Atlantic Migration and Westward Expansion

Learn the conditions and factors that caused people from the Old World to migrate to Great Britain’s North American colonies. Students learn about life in the past and explore the challenges and opportunities that confronted the people who settled America’s colonial frontier.

Select from the Museum’s Old World exhibits: 18th Century West Africa, 17th Century England, 18th Century Ireland, Irish Forge, 18th Century Germany.

Virginia Standards of Learning: 3.1 3.4 3.73.8 3.9 3.10 3.13 VS.1 VS.3 VS.4 VS.6 USI.1 USI.5 WHI.1 WHI.12 WHII.1 WHII.4 WHII.5 VUS.1 VUS.2 VUS.3

Investigate why Americans in the late 18th Century and early to mid-19th Century were looking to move into the United States’ newly acquired Western territories. This program will examine economic and geographic factors that influenced settlers to uproot their families and move west.

Select from the Museum’s American exhibits: Eastern Woodlands Indians, 1760s Valley of Virginia, 1820s Virginia, 1840s Schoolhouse, 1850 Virginia.

Virginia Standards of Learning: VS.1 VS.6 USI.1 USI.8 VUS.1 VUS.6