The United States Expands

We are currently studying U.S. expansion. Instead of simply learning about how Americans came to control new areas of land, we are judging whether or not the decisions taken to gain control of these lands were right or wrong. In a “response group” activity, students play the role of American policy-makers by reading about the events that led up specific land acquisitions (Louisiana Purchase, Texas Annexation, etc.), and then making their own decisions about what the U.S. should do. Their decisions determine whether or not students can “settle” in newly acquired lands on an abstract floor map of the United States.