Native and Indigenous Americans

19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

United States Expansion, Migrants, and Transportation Technologies, ca. 1810-1930

Colored map showing roads and bodies of water. Surrounded by a border of black-and-white photos advertising the local area, including photos of forests, lakes, Native people, moose and bear, and homes,

Gabrielle Guillerm, PhD
September 14, 2022

18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Maps as Heritage: Commemoration and Travel in American Cartography

Hand-drawn map, showing the country from Lake Superior and the Mississippi in the east to Pacific Ocean in the west and the Kansas River in the south to the northern boundary of the Louisiana Territory in the north. The map shows the locations of many Indigenous groups along with natural features like rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges.

Nicholas Kryczka, PhD
August 31, 2022

19th Century, Classroom Materials, Grades 8 and Up, Lesson Plans

Perspectives on the United States

Title page of book printed on birch bark. Title readings "The Red Man's Greeting, 1492-1892 by Chief Pokagon." In the lower right corner is an image of a white man standing on a beach with many other white men behind him. They carry flags and crosses and are disembarking from a boat." The image is captioned "Landing of Columbus."

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
April 6, 2022

19th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Grades 8 and Up

The Second Great Awakening

Right hand page of a printed book. Reads, "for a minister to read his sermon--to turn over leaf after leaf, and at the conclusion say 'amen,' seemed to me like an 'empty sound and a tinkling cymbal.' I was not benefitted by his reading. It did not arouse me to a sense of my danger--and I am of the opinion that it had no better effect on the people of his charge. I liked to attend church, as I had been taught in my younger years to venerate the Sabbath day; and although young I could plainly perceive the difference between the preachers I had formerly heard and the minister at whose church I attended. I thought, as near as I can remember, that the Christian depended on the Holy Spirit's influence entirely, while this minister depended as much upon his learning. I would not be understood as saying any thing against knowledge; in its place it is good, and highly necessary to a faithful preacher of righteousness. What I object to is, placing too much reliance in it, making a god of it, &c. / Every thing went on smoothly for two or three years. About this time the Methodists began to hold meetings in the neighbourhood, and consequently a storm of persecution gathered; the pharisee and the worldling united heartily in abusing them. The gall and wormwood of sectarian malice were emitted, and every evil report prejudicial to this pious people was freely circulated. And"

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
April 5, 2022

18th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up

American Indians in an Age of Empire and Revolution: Glossary

Rachel Banke, PhD
March 23, 2022

18th Century, Classroom Materials, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up, Lesson Plans

American Indians in an Age of Empire and Revolution, 1750-1783: Assessments

Rachel Banke, PhD
March 23, 2022

17th Century, 18th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up

American Indians in an Age of Empire and Revolution, 1750-1783: Primary Source Activities

Rachel Banke, PhD
March 17, 2022

19th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Grades 4 and Up, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up

Fort Laramie and the Dakota

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
June 23, 2021

17th Century, 18th Century, Classroom Materials, College Prep, Lesson Plans

Maps and the Beginnings of Colonial North America: Document-Based Questions

This is part of a set of classroom materials for the Digital Collection Maps and the Beginnings of North America.

Nicholas Kryczka, PhD
January 17, 2020

19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

The Colonization of the Black Hills in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, in Historic Maps and Documents

Map of western United States in various colors indicating a variety of resources and their locations.

How can old maps help us understand the complexities of colonization in North America? What sorts of evidence do they offer? Does their distinct styling, framing, and content change how a particular landscape can be represented? Might these elements have in fact aided colonization in the Black Hills?

Peter Nekola
August 1, 2017

18th Century, Collection Essays

American Indians in an Age of Empire and Revolution, 1750-1783

Anthony Di Lorenzo
January 24, 2017

19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Indians in the Archives

What do historical images of American Indian peoples tell us about the evolving relationships between Indians and non-Indians? What valuable information about our past and ourselves can we glean from artworks that portray indigenous peoples and also the materials that artists used?

Newberry Staff
March 17, 2016