Impacts of Westward Expansion
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Objective
I can analyze the social, economic, and political impacts of westward expansion on different groups in the United States.
Part 1 of 4
Warm-up video
PBS · 9:11Vetted channel
We don't generate video — this one is by PBS on YouTube. The practice questions and exit ticket below were drafted by AI for this objective, and every question is editable in the teacher guide.
Part 2 of 4
Key concepts
3 concepts
- 1
After the Civil War, railroad companies like the Kansas Pacific hired people to hunt buffalo to feed their crews, leading to the popularization of figures like Buffalo Bill.
- 2
The Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek in Kansas aimed to establish peace between the U.S. government and several Native American tribes by encouraging white settlement north of the Arkansas River and moving the tribes onto reservations in present-day Oklahoma.
- 3
The treaties signed at Medicine Lodge Creek and Fort Laramie both contained clauses that allowed Native tribes to continue hunting outside of reservations as long as there were buffalo, but General William Tecumseh Sherman predicted that the buffalo would soon become extinct near the railroads.
Part 3 of 4
Practice
8 questions
What was the estimated bison population on the Plains by the mid-1860s?
How did the introduction of railroads impact the bison population and Native American tribes?
Part 4 of 4
Exit ticket
Quick comprehension check
“Explain one social, one economic, and one political impact of westward expansion on Native Americans, based on the video.”
Sample answer included in the free materials
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