Atlantic Migration and Westward Expansion

Understand why people left their home countries in the Old World to move to the new frontier. Students will experience the daily lives of these people and the reasons for their immigration. Students will also examine the lifestyles and choices of immigrants in America by experiencing the new lives these immigrants faced upon arrival.

Choose two Old World Exhibits and two of the following: 1760s Valley of Virginia, 1820s Virginia, or 1850s Virginia farms.

Virginia Standards of Learning: 3.1 3.4 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.13 VS.1 VS.3 VS.4 VS.6 USI.1 USI.4 USI.5 USI.8 WHI.1 WHI.12 WHII.1 WHII.4 WHII.5 VUS.1 VUS.2 VUS.3

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