Alabama Social Studies SS24.4.17a
The Standard
- SS24.4.17
- Describe the social, political, and economic impacts of the conflicts, legislation, and treaties that led to the United States acquiring additional territory after the Civil War.
Explain how territorial expansion and the construction of the transcontinental railroad affected immigrants and Native Americans, including how it led to the loss of land in Indian Territory where Alabama tribes had been relocated.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how railroad building brought immigrant workers west, where they found jobs but faced danger and discrimination. They explain how expanding settlement took land from Native nations, including Alabama tribes forced to Indian Territory.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can name the Muscogee as an Alabama tribe forced to Indian Territory. They can explain how settlers and land allotment reduced tribal land, while railroad construction created jobs for immigrant workers.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the first transcontinental railroad ran through Indian Territory. They may also think relocated tribes kept their land permanently, or that railroad work was safe and fair for all immigrants.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Why did railroad building offer some immigrants work, and how did westward settlement cost the Muscogee land in Indian Territory?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs 1860 and 1900 maps of Indian Territory; have them trace tribal land boundaries and shade areas later opened to settlers.
Ask, 'Who gained from new rail routes, and who lost land?' Have students cite one map detail and one fact about immigrant labor.
Have pairs match event cards, such as railroad construction and land allotment, to effect cards about immigrant jobs and Native land loss.
Use an Oklahoma tribal nations map to locate the Muscogee and Choctaw Nations today, then compare it with an Indian Territory map.
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