This Land Was Your Land: This Land is Our Land Now! or ... How the West Was Taken

An Integrated, Interdisciplinary, Thematic Unit on the Westward Movement. In expanding the property of the United States from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast, land had to be bought, stolen, or fought for. Students need to understand the hardships and the ethical dilemmas that were faced in order to bring about this expansion. Students can use this knowledge to understand why countries go to war today to keep land that is theirs.