The Artios Home Companion Series Unit 1: Prelude to the ...€¦ · The Artios Home Companion Series Unit 1: Prelude to the Civil War, Part One Teacher Overview In January, 1848,

Modern: Elementary Unit 1: Prelude to the Civil War, Part One - Page 1

T h e A r t i o s H o m e C o m p a n i o n S e r i e s

Unit 1: Prelude to the Civil War, Part One

T e a c h e r O v e r v i e w

In January, 1848, gold was discovered at Captain Sutter’s saw-mill at Coloma, California. Soon after that, Mexico let us have California and New Mexico, and they were added to the United States. Thousands of people, from all parts of the country, hurried to California to dig gold, and so that state grew more rapidly in population than any other new part of the United States ever had in the same length of time. Before Captain Sutter died we added the Gadsden Purchase and Alaska.

Sailing to California for the Gold Rush

Vocabulary

Lesson 1: immense oblige Lesson 2: boundary Lesson 3: none

Key People , Places and Events

Captain John A. Sutter Discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill California Gold Rush Gadsden Purchase Purchase of Alaska “Brother Jonathan”

Reading and Assignments

Based on your student’s age and ability, the reading in this unit may be read aloud to the student and journaling and notebook pages may be completed orally. Likewise, other assignments can be done with an appropriate combination of independent and guided study.

In this unit, students will:

• Complete three lessons in which they will learn about Captain Sutter, War with Mexico, the California Gold Rush, how the U.S. bought more land, and its growth since the Revolution.

• Define vocabulary words.


• Read selected chapters from Freedom Train: Story of Harriet Tubman.

• Complete literature assignments including an author profile for Dorothy Sterling

•

• Learn about Comma Splits, and complete corresponding grammar exercises.

• Visit www.ArtiosHCS.com for additional resources.

Additional Material for Parent or Teacher :

Explore the following website:

• John Sutter, Whose Mill Launched the California Gold Rush http://history1800s.about.com/od/americanoriginals/a/johnsutterbio.htm

Leading Ideas

• The Bible provides the ethics upon which to judge people and nations. — Exodus 20:1-17

•

• God is sovereign over the affairs of men From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. — Acts 17:26

•

Introduction to Language Arts Curriculum for Parents

Language Arts Units

This Artios Academies curriculum takes an integrated approach to teaching language arts.

All literature selections, writing assignments, and grammar exercises are designed to

integrate directly with the history topics that are being studied in order to both maximize

your students' understanding of the time period and retention of information. While it is

written with the student as the audience, it is intended to be used with parental input,

feedback, and supervision.

Notebook

It is highly suggested that you keep a notebook for your students' language arts work

throughout the year. You will probably want to organize this notebook with dividers, and

include sections for Author Profiles, Writing Projects, Grammar Exercises, Literature

Projects, and any other areas that you may desire. Your students may enjoy decorating a cover

for their notebook.


Literature select ions

The literature selections in this curriculum have been carefully selected and ordered to

align with the historical topics that students are studying simultaneously. While some older

elementary students may be able to read these books easily on their own, younger elementary

students may not be ready to read these books by themselves. It is highly suggested that you

read aloud to your elementary students on a regular basis, even if they are capable of reading

the content on their own; students grow in their understanding of language and spoken word

the more they hear it read aloud. As your less-confident readers grow in their abilities, allow

them to start with reading a few sentences at the beginning of your reading sessions and then

progress to reading longer passages.

As you are reading, take time to pause and ask questions, both to assess their

comprehension of what is happening in the book, and to allow for discussion of some of the

themes and ideas that are woven throughout the text. Make sure to ask some questions that

have a simple, concise answer as well as ones that require some thought. This also makes for a

great opportunity to discuss the worldviews that are represented within each book and to help

your students evaluate truths and fallacies that may be representative of that belief system.

Vocabulary assignments are not assigned within this curriculum; however, there

vocabulary selections are included within the "Resources" section of the website, or you may

choose to keep your own vocabulary lists, according to the age of your children, as you read.

