Westward Expansion: Selected Resources

GENERAL INFORMATION / OVERVIEW

Student Resource Center
This terrific collection features full-text encyclopedias, magazine and newspaper articles, primary source documents (including diary entries, letters, and recordings), photographs, maps and other graphics, timelines, and much more. (Stop by the IMC for ID needed to access this collection.)

Here are just a few examples of the many articles you'll find about important events that contributed to westward expansion:

"Frontiers of the New Nation (1760-1803)". (from American Journey Online: Westward Expansion)

"Westward Expansion". (from DISCovering U.S. History)

"The Louisiana Purchase and Its Impact". (from American Journey Online: Westward Expansion)

"Manifest Destiny". (from American Journey Online: Westward Expansion)

SIRS Discoverer and WebFind
This full-text collection includes domestic and international newspapers, magazine articles, reference books, government documents, pictures and recommended web sites. Social studies coverage is particularly strong in this collection. (Stop by the IMC for the User Name and Password needed to access this collection.)

History of United States Continental Expansion: from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Territorial Expansion of the United States 1783-1898
(To see several of the maps available at this OSSHE Historical & Cultural Atlas Resource, the Shockwave plug-in is required.)

American History: Expansion, Continental and Overseas (from Answers.com)

New Perspectives on THE WEST
This web site, created by PBS as a companion to the eight-part documentary series (first aired in 1996), features information about the people, places and events so important in the story of the American West. Also available is a selection of the primary source materials, including journals, letters, reports and images, used to create the documentary.

U.S. Boundary History, from About.com.

TIMELINES

A Chronology of American History: 19th Century

Westward Expansion (1807-1912): Timeline

The Expansion of the American West: Key Dates

Annexation Process: 1836-1845 - A Summary Timeline, from Texas State Library and Archives Commission

MANIFEST DESTINY

Manifest Destiny, from PBS: U.S.-Mexican War

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Louisiana Purchase
This site offers a concise overview of the acquisition of the Louisiana territory, as well as a nicely detailed map.

Louisiana Purchase
This Louisiana State Museum site resource offers a detailed description of the acquisition, as well as images of those involved in the event.

CobblestoneOnline: "Louisiana for Sale", by Will Prout, from Cobblestone, May 1995 (Issue Theme: Westward Expansion) (Stop by the IMC for User Name and Password needed to access this collection.)

National Archives and Records Administration: Louisiana Purchase Treaty, 1803
Read a brief but informative overview of this event, and view the treaty itself, at this site.

Louisiana Purchase: from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Visit this site for a detailed description of the background, negotiation, and financing of the Louisiana purchase, as well as information about domestic opposition, and a detailed map.

Primary Documents in American History: Louisiana Purchase
Visit this Library of Congress site for information and other resources.

Westward Expansion
Visit this site for a detailed map, and discussion of the Louisiana Purchase, Florida Purchase, Republic of Texas, Mexico and California, the Gadsden Purchase, and more.

PURCHASE OF FLORIDA

The Border: Adams-Onís Treaty

Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819

West Florida Controversy

Adams-Onís Treaty: from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This site features a detailed description of the treaty (also know as the Florida Purchase Treaty) between the United States and Spain, which resolved boundary issues and granted Florida to the United States.

ANNEXATION OF TEXAS

Annexation Process: 1836-1845 - A Summary Timeline, from Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Annexation, from the Handbook of Texas Online

Texas - from Independence to Annexation, from the Avalon Project at Yale Law School

Texas Annexation: from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OREGON TERRITORY

The Oregon Territory and Its Pioneers

The Oregon Territory, from the U.S. Department of State website

Oregon Treaty: from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MEXICAN CESSION

Mexican Cession: from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

American Heritage Blog: The Mexican Cession, posted by John Steele Gordon on December 5, 2006.

CobblestoneOnline: "The Causes of War", by Richard Bruce Winders, from Cobblestone, Dec. 2000 (Issue Theme - The U.S. - Mexican War) (Stop by the IMC for User Name and Password needed to access this collection.)

GADSDEN PURCHASE

Gadsden Purchase Clarified U.S. Boundaries, from Borderlands, and El Paso Community College local history project.

America's Story from America's Library: Western Expansion & Reform (1829-1859) - The Gadsden Purchase

BIOGRAPHIES

Biography Resource Center
This outstanding database features biographical information about more than 275,000 people from throughout history, around the world, and from all disciplines and subject areas. More than 400,000 biographies are included from 90 highly regarded Gale Group publications, including Constitutional Amendments, 1789 to the Present, Dictionary of American Biography, Encyclopedia of World Biography, Historic World Leaders, and many more.
(To use this collection, you'll need to enter your public library barcode.)

New Perspectives on THE WEST: People

PRIMARY DOCUMENTS

Digital History: Links to Key Documents in American History

The Louisiana Purchase (1803)
This terrific collection, compiled by the Avalon Project at Yale Law School, includes the full text of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, Jefferson's messages to Congress, and U.S. statutes relating to the Louisiana Purchase.