Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
© Copyright History Matters 2015.
© Copyright History Matters 2015.
Social Studies Name: ____________________________
Directions: Use the handout to complete the following timeline assignment.
Task Overview
Westward Expansion unfolded as a series of key events that saw the United States expand west
across North America. For this assignment, complete a timeline in which you include the
following events/policies related to Westward Expansion/Manifest Destiny:
California Gold Rush of 1849
Mexican-American War
Louisiana Purchase
Missouri Compromise
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Klondike Gold Rush
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Oregon Trail
Transcontinental Railroad
Homestead Act
Indian Removal Act
For each of the events include the following required elements:
Title of Event
Date or Date Range of Event
Picture to Represent Event
Overview of Event
o What happened historically?
o Why was it significant to the overall Westward Expansion?
As well, each timeline needs to contain the US Presidents for the years of the period of
Westward Expansion.
© Copyright History Matters 2015.
Name(s):__________________________________________________________
Mark: ________ / 14
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Required
Elements and
Accuracy
The project
includes all
required elements
and they are all
exceptionally
accurate.
All required
elements are
included on the
project, and only
minor errors are
present in
accuracy.
Some of the
required
elements are
included on the
project, and there
are many issues
with accuracy.
Most required
elements were
missing, and the
project lacks
accuracy.
Development
of Ideas
The project shows
an exceptionally
in-depth base of
content and
knowledge and
includes thorough
explanations.
Project displays a
very in-depth
base of content
and knowledge.
Project displays
only some in-
depth content
and knowledge,
and the ideas are
straight forward.
Project appears
to have
insufficient in-
depth content
and knowledge,
and contains
limited ideas.
Communication Writing is clear,
accurate, and
effective with
well-organized
ideas.
Writing is
satisfactory with
only minor errors
but does not
interfere with the
message.
Writing is unclear
and difficult to
distinguish the
message.
Organization
and Design
The project is
exceptionally
attractive in
terms of design,
layout, and
neatness.
The project is
acceptably
attractive though
it may be a bit
messy.
The project is
distractingly
messy or very
poorly designed.
It is not attractive.
© Copyright History Matters 2015.
© Copyright History Matters 2015.
©Copyright History Matters 2015.
Social Studies Name: ____________________________
Directions: Use the handout to complete the following timeline assignment.
Task Overview
Westward Expansion unfolded as a series of key events that saw the United States expand west
across North America. For this assignment, complete a timeline in which you include the
following events/policies related to Westward Expansion/Manifest Destiny:
California Gold Rush of 1849
Mexican-American War
Louisiana Purchase
Missouri Compromise
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Klondike Gold Rush
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Oregon Trail
Transcontinental Railroad
Homestead Act
Indian Removal Act
For each of the events include the following required elements:
Title of Event
Date or Date Range of Event
Picture to Represent Event
Overview of Event
o What happened historically?
o Why was it significant to the overall Westward Expansion?
As well, each timeline needs to contain the US Presidents for the years of the period of
Westward Expansion.
Make sure students understand the expectations of the assignment and how they will be assessed. The included events are just a sampling of the
major events of Westward Expansion. The teacher may choose to add or remove events based on the needs of the classroom. This assignment can
be done individually in that each student is required to complete their own timeline or in that each student completes a different event to create a
class-wide timeline once the different events are combined. As well, it could be completed in groups where each groups completes their own timeline
or each group is responsible for one event and then all of the events are combined to create a timeline.
This assignment is best used as a review or end of unit activity to bring together the overall events of Westward Expansion. See the rest of the key
for more detailed information on possible responses and uses for this timeline assignment. I tend to only include singular historical events in this
activity. If you are looking for more detailed information on other, more complex, aspects of Westward Expansion then please consider checking my
TpT store for other resources related to these parts of the Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny.
©Copyright History Matters 2015.
Louisiana Purchase
1803
Thomas Jefferson purchases the Louisiana
Territory from France for $15 Million.
The United States purchased
approximately 828,000,000 square miles
of territory, thereby doubling the size of
the country. It stretched from the
Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky
Mountains in the west and from the Gulf
of Mexico in the south to the Canadian
border in the north. It is considered one
of the most important achievements of
Thomas Jefferson’s presidency.
