Room 1 – Explorers and New World Settlements
500 A.D. – 1763 A.D.
What inspired people in the late 15^th century to brave the unknown and travel to distant lands searching for riches, glory and power? This unit provides an opportunity to gain an understanding of the changes in society that prompted early exploration and new world settlements, the tools that were essential to making such adventures possible and the challenges that were faced along the way.

• Christopher Columbus
• The First Thanksgiving
• The Mayflower Compact
• American Indians
• Colonial Diversity
• Early Explorers
• Columbian Exchange
• Technology of Navigation

Room 2 – A New Nation 
1763 A.D. – 1801 A.D.
“Taxation without representation,”, the American colonists cried. Their frustrations over unfair British rule led them down a path to the American Revolutionary War of 1776. What events led to the outbreak of war? How long would war last and would the colonists, who numbered much fewer than the British army, be victorious? Who were the Founding Fathers and how would they come to an agreement on a new form of government?

• Aesop’s Fables
• Family and Community
• United States Symbols
• United States Government
• Political Leaders
• The Declaration of Independence
• Sons of Liberty
• Revolutionary War
• Constitutional Convention and the Bill of RIghts
• Taxation without Representation
• Magna Carta
• Legal Procedure
• Petition of Right

Room 3 – Western Frontier 
1801 A.D. – 1850 A.D.
  The young nation of the United States of America had finally adopted a new outline for government, the United States Constitution. The nation had entered a time peace and growth until the War of 1812.  Settlement on the western frontier began to boom. The United States soon doubled in size due to a land purchase from France, who needed money to help support their war against Britain. New technology began making it possible to connect the eastern and western United States. As the country grew, so did the question over slavery. Would new territories allow slavery? Investigate the many events that began to set the stage for a new war within the nation.  

• The Louisiana Purchase
• President Thomas Jefferson
• Lewis and Clark
• Sacagawea
• President James Madison
• War of 1812
• Ft. McHenry
• The Star Spangled Banner
• The American Flag
• California Gold Rush and the 49ers
• Levi Strauss and the first jeans
• Compromise of 1850
• Embargo Act
• Trail of Tears
• Cotton Gin and Eli Whitney
• Lowell Mills
• Northern Industry
• Monroe Doctrine

Room 4 – Civil War     
    1850 A.D. – 1874 A.D.
  The Civil War was a battle over slavery, equality, and power. A new government emerged as the southern states seceded from the Union. The war tested strength of President Abraham Lincoln. Would the President be able to keep the nation united? Brother fought against brother and hundreds of thousands of men never made it home to their families. Explore the many aspects of this war and the outcome that led this country to rebuild itself.  

• Abraham Lincoln
• Secession and the Civil War
• Slavery
• John Brown’s Raid
• Fugitive Slave Act
• Lincoln’s Inaugural Speeches
• Bleeding Kansas
• The Confederate States of America
• Battle of Gettysburg
• Gettysburg Address
• Underground Railroad
• Comparing the North and the South
• Reconstruction
• Civil War Military Leaders

Room 5 – A Growing Country   
  1874 A.D. – 1920 A.D.
  Toward the end of the nineteenth century, a new age was on the horizon. Industry began to take over larger cities and provided steady work. New opportunities for owning land in the west prompted people to move their families and begin new lives. America provided the promise of a better life for immigrants from many other countries. Immigrants in a new land, speaking a different language faced many challenges. Many social and political groups had ideas to make life in America better. Women wanted their voices to be heard in society. African Americans, now free from slavery wanted equal rights. Factory workers fought for safe and fair working conditions. War would once again claim the lives of American men as the United States is drawn into World War I. Trace the path of new advancements within the United States. Examine how these events began to shape a new era for the United States as a world power.  

• Child Labor
• The World’s Fair
• Thomas Edison
• The Statue of Liberty
• 19^th Century Police Forces
• Immigration
• Five Points
• Transcontinental Railroad
• 19^th Century Banking
• Homestead Act
• Labor Unions
• Tammany Hall
• Industrial Revolution
• Titans of Industry
• Age of Steel
• Oil Industry
• Wounded Knee