Would You Go?
A Westward Expansion Document-Based Question
Amy Sheets
Mason Intermediate School
Fall 2010
Western History/Genealogy Department,
Denver Public Library.We have it rich.
Washing and panning gold, Rockerville, Dak.
Old timers / Grabill. Bagshaw Series.
Students will put themselves in the context of 19th century American expansion. Through
investigating primary sources, students will consider common motives for settling the
West, and if such reasons would have motivated them to relocate.
Overview/ Materials/LOC Resources/Standards/ Procedures/Evaluation/Rubric/Handouts/Extension
Overview
Objectives
Recommended time frame
Grade level
Curriculum fit
Materials
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Students will:
 Learn about common causes of migration during the
19th century period of westward expansion.
 Decide if such causes would have motivated them to
move west by writing an organized essay.
5 days
5th grade
Early American History
Westward Expansion Handouts, paper, pencil
Teaching with Primary Sources
Amy Sheets, Mason Intermediate
Ohio Academic Content Standards
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Social Studies:
History
 6. Explain the impact of settlement,
industrialization and transportation on the
expansion of the United States.
Language Arts:
Writing Applications
 4. Write informational essays or reports,
including research, that organize information
with a clear introduction, body and conclusion
following common expository structures when
appropriate (e.g., cause-effect, comparisoncontrast) and include facts, details and examples
to illustrate important ideas.
Procedures
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Day One & Day Two:
 Display on overhead or Smartboard/ copy
Primary Document file (handout section). Using
guiding questions, lead students through
discussion on the importance of each document.
Day Three:
 Ask students to decide if they would go. This
could be a quick write at the beginning of the
session, or just something the teacher asks them
to think about.
 Have students stand on a designated side of the
room if they would “Go” or “Not Go” west.
Working through each object/ document, ask
students to use their evidence to explain their
position. Encourage students to move if a peer’s
evidence makes him/ her change his/ her
opinion.
Day Four:
 Use “Essay Organization” page to have students
prewrite their final essay.
 Allow time to discuss with a peer.
Day Five:
 Students will draft their response essay to
“Would you go?” question.
 If time, allow students to share.
 Collect and evaluate according to rubric.
Evaluation
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Use this rubric to evaluate final essay.
Extension
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• Students could imagine that they are settlers from the
East or Midwest, journeying to the West to start a new
home. Using letters from Prairie Settlement: Nebraska
Photographs and Family Letters, 1862-1912 as a model,
they could write letters home, describing encounters
with people or places described in the documents. What
do they learn about the West from each encounter?
• Completing the Transcontinental Railroad was one of
the most important events in connecting the West into
the United States. Challenge students to use a map to
decide where they would build a railroad from the
Midwest to California. Where would they start? Where
would they end? What route would they follow? When
they have drawn their route, have them compare it with
a Library of Congress map of one of the completed
railways. How close was their route to the actual route?
• Perspectives on westward expansion varied
dramatically when it was taking place. Challenge
students to examine a positive representation of
westward expansion, such as one of the ones in this set,
and to speculate about the point of view of its creator.
Then, they might find a document or image in the
Library’s digital collections that represents a different
point of view, and identify the ways in which the two
items disagree.
• Documents in the American Memory collections
provide evidence of conflict among the cultural groups
that met each other in the American West. Challenge
students to find evidence of conflict and prejudice in the
documents in this primary source set. Can they also find
evidence of cooperation and acceptance? Assign
students to create a political cartoon about race relations
in the nineteenth-century West.
• Early exploration was also a key piece of what later
became a movement of many more settlers. Explore the
Lewis & Clark Presentation to learn more about their
voyage that paved the way for many.
Primary Resources from the Library of Congress
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Image
Description
Citation
URL
Object A, John
Bakken sod house,
Milton, North Dakota.
McCarthy, John, 1895.
The Northern Great
Plains, 1880-1920:
Photographs from the
Fred Hultstrand and
F.A. Pazandak
Photograph
Collections. 18 Sept
2010.
