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History, Civics & Social Studies · Grade 7

United States Development and Conflicting Experiences

Between 1790 and 1850 the United States doubled its territory, built canals and mills, and grew rich on cotton. Learners study these developments through the eyes of different people: settlers and merchants, enslaved people, Cherokee and other Native nations forced from their homelands, young women in the Lowell mills, Irish immigrants and the women who met at Seneca Falls. They then argue whether 'progress' is the right word for the period.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 115 minutes
  • Conflicting experiences check: 9 questions
  • Ways to answer: fill in the blanks, choose an answer, estimate, highlight a text, pin a map and match pairs
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What learners will discover

  • Describe major US developments from 1790 to 1850: the Louisiana Purchase, westward expansion, the Erie Canal and the market revolution.
  • Explain how cotton, the cotton gin and westward expansion led to the growth of slavery, and how enslaved people resisted.
  • Explain Indian Removal, including Cherokee legal resistance and the Trail of Tears, from multiple perspectives.
  • Analyze sources from workers, women and immigrants, and argue how different groups experienced the period.

Lessons

  1. A nation expands and connects 6 steps3 practiceabout 28 min
  2. Cotton and slavery 5 steps3 practiceabout 28 min
  3. Indian Removal 6 steps4 practiceabout 29 min
  4. Workers, women and immigrants 6 steps3 practiceabout 30 min
  5. Conflicting experiences check 9 questions at the end

Keep exploring

More 7th grade social studies

Guide for grown-ups