You might enjoy creating your own dictionary of new words or creating index cards with

written or picture definitions.

The books that you will need for this curriculum are as follows (listed in order of use):

• Freedom Trail: The Story of Harriet Tubman by Dorothy Sterling

• The Root Cellar by Janet Lunn

• The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy

• Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

• *The Dust Bowl by David Booth

• *Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

• *American Tall Tales by Adrien Stoutenburg

*Optional text

While studies of the following pieces of literature are not included within this curriculum,

your literary tour through this time period would be enhanced by adding some of these other

selections to your family reading times. Please preview any book before reading with your

children, as they have varying levels of maturity.

• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol


• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

• Arly's Run by Robert Newton Peck

• The Babe and I by David Adler

• By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman

• Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

• Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

• The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne

• Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol

• Flying Aces of World War One by Gene Gurney

• The Gardener by Sarah Steward

• George Washington Carver: Man's Slave Becomes God's Scientist by David Collins

• Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

• Horton Hears a Who by Theordor Seuss Geisel

• A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young

• Magic Treehouse by Mary Pope Osborne

• Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

• Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

• Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

• Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell

• The Story of Edith Cavell by Iris Vinton

• The Story of Thomas Alva Edison by Margaret Cousins

• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

• The Terrible Wave by Marden Dahlstedt

• Turn Homeward, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty

• Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

• The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds

• Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

Writing assignments

The writing assignments that are provided in this curriculum are designed primarily for

older elementary students, with an approximate grade level of 4-6. They are designed to

prepare these upper elementary students for the more rigorous writing assignments of middle

school. Some younger students may still be able to complete these projects easily, while some

older students may still need a fair amount of support in completing them, especially if they

are not yet comfortable with writing. This is perfectly okay; the most important things are

that students grow in their ease and skill in writing and that they are exposed to a wide variety

of writing experiences.

Grading rubrics are also included for each assignment to assist parents in evaluating their

students' writing. Giving these grading rubrics to a student prior to beginning a writing

exercise can be helpful for them in understanding what is expected of the assignment;

however, it is not necessary that they be used. It is recommended that you skip these formal


writing assessments with your student if they are experiencing stress or struggling through

the assignments, and instead focus on encouraging and celebrating them as they improve in

their writing abilities.

When using this curriculum with younger students and emergent writers, it is highly

suggested that you simplify the assignments to fit the ability level of the child. In the early

years, writing assignments should follow the students' curiosity, with an emphasis on learning

that writing is simply organizing one's thoughts onto paper. With this in mind, it is perfectly

appropriate for a child to dictate their writing to a parent, who will record it and then allow

them to illustrate their writing. It is also suggested that the students' writing be kept in a place

of easy access (for example, their notebook), and they should be encouraged to share it and

re-read it frequently. As a student grows in their ability, they should be encouraged to do their

own writing, starting with a few words, and working up to sentences and then longer pieces of

writing. During this time, it is not important to emphasize correct spelling of words unless

they ask for help, but instead to encourage their progress. Appropriate writing exercises

would include re-telling, writing, and illustrating brief descriptions of what has been read;

listing significant events from a story and arranging them in order; writing an adventure story

for one of the characters in the book; writing their own story that may have been inspired by

the book; writing rhyming poems for a character or event; or writing and illustrating facts

about a topic of interest. Young children love to have access to a wide variety of writing

materials, so you might consider creating a "Writer's Workshop" area and stocking it with

many types of pencils, markers, crayons, full-size and strips of papers, art supplies, index

cards, stickers, materials for book binding, blank books, etc. to encourage them to express

themselves in written form whenever possible.

Additional literature projects are provided at a variety of levels within the online

resources, and these cross-curricular projects allow students to express themselves creatively

while practicing many language arts skills, including writing. Allow your students to

supplement their literature studies by selecting literature projects that fit their schedule and

interests.

