Teaching American History – Lesson Plan Template



Teacher’s Name: Melissa Seco

Employee Number: 927425

School: Doral Academy Charter Preparatory

Social Studies Lesson Plan

1. Title: Manifest Destiny/11th grade American History Honors (4-5 class periods)

2. Expansion Essential Question: What were the major causes and effects of various expansionary times in U.S. history; i.e., territorially, economically, and/or politically?

3. Overview - Big Ideas:

Enduring Understandings – The era of American History to be covered in this lesson is between 1840-1870; the thirty year period of the peak of Manifest Destiny and westward expansion. This is the era where the question of “What is the American dream?” has a different perspective. It also involves the question of Native American conflicts and fighting for land as well as the impact on America in regards to westward expansion. Students need to understand this time period because this is the beginning of expansion which would later lead to outside of the U.S. It also involves the role of government in westward expansion.

Essential Questions – The main essential question is : What were the major causes and effects of various expansionary times in U.S. History; i.e., territorially, economically, and/or politically? Other questions are: What was the American dream during this time period? What were some of the hardships people had to endure while traveling west? What is manifest destiny? How did the Native Americans deal with white expansion? What reasons did Americans have for traveling west? How and why did the government encourage westward expansion?

4. Lesson Objectives and Key Vocabulary:

Standards - Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

Standard 4: Demonstrate an understanding of the domestic and international causes, course, and consequences of westward expansion.

SS.8.A.4.1 Examine the causes, course, and consequences of United States westward expansion and its growing diplomatic assertiveness (Manifest Destiny).

SS.8.A.4.4 Discuss the impact of westward expansion on cultural practices and migration patterns of Native American populations.

SS.8.A.4.5 Explain the causes, course, and consequences of the 19th century transportation revolution on the growth of the nation's economy.

Vocabulary/key words: manifest destiny, expansion, railroad, Sioux/Lakota, Pawnee, Plains Indians, Pacific Railway Act, Homestead Act, assimilation.

5. Evidence of Student Understanding (Assessment) in this Lesson:

Students will have a fundamental understanding of this expansion period in American History and comprehend its impact on White Americans and Native American groups such as the Lakota Sioux and Pawnee. Students will understand how the government had a role in westward expansion and how influential they were to Americans. Additionally, technology such as the railroads made it easier for Americans to travel west; the availability of such industrial technology had a tremendous impact on transportation and the economy. Students will be able to answer questions about the different acts Congress passed regarding expansion and also about how the Native Americans responded to white migration westward. Students will take a short response quiz about the concept of manifest destiny and westward migration.

6. Materials Needed:

American History textbook, paper, pens/pencils, television, DVD movie: Dances with Wolves, questionnaire on movie, worksheets on Pacific Railway Act and Homestead Act with questions (primary source documents; see attached).

7. Steps to Deliver the Lesson:

1. The teacher will introduce the lesson giving basic information about what came to be known as Manifest Destiny and westward expansion. Students will be asked the read the section of the book regarding this topic.

2. The teacher will then verbally go over the material prompting students with questions about what they read. Any questions the students may have will be answered as well. Instead of a lecture format, the teacher will try to make this more of a class discussion to promote student engagement.

3. Teacher will pass out worksheets of the Pacific Railway Act and the Homestead Act for students to read and analyze. Students will then answer questions about these two acts that Congress enacted; it also shows the role that technology played. Teacher will walk around ensuring that students are on task and provide any help and guiding when necessary. These primary source documents are a great way for students to see how the government influenced westward expansion; good for higher level readers. Because of the difficulty of these documents, the students will be given the following class period to finish.

4. The teacher will pass out the questionnaire on Dances with Wolves. The version that will be shown is the extended director’s cut. This will take 3 class periods to complete. As students watch the movie they will answer the questions to complete the assignment. This movie shows western expansion through the eyes of a civil war lieutenant and his interactions with Lakota Sioux.

5. After everything above is completed, the teacher will administer a short response quiz about the concepts discussed in class and in the textbook.

8. Specific Activities: (From Guided to Independent)

(See above)

1. The teacher will introduce the lesson giving basic information about what came to be known as Manifest Destiny and westward expansion. Students will be asked the read the section of the book regarding this topic.

2. The teacher will then verbally go over the material prompting students with questions about what they read. Any questions the students may have will be answered as well. Instead of a lecture format, the teacher will try to make this more of a class discussion to promote student engagement.

3. Teacher will pass out worksheets of the Pacific Railway Act and the Homestead Act for students to read and analyze. Students will then answer questions about these two acts that Congress enacted; it also shows the role that technology played. Teacher will walk around ensuring that students are on task and provide any help and guiding when necessary. These primary source documents are a great way for students to see how the government influenced westward expansion; good for higher level readers. Because of the difficulty of these documents, the students will be given the following class period to finish.

