Alabama Social Studies SS24.US1.14

SS24.US1.14 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• SS24.US1.14a

  Evaluate the contributions of the Homestead Act and the transcontinental railroad to increased migration to and settlement of the West.

• SS24.US1.14b

  Describe the economic and environmental impacts of new industries during the settlement of the West, including the mining and cattle industries.

• SS24.US1.14c

  Explain the effects of federal policies and military actions on Native Americans after the Civil War and describe Native American resistance to these actions.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students explain how homestead claims and the railroad drew migrants west. They describe how mining and cattle ranching changed jobs and the land. They explain how federal policies and military campaigns affected Native nations, and how Native nations resisted.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can link the Homestead Act to farm claims and the railroad to cheaper travel and freight. They can explain how mining created jobs but polluted streams, while cattle ranching supplied meat but damaged grassland. They can describe forced moves to reservations and Lakota and Cheyenne resistance at Little Bighorn.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may think homestead land was easy to farm or that the railroad gave settlers land through the Homestead Act. They may overlook mining pollution and overgrazing. Some mistake Native resistance at Little Bighorn for an unprovoked attack.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: Explain how the Homestead Act and railroad helped settlers move west, name one benefit and one land cost of mining or ranching, and give one example of Native resistance to federal action.

1. 01

   Have groups overlay a railroad map and a reservation map on tracing paper, then mark where settler routes crossed Native lands.

2. 02

   Display a railroad map and a Native land map; ask students to write who benefited from a new rail stop and who lost land.

3. 03

   Pairs match six event cards to result cards: farm claims, rail travel, mining jobs, overgrazing, forced relocation, and Lakota resistance.

4. 04

   Show a current photo of Butte's Berkeley Pit beside an 1880s mining photo; students identify mining jobs and lasting water damage.

• SS24.US1.5d

  Analyze reasons for migration via the western trails and the consequences of the rapid settlement of California, Oregon, Texas, and Utah on those migrating, tho...

• SS24.4.17a

  Explain how territorial expansion and the construction of the transcontinental railroad affected immigrants and Native Americans, including how it led to the lo...