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A political map of the United States, showing state boundaries and territories with color-coded regions and labels.
Historic fort with walls, flags, and people on horseback in a landscape setting.
Map illustrating the proposed annexation of Texas, detailing free and slave districts, along with geographic features.
A historic battle scene featuring soldiers in uniform, cannons, and chaos amidst smoke and hills.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – Chapter 7

41 items

A political map of the United States, showing state boundaries and territories with color-coded regions and labels.
Chapter 7 Introductory Essay: 1844-1860
Essay - 6400 Words

Essay

6400 Words

Why did sectionalism increase during the Antebellum era?
Historic fort with walls, flags, and people on horseback in a landscape setting.
The 49ers
Essay - 2237 Words

Essay

2237 Words

Explores the history of the gold rushes in California.
Map illustrating the proposed annexation of Texas, detailing free and slave districts, along with geographic features.
John O’Sullivan, “Annexation,” 1845
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
A historic battle scene featuring soldiers in uniform, cannons, and chaos amidst smoke and hills.
To Go to War with Mexico?
Essay - 2458 Words

Essay

2458 Words

By the end of this section, you will explain the causes and effects of westward expansion from 1844 to 1877.
A historic battle scene featuring soldiers in uniform, cannons, and chaos amidst smoke and hills.
Debating the Mexican-American War, May 1846
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Four miners stand by a stream, panning for gold with tools and equipment in a rocky landscape.
Migration West
Essay - 2007 Words

Essay

2007 Words

By the end of this section, you will explain the causes and effects of westward expansion from 1844 to 1877.
A historical scene depicting explorers and settlers in a mountainous landscape, framed with ornate decorations.
To What Extent Were Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion Justified?
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Did the positives outweigh the negatives as the concept of Manifest Destiny drove western expansion during the nineteenth century? A. James Fuller and Andrew Fisher debate this question.
Table comparing claims and arguments about Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion justification.
To What Extent Were Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion Justified Graphic Organizer
Activity

Activity

40 Min

A handout to accompany the scholarly claims made in the corresponding Point-Counterpoint readings that helps student synthesize the claims put forth.
A woman draped in white symbolizes progress, set against a landscape of livestock and settlers in the westward expansion era.
Art Analysis: American Progress by John Gast, 1872
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source imagery to analyze major events in history.
Two men in barrels labeled "Whiskey" and "Lager Bier" are playfully fighting, set against a background of a crowd.
Nativist Riots and the Know-Nothing Party
Essay - 2339 Words

Essay

2339 Words

How did immigration lead to nativist backlash in America?
Golden Gate Bridge spanning the water with a city skyline in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
Frank Lecouvreur, From East Prussia to the Golden Gate, 1851–1871
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
A winter landscape with a horse-drawn wagon, travelers, and trees blanketed in snow.
Dame Shirley (Mrs. Clappe), Letters from a Western Pioneer, 1851–1852
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Political cartoon depicting a character being forced out of a house while others stand by, with smoke and chaos surrounding.
The Free Soil Party
Essay - 2377 Words

Essay

2377 Words

What antislavery parties existed in the 19th century?
Excerpt from John Brown's speech to the court during his trial in 1859, discussing his views on slavery and justice.
Dred Scott v. Sandford DBQ Primary Sources
Activity

Activity

Five primary sources that explore the background of and the Supreme Court opinions in the Dred Scott decision.
A historical cautionary notice addressing colored people in Boston about kidnappers and slave catchers, dated April 24, 1851.
Thomas Sims and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Essay - 2768 Words

Essay

2768 Words

How did the Fugitive Slave Act galvanize abolitionism in Boston?
Black and white historical photo of people working in a field, using hoes, dressed in 19th-century clothing.
Fugitive Slave Act, 1850
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
A portrait of a woman with curly hair, dressed in a white blouse, drawn in a detailed etched style.
Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Essay - 2508 Words

Essay

2508 Words

Investigates Harriet Stowe's contributions to abolitionism.
A man rides a horse with two children, set in a dimly lit landscape.
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
Essay - 1572 Words

Essay

1572 Words

Investigates Harriet Tubman's role in the fight to end slavery.
Black and white illustration of soldiers in formation, with a fallen figure in front of a building amid trees.
John Brown and Harpers Ferry
Essay - 2645 Words

