The first supporting question, “what impact did the Homestead Act have on the northern Great Plains?” helps students use sources to unwrap the context of the time and topic being examined. What were the Homestead Act, the Timber Culture Act, and preemption? How did these policies work? Who were preferred groups the government desired to settle on the plains? Were the northern Great Plains “empty,” vacant land, in need of settlement? What happened to the people who had already been living in the region? Were these policies ultimately successful? Complete the following task using the sources provided to build a context of the time period and topic being examined.
Formative Performance Task 1
Write a summary that outlines the path open to non-Native immigrants and settlers to acquire land in Dakota Territory. Set the stage for what was going on both in the region and in the United States. What time frame did this happen in? What else was going on? What were the major newspaper headlines (both locally and nationally)? What was going on that people were concerned about? What did people need to do to acquire land, and how successful were they?
Featured Sources 1
The sources featured below are primary sources. They are the raw materials of history—original documents, personal records, photographs, maps, and other materials. Primary sources the first evidence of what happened, what was thought, and what was said by people living through a moment in time. These sources are the evidence by which historians and other researchers build and defend their historical arguments, or thesis statements. When using primary sources in your lessons, invite students to use all their senses to observe, describe, and analyze the materials. What can they see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste? Draw on students’ knowledge to classify the sources into groups, to make connections between what they observe and what they already know, and to help them make logical claims about the materials that can be supported by evidence. Further research of materials and sources can either prove or disprove the students’ argument.
Read featured sources A-B. In a group or as a class, answer the following questions: What type of sources are they (letters, photos, maps, diaries, etc.)? 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? What do the sources tell us about Dakota Territory during that time? How do we know? What else can you find?
Students will need to research additional library and internet sources to understand the policies of the U.S. government at this time that encouraged immigration and settlement including the Homestead Act, the Timber Culture Act, preemption, and how townships helped establish a plan for social and economic infrastructure even the most rural of communities.
| Source A | |
| Source B |
Learn more about the history of North Dakota by visiting the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum.