Late 19th Century: The 49ers & The Gold Rush, The Pony Express, and The Civil War

Return to Early 19th Century and Westward Expansion.

The Gold Rush

Click Here for The Gold Rush Lesson.

12th President of the United States: Zachary Taylor

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 61: A Growing Nation Faces Conflict; page 339

1848 U.S. presidential election, 1848: An election was held.
1849 Zachary Taylor became President.

1850 Taylor threatened to veto the Compromise of 1850 even at the risk of civil war.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1849 This Side Up

READ ALOUD: Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine

13th President of the United States: Millard Filmore

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 61: A Growing Nation Faces Conflict; page 340

Taylor died. Millard Fillmore became President.

The Clayton–Bulwer Treaty was signed.

The Compromise of 1850 was passed.

Statehood: California

Sep 9, 1850 California became the 31st state.

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1852 What Is That?

Biography: Sojourner Truth

Click here for Sojourner Truth Lesson.

Literature: Uncle Tom’s Cabin; 1851

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 61: A Growing Nation Faces Conflict; page 340

TIMELINE: Harriet Beecher Stowe

READ ALOUD: Uncle Tom’s Cabin

14th President of the United States: Franklin Pierce

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 61: A Growing Nation Faces Conflict; page 340-341

1852 U.S. presidential election, 1852: An election was held.
1853 Franklin Pierce became President.

Biography: George Speck aka George Crum

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1853 An Angry Response from a Touchy Chef

READ ALOUD: George Crum and the Saratoga Chip by Gaylia Taylor

LIFE SKILL: Make Homemade Potato Chips!

Commodore Matthew Perry opened Japan.

Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 61: A Growing Nation Faces Conflict; page 340-341

1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, nullifying the Missouri Compromise.

Bleeding Kansas

Biography: Henry David Thoreau
READ ALOUD: If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond by Robert Burleigh

Jun 8 The Gadsden Purchase was finalized.
The Ostend Manifesto was issued.
The Convention of Kanagawa was signed.
William Walker led an expedition.

1855 The Farmers’ High School, later Penn State University, was founded.

1856 Sacking of Lawrence: The sacking of Lawrence took place.
May 24–25 Pottawatomie Massacre: The massacre, led by John Brown, took place.
Preston Brooks beat Charles Sumner with his walking stick in the Senate chamber.

15th President of the United States: James Buchanan

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 61: A Growing Nation Faces Conflict; page 341-342

U.S. presidential election, 1856: An election was held.
1857 James Buchanan became President.

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1856 Big Bones

Dred Scott vs. Sanford; 1857

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 61: A Growing Nation Faces Conflict; page 342

A decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford declared that blacks were not citizens of the United States and could not sue.

May Utah War: The war started.
The LeCompton Constitution was rejected in the Kansas Territory.
Panic of 1857: The panic took place.

1858 The first transatlantic cable was laid.

Statehood: Minnesota

May 11 Minnesota became the 32nd state.

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1858 Murder by Moonlight

The Great Debates of 1858 – Lincoln-Douglas Debates: The debates were held.

The United States became party to the Treaty of Tientsin.

Raid on Harper’s Ferry; 1859

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 61: A Growing Nation Faces Conflict; page 342-343

TIMELINE – 1859 John Brown led a raid on Harper’s Ferry.

READ ALOUD: Father By Blood by Louella Bryant

READ ALOUD: John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry by Jason Glaser

The Underground Railroad

Click here for The Underground Railroad lesson.

Biography: Harriet Tubman

Click here for Harriet Tubman lesson.

Biography: Frederick Douglass

Click here for Frederick Douglass lesson.

Statehood: Oregon

Feb 14 Oregon became the 33rd state.

The Silver Rush: Comstock Lode

1859 – The Comstock Lode was discovered. It was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States.

God’s Wonders: God Created Crater Lake

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 62: God’s Wonders: God Created Crater Lake

An American Landmark: Lighthouses

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 63: An American Landmark: Portland Head Light and Other Lighthouses of Maine

READ ALOUD: Birdie’s Lighthouse by Deborah Hopkinson (1855)

READ ALOUD: Abbie Against the Storm: The True Story of a Young Heroine and a Lighthouse by Marcia K. Vaughan (1856) – This is a true story.

ART: North American Lighthouses Coloring Book (Dover History Coloring Book) by John Batchelor

Here are some fun lighthouse stories to read:

READ ALOUD: The Lighthouse Cat by Sue Stainton

READ ALOUD: The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Arielle North Olson

READ ALOUD: The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift

READ ALOUD: The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch by Ronda Armitage

READ ALOUD: Gracie the Lighthouse Cat by Ruth Brown

Poetry Study: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Click here for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lesson.

