The Way West

I. The Agricultural Frontier
 A. The Crowded East
   1. Agricultural conditions in New England
   2. Agricultural conditions in the South
   3. Promotion of land ownership in the West
 B. The Old Northwest
   1. regional diversity
   2. living conditions in the Old Northwest
   3. economic development in the Old Northwest
 C. The Old Southwest
   1. migration to the Southwest
   2. migrating population
     a. planters
     b. independent farmers
   3. comparison of the Old Northwest and
       Old Southwest
II The Frontier of the Plains Indians
  A. Tribal Lands
    1. Pawnee
    2. Lakota
        horse culture - nomadic - hunted buffalo
        allied to Cheyenne and Arapaho
  B. Fur Traders
    1. background of the western fur trade
    2. workings of the fur trade
    3. living conditions of the fur traders
  C. The Oregon Trail
    1. Protestant missionaries and the Cayutes
    2. overlanders and women
    3. living conditions
    4. impact of migration on the Great Plains
    5. struggle between the Lakota and the U.S.
III. Mexican Borderlands
  A. Peoples of the Southwest
    1. Hispanics, criollos, and the mestizos
    2. Native Americans
      a. Spanish missions
      b. California tribes
      c. farming peoples
  B. Americanization of Texas
    1. settlement of Texas
    2. War for Independence
  C. California and the Southwest
    1. settlement of California
      a. Mexican rule
      b. American interest in California
    2. Settlement of the Southwest
      a. The Santa Fe Trail
      b. the Mormons and the settlement of Utah
IV. Politics, Expansion, and War
  A. Manifest Destiny
    1. racial and ethnic implications of Manifest Destiny
    2. Manifest Destiny and the Democratic Party
  B. The Mexican War
    1. settlement of the Oregon question
    2. disputes regarding the Texas border
    3. Polk and California
    4. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo