Westward+Expansion

Welcome to the Westward Expansion project page. As you will find out, when Americans moved west and created a new life for themselves, they purposefully and relentlessly persecuted hundreds of other cultures and peoples. Nothing comes without cost.

Please complete the following portions of the project: 1. Examine this [|image]. What is it a painting of? What symbols do you see? How are Native Americans shown in this picture? What do you think the artist believes about the importance of Native Americans and European explorers? Please write 12 sentences that answer these questions.

2. Please examine [|this]image. The painting is titled //American Progress.// This image is full of symbolism; the central figure, the direction everyone is moving, the clouds in the sky on the left, the light in the sky on the right, and several other parts of the painting combine to represent one major idea. What do you think the painting represents? Write 2 paragraphs describing the painting and explaining the symbolism.

3. Please find definitions for the following historical events, ideas, and figures. After you finish, please draw a picture of 1 of the figures and 1 of the events:
 * Trail of Tears
 * Wounded Knee
 * Massacre at Sand Creek
 * Battle of Little Bighorn
 * Chief Joseph
 * Geronimo
 * Sitting Bull
 * Crazy Horse
 * Tecumseh
 * Andrew Jackson
 * Manifest Destiny
 * Indian Removal Act
 * George Armstrong Custer

4. Using an overhead and a few transparancies provided by Mr. Schmidt, trace the political map of the United States found on the following document onto a large piece of 4x8 plywood. Make sure your map leaves room for a key. After you've traced the political map, add the following features in the following order:
 * Appalachian Mountains
 * Rocky Mountains
 * Cascade Mountains
 * Sierra Nevada Mountains
 * Mississippi River
 * Missouri River
 * Rio Grande
 * Colorado River
 * Paper mache for the 4 mountain ranges
 * All 9 climate zones
 * The 6 regions of Native American tribes



5. Research the characteristics of 2 of the climate zones indicated in the above document. Be sure to note the weather, the animals, and the plants that are typical of the region. Either summarize each climate zone in a paragrapn of 7 sentences or draw a picture of what each zone would look like in both winter and summer. Next, make a prediction about the type of clothing a Native American tribe would wear if they lived in each of those climate zones. Either write your prediction in a paragraph of 5 sentences or draw a picture of the clothing each tribe would wear.