played crucial roles in the Industrial Revolution and westward expansion.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: Chinese Immigrants and Mexican Americans
Discusses the conflict with Mexican American and Chinese groups as white settlers pushed westward in the nineteenth century. Explains what brought so many Chinese immigrants to America and the roadblocks and discrimination that they had...
![U.s. Mint: Our Goal Pole [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://content.lessonplanet.com/knovation/original/249027-a06b6e1b3a7aa5c8e4fc49293e940618.jpg?1661243094 "U.s. Mint: Our Goal Pole [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
US Mint
U.s. Mint: Our Goal Pole [Pdf]
In this four-part lesson, students will demonstate knowledge of the sequencing of events by studying the westward journey, use terms that indicate the sequence of events and demonstrate an understanding of certain historical figures in...
![U.s. Mint: Which Came First? [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://content.lessonplanet.com/knovation/original/249028-fe9fd34e9fd91c5e0f661d831bfde2a1.jpg?1661243091 "U.s. Mint: Which Came First? [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
US Mint
U.s. Mint: Which Came First? [Pdf]
Introduce students to the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark's Expedition. Then, using the tails side of the Keelboat Nickel as a guide, make a timeline of the westward journey.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: A Divided Nation
This page from the American Revolution Project of the University of Groningen discusses how the 1850s were a time of conflicting ideas between North and South regarding the expansion of slavery. Scroll down to the third paragraph and...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Last Frontier
Describes the various forces and events that shaped the expansion of the western frontier in the mid- to late 1800s.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Gold in California
The gold rush in California accelerated the western migration of thousands of young American men, who streamed into California to find riches. See who else arrived in California and find out what they did. In addition, there is a map...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History History Unit: Period 6: 1865 1898: Unit Test
This unit practice test from Khan Academy covers Period 6: 1865-1898 in American History. Western expansion, the Gilded Age, and the "New South" are components of this unit test. This resource is designed as a review for the AP US...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History Unit: Period 6: 1865 1898: Unit Test
This practice exercise from Khan Academy covers Period 6: 1865-1898 in American History. The Gilded Age, Western expansion, and the "New South" are included in the practice. This resource is designed as a review for the AP US History Test.
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Sacagawea
Sacagawea is best known for joining Louis and Clark on their expedition westward from the Mississippi to the Pacific Coast.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Manifest Destiny
Provides interesting facts and important information about the idea of Manifest Destiny and details of Westward Expansion in the United States over a fifty-year time span in the 1800s.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Journeys West
A series of lessons utilizing primary texts, including narratives, photographs, and maps, through which students explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: On the Oregon Trail
In this lesson plan, students will consider On the Oregon Trail. Worksheets and other supporting materials can be found under the Resources tab.