The Walking Classroom

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Manifest Destiny

Today’s Walking Classroom focuses on Manifest Destiny – an idea the early American settlers used as their reason to push westward and claim vast amounts of land during the mid 1800s. Settlers considered Manifest Destiny their God-given right to expand westward, and the idea was started by a journalist and was used to justify unfair actions against Native Americans and other nations. Because of Manifest Destiny, thousands of Native Americans were forced from the lands where they lived onto reservations.

Health Message: Benefits of walking enough
Character Value: Confidence

Click for Standards Alignment

Common Core

L–Language | SL–Speaking and Listening | RI–Reading: Informational | RL–Reading: Literature | W–Writing | RH–6-8 Literacy in History/Social Studies | RST–6-8 Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects Elementary School:
RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.3, SL.3.1, SL.3.4
RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.3, SL.4.1, SL.4.4
RI.5.1, RI.5.2, RI.5.3, SL.5.1, SL.5.4
Middle School:
RI.6.1, RI.6.2, RI.6.3, SL.6.1, SL.6.4
RI.7.1, RI.7.2, RI.7.3, SL.7.1, SL.7.4
RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, SL.8.1, SL.8.4
RH.6-8.4

Supplemental Resource Links and Downloads

Quiz: (Make sure you're already logged into your Gmail account, then click to copy this Google form to your Google Drive. Quiz keys are here.)
Manifest Destiny Google Quiz https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1whaEe66xJnBgMRFN55BYu_YuNuO0hERplAWntSa6NZk/copy

Slide Deck:
Manifest Destiny Slide Deck https://thewalkingclassroom.box.com/s/8iwkg53ndo3ku45g2mfasta6bro90d6b

Related Videos:


How Far Can We Go? Limits of Humanity — Kurzgesagt
7:44

Discusses the limits of human expansion and access.


Manifest Destiny in 2 Minutes!
1:46

Provides a crash course in Manifest Destiny.

Additional Resources:


Westward Expansion
Multi-Day Project

Travel back to the 19th century in this group project.


Read Like a Historian
Printable or Worksheet

Analyze primary sources in these activities from Stanford History Education Group.


Manifest Destiny Vocabulary Games
Online Activity

Test knowledge of Manifest Destiny vocabulary with flashcards, matching, and vocabulary games from Quia.

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