4. The teacher will pass out the questionnaire on Dances with Wolves. The version that will be shown is the extended director’s cut. This will take 3 class period to complete. As students watch the movie they will answer the questions to complete the assignment. This movie shows western expansion through the eyes of a civil war lieutenant and his interactions with Lakota Sioux.

5. After everything above is completed, the teacher will administer a short response quiz about the concepts discussed in class and in the textbook.

9. Differentiated Instruction Strategies:

For the beginning of the lesson, teacher will provide sticky note pads to students so they can place in their textbooks and write notes/ask questions along the way as they read (sticky notes discussion method). The “lecture” component afterwards is more of a class discussion where the teacher will ask questions based on what the students read. Questions are also encouraged by the students. This will promote more engagement in the classroom. As students read the primary source documents the teacher will be observing and monitoring the students as well as asking any questions students may have. The teacher will provide any help or assistance that is needed throughout.

10. Technology Integration:

The technology component is the television with the DVD movie of Dances with Wolves.

11. Lesson Closure:

The lesson closure will be the summarizing of main points in the lesson such as Manifest Destiny, the different acts by Congress, and the summarizing of the movie.

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The Homestead Act

May 20, 1862

(U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. XII, p. 392 ff.) AN ACT to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain.

Be it enacted, That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the first of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be entitled to enter one quarter-section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which said person may have filed a pre-emption claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents, or less, per acre; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed: Provided, That any person owning or residing on land may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres.

Sec. 2. That the person applying for the benefit of this act shall, upon application to the register of the land office in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit before the said register or receiver that he or she is the head of a family, or is twenty-one or more years of age, or shall have performed service in the Army or Navy of the United States, and that he has never borne arms against the Government of the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies, and that such application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not, either directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and upon filing the said affidavit with the register or receiver, and on payment of ten dollars, he or she shall thereupon he permitted to enter the quantity of land specified: Provided, however, That no certificate shall be given or patent issued therefor until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry -- or if he be dead, his widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death -- shall prove by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that no part of said land has been alienated, and that he has borne true allegiance to the Government of the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided for by law: And provided, further, That in case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child or children under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of said infant child or children, and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State in which such children for the time being have their domicile, sell said land for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States, and payment of the office fees and sum of money herein specified.. ..

The Pacific Railway Act--July 1, 1862(U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. XII, p. 489 ff.)

An Act to aid in the Construction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. . . .

Be it enacted, That [names of corporators]; together with five commissioners to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior... are hereby created and erected into a body corporate... by the name... of "The Union Pacific Railroad Company"... ; and the said corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to lay out, locate, construct, furnish, maintain and enjoy a continuous railroad and telegraph... from a point on the one hundredth meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, between the south margin of the valley of the Republican River and the north margin of the valley of the Platte River, to the western boundary of Nevada Territory, upon the route and terms hereinafter provided...

Sec. 2. That the right of way through the public lands be... granted to said company for the construction of said railroad and telegraph line; and the right... is hereby given to said company to take from the public lands adjacent to the line of said road, earth, stone, timber, and other materials for the construction thereof; said right of way is granted to said railroad to the extent of two hundred feet in width on each side of said railroad when it may pass over the public lands, including all necessary grounds, for stations, buildings, workshops, and depots, machine shops, switches, side tracks, turn tables, and water stations. The United States shall extinguish as rapidly as may be the Indian titles to all lands falling under the operation of this act...

Sec. 3. That there be... granted to the said company, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad and telegraph line, and to secure the safe and speedy transportation of mails, troops, munitions of war, and public stores thereon, every alternate section of public land, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of five alternate sections per mile on each side of said railroad, on the line thereof, and within the limits of ten miles on each side of said road... Provided That all mineral lands shall be excepted from the operation of this act; but where the same shall contain timber, the timber thereon is hereby granted to said company...

Sec. 5. That for the purposes herein mentioned the Secretary of the Treasury shall... in accordance with the provisions of this act, issue to said company bonds of the United States of one thousand dollars each, payable in thirty years after date, paying six per centum per annum interest... to the amount of sixteen of said bonds per mile for each section of forty miles; and to secure the repayment to the United States... of the amount of said bonds... the issue of said bonds... shall ipso facto constitute a first mortgage on the whole line of the railroad and telegraph...

Sec. 9. That the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company of Kansas are hereby authorized to construct a railroad and telegraph line... upon the same terms and conditions in all respects as are provided [for construction of the Union Pacific Railroad].... The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California are hereby authorized to construct a railroad and telegraph line from the Pacific coast... to the eastern boundaries of California, upon the same terms and conditions in all respects [as are provided for the Union Pacific Railroad].