Stagecoaches & The Pony Express

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 65: Stagecoaches & The Pony Express

1860 The Pony Express was founded.

READ ALOUD: They’re Off! The Story of Pony Express by Cheryl Harness

FIELD TRIP: Pony Express Museum, St. Joseph, MO

FIELD TRIP: Original Pony Express Station, Gothenburg, NE

The Crittenden Compromise was reached.

16th President of the United States: Abraham Lincoln

Click here for Biography: Abraham Lincoln lesson.

The Civil War; 1861-1865

Click here for The Civil War lesson.

Hans Brinker; 1865

READ ALOUD: Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates: A Story of Life in Holland by Mary Mapes Dodge

READ ALOUD: The Hole in the Dike by Norma Green

READ ALOUD: The Boy Who Held Back the Sea by Lenny Hort

MOVIE: Hans Brinker

Healing After the Civil War

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 71 – Our American Story: Putting America Back Together

Battle of Little Big Horn; June 25–26, 1876

TIMELINE: Battle of Little Big Horn

TIMELINE: General George Armstrong Custer

READ ALOUD: Sitting Bull by Lucille Recht Penner

Biography: Booker T. Washington; 1881

Click here for Booker T. Washington lesson.

God’s Wonders: Yellowstone

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 72 – God’s Wonders: God Created the Wonders of Yellowstone

US Transcontinental Railroad

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 73 – An American Landmark: Promontory Point, Utah

READ ALOUD: Locomotive by Brian Floca (Don’t miss this one and read the inside cover/map.)
READ ALOUD: Train Song by Diane Siebert
READ ALOUD: The Last Train by Gordon Titcomb
READ ALOUD: Iron Horses by Verla Kay
READ ALOUD: Ten Mile Day: And the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad by Mary Ann Fraser
READ ALOUD: Coolies by Yin
READ ALOUD: You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Railroad! by Ian Graham

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1869 The Golden Spike

MOVIE: This Is America, Charlie Brown Mini-Series: “The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad”

Biography: Fanny J. Crosby

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 74 – An American Biography: Fanny J. Crosby, Hymn Writer and Poet

HYMN STUDY: Hymns for a Kid’s Heart, Volume Two: To God Be the Glory: The Girl Who Smiled in the Dark

MUSIC: The Favorite Hymns of Fanny Crosby by Ernie Hasse and Signature Sound
MUSIC: Songs of Fanny J. Crosby – This Is My Story by Harding University Concert Choir

The West: Cowboys, Cattle Drives, Wild West Shows, and Rodeos

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 75 – Daily Life: Cowboys, Cattle Drives, Wild West Shows, and Rodeos

READ ALOUD: What If You Met a Cowboy? by Jan Adkins

READ ALOUD: Cowboy by Eyewitness Books

AUDIO: The Music of The Wild West by John McEuen and Michael Martin Murphy and Lyle Lovett

COOKING: Skillet Bread, Sourdough, and Vinegar Pie by Loretta Frances Ichord (BCL); The Cowboys and What They Ate: Chapter 5: Vinegar Pie and Chapter 6: Chuck Wagon Beans

FIELD TRIP: Chuck Wagon Breakfast

FIELD TRIP: Campfire Cowboy Stories and Song

BIOGRAPHY: Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1867 End of the Trail

MOVIE: Cowboys and Outlaws by History Channel (Amazon)

MOVIE: Lonesome Dove Series

FIELD TRIP: Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum in Cleburne, TX
November is Pioneer Days

American Tall Tales and Legends

AUDIO: American Tall Tales by Jim Weiss

VIDEO: American Legends by Disney – John Henry (HCL)

LEGEND: Pecos Bill
READ ALOUD: Pecos Bill by Steven Kellogg

LEGEND: John Henry
READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1870 He Laid His Hammer Down and Died

READ ALOUD: The Book of Virtues for Young Children: The Ballad of John Henry

AUDIO: Listen to the Ballad of John Henry

AUDIO: The Legend of John Henry’s Hammer by Johnny Cash

The Great Chicago Fire

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1871 The Great Chicago Fire

READ ALOUD: I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 (I Survived Series) by Lauren Tarshis (LTL)

READ ALOUD: Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary of Pringle Rose by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Dear America Series) (MS) (LTL)

READ ALOUD: The Great Fire by Jim Murphy (HS) (HCL)

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 76: Reformers in the White House: Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur

Life in the American West

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 78: Daly Life: Homesteading in the American West

Biography: Laura Ingalls Wilder; 1867

Click here for Laura Ingalls Wilder lesson.

