Introduction To The American West

Introduction to the American West

1840 - 1895

Wilf

Perceptions of the West

To understand the idea of a frontier

To gain an understanding of the varied landscape of the West by a mapping exercise

Perceptions of the West

What ideas do you have of the American West?

Fact or Fiction?

Look at page 6 – 7

Choose the picture that sums up your perception

Be prepared to explain why!

What is a frontier?

How would you define a frontier

What sort of things form frontiers?

Frontiers

Are the edge, borders of countries

The American frontier kept changing and moving westwards

Look at the map on page 7

How many frontiers can you identify in the development of the USA?

Frontier 1

Appalachian Mountains

200 metres high

Steep rocks, deep valleys

First settlers east of here

Frontier 2 - about 1840

The Mississippi River!

Wide slow and treacherous

Frontier 3 - 1840’s - 1850

The Great Plains

Unpredictable

Dry, windy, twisters, scorching sun, drought, deep snow

Stretched for hundreds of miles

The Rockies - the spine

1,000 km wide

Some peaks reach 5km high

Thick forests, deep ravines, high mountain passes

Heavy rain and snow in winter, blocking passes

The Plateaux region

1500 - 3350 metres above sea level

Ravines and canyons

Dry, little rain so deserts

Salt Lake area

Sierra Nevada Mountains

400 miles long

Steep and high - up to 14,500 m. high

Lakes

Passes closed in winter due to heavy snow

California and Oregon

Fertile

Warm and sunny

Oregon has more rain

The promised land!

Mapping Task

Use page 6, HeinemannLabel/draw on the followingAtlantic and Pacific Oceans, Gulf of MexicoCalifornia, Oregon, Rockies, Sierra Nevada, Colorado and Columbia Plateaux, Cascades and Appalachian MountainsThe Great Basin, Salt Lake, Great PlainsMississippi River (roughly)

Labels and sketches

Use p.6 to add labels/drawings about the landscape, vegetation, climate and wildlife for:-

Great Plains or Great American Desert

Rocky Mountains

Plateaux Region

Sierra Nevada to the Pacific coast

Task 3

At the bottom of their copy of the map draw and label the cross section on page 7Using page 9 add simple labels to show where the groups of settlers went to live. For example C for cattlemenMake a key to show what abbreviations stand for

Plenary

Which areas will be settled first?

What difficulties will travellers and settlers face?

Why might people leave their homes to settle in new places?

Why were the Plains known as the Great American Desert?

Homework

White text page 13

Answer questions 1 - 3

General Introduction

The Indian Tribes and the Great Plains

Wilf

To recall the Great American Desert and the frontiers

To understand the origins of the native people

To appreciate that Indian nations are not the same and that they adapt to their environment

Recall

What was the Great American Desert?

Why was it called that?

Native Americans

The Great Spirit

Until horses, lived on edge of plains

Tasks

P. 14. Explain where the native people originally came from

Why are Indian nations different from each other?

P. 14 – 15 Why did tribes not live on the Great Plains until the 18th Century?

How did the horse transform their way of life?

Complete the Task on p. 15

Plenary

What was the Great American desert?

How did native people get to the USA?

Why are native nations not the same?

Why did horses transform lifestyle

How did Europeans affect the Indian tribes?