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5th grade · Social Studies · Unit 8 of 13

A Growing Nation

The War of 1812, the Louisiana Purchase and westward growth

What your child practices

The causes and effects of the War of 1812, the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark, Manifest Destiny, the Industrial Revolution and sectional conflict, and the immigrants and settlers who built the railroads and farmed the West. American Indian nations are described as living communities.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 5.4(A); 5.4(B); 5.4(C); 5.4(F); 5.22(B) · the War of 1812, the Industrial Revolution, territorial expansion, and the settlers and immigrants who built the West

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) doubled the country; Lewis and Clark explored it to the Pacific.
  2. In the War of 1812, Americans built factories; the anthem was written; Andrew Jackson won at New Orleans (1815).
  3. Westward settlement took much land from American Indian nations.

Example: During which war was “The Star-Spangled Banner” written? Francis Scott Key watched the attack on Fort McHenry in 1814. That attack was part of the War of 1812. Answer: the War of 1812

A Growing Nation in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 8 of 13 in 5th grade Social Studies, after History Detective and before Civil War & Reconstruction.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    The Louisiana Purchase was made by President…

    • James Madison
    • Thomas Jefferson
    • George Washington
    • Abraham Lincoln

  2. Question 2

    During the War of 1812, British goods were hard to get, so Americans…

    • built more of their own factories
    • traded only with Britain
    • stopped making things
    • moved to Britain

  3. Question 3

    Texas joined the United States as a state in…

    • 1836
    • 1845
    • 1776
    • 1912

  4. Question 4

    In 1803 the United States bought the Louisiana Territory from…

    • Spain
    • France
    • Britain
    • Mexico

  5. Question 5

    “The Star-Spangled Banner” was written during the…

    • American Revolution
    • Mexican-American War
    • Civil War
    • War of 1812

  6. Question 6

    Eli Whitney's cotton gin (1793) made cleaning cotton…

    • much faster
    • illegal
    • unnecessary
    • much slower

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