Up to June 30, 1834, Andrew Jackson had aggressively enforced the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which sent the Five Civilized Tribes of the South (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) west of the Mississippi. He claimed that it was for their own good, that they could not live with the white men and prosper. […]
The Oklahoma Land Rush: A Unit Study
The date is April 22, 1889. It is five minutes till noon in central Oklahoma. The solid wall of horses, extending as far as the eye can see in either direction, bends and ripples restlessly, hooves pawing the ground and eye whites flashing. Their eagerness is mirrored in the faces of their riders and drivers, […]
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Unit Study
Step into the world of The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Unit resources.
Pike’s Peak: A Unit Study
On July 15, 1806, Captain Zebulon Pike set out from a landing at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers with two boats, two lieutenants, one sergeant, two corporals, sixteen privates, one surgeon, one interpreter, and fifty-one Indians, mostly Osages ransomed from the Pottawatomie tribe. Pike was to escort these Osages, including two influential […]
The Oregon Trail: A Unit Study
On July 4, 1805, Oregon Trail guide Stephen Meek was born. He was famous (or infamous) for wandering into the desert and getting lost. Oregon Trail unit resources.
The Transcontinental Railroad: A Unit Study
The Golden Spike and the cross-country race between the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. Unit study and resources.
Go West, Young Man: A Unit Study
Horace Greeley was born on this date, February 3, in 1811 and is credited with the phrase. A look at Westward Expansion.