Student Activity: Perspectives on the Land
Introduction:
Perspectives on the Land
Imagine living in the United States in the 1860s. The nation now owns land all the way to the West Coast. People are coming from the East to settle this land. They view it as a wilderness that needs to be developed to become useful to them. But there are Native peoples already living successfully on this land as it is. What might happen when these two groups of people meet?
The purpose of this activity is to explore how the differing worldviews of the settlers and Native Americans affected their interactions and led to conflict about land.
1 Living with the Land: Watch This!
Living with the Land
QuickTime Video
Length: 2m 11s
For thousands of years, Native Americans of North America lived off the land. They thought of the Earth as their mother, and saw all living things as part of the same family. Watch this video to learn about how some tribes migrated great distances across the continent, to find the resources they needed in each season.
Note: You will hear the following words in the video segment. Click on each word to see its definition.
What do you think Native Americans believed about who owned this land and how it should be used? Write down your ideas below. Click "save notes" before moving on to the next page.
2 Manifest Destiny
American Progress by John Gast
JPEG Image
In 1845, the term "Manifest Destiny" was first used to describe the belief that the United States should control all the land from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. As U.S. settlers streamed into the West, they transformed the area, building towns, farms, and other things to meet their needs. Take a look at this 1872 painting by John Gast, called American Progress. Think about how the painting illustrates what Americans felt was part of their Manifest Destiny. Consider the following questions:
- Who are the groups of Americans traveling westward? Why do you think they are going, and what do you think they will want to do when they get there?
- Who and what appears to be running away from the settlers? Why do you think they are illustrated this way?
- What do you think the woman in the white dress represents? Why do you think she is dressed as she is? Why does she seem to be floating? What do you think she might be holding, and what might it mean?
Write down your ideas about at least two of the questions above. Click "save notes" before moving on to the next page.
3 Try This!
Comparing Worldviews
Flash Interactive
Think about what you have learned about the different worldviews of settlers and Native Americans, and how these views affected each group's attitude toward the land. In this activity, you will compare these opposing beliefs.
Click "View" on the left to begin the activity. Be sure to print your notes before you exit the activity. Your notes will not be saved.
If you want, you can watch the video again.
Living with the Land
QuickTime Video
Length: 2m 11s
4 Read and Write About It!
You have now explored the different views of Native Americans and settlers about ownership and use of Western lands. Next you will have a chance to read more about this topic and to share your ideas with others.
- Print out your notes. (After you print, your notes will be erased. Make sure you are done before printing.)
- Print out and read Contrasting Views on Land in the American West (Version A) (PDF) or Contrasting Views on Land in the American West (Version B) (PDF). Check with your teacher if you are not sure which version to use.
- After reading, take a look at your chart and make any changes or add new information.
- Then, select and complete a writing assignment from page 2 of the printout.
Note: The following words will appear in the readings. Click on each word to see its definition.
Version A
Version B
Introduction screen image: Covered wagons crossing Great Plains
© 2009 Jupiterimages Corporation
Adapted from American Experience: The Way West
Third party materials courtesy of National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Steeplechase Films, Wyoming State Archives, Department of State Parks, and Cultural Resources
Source: Virginia Liz Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.
Screen 3 image: Covered wagons crossing Great Plains © 2009 Jupiterimages Corporation
Arapaho Encampment, public domain (source: National Archives)
© Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Loading reviews...- For Students
- For Teachers
- Connections
- Standards
Print For StudentsAs you work through this activity, you will watch videos and work out your ideas in a Flash Interactive. You will also answer questions. When you see the following icon, type your notes in the box on that page.
At the end of the activity, you will have a chance to print out your notes. You can also print out your ideas from the Flash Interactive. Use them to help complete your final writing assignment. Your teacher will let you know whether you should also hand in these printouts.
We assign reference terms to each statement within a standards document and to each media resource, and correlations are based upon matches of these terms for a given grade band. If a particular standards document of interest to you is not displayed yet, it most likely has not yet been processed by ASN or by Teachers' Domain. We will be adding social studies and arts correlations over the coming year, and also will be increasing the specificity of alignment.
