Virginia SOL 2.9.b
The Standard
describing the impact of the Louisiana Purchase on the westward expansion of the United States
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain that buying a large area of land from France made the United States much bigger. They connect the added territory to exploration, settlement, and movement west.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can locate the purchased territory on a map and compare the country before and after 1803. The student can explain one way the new land encouraged westward movement.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think only the present-day state of Louisiana was purchased. They may believe the land was empty or that Americans settled all of it immediately. Some confuse the purchase with Lewis and Clark’s expedition.
How to Assess It
- Give students a map with the purchased territory outlined. Ask them to shade it and complete: “The Louisiana Purchase helped westward expansion because…”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a floor map and paper state cutouts, then have them add the purchased land and compare the country’s size.
Ask students to write: How did buying land from France make it easier for Americans to move west?
Play a cause-and-effect card match using land purchase, larger country, exploration, new routes, and westward settlement cards.
Compare the purchase map with a modern U.S. map, then locate present-day states formed from all or part of the territory.
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Printable 2.9.b Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 2.9.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- USI.8.g
explaining how the expansion of U.S. territory led to increased momentum for the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements
- USI.8.a
describing how territorial expansion affected the political map of the United States, including, but not limited to the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark ...
- USII.1.d
explaining the effect that the growth of the United States had on Indigenous people.
- USII.2.a
describing the impact of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the political aftermath of the Civil War
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