Grammar

The "Notes" for this year's grammar come from Jr. Analytical Grammar by R. Robin

Finley and Erin M. Karl. The exercises are designed to integrate directly with the piece of

literature that is being studied and can be printed from the website. If a student is having

trouble with a particular concept, allow them to spend extra time reviewing these concepts

before moving on.

Jr. Analytical Grammar is designed for students in 4th-6th grade, although some

students may be ready for these concepts at a younger age. If you have a younger student who

is not yet ready for this grammar program, you might consider using Grammar-Land by M.L.

Nesbitt, which is available at no cost from www.gutenberg.org or www.librivox.org.


Website Content

Website resources are provided along with this curriculum for your convenience. Within the language arts section, you will find:

• Grammar Exercises which accompany the grammar notes and may be printed

according to number of students

• Context Resources which will help you to extend and enrich your students'

understanding of the literature

• Resource Pages which will provide you with extra material that you might desire

to print and use; additional literature projects are also included within this section

• Formats and Models which provide examples of types and styles of the writing

assignments being explored, along with grading rubrics. While every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of any internet links that are provided, please use caution and oversight when allowing your students to access online information. This content will be monitored regularly and updated as necessary.

L i t e r a t u r e , C o m p o s i t i o n , a n d G r a m m a r

Freedom Train: Story of Harriet Tubman by Dorothy Sterling

Literature for Units 1 - 4

We will read Freedom Train discussing the life of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. In this unit we will write a mini-biography about ourselves and a mini-biography about an influential African American.

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and lived a difficult life as a slave in Maryland. As a child she experienced an injury that left her debilitated in many ways, yet empowered in many others. After managing to escape to the North via the Underground Railroad, she returned on many life-risking missions to rescue her family and other slaves and bring them to freedom. She was proud to say that she “never lost a passenger.” During the Civil War Mrs. Tubman worked for the Union Troops, and later in life she was an active part of the women’s suffrage movement, which helped earn women the right to vote.

Be Sure to Notice…

This book is a biography, which means that it is a true story about someone’s life written by someone else. An autobiography, on the other hand, is a story about someone’s life written by themselves.

In each literature unit for this year, you will find optional suggestions for American Tall Tales to explore as a family. You might desire to create a lapbook, mini-book, or notebook as you explore each of these throughout the year. You will find some suggestions in the “Resources” section of the website for projects to consider. While many of these tales are readily available online, an excellent book selection for studying these tales is American Tall


Tales by Adrien Stoutenburg. The tales listed will parallel this book, but stories of these characters can be found in my different sources, including online.

If you choose to follow along with this optional study, this unit’s focus should be on Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill.

For this unit you will need a picture of yourself and two pieces of black poster board, roughly 10 1/2" by 13".

Context Resources

The more you learn about Harriet Tubman, the more fun you will have with this book. You will find a collection of websites for further exploration within the resources section of the Artios Home Companion website, along with vocabulary lists and Literature Projects to help you both understand and explore the literature as you read.

Unit 1 - Assignments

Literature

• Begin by completing an author profile for Dorothy Sterling. You will find two Author Profile Pages within the Resources section of the Artios Home Companion website; one is for younger elementary students, and one for older elementary students. You can find information about the author through various Internet sources. Make sure you get a parent’s permission before accessing the Internet.

• Read Chapters 1-5 in Freedom Train or from “Little Girl, Little Girl!” through “Not Worth a Sixpence.”

Each week as you are reading, you will want to discuss what you’re reading with your family. For this unit, you might focus on these questions: What was Harriet’s early life like? What aspects of her life were similar to or different from yours? Which events in her life do you think made the most impact on the kind of woman she would become?

Composition

Many of you already know what a sentence and paragraph are; however, it’s always a good idea to review! A sentence is a group of words that makes a complete thought. It always begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark. If you need some extra practice on complete sentences, visit the “Resources” section of the website.

A paragraph is a group of sentences that are all about the same topic or idea. The first sentence of a paragraph is indented about five spaces. If you need some extra practice, try locating individual sentences and paragraphs in Harriet Tubman along with a parent.