Essay

2645 Words

Was John Brown a righteous crusader or violent radical?
Portrait of a woman wearing a white headscarf and shawl, seated beside a vase of flowers.
Sojourner Truth, “Ain’t I a Woman?” 1851
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
A timeline detailing key events in John Brown's life from 1800 to 1859, including his activism and trials.
John Brown Background Essay and Timeline
Activity

Activity

Resources to help students explore the question of whether John Brown’s use of violence to achieve his goal was justified.
Excerpt from John Brown's speech to the court during his trial in 1859, discussing his views on slavery and justice.
John Brown Primary Sources
Activity

Activity

Seven primary sources that showcase the various responses to John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry.
Handout outlining John Brown's methods and perspective on slavery with key ideas and supporting documents listed.
Graphic Organizer: John Brown Primary Sources
Activity

Activity

A graphic organizer to help students examine the methods John Brown chose to carry out this goal of destroying slavery and ask them to decided if he was a hero or a villain?
Illustration showing a historical meeting about the abolition of the slave trade with an audience and speakers.
William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass on Abolition, 1845–1852
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
A historical portrait of a man with grey hair and a mustache, wearing a tan coat and blue bow tie, against a blue background.
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 1845
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
A historical illustration of a lively gathering, showing people dancing and celebrating in a rustic interior setting.
Negro Spirituals
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Map of the states and territories of the United States, showing the panhandle of present-day Oklahoma as disputed (labeled “neutral strip”); Mexico as a small strip of what is currently southern Arizona and southwest New Mexico; territories of Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, Unorganized, and Minnesota; slave states of Texas and those east to the Atlantic and north to Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware; and non-slave states as Iowa and Wisconsin, and all remaining states to the east (and north of the indicated slave states).
The Compromise of 1850
Essay - 2573 Words

Essay

2573 Words

By the end of this section, you will explain the similarities and differences in how regional attitudes affected federal policy in the period after the Mexican–American War.
Portrait of Daniel Webster.
Daniel Webster, “7th of March,” 1850
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Photos of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Political cartoon depicting men forcing an oversized figure to accept slavery in Kansas, labeled "Forcing Slavery Down the Throat."
Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas
Essay - 2457 Words

Essay

2457 Words

Explores the Kansas-Nebraska Act and sectionalism.
A historical illustration depicting a violent altercation in a courtroom setting, with one man attacking another.
Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks
Essay - 2468 Words

Essay

2468 Words

Explores the caning of Charles Sumner on the Senate floor.
Abraham Lincoln Giving a Speech
The Election of 1860
Essay - 2570 Words

Essay

2570 Words

How did the election of 1860 lead to the Civil War?
Secession of Southern States DBQ Packet
Activity

Activity

Four primary sources that explore the progression toward Southern succession.
Historic drawing of a large crowd in a grand hall, with people gathered for an event, featuring ornate architecture.
South Carolina Secession Debate, 1860
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Painting of a harbor, showing soldiers lined up and others in a group to the left, with ships and boats in the water.
Commodore Perry and the Opening of Japan
Essay - 2383 Words

Essay

2383 Words

Why did the U.S. want to open trade with Japan?
Bearded man in a hat, wearing a dark coat, seated against a dark background.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1855
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Map illustrating the electoral votes in the 1860 presidential election showing states and territories.
1860 Electoral Map and The President’s Inaugural by Thomas Nast
Activity

Activity

Images that explore the progression toward Southern succession.
Black and white portrait of a man with a beard, wearing a suit and bow tie.
Henry David Thoreau, “Slavery in Massachusetts,” 1854
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Table outlining pushes and pulls of Irish and German immigration with spaces for documents and evidence.
Immigration Activities and Primary Sources
Activity

Activity

Four activities and six primary sources to help students explore the push and pull factors that caused immigrants to come to the United States in the 1800s.
A serene landscape featuring a steamboat and small boats on a tranquil lake surrounded by mountains and cloudy skies.
Art Analysis: Hudson River School Landscape Paintings, 1836–1868
Activity

Activity

40 Min

Use this primary source imagery to analyze major events in history.
Text promoting "Immigration to America" from the Bill of Rights Institute, featuring a passport and American flag.
Immigration to America | BRI’s Homework Help Series
Video

Video

5 Min

The rise in immigration to the United States in the 1840's altered the economic, cultural, and political climate of the nation in the first half of the 19th century.
5 Min