4.6 - Westward Movement and Industrialization

Fourth Grade - Fourth Social Studies - 4.6 - Westward Movement and Industrialization

From EngageNY

WESTWARD MOVEMENT AND INDUSTRIALIZATION: New York State played an important role in the growth of the United States. During the 1800s, people traveled west looking for opportunities. Economic activities in New York State are varied and have changed over time with improvements in transportation and technology.

4.6a After the Revolution, New Yorkers began to move and settle further west, using roads many of which had begun as Native American trails.

• Students will examine why people began to move west in New York State.
• Students will examine the difficulties of traveling west at this time and methods used to improve travel on roads, including corduroy roads and turnpikes.

4.6b In order to connect the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, the Erie Canal was built. Existing towns expanded and new towns grew along the canal. New York City became the busiest port in the country.

• Students will examine the physical features of New York State and determine where it might be easiest to build a canal, and form a hypothesis about the best location. Students will compare their hypothesis with the actual location of the Erie Canal.
• Students will examine how the development of the canal affected the Haudenosaunee nations.
• Students will locate and name at least five towns and four cities along the canal and identify major products shipped using the canal.

4.6c Improved technology such as the steam engine and the telegraph made transportation and communication faster and easier. Later developments in transportation and communication technology had an impact on communities, the state, and the world.

• Students will investigate which early means of transportation were used in their local community and to which communities they were linked, noting why they were linked to those communities.
• Students will trace developments in transportation and communication technology from the 1800s to the present, noting the impact these changes had on their communities, the state, and the world.

4.6d Farming, mining, lumbering, and finance are important economic activities associated with New York State.

• Students will examine New York State's key agricultural products during the 1800s and compare these to the key agricultural products of today.
• Students will explore which resources were extracted in New York State over time, the location of those resources, and the economic activities associated with those resources.
• Students will examine the importance of New York City to the development of banking and finance in New York State and the United States.

4.6e Entrepreneurs and inventors associated with New York State have made important contributions to business and technology.

• Students will research several people who made important contributions to business, technology, and New York State communities. Some people to consider include Thomas Jennings, Thomas Edison, Henry Steinway, John Jacob Bausch, Henry Lomb, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Lewis H. Latimer, Jacob Schoellkopf, Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse, George Eastman, Amory Houghton, Willis Carrier, John D. Rockefeller, Edward H. Harriman, J.P. Morgan, Hetty Green, Emily Roebling, and Elisha Otis, and others as locally appropriate.

4.6f Between 1865 and 1915, rapid industrialization occurred in New York State. Over time, industries and manufacturing continued to grow.

• Students will trace manufacturing and industrial development in New York State and in their local community in terms of what major products were produced, who produced them, and for whom they were produced from the 1800s to today.

4.6g As manufacturing moved out of New York State, service industries and high-technology industries have grown.

• Students will examine how the economic activities in their local community have changed over the last 50 years.
• Students will investigate major economic activities in regions of New York State and create a map showing the major economic activities in Long Island, New York City, Lower Hudson Valley, Mid-Hudson Valley, Capital District, Adirondacks/North Country, Mohawk Valley/Central New York, Mid-West/Finger Lakes, Catskills, Southern Tier, and Western New York.