<http://memory.loc.g
ov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/
ngp:@field(NUMBER+
@band(ndfahult+c06
1))>
A Century of
Lawmaking for a New
Nation: U.S.
Congressional
Documents and
Debates, 1774 - 1875
Bills and Resolutions,
House of
Representatives, 35th
Congress, 2nd
Session.
http://memory.loc.go
v/cgibin/query/r?ammem/
ngp:@field(NUMBER+
@band(ndfahult+c06
1))
Western
History/Genealogy
Department, Denver
Public Library.
http://memory.loc.go
v/cgibin/query/r?ammem/
hawp:@field(NUMBER
+@band(codhawp+1
0060223))
Woods, Daniel Bates,
New York, Harper &
brothers, 1851.
California As I Saw It:
First-Person Narratives
of California's Early
Years, 1849-1900. 18
Sept 2010.
<http://memory.loc.g
ov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/
calbk:@field(DOCID+
@lit(calbk090div6))>
http://memory.loc.go
v/cgibin/query/r?ammem/
calbk:@field(DOCID+
@lit(calbk090div6))
Object B, Homestead
Act.
<no image>
Object C, California
Miners. We have it
rich. Washing and
panning gold,
Rockerville, Dak. Old
timers / Grabill.
Bagshaw Series.
Object D, California
As I Saw It: First-Person
Narratives of
California's Early
Years, 1849-1900
http://memory.loc.go
v/cgibin/ampage?collId=ll
hb&fileName=035/llh
b035.db&recNum=20
5
Object E, New map of
the Union Pacific
Railway, the short,
quick and safe line to
all points west.
Library of Congress,
Geography and Map
Division.
http://memory.loc.go
v/cgibin/query/r?ammem/
gmd:@field(NUMBER+
@band(g3701p+rr005
950))
Rubric
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Would You Go? Rubric
Student Name__________________________#______
4321CATEGORY Above Standards Meets Standards Approaching Standards Below Standards Score
Position
Statement
The position statement
provides a clear, strong
statement of the
author's position on the
topic.
The position statement A position statement is present, There is no position
provides a clear
but does not make the author's statement.
statement of the
position clear.
author's position on
the topic.
Support for
Position
Includes 3 or more
pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences) that
support the position
statement. The writer
anticipates the reader's
concerns, biases or
arguments and has
provided at least 1
counter-argument.
Includes 3 or more
pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences) that
support the position
statement.
Accuracy
All supportive facts and Almost all supportive Most supportive facts and
statistics are reported facts and statistics are statistics are reported
accurately.
reported accurately.
accurately.
Most supportive facts
and statistics were
inaccurately reported.
Grammar &
Spelling
Author makes no
errors in grammar or
spelling that distract
the reader from the
content.
Author makes 1-2
errors in grammar or
spelling that distract
the reader from the
content.
Author makes 3-4 errors in
grammar or spelling that
distract the reader from the
content.
Author makes more
than 4 errors in
grammar or spelling
that distract the reader
from the content.
Capitalization
&
Punctuation
Author makes no
errors in capitalization
or punctuation, so the
essay is exceptionally
easy to read.
Author makes 1-2
errors in capitalization
or punctuation, but the
essay is still easy to
read.
Author makes a few errors in
capitalization and/or
punctuation that catch the
reader's attention and interrupt
the flow.
Author makes several
errors in capitalization
and/or punctuation that
catch the reader's
attention and interrupt
the flow.
Includes 2 pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics, examples,
real-life experiences) that
support the position statement.
Includes 1 or fewer
pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences).
TOTAL______/ 20
Handouts
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WESTWARD EXPANSION:
Would you go?
Howdy! You have been given a once in a lifetime chance to hit the open road and head for the wide open spaces of the
Wild West. But, you must make this decision carefully. There are many obstacles, and well, many attractions. You need
to look carefully at some objects and hear from some folks who may help you make your decision. Ready, partner?
