Title: Expansion & Reform
Course: Grade 6 Minnesota Studies

In this unit, we will explore the Louisiana Purchase, Fort Snelling, Steamboat Transportation, How and Why Treaties were Signed, and How and Why Minnesota became a state.

We will examine primary and secondary sources, evaluate arguments from diverse perspectives, ask questions, search for answers, and seek to understand the complex story of Minnesota's earliest peoples, and the relationships between them.

What was the Louisiana Purchase and why was it important to the United States?

Why and where was Fort Snelling built? How did it change relationships between the United States and Dakota and Anishinaabe?

What were the unique perspectives of European Americans and Native Americans about land use, ownership and family?

How and why did the United States negotiate treaties with the Dakota and Anishinaabe? What were the consequences of treaties on the Anishinaabe, Dakota and settlers in the upper Mississippi River region?

How did MN become a territory and state? What were the key events, individuals, and groups involved in the process? How did geography and natural resources affect settlement patterns and growth of cities?