Virginia Center for Digital History VCDH Main

Colonists and Native AmericansVirginiaWWII planesCivil Rights Movement
A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History
Expansion and Reform: 1801 to 1860 Back to History Unit

(a) identifying the economic, political, and geographic factors that led to territorial expansion and its impact on the American Indians (First Americans);


Missouri Compromise
PBS: Africans in America

Description: This PBS site describes the conflicting opinions which led to the Missouri Compromise, as well as the historical implications the Compromise itself.



Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestions
  • Why was Congressman James Tallmadge's bill accepted in the House of Representatives and not in the Senate? Review how the number of representatives in congress is determined based on the constitution through a visual map of all the states in 1920 and their number of representatives based on population.
  • Show on a map the 36' 30' north latitude. What is the significance of the line's location in regards to agriculture?
Suggestions for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson
  • Discuss the balance in congress between Free states and slave states asking students why the government decided to continue the balance by brining Maine in as a free state. Have students write reaction paragraphs on what might happen if one side would take majority control of the legislature? How might this affect slavery as a whole?
  • As the class continues with westward expansion and the incorporation of new states into the union reference the 36' 30' north latitude line on a map and discuss the implications of the territories and their use of slavery.

Back to History Unit
Copyright 2005



Virginia Center for Digital History Miller Center