• In this unit you will be writing a brief biography, or “bio” for short about yourself! Your bio should follow the format below. It would be a good idea to focus on only one paragraph each day, and make your paragraphs between 3-5 sentences in length.

▪ First paragraph: Introduce yourself, when you were born, where you live, and what your family is like.

▪ Second paragraph: Tell a little bit about yourself...What are your hobbies? Your passions? What are you great at? What are you not-so great at? Do you have dreams for when you grow up? What events in your life have been significant?

▪ Third paragraph: Describe some of the character traits that make you uniquely “you.” A character trait is a descriptive word that describes the quality of a person, either


real or fictional. You might think about it as words that describe who someone is on the inside, and these can be either positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle. For instance, a person might be loyal, honest, creative, spunky, resourceful, bossy, immature, athletic, etc. You should tell about at least three of your strongest positive traits, and explain a little bit about them. It would be a good idea to spend some time talking with your parents about what traits they notice in you.

• For younger elementary students, focus on writing just one or two complete sentences for each section by yourself, making sure to capitalize the first word in each sentence and add a punctuation mark at the end. Then dictate the remainder of your paragraph to your parents.

• For the youngest students who are still working on writing complete sentences, you might choose to substitute the writing activities for this book with writing single-sentence summaries about the events in Harriet’s life. You might write one summary on a page, and then illustrate your writing, assembling them your own book about Harriet Tubman at the end.

• Optional activity: Visit the Resources section of the Artios Home Companion website for an extra art activity: Creating Character Trait Silhouettes.

Grammar

• Read the notes on Comma Splits, and review the aspects of speech included in the “Six Deadly Splits.” beginning on page 8.

• Create a “cheat sheet” out of a large piece of posterboard or construction paper. You will use this to record your “buzzwords” and copy editing symbols as you move through our grammar topics this year.

G r a m m a r N o t e s f o r U n i t 1 U s e d b y p e r m i s s i o n : w w w . a n a l y t i c a l g r a m m a r . c o m

Comma Splits

You’re about to learn about commas. A comma is a little piece of punctuation that tells us to pause when we read

or speak or divide a sentence into more understandable parts. We really need commas! Take a look at this

example:

I like peanut butter and jelly and mom and dad enjoy bacon lettuce and tomato.

Did it take you a try or two to figure out that sentence? Now try it with commas:

I like peanut butter and jelly, and mom and dad enjoy bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

Ahhh ... it’s SO much easier to read! There are rules that tell us where commas should go. There are also rules

about where commas should not go! We’ll start there first.

A comma SPLIT is when you put a comma where it doesn’t belong. Here is a list of places where a

comma should NOT be:

1. There should never be ONE comma between a SUBJECT and a VERB.

EXAMPLE: The dog, walked into the garage.

2. There should never be ONE comma between a VERB and ITS DIRECT OBJECT.

EXAMPLE: The man threw, the ball.


3. There should never be ONE comma between a LINKING VERB and ITS COMPLEMENT.

(a complement is a predicate adjective or a predicate nominative)

EXAMPLE: The girl felt, wonderful! or That girl is, my sister.

4. There should never be ONE comma between a MODIFIER and ITS NOUN.

(the modifier right before the noun)

EXAMPLE: The soft, blue, fluffy, sweater was beautiful.

5. There should never be ONE comma between a VERB and ITS INDIRECT OBJECT.

EXAMPLE: I wrote, my aunt a letter.

6. There shouldn’t be ONE comma between an INDIRECT OBJECT and ITS DIRECT OBJECT.

EXAMPLE: I wrote my aunt, a letter.

In the comma rule exercises and tests, you’ll need to refer to these comma split notes to help answer the

questions. You’ll start learning the comma rules right away, but it’s also important for you to really understand

the comma splits as well!

REMEMBER THE SIX DEADLY SPLITS!

