American Girl History: Westward Expansion & Josefina

The Alamo - courtesy of Wikipedia.org

 

Following our study of Colonial America, we began learning about how the nation grew following the Revolutionary War. We started off learning about the Erie Canal and how the frontier expanded, then branched out into the Westward expansion of the country, finally ending up with the American Southwest. We used Josefina as the basis for this study, because much of early American history surrounds the Native Americans across this land.

Here is a list of resources to study American expansion following the Revolutionary War.


Josefina Resources:

Meet Josefina (American Girls Collection)
Welcome to Josefina's World: 1824 (American Girl)


Hands-On Josefina Activities:

Josefina's Craft Book: A Look at Crafts from the Past with Projects You Can Make Today (American Girls Pastimes)
Josefina's Cook Book: A Peek at Dining in the Past with Meals You Can Cook Today (American Girls Collection)


For information specifically about Native Americans:

Hiawatha (Puffin Pied Piper) A beautiful illustrated version of the famous poem
Alone Yet Not Alone: Their faith became their freedom
Trail of Tears (Step-Into-Reading, Step 5)
My Name Is America: The Journal Of Jesse Smoke, A Cherokee Boy
The Pueblo (Lifeways)
The Complete Sacagawea Saga  (This link goes to my review of this book)

American Expansion materials:

Amazing Impossible Erie Canal (Aladdin Picture Books)
Into the West: From Reconstruction to the Final Days of the American Frontier (Has some really great information - we particularly used the section on the Transcontinental Railroad)


Learning About the Southwest:

New Mexico: Land of Enchantment (World Almanac Library of the States)


Learning About the Alamo:

Kids' Facts Website
Two short videos from the History Channel
Remember the Alamo - A Beka


Online Resources and Interactive Activities:

Interactive Lewis & Clark Adventure Game

 

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