Subscribe

6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 8

Statehood & 1862

Territory, statehood, the Civil War and the US–Dakota War

What your child practices

How Minnesota became a territory (1849) and a state (1858), Minnesota in the Civil War, and the US–Dakota War of 1862: its causes, the execution of 38 Dakota men in Mankato and the forced removal of Dakota people, seen through more than one perspective.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 6.4.20.1; 6.4.19.3; 6.4.22.1; 6.4.18.3 · how Minnesota became a territory and a state, conflicting accounts of the US–Dakota War of 1862, and Minnesota in the Civil War

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Minnesota became a territory in 1849 and the 32nd state in 1858.
  2. Settlers poured in as land opened and railroads came.
  3. The US–Dakota War of 1862 lasted about six weeks. Afterward Dakota people were held below Fort Snelling and forced to leave Minnesota.

Example: Minnesota was which number state to join the United States? It joined in 1858. It was the 32nd. Answer: 32nd

Statehood & 1862 in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 5 of 8 in 6th grade Social Studies, after Fur Trade & Treaties and before Work & New Minnesotans.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Minnesota became a US territory in…

    • 1776
    • 1900
    • 1803
    • 1849

  2. Question 2

    The US–Dakota War lasted about…

    • a century
    • one day
    • six weeks
    • ten years

  3. Question 3

    Which river was most important for steamboats bringing settlers?

    • The Amazon
    • The Mississippi
    • The Nile
    • The Thames

  4. Question 4

    After the war, many Dakota people were held in a camp below…

    • Lake Itasca
    • Duluth
    • Fort Snelling
    • Grand Portage

  5. Question 5

    One cause of the US–Dakota War was that…

    • it was a sports dispute
    • treaty payments were late and Dakota families were going hungry
    • Minnesota was not yet a territory
    • the Dakota wanted gold

  6. Question 6

    The 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry is remembered for its charge at…

    • Gettysburg
    • Bunker Hill
    • the Alamo
    • Yorktown

More 6th grade