Subject and verb Verb and direct object Linking verb and complement

Modifier and its noun Verb and indirect object Indirect object and direct object

Copy-editing:

Throughout this book you will have exercises in copy-editing. When you copy-edit, you correct mistakes you see

in sentences. Sometimes you will add something where it is missing, remove something that should not be there,

or change something that is incorrect. There are certain symbols we use to copy-edit. As we move through this

book, you will be taught the symbols you need to know. Here are your first two symbols:

To add a comma: red white, and blue

To remove a comma (or anything else in the future): remove this


L e s s o n O n e

H i s t o r y O v e r v i e w a n d A s s i g n m e n t s

Captain Sutter

The governor of the territory that included California had given Captain Sutter land; and the captain had built a fort at a point where a stream which he named the American River joins the Sacramento River. People then called the place Sutter’s Fort. Sutter’s Fort was the place where gold was first found in California leading to the famous California Gold Rush.

Portrait of Johann August Sutter

in 1866


• Read the article: Captain Sutter, pages 11-12.

• Define each vocabulary word in the context of the reading and put the word and its definition in the vocabulary section of your notebook.

• After reading the article, summarize the story you read by either:

▪ Retelling it out loud to your teacher or parent. OR

▪ Completing an appropriate notebook page. Either way, be sure to include the answers to the discussion questions and an overview of key people, dates, and events in your summary.

• Be sure to visit www.ArtiosHCS.com for additional resources.

Vocabulary

immense oblige

Key People and Events

Captain J.A. Sutter Discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill

Discussion Questions

1. Who was Captain Sutter?

2. Where did he live?

3. Tell how he lived.

4. What did he begin to build at Coloma?

5. What did Marshall find there and what was said about it?

6. How did Marshall take the shining dust to Captain Sutter and what did the captain do?

7. What made them both certain that the dust was gold?

8. Was the captain pleased with the discovery?

9. What did he think would happen?


Adapted from the book:

The Beginner’s American History by D. H. Montgomery

Captain Sutter

(1803-1880)

Captain Sutter and his fort;

how the captain lived

At the time when Professor Morse sent

his first message by telegraph from

Washington to Baltimore (1844), Captain

J. A. Sutter, an emigrant from Switzerland,

was living near the Sacramento River in

California. California then belonged to

Mexico. The governor of that part of the

country had given Captain Sutter an

immense piece of land, and the captain had

built a fort at a point where a stream which

he named the American River joins the

Sacramento River. People then called the

place Sutter’s Fort, but today it is

Sacramento City, the capital of the state of

California.

In his fort Captain Sutter lived like a

king. He owned land enough to make a

thousand fair-sized farms; he had twelve

thousand head of cattle, more than ten

thousand sheep, and over two thousand

horses and mules. Hundreds of laborers

worked for him in his wheat-fields, and

fifty well-armed soldiers guarded his fort.

Quite a number of Americans had built

houses near the fort. They thought that the

time was coming when all that country

would become part of the United States.

Captain Sutter builds a sawmill

at Coloma; a man finds some

sparkling dust

About forty miles up the American

River was a place which the Mexicans

called Coloma, or the beautiful valley.

There was a good fall of water there and

plenty of big trees to saw into boards, so

Captain Sutter sent a man named Marshall

to build a sawmill at that place. The captain

needed such a mill very much, for he

wanted lumber to build with and to fence

his fields.

Marshall set to work, and before the

end of January, 1848, he had built a dam

across the river and got the sawmill half

done. One day as he was walking along the

bank of a ditch which had been dug in back

of the mill to carry off the water, he saw

some bright yellow specks shining in the

dirt. He gathered a little of the sparkling

dust, washed it clean, and carried it to the

house. That evening after the men had

come in from their work on the mill,

Marshall said to them, “Boys, I believe I’ve

found a gold mine.” They laughed, and one

of them said, “I reckon not; no such luck.”