Lewis and Clark Expedition
1805
Explorers Lewis and Clark are tasked with
exploring the newly purchased Louisiana
Territory by Jefferson.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition spanned
8,000 mi and three years, taking the
Corps of Discovery, down the Ohio River,
up the Missouri River, across the
Continental Divide, and to the Pacific
Ocean. Lewis served as the field scientist,
chronicling botanical, zoological,
meteorological, geographic and
ethnographic information.
Indian Removal Act
1830
US Congress passed an act
requiring Native Americans to
move from the Southeast to
west of the Mississippi.
Native Americans were forced
to assimilate or move to
other territories. It opened
up territory for American
settlers. Generally viewed as
a negative event now by
historians for how Native
Americans were treated.
Oregon Trail
1841
People begin to travel west in
wagon trains on the Oregon
Trail. Around 300,000 people
would take the trail over the
next 20 years.
Important because it allowed
for mass migration westward
to occupy new territories. A
journey that saw 300,000
people travel west and
further the westward
expansion.
Mexican – American War
1846-1848
It was the first U.S. armed conflict
chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a
militarily unprepared Mexico against
the expansionist-minded administration
of U.S. President James K. Polk, who
believed the United States had a
“manifest destiny” to spread across the
continent to the Pacific Ocean.
Mexico had lost about one-third of its
territory, including nearly all of present-
day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona
and New Mexico.
California Gold Rush
1848-1849
The discovery of gold nuggets in the
Sacramento Valley in early 1848
sparked the Gold Rush, arguably one
of the most significant events to
shape American history during the
first half of the 19th century.
Thousands of prospective gold
miners traveled by sea or over land
to San Francisco and the surrounding
area; by the end of 1849, the non-
native population of the California
territory was some 100,000.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
1854
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an
1854 bill allowed settlers of the
territory to decide whether slavery
would be allowed within a new
state’s borders.
The conflicts that arose between
pro-slavery and anti-slavery
settlers in the aftermath of the
act’s passage led to the period
known as the Bleeding Kansas, and
helped paved the way for the
American Civil War (1861-65).
Missouri Compromise
1820
An effort by Congress to defuse the
sectional and political rivalries
triggered by the request of
Missouri late in 1819 for admission
as a state in which slavery would be
permitted.
With the exception of Missouri, this
law prohibited slavery in the
Louisiana Territory north of the 36°
30´ latitude line. In 1854, the
Missouri Compromise was repealed
by the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Jefferson (1801-1809) Monroe (1817-1825) Jackson (1829-1837) Van Buren (1837-1841) Polk (1845-1849) Pierce (1853-1857)
Pierce (1853-1857)
©Copyright History Matters 2015.
Homestead Act
1862
Encouraged Western migration
by providing settlers 160 acres
of public land. In exchange,
homesteaders paid a small
filing fee and were required to
complete five years of
continuous residence before
receiving ownership of the
land.
The Homestead Act led to the
distribution of 80 million acres
of public land by 1900.
Transcontinental Railroad
1863-1869
In 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act
chartered the Central Pacific and the
Union Pacific Railroad Companies, and
tasked them with building a
transcontinental railroad that would link
the United States from east to west.
Over the next seven years, the two
companies would race toward each
other from Sacramento, California on the
one side and Omaha, Nebraska on the
other, struggling against great risks
before they met at Promontory, Utah, on
May 10, 1869.
This assignment can be completed in any manner of ways that best fits the needs of the students and the teacher. Traditionally, my students complete the assignment as
either a poster or as a PowerPoint with each event being a different slide. The assignment can be completed individually or as part of a group assignment.
This teacher’s key for the timeline is a general overview of the information that students should be placing in their assignment. Student responses may vary. The timeline
included in this resource can be used as a place for students to plan their assignment. The timeline also should focus on the historical significance of the event in terms of
how it impacted Westward Expansion.
This assignment is best used as a review or end of unit assignment once students have learned about all of the major events. Students may need research resources to help
them in the completion of the assignment, such as textbook, library or online resources.
The following can be used as a starting point for student research:
http://www.historynet.com/westward-expansion
Klondike Gold Rush
1896-1899
Gold was discovered in
the Klondike River in
1896, and inspired many
people to test their luck
in the harsh climate of
the north.
Of the 100,000 people
that set out for the
Klondike only 30,000
arrived. It caused many
people to move west
and north as part of
Westward Expansion.
Lincoln (1861-1865) Johnson (1865-1869) Cleveland (1893-1897)
