Each team will select from the list of challenges to embark on their own Manifest Destiny. There were many perils to be faced by the rugged individualists who pursued a new life on the frontiers of the newly formed United States of America. Understanding the interrelationship of political/governmental, economic, geographic, and cultural factors of the time period will help your team devise a workable plan to pursue your dreams.

Pick a challenge, make use of the links provided, and others you may find, to help draw up a plan. You have online resources from which to gather information about the events taking place during westward expansion, as well as technology tools to communicate with one another online through the discussion board, live chat and email. Your online journal is for notetaking and reflecting on the resources you visit. There should be a daily entry. The group work space is available for you to share newly discovered resources, as well as a place to construct your presentation.

You will prepare an oral presentation for the class and answer questions from fellow students about the events and innovations that shaped your decision-making. The finale will be to share with your classmates what invention you think would make a difference in societal development today.

Student Team Challenge Choices

• Your destiny is not a factory in New England. You want to make your own opportunities. Now that President Jefferson has purchased the Louisiana Territory, there may be a living to made out west transporting goods to the east and to Europe. Where will you settle? What goods have a ready market? What are the safest trade routes? What technologies will you find helpful? How did the Embargo Act affect your business? What perils does your business face? What effect did the War of 1812 have on your business?

• You were born a slave but you'll be darned if you're going to die one. There's word of legitimate squatter's rights and freed slaves are pushing toward the Northwest Territory. What were squatting rights in 1830? Why would you want to go to the Northwest Territory? How would you get there from Virginia? What perils would you face in the journey? How would you earn a living once you got there? What would your life be like? What would you need to survive? What technologies could you make use of as you pursue your destiny?

• The fur industry is all but dead. I hear California needs lumber and there's gold out west too. You decided to head out in search of a new life but you're scared because word has it the Indians are mad as hornets. The railroad became a metaphor for American ingenuity and development; it spoke directly to the "boundlessness" of the Americans. Reinforced by President Polk's expansionism, or as John O'Sullivan coined it, "Manifest Destiny", you believe in your own greatness and the greatness of the US. Pushing south from the Willamette Valley, you rugged individualists believe it is providential that you will succeed. Where do you go? How will you earn a living? What does the geography of the land tell you about your opportunities? What changes do you see in the mountains since you trapped beaver five years ago? Why do some of these '49ers seem to shake all the time? How do you get news as the US boundaries expand to guide you to a hospitable place? Did you hear about Donner's Pass? What perils do you face as you attempt your manifest destiny? What new technologies will assist you in this pursuit?