The first supporting question, “what are the conditions required for land to become an organized territory?” helps students use primary sources to unwrap the context of the time and topic being examined. By the early 1700s, first contact between Native Americans and explorers representing different European nations was taking place on the northern Great Plains. European nations and the US government used the Doctrine of Discovery to lay claim to land they “discovered” even if people already lived there. By 1803, the United States government had purchased part of modern North Dakota through the Louisiana Purchase. What was the process the United States used to acquire territory and create new states?
Formative Performance Task 1
Using school and public library resources, and the internet, students will develop an outline of the process by which a U.S. territory is created. Write a summary that answers the following questions:
- What was the Doctrine of Discovery?
- What makes something a U.S. territory?
- Have all states gone through the process of becoming a territory before they were states?
- How many territories does the United States have today?
Students should also be able to answer several questions about their sources:
- What types of sources did they find to support this information?
- What is going on in these sources?
- What kind of information do they contain?
- Who created each of these sources?
- Who was the intended audience for each source?
- Why were these sources created?
- When were the sources created?
How do we know? What else can you find?
Featured Sources 1
For this section, students will study the following maps, but also be required to find sources themselves.
| Source A | Study the early territory to statehood maps. |
Learn more about government in North Dakota by visiting the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum.
Learn more about citizenship in North Dakota by visiting the Stutsman County Courthouse State Historic Site.