BACKGROUND:
In the 1840's Americans became inspired by the idea of "Manifest Destiny." This was the belief that the United States
had a right to expand its borders and claim new lands. Families began catching "Oregon Fever"--the desire to get a fresh
start in the West.
The 2,000-mile journey took six months. Most settlers joined wagon trails, a large group of wagons pulled by oxen.
Wagon trains offered protection against attacks by Native Americans. People helped one another when wagons broke
down. They worked together to cross rivers and make their way through steep mountain passes. Sometimes, Native
Americans helped the wagon trains cross difficult regions.
In January 1948, James Marshall saw something glittering in the American River outside the town of Sacramento,
California. It was gold. Marshall tried to keep the discovery a secret, but the news spread. Over the next year,
thousands of miners came to search for gold in the area. Prospecting, or exploring for gold, required only a few tools and
the willingness to work hard. It was difficult work, and few people struck it rich.
The idea of sudden wealth drew thousands of people to California, and across the west. So many people came that the
event became known as the "Gold Rush." By May 1849, more than 10,000 wagons had crossed the continent to
reach California. In that year alone, more than 80,000 people arrived in California from around the world. Because
these people came to California in 1849, they became known as "forty-niners."
In 1869, the first transcontinental railroad connecting the East and West coasts was completed. The amount of track
increased as more railroad lines were built. This expansion of railroads had many important effects. Railroads needed vast
amounts of coal and steel. Railroads connected raw materials to factories, and factories to consumers throughout the
nation. Railroads promoted settlement of the west by attracting families to the Great Plains with the promise of cheap
farmland.
When you're finished here, you're going to be letting me, your speculator, know if you've decided to venture west. Take
your time to look at all sides of this offer, ya hear? I want good solid reasonin' and I reckon this is an important
decision.
Selections from Banks, James, et al. The United States: Early Years. Columbus, OH: MacMillan/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 236-237. Print.
Okay, partner. Let's get going. The first thing you need to consider is why you're going out west, if'n you are.
Object A:
One thing that made lots of folks mosey out west was the Homestead Act. Up above is a picture of a sod house
with Marget Bakken at the door with a wash basin in her hand. John Bakken stands in left foreground with spade in
hand. In right foreground are their two small children, Tilda and Eddie. By the house is a dog. There are also two
stovepipes and vegetation on the roof. In distance on right side there appears to be a hay or straw stack and another sod
structure. John Bakken was born in 1871 at Benson, Minn. of Norwegian immigrants. In 1881 the family moved to
near Milton, North Dakota, where in 1893 he married Marget Axvig, born in Norway. In 1896 they homesteaded in
Silvesta Township, North Dakota and farmed there until retiring to Edinburg, North Dakota in 1942. Marget died in
1948 and John in 1965.
1. What reasons to move do you get from the picture?
2. What reasons to not move do you get from the picture?
Object B:
Let me show you a little bit of the Homestead Act document:
(to show image of actual document, use http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/ampage?collId=llhb&fileName=035/llhb035.db&recNum=205)
THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS
Sess. II Ch. 75 1862
Chap. LXXV. -- An Act to secure Homestead to actual
Settlers on Public Domain.
Be It enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in
assembled, That any person who is the head of a
family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one
years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who
shall have filed his declaration intention to become
such, as required by the naturalization laws of the
United States, and who has never borne arms against
the United States Government or given aid and
comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the first
January, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be
entitled to enter one quarter section or a less
quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which
said person may have filed a preëmption claim, or
which may, at the time the application is made, be
subject to preëmption at one dollar and twenty-five
cents, or less, per acre; or eighty acres or less of
such unappropriated lands, at two dollars and fifty
cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity
to the legal subdivision of the public lands, and after
the same shall have been surveyed.
1. For how much is the government selling land?
2. What happened if you moved before five years of
living on the land?
3. Would this price make you want to move west?
4. What reasons are there to not move west?
SEC 5. And be it further enacted, That if, at
any time after the filing of the affidavit, as
required in the second section of this act, and
before the expiration of the five years
aforesaid, it shall be proven, after due notice
to the settler, to the satisfaction of the
register of the land office, that the person
having filed such affidavit shall have actually
changed his or her residence or abandoned the
said land for more than six months at any time,
then and in that event the land so entered shall
revert to the government.
