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Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents:president Jackson's Message to Congress 'On Indian Removal' (1830)

For Students 9th - 10th
On December 6, 1830, President Jackson spoke to Congress about his position on relocating Indians in order to make way for settlers in the west. This paved the way for government policy in dealing with native peoples even after his...
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PPT
Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University: Voices From the Trading Post

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource offers a series of slideshows, oral histories, and trade goods of the Navajo people from 1860 to the present.
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Handout
Other

Pony Express: History of the Pony Express

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the beginnings of the Pony Express, the requirements to be a rider, and find out why this mail delivery system ended.
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Handout
Other

Collector's Guide: Indian Territory: Phoenix Rising From the Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
A discussion of the art forms preserved by the Native Americans who were resettled by the U.S. government in the Indian Territory.
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Primary
Other

Colorado College: Tutt Library: Sand Creek Papers 1861 1864

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides links to images of the actual pages of documents involving the Sand Creek Massacre.
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Primary
Yale University

Avalon Project: Northwest Ordinance; July 13, 1787

For Students 9th - 10th
A copy of the entire Northwest Ordinance document is given.
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Website
Ibis Communications

Eye Witness to History: The Old West

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides first-hand accounts and background information on the Old West. Content touches on crossing the plains, cowboys, train robberies, Dalton Gang's Last Raid, Custer's Last Stand, the Death of Billy the Kid, and much...
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Article
NPR: National Public Radio

Npr: Who Were the Cowboys Behind 'Cowboy Songs'?

For Students 9th - 10th
This article and audio report [9:05] covers the origins of American cowboy folk songs. Uses popups. Also includes a brief video clip of a 19th century folk song being performed.
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Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Constitutional Rights Foundation: Conflict of Cultures: President Polk and the Taking of the West

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Lesson and activity on conflict of cultures in which students study U.S. overtaking lands of Mexico and California and form policy on property rights and citizenship of conquered cultures. Activity guidelines, questions for discussion...
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Unit Plan
CPALMS

Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Captains of Industry: Second Industrial Revolution

For Students 11th
This tutorial looks at the Second Industrial Revolution in the United States and the most famous and successful industrial entrepreneurs of that time. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Taming the American West

For Students 9th - 10th
Comprehensive teaching unit that explores the settling of the American West in the late 1800s and the challenges these settlers faced. Contains video and text materials, web interactives, student oriented activities, and a timeline of...
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Website
US Department of State

Office of the Historian: Proclamation Line of 1763

For Students 9th - 10th
Tensions between the colonists and Britain were on the rise at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War. Policies put in place by Britain to control colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains led to resentment among the...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Manifest Destiny

For Teachers 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students use primary source documents to investigate central historical questions. In this investigation students use nineteenth-century maps and art, and consider the roots of American exceptionalism.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: The First American West: Ohio River Valley, 1750 1820

For Students 9th - 10th
This site describes the early history of the Ohio River Valley. Topics covered include: Contested Lands, Peoples and Migrations, Empires and Politics, Western Life and Culture, and Constructing a Western Past. Links to primary source...
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eBook
Indiana University

Victorian Women Writers Project: A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (1881)

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides the text of the book, "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains," by Isabella L. Bird.
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Unit Plan
Nebraska Studies

Nebraska Studies: High Falutin' Beef

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an impressive history of the introduction of beef to the Great Plains region complete with videos, photos, and lesson plans.
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Primary
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: Fremont Conquest of California

For Students 9th - 10th
This first-person account by John Bidwell and his dealings with John Fremont in California.
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Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

Huntington Library: Washington's Rise Begins: A Journal of a Noteworthy Journey

For Teachers 5th
In this lesson, 5th graders examine letters and entries from George Washington's diaries to understand more about his character and ambitions, and the conflict and cooperation that existed between the French and English colonists and the...
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Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

Huntington Library: Coming to California [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
For this lesson, 4th graders examine entries from Juan Bautista de Anza's diary and other documents to understand the experiences and obstacles he and his companions faced as they traveled from Arizona to California in 1774. Student...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Teachers: Women P Ioneers in American Memory

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This is an online resource from the Library of Congress discussing Women Pioneers. Includes some audio and internal links for more information.
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Website
The Newberry Library

Newberry Library and Chicago History Museum: Lincoln at 200

For Students 9th - 10th
This is resource provides information which allows users to examine key aspects of Lincoln's life and legacy, such as the circumstances of his birth, his views on slavery, and his assassination.
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Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The Homestead Acts

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This collection uses primary sources to explore the Homestead Acts.
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Primary
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian: National Museum of the American Indian: Battle of Little Bighorn

For Students 9th - 10th
The Battle of Little Bighorn made an immense impression on American society and culture. Americans became obsessed with this battle and created artworks, shows, postcards, and dime novels. View primary sources from this era to understand...
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Graphic
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: Torn in Two: Mapping the American Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition tells the story of the American Civil War both nationally and locally in Boston, Massachusetts, through maps, documents, letters, and other primary sources.

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