Captain Sutter’s sawmill at Coloma

where gold was first found

Marshall takes the shining dust to

Captain Sutter; what he did with it,

and how he felt about the discovery

A few days after that Marshall went

down to the fort to see Captain Sutter. “Are

you alone?” he asked when he saw the

captain. “Yes,” he answered. “Well, won’t

you oblige me by locking the door? I’ve

something I want to show you.” The

captain locked the door, and Marshall

taking a little parcel out of his pocket,

opened it and poured some glittering dust

on a paper he had spread out. “See here,”

said he, “I believe this is gold, but the

people at the mill laugh at me and call me

crazy.”

Captain Sutter examined it carefully.

He weighed it; he pounded it flat; he

poured some strong acid on it. There are

three very interesting things about gold. In

the first place, it is very heavy, heavier even

than lead. Next, it is very tough. If you

hammer a piece of iron long enough, it will

break to pieces, but you can hammer a

piece of gold until it is thinner than the

thinnest tissue paper, so that if you hold it

up you can see the light shining through it.

Last of all, if you pour strong acids on gold,

such acids as will eat into other metals and

change their color, but they will have no

more effect on gold than an acid like

vinegar has on a piece of glass.

For these and other reasons most

people think that gold is a very handsome

metal, and the more they see of it,

especially if it is their own, the better they

are pleased with it.

Well, the shining dust withstood all

these tests. It was heavy, it was very tough,

and the sharp acid did not hurt it. Captain

Sutter and Marshall both felt sure that it

was gold.

But, strange to say, the captain was not

pleased. He wished to build up an

American settlement and have it called by

his name. He did not care for a gold mine—

why should he? For he had everything he

wanted without it. He was afraid, too, that

if gold should be discovered in any

quantity, thousands of people would rush

in; they would dig up his land and quite

likely take it all away from him. We shall

see presently whether he was right or not.


L e s s o n T w o


War with Mexico and the California Gold Rush

While Marshall was discovering gold at Sutter’s Mill, the United States had been at war with Mexico over the boundary line between Texas and Mexico. This war led to the United States obtaining, not only all the land the people of Texas had asked for, but an immense deal more.

Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican-American War. Painting by Carl Nebel.


• Read the article: War with Mexico and the California Gold Rush, pages 14-15.

• Define the vocabulary word in the context of the reading and put the word and its definition in the vocabulary section of your notebook.



▪ Completing an appropriate notebook page.

Either way, be sure to include the answers to the discussion questions and an overview of key people, dates, and events in your summary.


Vocabulary

boundary

Key People and Events

Captain John Sutter California Gold Rush


1. What is said about our war with Mexico?

2. About what did we fight?

3. What did we get at the end of the war?

4. What happened in May, 1848?

5. How many people went to California?

6. What happened to Captain Sutter?

7. What is said about Marshall?




War with Mexico and the California Gold Rush

War with Mexico; Mexico lets us

have California and New Mexico;

“Gold! Gold! Gold!” what happened

at Coloma; how California was

settled; what happened to Captain

Sutter and to Marshall

By the time these things took place we

had been at war with Mexico for two years

(1846-1848) because Texas and Mexico

could not agree about the western

boundary line1 of the new state. Texas

wanted to push that line as far west as

possible so as to have more land; Mexico

wanted to push it as far east as possible so

as to give as little land as she could. This

dispute soon brought on a war between the

United States and Mexico. Soon after gold

was discovered at Coloma, the war ended

(1848) and America got not only all the

land the people of Texas had asked for but

an immense deal more, for she obtained

the great territory of California and New

Mexico, out of which a number of states

and territories have since been made.2

In May, 1848, a man came to San

Francisco holding up a bottle full of gold-

dust in one hand and swinging his hat with

the other. As he walked through the streets

he shouted with all his might, “Gold! Gold!

Gold! From the American River.”

The extent of the United States in 1848, after Mexico gave over California and New Mexico


Washing dirt to get out gold dust

The rush for Coloma began. Every man

had a spade and a pick-axe. In a little while

the beautiful valley was dug so full of holes

that it looked like an empty honeycomb.