Object C:
The next document I have for you is another reason folks headed out West: to try to claim their
fortune from the Gold Rush.
1. Who do you think these men are? What are they doing?
2. How would you like to do this job? Would it be worth the gold?
3. How could this picture be used to make you move west?
4. How could this picture be used to convince you not to move?
OBJECT D:
Excerpted from: "California as I Saw It:" First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900.
July 2d.
Walked from Sacramento to Mormon Island, a distance of twenty-nine miles; and the next day, each one having forty pounds
of baggage upon his back, consisting of a cradle, tools for mining, provisions, blankets, &c., walked eight miles farther up the
south fork of the American River to Salmon Falls, there to commence our mining operations.
July 6th.
We have to-day removed to the opposite side of the river. This, with pitching our tent, has occupied most of the day. Still, we
have made $4 each. I have been seated for several hours by the river side, rocking a heavy cradle filled with dirt and stones.
The working of a cradle requires from three to five persons, according to the character of the diggings. If there is much of the
auriferous dirt, and it is easily obtained, three are sufficient; but if there is little soil, and this found in crevices, so as only to
be obtained with the knife, five or more can be employed in keeping the cradle in operation. One of these gives his whole
attention to working the cradle, and another takes the dirt to be washed, in pans or buckets, from the hole to the cradle, while
one or two others supply the buckets. The cradle, so called from its general resemblance to that article of furniture, has two
rockers, which move easily back and forth in two grooves of a frame, which is laid down firmly on the edge of or over the
water, so that the person working it may at the same time dip up the water. It must be inclined a few degrees forward, that the
dirt may be washed gradually out, and must be so placed that the mud may be carried off with the stream. Cleets are nailed
across the bottom of the body, over which the loose dirt passes with the water, and behind which the magnetic sand and gold
settle.
July 9th.
To-day we have made $20 each. One of the conclusions at which we are rapidly arriving is, that the chances of our making a
fortune in the gold mines are about the same as those in favor of our drawing a prize in a lottery. No kind of work is so
uncertain. A miner may happen upon a good location in his very first attempt, and in a very few days make his hundreds or
thousands, while the old miners about him may do nothing. Two foreigners, who had been some time in the mines, began to
work their respective claims, leaving a small space between them. The question arose to which of them this space belonged. As
they could not amicably settle the dispute, they agreed to leave it to the decision of an American who happened by, and who
had not yet done an hour's work in the mines. He measured off ten feet--which is allowed by custom--to each of the claimants,
taking for his trouble the narrow strip of land lying between them. In a few hours, the larger claims, belonging to the old
miners, were abandoned as useless, while the new miner discovered a deposit which yielded him $7435.
1. The passage from July 6th describes the work the miners did. How would you feel doing this work?
2. What do you think is meant by the phrase “The chances of our making a fortune in the gold mines are about the
same as those in favor of our drawing a prize in a lottery. No kind of work is so uncertain”?
3. How could this document be used as a reason to travel West?
OBJECT E:
This map shows the development of the railroad lines in the West from 1898.
1. How do you think the development of these rail lines changed the West? Be specific and consider
geographic and economic impacts.
2. How could this be used as a reason to move west?
3. How could this be a reason against moving west?
Essay Organization
Now comes the fun part! Have you decided if you would move west?
We’re going to do a little something called “bucketing” to show how you might organize all the information
you’ve gathered to support your opinions. Above each bucket, write down one reason you would or would not
go west. In each bucket, write which object(s) you would use to support that reason.
Example:
I would not want to live in a sod house.
A
You try:
This will help develop our body paragraphs.
Now we’re going to set up our thesis statement. On the middle line write your position. On each of the
branches write one of the reasons for your answer.
Example:
I would not move west because
you might not make much money gold mining,
You try it:
You’re ready to write! Remember to answer to my question: Would you go?