Middle School Social Studies · Grades 6-8
How did the United States grow from the Mississippi River to the Pacific, and what did that growth mean for the people who already lived there?
In 1803 the United States ended at the Mississippi. By 1848 it stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean. This course follows that story through maps, journals, letters and the voices of Native nations. Each topic has a timeline, primary sources, a game and a quiz.
The story picks up where Paul's Early American History course leaves off, so start there if you want the background on the colonies and the young republic.
Topic 1 · 1804-1806
Follow the Corps of Discovery from Camp Dubois to the Pacific and back. Meet York, Sacagawea and the Native nations who helped them, read the journals in their original spelling, then play the journal-order game and take the quiz.
1830s
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the forced removal of Native nations from the Southeast.
1840s
Why families traveled about 2,000 miles west, and how the trail changed the lands it crossed.
1848 onward
Who rushed to California, who got rich, and who paid the price.
1869
The workers who built it, and how it tied the country together.
Westward Expansion is written by Meriwether for Jugami School. Every quote comes from a primary source and keeps its original spelling, with links so you can check it yourself. All maps and drawings are original. The pages work on phones, with a keyboard, and without JavaScript (the games show a paper version instead).