Sec. 10 ...And the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California after completing its road across said State, is authorized to continue the construction of said railroad and telegraph through the Territories of the United States to the Missouri River... upon the terms and conditions provided in this act in relation to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, until said roads shall meet and connect...

Sec. 11. That for three hundred miles of said road most mountainous and difficult of construction, to wit: one hundred and fifty miles westerly from the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, and one hundred and fifty miles eastwardly from the western base of the Sierra Nevada mountains... the bonds to be issued to aid in the construction thereof shall be treble the number per mile hereinbefore provided... and between the sections last named of one hundred and fifty miles each, the bonds to be issued to aid in the construction thereof shall be double the number per mile first mentioned...

1. Homestead Act of 1862:

• What is the purpose of this act?

• What is meant by the term "public domain"?

• Who is entitled to secure a grant of land from the Federal Government? Can women secure such a grant in their own names, and if so, how?

• What is the largest amount of land a person can secure from the Federal government through this act?

• How would one go about applying for land under the act (filing the affidavit)?

• How long would one have to wait in between filing an affidavit and securing final title to the land one settled? What did a settler need to do in the meantime?

• How much per acre did land under the Homestead Act cost?

• The Homestead Act was meant to insure that United States citizens who actually wanted to farm land were the recipients of the government's largess. Who else might have wanted to profit from this deal, and how? How is the law trying to prevent various abuses?

1. Pacific Railway Act of 1862:

• What is the purpose of this act?

• What is the Union Pacific Railroad Company empowered by this act to do?

• Mark on a map the route that the transcontinental railroad will follow. What will be the most difficult terrain on which to lay track? What other difficulties do you foresee in terms of crews of men living and working in a variety of environments as they lay tracks?

• Why do you think the government is providing for the building of telegraph poles along the length of the railroad?

• The act is giving the railroad the right of way on public lands. How much land on either side of tracks does this include? What does the government promise to do if American Indian tribes claim title to this land?

• In Section 3 the act provides the railroad with more land than what is needed to give it a right of way. Why will this land fronting the railroad tracks be even more valuable than land given to homesteaders at a distance from the railway?

• What method of financing the railway does the bill propose in Section 5?

• Under what terms is the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California authorized to build a railway headed east? Since the bonds will be awarded based on completed mileage of railway track, which company would ultimately be awarded the most money? How does this set up a competition between the two railways?

• The Central Pacific Railroad had to lay track in the mountainous region of the Sierra Nevadas, one of the most difficult endeavors of the entire enterprise. This will obviously take much more time than laying tracks on the flat plains. How does the government plan to compensate the companies for the laying of track over mountainous terrain?

2. Homestead Act and Pacific Railway Act:

• What month and year did Congress pass each of these two acts? Why do you think they were passed within months of each other?

• In what ways are these acts mutually beneficial both to settlers and the railways?

Name:

Analysis of "Dances With Wolves"

We are watching this film because it portrays the interaction/clash between Native Americans and white European Americans in the Great Plains (middle of the country) during the second half of the 1800's. Obviously, Native Americans had already clashed with white European American settlers in the Eastern U.S. before, with disastrous results for the Natives (French & Indian War, "Trail of Tears," etc.)

As you watch Dances with Wolves, please take note of the following. Use your textbook to add depth to your responses. We will discuss these themes at the end of the movie. These come in no particular order in the film. ENJOY!!!

1. What type of medical care is available to soldiers during the Civil War? How does it differ for officers and enlisted men?

2. From the end of the Civil War (1865) to the Spanish-American War (1898), the U.S. Army's primary deployment was in the Plains, fighting the "Indian Wars." What tactics did the Army use to fight against the Natives?

3. How does John Dunbar change over time? What is his attitude when he first creates his post? What is his attitude toward the end of the film? Explain, paying attention to events/interactions in the film that change his perspective.

4. What is a stereotype? How do stereotypes affect the thinking of the characters in the film?

5. What is assimilation? How does Dunbar assimilate into Sioux culture? How were Natives expected/forced to assimilate into white European American culture?

6. Two Native tribes are referenced in the film (Sioux and Pawnee). How do their approaches differ in dealing with whites? Which is the better approach? Why do you think so?

7. Native Americans and white European Americans view natural resources and land differently. Explain this difference, paying particular attention to the hunting/use of buffalo ("tatonka") and land ownership.

8. How do you view Dunbar's character? Was the Army justified in treating him as they did? Explain.

9. Agree or Disagree: The U.S. government pursued the correct policy with regard to Native Americans.

Note: How would the U.S. be different today if a different policy had been followed?

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