Frontier Soldiers & Indian Wars

1867-1890

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 80: Daly Life: Frontier Soldiers

MOVIE: Dances with Wolves

Little Big Horn

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1876 Hard of Hearing – West

The O.K. Corral

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1881 Shoot-Out at the O.K. Corral

Virgil, Wyatt, and Morgan Earp
Doc Holliday

MOVIE: Tombstone

Andrew Carnegie

CURRICULUM: America the Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass
Lesson 77: Carnegie Libraries

READ ALOUD: The Man Who Loved Libraries: The Story of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Larsen

“Think and Grow Rich was written in 1937 by Napoleon Hill, promoted as a personal development and self-improvement book. Hill writes that he was inspired by a suggestion from business magnate and later-philanthropist Andrew.” – Wikipedia

READ ALOUD: The Amazing Adventures Of Oliver Hill: 17 Short Stories based on the Principles of Success by “Think and Grow Rich” Author, Napoleon Hill by Havilah Malone and Diane Lampe (MS)

READ ALOUD: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (HS)

BIOGRAPHY: Alexander Graham Bell

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1876 Hard of Hearing – East

Click Here for Scientist and Inventor unit study.

VIDEO: The Men Who Built America: Episode 1: A New War Begins

National Geographic Society

BIOGRAPHY: P.T. Barnum

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1884 Hold Your Horses, Here Come the Elephants

BIOGRAPHY: Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain

READ ALOUD: Who Was Mark Twain? by April Jones Prince

America’s First Skyscraper

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1885 Up from the Ashes, Into the Light

READ ALOUD: Who Built That? Skyscrapers: An Introduction to Skyscrapers and Their Architects by Didier Cornille

READ ALOUD: Into the Sky by Ryan Ann Hunter (BCL)

READ ALOUD: Building Big by David Macaulay (BCL)

READ ALOUD: Skyscraper by Lynn Curlee (LTL)

The Statue of Liberty

The State of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

A Catastrophic Flood

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1889 Run for the Hills!

Life in the 1890’s

READ ALOUD: …If You Lived 100 Years Ago by Ann McGovern
READ ALOUD: The Best Town in the World by Byrd Baylor

MOVIE: Far and Away (PG13)

AMERICAN LANDMARK: Ellis Island

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1892 Welcome to America

READ ALOUD: The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time-Travel Adventure by Elvira Woodruff

READ ALOUD: At Ellis Island: A History in Many Voices by Louise Peacock

READ ALOUD: Dreaming of America: An Ellis Island Story by Eve Bunting

READ ALOUD: AN Ellis Island Christmas by Maxinne Rhea Leighton

READ ALOUD: The Arrival by Shaun Tan

READ ALOUD: When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest

READ ALOUD: The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman

READ ALOUD: The Memory Coat by Elvira Woodruff

READ ALOUD: Naming Liberty by Jane Yolen

READ ALOUD: Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro

Indianola; another port of entry for our family’s ancestors. Destroyed in 1886 by hurricane and abandoned.

BIOGRAPHY: Lizzie Borden

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1892 Lizzie Borden

BIOGRAPHY: Helen Keller

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1895 New Friends

READ ALOUD: A Picture Book of Helen Keller (Picture Book Biographies) by David A. Adler

READ ALOUD: Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller by Doreen Rappaport

READ ALOUD: Helen Keller’s Teacher by Margaret Davidson

READ ALOUD: Helen, Ethel & The Crazy Quilt: Based on the 1890 Letters Between Helen Keller and Ethel Orr by Nancy Orr Johnson Jensen

READ ALOUD: Helen Keller: The World in Her Heart by Lesa Cline-Ransome

READ ALOUD: Prayers That Changed History: From Christopher Columbus to Helen Keller, how God used 25 people to change the world by Tricia Goyer

READ ALOUD: The Value of Determination: The Story of Helen Keller (Valuetales) by Steve Pileggi

Klondike Gold Rush; 1896-1899

READ ALOUD: Gold Rush Fever: A Story of the Klondike, 1898 by Barbara Greenwood

MINI-SERIES: Klondike (NOTE: Not for Young Children)

The Spanish-American War

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1898 Remember the Maine!

Battle of Manila Bay; 1898
READ ALOUD: Gridley Firing by James Hayford

BIOGRAPHY: Thomas Edison

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1898 Edison’s Conquest of Mars

READ ALOUD: Thomas Edison: Inspiration and Hard Work (Heroes of History) by Janet Benge and Geoff Benge

READ ALOUD: Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives by Gene Barretta

READ ALOUD: The Inventor’s Secret: What Thomas Edison Told Henry Ford by Suzanne Slade

READ ALOUD: Thomas Edison: Inventor with a Lot of Bright Ideas (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Inventors & Scientists by Mike Venezia

READ ALOUD: A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison by David A. Adler

READ ALOUD: The Value of Creativity: The Story of Thomas Edison (The Valuetales) by Ann Donegan Johnson

Newsies – Newsboy Strike

READ ALOUD: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong; 1899 Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

READ ALOUD: Kid Blink Beats the World by Don Brown

MOVIE: Newsies by Disney