School News

Teaching Westward Expansion in the Latest Era of US Imperialism

1/29/2026

Aaron Bennett, 3rd & 4th Grade Teacher

In the 3rd & 4th grade classroom, we started our unit on Westward Expansion (“How the 13 colonies became the 50 states”) shortly after the Trump administration abducted the leader of Venezuela. We are wrapping it up as the Trump administration is attempting to take over Greenland. The 3-4 class has learned about the Louisiana Purchase, the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Mexican Cession, the sale of Alaska, and the annexation of Hawaii at the behest of American sugar companies, and we have considered the methods and motives of American imperialism in the 19th century. The parallels between US imperialism of the 19th century and the 21st century can feel heavy to us, as teachers, but they also remind us of why we teach history, and why we teach it the way we do.

One habit of mind that we return to again and again – not just in history lessons, but in our book groups, as well as in our personal interactions – is perspective-taking. For our study of the era of Westward Expansion, we practiced taking the perspectives of the US government (which, as we’ve studied, was composed exclusively of land-owning white men), and the indigenous groups, for whom the era of westward expansion was cataclysmic.

We do not believe it serves students to shy away from the uglier aspects of history. When we talk about events like Indian Removal, we frame it explicitly as the violent theft and dispossession of the indigenous groups who stood in the way of the US government's desire for more farmland for cotton plantations, among other natural resources. We do not highlight graphic suffering or details that might be too upsetting to 3rd and 4th graders, but neither do we gloss over atrocity, as many materials designed for students this age do.

In the overview video we watched about westward expansion, we paused at moments when the narrator would say something like “The Americans continued to push westward” and ask “What does he mean by ‘push westward’?” Because of the background we’ve already studied, we can count on a student to volunteer, “He means they keep taking more land from the people who already live there.” It can be frustrating trying to find resources for 3rd and 4th graders that don’t shy away from hard history, but there is also value in helping students notice where those resources fall short, and where they are being talked down to.

One question we ask in this context is, "What story did the perpetrators of injustice tell themselves at the time? What kind of moral justifications did they indulge in to excuse what is, in a way readily apparent to 3rd and 4th graders, plainly theft?" We introduce students to the term Manifest Destiny, as a way to understand how pro-expansionists made the stealing of indigenous land sound righteous and inevitable. Third and fourth graders understand justifying selfishness. They can understand that when expansion is “meant to be,” destined by God, it is easier to dismiss the suffering of the people who will be harmed by it, and relieve the perpetrators of any sense of guilt. We highlight quotes from leaders like Andrew Jackson, who use terms like “civilized” and “uncivilized” to justify their actions.

We do not talk about the current administration. In 3rd and 4th grade, we try to let students experience the outrage of injustice from some historical distance.

In addition to considering the perspectives of different groups involved in westward expansion, we also considered different perspectives within groups. Many white Americans actively opposed the theft of indigenous land at the time. Enslaved Americans broadly opposed westward expansion, but not always for the same reasons. In the North, many recognized the parallels in the racism directed towards black people and indigenous people. In the South, many saw westward expansion as an expansion of slavery, as it would create more land for growing cotton. At the same time, some of the indigenous people being displaced owned slaves themselves. In Florida, many escaped enslaved people had found freedom among the Seminole, and they saw the possibility of displacement of the Seminole as a threat of re-enslavement.

There is a developmental tendency in elementary aged children to find the “good guys” and the “bad guys,” to figure out who should be cheered and who should be boo’d. Most students, without any critical lens, will tend to root for their home team, the United States of America. At the same time, many of them are pretty hazy about the difference between a city, a state, and a country. Really, what we are teaching is about identity – Who are we? What are Americans? What are the ideals of our community? We are trying to help students see themselves as the kind of Americans who aspire to liberatory ideas like freedom and justice for all, rather than the Americans who justify racism, oppression, and violence. We try to teach them that while the United States has often failed to live up to its revolutionary principles, there have always been Americans who fought for them, and this is who we choose to identify with.

Back