Chapter 4: Expansion and Reform

Chapter 4 explores Expansion and Reform between 1801 and 1861. Some of the major events that occurred during this time period include the expansion of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase and the concept of Manifest Destiny, as well as the sectional tensions that intensified in the lead into the American Civil War. According to the National Center for History in Schools, some of the understandings from this era that students should gain from its study are: “United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native Americans”; “how the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions”; “the extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800”; and “the sources and character of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period” (UCLA, 2017, para. 1). Several recommended films to assist students as they learn more about this era are 12 Years a Slave (Ridley & McQueen, 2013), The Alamo (Wayne, 1960 or Hallowell & Hancock, 2004), Amistad (Cooper & Spielberg, 1997), and Roots (Wolper & Chomsky, 1977 or Burton & Beresford, 2016).