Growth & Change
Discover how America was growing and changing in ways that would define it as a nation.
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About
About
The first half of the 19th century brought incredible growth to America. The population increased as new immigrants came to America to find work and the promise of a new life. New territories were added which made the U.S. larger in size. With increased production, the economy grew. In this time of growth and change, the United States grappled with new challenges, including growing tensions between Northern and Southern states.
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
What led to the incredible growth experienced by the United States in the early 1800s?
How did such rapid growth create new challenges?
What changes resulted from the events of this time period?
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Choose a Focus
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Note: Britannica School, BrainPOP, and Kids Discover are provided by Prenda. Make sure you are logged in via Clever.
Immigration 🕰
Immigration 🕰
What leads people to leave their homes and settle in a new country? Some are pulled by the possibility of a better life. Others are pushed by deteriorating circumstances in their own countries.
Essential questions:
In the early 1800s, why were people immigrating to the United States?
Where did most immigrants come from and where did they settle?
How did their arrival change the population of the United States?
Suggested Activity: Be The Teacher
Migration to Cities 🕰
Migration to Cities 🕰
New technologies and modes of transportation changed where and how people lived in the United States. New York City tripled in size. New cities - like Chicago - formed. America was no longer a country of spread-out farms; it was now a vast network of thriving cities.
Essential questions:
What drew people to cities in the early 1800s?
How did this change the United States?
What was life like for people who settled in these new cities?
Suggested Activity: A Different Point of View
Factory Work 🕰
Factory Work 🕰
The first factories in the United States made cloth. Soon, though, factories were producing any number of goods, including gunpowder, plastic, and soon even cars. Manufacturing opened up new jobs and opportunities for workers - and also for investors, whose fast-growing wealth gave them tremendous power in the new country.
Essential questions:
Where were the first factories in the United States and what did they produce?
How did manufacturing change the United States and create a new class of wealthy owners and investors?
What challenges did all of this new industry create?
Suggested Activity: Alike and Different
Westward Expansion 🕰
Westward Expansion 🕰
Several events led Americans to pack up and head west in the early 1800s: the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the size of the U.S.; the concept of manifest destiny - a belief that Americans were meant to spread their ideals as far as possible; and the discovery of gold in California. But this expansion would disrupt and impact the lives of millions of native tribes already living on this land.
Essential questions:
Why did Americans move west in such huge numbers beginning in the early 1800s?
How did this migration of people change the country?
How did this migration of people affect the native tribes living there?
Suggested Activity: Be The Teacher
Curricular Connections
Curricular Connections
Continue your learning by choosing one of these related activities.
Continue your learning by choosing one of these related activities.
Related Social Studies Topics
Timeline Challenge
Start a class timeline (or add to an existing timeline) showing important events that explain growth and change during America's Industrial Revolution.
Debate
Statement: Immigrants should always be welcomed to America.
Socratic Discussion
Read Sara Teasdale’s poem entitled “The Lights of New York” and discuss its attitude towards New York as a big city.
Create
(Not sure what to do? Draw a map that shows how America expanded during this time!)
STEM
Just for Fun
Image Attributions
Growth and Change banner: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia CommonsThe American West: California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960, Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960, Miss Annette Glick Collection, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia CommonsImmigration: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsMigration to Cities: Unattributed, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Factory Work: George P. Lewis (1918)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Factory Work: George P. Lewis (1918)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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