Exploration

Boone, Daniel - A true pioneer, was responsible for the exploration and settlement of Kentucky.

Bradford, William - This early Pilgrim governor of Massachusetts led the exploration of this colony and also led the encounter with the Native Americans.

California Gold Rush - In January of 1848, gold was found at Sutters Mill. The rush began with the immigration of the 48ers and eventually the 49ers.

Fur Trade - The fur trade began with whites trading furs with the Native Americans.  The fur traders helped explore and map out parts of the American frontier.  As whites traded they began moving across America. 

Jamestown - June 1606, King James the first granted a charter to a group of Condon entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company.  To establish a satellite English settlement in Chesapeake region was what this charter was for.

Lewis and Clark - National History Day highly recommends this topic.  President Thomas Jefferson commissioned this exploration of the Louisiana Territory, the unexplored West.  Lewis and Clark encountered Native Americans, and they exchanged many things with each other.  

Marquette and Joliet – Father Jacques Marquette, a missionary priest, and Louis Joliet, a French explorer, led the first expedition down the Mississippi River in 1673. 

Mormon Encounter with the West – The Mormons led the exploration and settlement of the West, specifically the state of Utah. 

Space - In the past 50 years, human beings have made remarkable advances in the areas of space exploration.  Discuss these advances including the NASA program and the Hubble Telescope as well as the various discoveries of the universe that were made as a result of this exploration.

The West-from the early 1800s to the 1920s, the West was a symbolic saving grace. If you failed in the East, you could make yourself anew in the West. Farmers, needing a lot of land, took their cattle out West to graze. Railroads connected the USA sea to shining sea. Miners and prospectors looked to strike it rich. Hollywood and Silicon Valley were established in California. Mexicans, Blacks, Asians, and Whites all settled the West and lived in peace for the most part.