Manifest Destiny: God's Plan?

The official "era of Manifest Destiny" probably began with the 1803 Louisiana Purchase under President Jefferson. Many Americans believed God had ordained for us to move further west no matter what was in our way.

This era led to a lot of technological innovations and a lot of heartbreak...especially for Native Americans.

For this week's blog, complete the following two activities.

1) Read this brief article about the history of Manifest Destiny.

2) Carefully examine the painting below. The artist was John Gast and the title is American Progress.

For the comment section, write 200 words on how the painting illustrates what you learned from the article about America's westward expansion.

Reconstruction: A Whole New World

We begin our journey with the most significant era of the 19th century.

The Civil War has just ended. The slaves are now free. So...what happens now?

The importance of the Reconstruction Era cannot be overstated. The nations entire social structure, since 1619, had been turned on its head.

Slaves had their freedom but no formal training on how to be free. They'd never been given the chance!

White society now had to coexist with a previously subjugated group of people. It...didn't go smoothly.

For this week's blog, take a look at this website. Choose any of the links labeled "Reading" and read about an aspect of this era.

In the comment section, write 200 words on what you learned from your selection. Be sure to post your word count at the end of your essay.