The next year a hundred thousand people

poured into California from all parts of the

United States, so the discovery of gold

filled up that part of the country with

newcomers years before they would have

gone if no gold had been found there.

Captain Sutter lost all his property. He

would have died poor if the people of

California had not given him money to live

on.

Marshall was still more to be pitied. He

got nothing by his discovery. Years after he

had found the shining dust, someone wrote

to him and asked him for his photograph.

He refused to send it. He said, “My

likeness…is, in fact, all I have that I can call

my own; and I feel like any other poor

wretch3: I want something for self.”

Footnotes: 1 - Western boundary line: the people of Texas held that their state extended west as far as the Rio Grande River, but Mexico insisted that the boundary line was at the Nueces River, which is much further east. 2 - Namely: California, Nevada, Utah, and part of Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. 3 - Wretch: here a very unhappy and miserable person.


L e s s o n T h r e e


More Westward Expansion

If we pause to count up all the additions of land, beginning with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and ending with the purchase of Alaska in 1867, we can see how vast westward expansion for the United States had become. “Brother Jonathan” now stood with one foot on the coast of the Atlantic and the other on that of the Pacific.

Oregon Trail (Campfire), painted in 1863

Key Places and Events

Gadsden Purchase Purchase of Alaska “Brother Jonathan”


• Read the article: More Westward Expansion, pages 17-18.



▪ Completing an appropriate notebook page.

Either way, be sure to include the answers to the discussion questions and an overview of key people, dates, and events in your summary.



1. What land did we buy in 1853?


3. How long had it been since the American Revolution?

4. How many states did we have at this time?



7. What did we add in 1845?



10. Who is “Brother Jonathan?”




More Westward Expansion

Long before Captain Sutter died in 1880,

the United States bought from Mexico another

great piece of land, known at first by the name

of the Gadsden Purchase because General

James Gadsden of South Carolina bought it

from Mexico for the U.S. in 1853. It included

what is now part of southern Arizona and New

Mexico.

A number of years later—in 1867—America

bought the territory of Alaska from Russia.

At the time the Revolution ended, America

had just thirteen states which stretched along

the Atlantic, and, with the country west of

them, extended as far as the Mississippi River.

Soon afterward, the U.S. bought the great

territory of Louisiana in 1803, which has since

been divided into many states; then Florida

was purchased in 1819. Next, Texas was added

in 1845; then Oregon territory was added the

next year, later divided into two great states. In

1848 California and New Mexico were

obtained. Five years after that—in 1853—the

U.S. bought the land then known as the

Gadsden Purchase, and then, last of all, Alaska

was purchased in 1867.

Scene on the coast of Alaska

“Brother Jonathan’s” seven steps

If you count up these additions to the

United States you will see that, beginning with

Louisiana in 1803 and ending with Alaska in

1867, they make just seven in all. There is a

story of a giant who was so tall that with one

long step he could go more than twenty miles,

but “Brother Jonathan”1 can beat that, for in

the seven steps he took during the first

hundred years after the Revolution, he went

more than three thousand miles. He stands

now with one foot on the coast of the Atlantic

and with the other on that of the Pacific.

Footnote: 1 - “Brother Jonathan” was a name given in fun to the people of the United States, just as “John Bull” was to the people of England. One explanation of the origin of the name is this: General Washington had a very high opinion of the good sense and sound judgment of Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, when no one seemed to know where to get a supply of gunpowder, General Washington said to his officers, “We must consult Brother Jonathan on this subject.” Afterwards when any serious difficulty arose it became a common saying in the army that “We must consult Brother Jonathan,” and in time the name came to stand for the American people.


The territorial acquisition of the United States

during the first hundred years after the Revolution

Documents

The Artios Home Companion Series Unit 1: Prelude to the ...€¦ · The Artios Home Companion Series Unit 1: Prelude to the Civil War, Part One Teacher Overview In January, 1848,