As the first Democratic- Republican voted into office in 1800, I dramatically changed the course of the nation by purchasing Louisiana Territory and having Lewis and Clark explore it.
After years of resistance, this was the route taken by thousands of Native Americans in their forced relocation from the Southeast to west of the Mississippi.
What is the Trail of Tears?
As President, George Washington actively sought to keep the United States out of foreign affairs, a policy known as this.
What is neutrality? (isolationism)
The United States acquired Florida after purchasing it from this foreign country.
What is Spain?
This animal was critical to Native American culture and survival before it's depletion by the end of the 1800s.
What is the buffalo?
I gained military fame for my victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. As President, I signed the Indian Removal Act that allowed for the relocation of thousands of Native Americans to the "west."
Who is Andrew Jackson?
President Madison reluctantly entered into this conflict with Great Britain after escalating tensions reached a boiling point over the British policy of impressment.
What is the War of 1812? (or 2nd War for Independence)
This war was fought mainly over disputed land claims and boundaries in Texas.
What is the Mexican American War? (1846-1848)
After its completion, it "opened" the west to American settlement and became the link between east and west.
What is the railroad (transcontinental railroad)?
What is assimilation? (Americanization)
Hoping for fortune and seeking adventure I became part of this group, nicknamed more for the year in which I travelled than for what I was hoping to find.
Who are the 49ers (California Gold Rush)
Happening within the broader conflict of the Civil War, this 1862 turning point in Native and white American relations has local connections as well as national.
What is the US Dakota War?
What is Spain?
It was after the signing of this treaty that the United States gained most of the modern-day American southwest in exchange for $15 million.
What is the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo? (end of the Mexican American War)
This territory was actually independent for about a decade before the United States decided to "simply" annex it in 1845.
What is Texas? (lone star state)
As President during the height of "manifest destiny" I made it my goal to expand the nation's borders as much as possible during my time in office, which included acquiring Texas and Oregon Territory.
Who is James K Polk?
By 1890, this tragic event marked the end of the culture wars between Native American and white American settlement.
What is the Massacre at Wounded Knee?
In 1887 the US federal government passed this law that broke up Native American reservations into plots of land to be individually owned by families, a concept foreign in most Native cultures.
What is the Dawes Act?
Identify any 2 technologies that assisted in "settling" the west.
What are barbed wire, plow/ steel plow, reaper, windmill?
Who are the exodusters?
The Native American chief and leader who became well known for his refusals to sign treaties and resistance to white settlement.
Who is Sitting Bull?
The important law made by the federal government fueled westward settlement by giving land to individual Americans wishing to move west, on the condition that they "lived on and improved" it for at least 5 years.
What is the Homestead Act?
After its signing in 1794, Native Americans agreed to give up their land in the Great Lakes region in exchange for $$$.
What is the Treaty of Greenville?
While the more northern Oregon Trail proved to be more difficult, this westward route that started in Missouri and ended in New Mexico became one of the busiest and most well known paths for westward settlement.
What is the Santa Fe Trail?
It was this spiritual and cultural practice of Native Americans on the Pine Ridge Reservation that led to the deadly confrontation between US soldiers.
What is the Ghost Dance? (Wovoka)