Building the Erie Canal

In this video segment adapted from American Experience, learn about the construction of the Erie Canal, the biggest public works project of its time.

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Building the Erie Canal

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students look at how the construction of the Erie Canal brought about major changes within United States, particularly in New York City, upstate New York, and the Midwest.

Conflict Over Western Lands

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students explore how the differing worldviews of white settlers and Native Americans led to conflicts over land when Americans surged westward in the 1860s.

Historical Archeology at Ashland: Artifacts in a Privy

During archaeological survey at Ashland, the estate of politician, farmer, and horse breeder Henry Clay in Lexington, Kentucky, historic archaeologists discovered an old privy used from 1860 to the 1920s. Filled with thousands of artifacts, it was remarkable for the number and variety of ceramic vessels it produced: more than 900 in all.

Late 19th-Century American Indian Clothing

Tribal arts appraiser Douglas Deihl examines a collection of American Indian clothing and objects, dating back to the 1880s and 1890s and representing several tribes, in this video from Antiques Roadshow

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Living With the Land

This video segment adapted from American Experience tells the story of how some Native American tribes once migrated the length of the North American continent to find the resources they needed.

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Mission US: Flight to Freedom

Students play this interactive adventure game and assume the role of Lucy. As the game opens, Lucy is a young slave on the King family’s plantation outside of Lexington.

Ripley Ohio - Freedom's Landing

In this video from ThinkTV Dayton, travel to Ripley, Ohio, on the Ohio River to learn about one of the early stops on the Underground Railroad, a slave's route to freedom.

The Science of Lewis and Clark

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K shows us some of the plants and animals that Lewis and Clark's Core of Discovery documented in their journals.

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Trail of Tears

This video segment adapted from American Experience: "We Shall Remain" features reenactments that depict how the Cherokee were forced by the U.S. government to leave their homes in Georgia and march to new lands west of the Mississippi.

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Trail of Tears: The Cherokee Fight Against Removal

In this lesson designed to enhance literary skills, students examine the struggles of the Cherokees to remain on their land in the early 1800s.

Transcontinental Railroad Recruits Chinese Laborers

This video segment adapted from American Experience examines the participation of Chinese laborers in the construction of the first transcontinental railroad during the 1860s.

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Westward Expansion, 1860–1890

This interactive map produced for Teachers' Domain tracks trends in the growth of population, transportation networks and agriculture in the United States in the 30-year period between 1860 and 1890.