Grade 8

United States History

Unit 9Manifest Destiny

UNIT MAP

ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE:
The ideology of manifest destiny resulted in exploration, settlement, and conflict in the western territories.
Phase I: Introduction and Investigation
Concepts

Events

People

Places

Manifest Destiny,
Joint Occupation
Oregon Fever

Early Settlement
of Oregon Country

Trailblazers/
Mountain Men,
John OSullivan,
James K. Polk

Oregon Country
Rendezvous
54 40
Oregon Trail

Annex,
Migration,
Catholicism,
Remember the
Alamo,
Independence

Texas War for

Independence

Sam Houston,
Davey Crockett,
Impresarios,
Tejanos, General
Santa Anna
General Santa Anna,
President Polk,
Zachary Taylor,
John C. Freemont

Tejas, Lone Star

Republic, San
Antonio,
San Jacinto

Declaration of
War,
Cession

(The Alamo)
(Battle of San Jacinto)

Mexican-American
War,
Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo,
Gadsen Purchase

Progress
Economic
Opportunity

California Gold
Rush
Mormon Migration

Book of Mormon
Religious
Freedom

Californios,
Forty-Niners,
Vigilantes
Joseph Smith,
Brigham Young,
Mormons

Mexico, Texas, Rio

Grande River,
California, New
Mexico, Nueces
River, Mexico City
Boomtowns, Bust
Towns, San
Francisco
Deseret, Great Salt
Lake

Just the Facts-Questions

1. What did John Quincy Adamss mean when he said American

expansion to the Pacific was a law of nature, and what were the
origins and meaning of the term Manifest Destiny?
2. How did Manifest Destiny help Americans justify their desire to
extend the U.S. to the Pacific?
3. Why did Americans migrate to the Oregon Country and what
impact did they have on future settlement?
4. What was the meaning of the phrase Fifty-Four Forty or Fight
and what was its impact on both domestic and foreign affairs?
5. Describe why Americans moved to Mexican controlled Texas.
6. Why did the Texans declare independence from Mexico?
7. Why was there disagreement in the U.S. over Texas annexation?

8. Explain the main causes of the U.S.s war with Mexico.

9. What was the plan to win the war?
10. What are the results (lasting impact) of the Mexican War?

11. How did the hopes of getting rich draw thousands of people to
California? What were the consequences of the mass migration?
12. What impact did white settlement have on Californios?
13. Why did slavery become an issue in California statehood?
14. Why did the Mormons move west?
15. How did the Mormons survive in the conditions of the desert?

Revised 5/7/15

VOLUSIA COUNTY SCHOOLS

Grade 8
United States History

UNIT MAP

Phase III: Essential Standards

Phase IV: Analysis

SS.8.A.4.1
Examine the causes, course, and consequence of manifest
destiny: Texas annexation, Mexican American War/Mexican
Cesssion, California Gold Rush, Mormon settlement, Gadsen
Purchase.

History Alive Manifest Destiny - Culminating Project

SS.8.A.4.8
Describe the influence of individuals on social and political
developments of this era (Manifest Destiny) in American
History.

B. Illustrated Time Line

A. Prezi or Essay
Analysis of Manifest Destiny through a critique of the painting
American Progress.

Make an illustrated time line of the events of Manifest Destiny.

C. Dramatic Presentation
You have been asked to make a drama about Manifest Destiny.
You need to create a storyboard or dramatic presentation:
make a list of characters (at least 5 historical) and decide who
you would like to play the different roles
describe the setting (key events) , plot, action, climax,
conclusion

Revised 5/7/15

VOLUSIA COUNTY SCHOOLS