NEWSPAPER PROJECT: Each class period is going to put together articles, news items, facts, information and cultural
artifacts relating to the Westward Movement and increasing sectional differences during the period of 1820-1860. Your
finished products will be put into an issue of a classroom newspaper, name and date of issue to be
determined. Part of the assignment will earn a grade for 3rd quarter (notes & draft); part will be due
during 4th quarter (final product in newspaper).
Procedure and timeline:
Monday, 3/15: Choose one of the newspaper articles relating to the period during 1820-1860 to complete.
Mon-Thu, 3/15-18: Research how to write about your chosen subject, taking notes DUE DATE, Tuesday, 3/23. Use
the textbook Chapters 13, 14, 15 & 16 (3/15), books from the Media Center (3/16-3/18) (or other
library) and the Internet (3/16-18). 65% (almost two thirds) of your 3rd quarter grade on this assignment will be
based on how well you can document your chosen subject. 35% will be on getting a draft of your project ready
on time. Notes: must NOT be in paragraph form; must include your SOURCE (textbook pages, Media Center book,
internet website or other source): title, author, publisher, publication date, page #’s, URL)
Fri-Tue, 3/19-23 Write, create, draw, and/or make up a draft of your product. DUE DATE, Tuesday, 3/23.
There will be a MATCHING vocabulary test on Friday, 3/19, on the 56 key words/terms listed below
from the four textbook chapters.
mountain man
rendezvous
Oregon Trail
dictator
Alamo
siege
annex
Santa Fe Trail
self sufficient
Manifest Destiny
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
cede
Mormons
refuge
forty-niner
vigilante
lynch
telegraph
locomotive
clipper ship
Free Soil party
fugitive
civil war
guerrilla warfare
suffrage
artisan
trade union
strike
famine
nativist
discrimination
boom
cultivate
social reform
predestination
revival
debtor
temperance movement
abolition/abolitionist
Underground Railroad
Seneca Falls Convention
individualism
civil disobedience
popular sovereignty
Missouri Compromise
secede
civil war
Fugitive Slave Act
Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act
guerrilla warfare
lawsuit
Dred Scott v. Sandford
treason
martyr
unamendable
Choose from the following assignments
The number in parentheses after an activity means that no more than that number of students in your class
period may choose to complete that assignment. For example, no more than 4 students in this class may
complete #6. More details on each assignment will follow.
To ensure that each student does his/her own work if working with a group or partner, no two students may
choose the same exact topic. For example, if preparing a fact sheet, you may pick the landforms & climate to
research and write facts about, and your partner may pick animals and vegetation, or each of 4 group members
chooses one of those items. If you work with a partner to write a song, EACH person must write 24 lines on
different aspects of the frontiersman or life on the trail. If writing an economic report on causes and effects, one
partner is responsible for the causes and the other for effects.
Westward Movement
1. Prepare a fact sheet on the landforms, climate, animals, and vegetation along one of the westward trails (4)
2. Create a fictional diary of a week (7 entries) in the life of a family member traveling west or a gold miner.
(4)
3. Create a map of the U.S. as it was during the period with each of the following westward trails: California,
Santa Fe, Old Spanish, Oregon, Butterfield, Mormon, Natchez Trace, and the Wilderness Road. (2)
4. Write a ballad (song) or poem of at least 24 lines about a colorful frontiersman and life on the trail. (2)
5. Write a short biography on some famous person from this period: Native American leaders, political leader,
frontiersman, inventor, capitalist, or someone else involved in the Westward movement. (2)
6. Write several advertisements for various common items of the time: type of clothing, food, weapon,
transportation, etc. (4)
Sectional Differences
7. Write a front page headline news story on the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, the KansasNebraska Act, or the abolitionist movement. (4)
8. Devise questions to ask some famous abolitionist about his/her life experiences, methods and
accomplishments; then conduct a fictional interview of that person. (4)
9. Write an economic report on the positive and negative effects of growing cotton on life in the South,
including a cause/effect chart. OR Write an economic report on the positive and negative effects of the factory
system in the North. (2)
10. Create 2-4 political cartoons showing how people felt about the treatment of slaves, Native Americans,
women or immigrant groups during this time period—one for each side of the issue. (2)
11. Write an editorial or a letter to the editor expressing your opinion about the issue of slavery, Native
Americans, or women’s rights from the point of view of pro or con, giving evidence for your side. (2)
12. Write an expose (report that reveals something wrong) on the treatment of slaves, Native Americans,
women, Chinese or other immigrants during the period. (4)
Assignment details & specific timeline:
Mon – decide on a project with or without partners/group members. Copy & look up vocabulary words. HW:
Research in text book
Tue – research in text and MC books HW: Finish looking up vocabulary words
Wed – finish research in text & MC books/start researching online HW: online or textbook researching
Thu – continue researching, review notes, begin compiling info for project HW: review vocabulary for test
Fri – Take vocabulary test; additional research, if needed; putting together project
Mon – Finalize research and notes; continue putting together project HW: Make sure you’re ready to turn in
notes & project draft
Tue – Work to complete draft; turn in notes and draft of project