Distance Learning

We The People: Life at a Frontier Fort

Grade Level:: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
Subject:: Social Studies
Common Core Standards:: 6-8.RH.1, 6-8.RH.2, 6-8.RH.8, 6-8.RH.9, 7.RI.9, 8.RI.9, 8.SL.4, 8.SL.5
State Standards:: Kansas State Standards: SS3 1.10 H, SS3 1.8, SS6 1.6, SS6 3.6, SS7 1.2, SS7 1.4, SS7 1.7
Missouri Social Studies Standards: SS3 1.6, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, SS5 1.4, 1.5, 1.6

Today, lots of people play a role in the everyday operations of our local communities. In many ways, people today share the same responsibilities as the soldiers at Fort Scott when the fort was built in the 1840s.

When Fort Scott was built in the 1840s, America was a young nation that barely stretched across the Mississippi River. Native Americans were being forced to relocate west of the Mississippi River, which brought them into conflict with more aggressive natives already living on the Plains. Most of the west was either controlled by Mexico or set up to be a home for Natives Americans where they could be gradually assimilated into American life. At the same time, two overland trails crossing right through Native land stretched all the way to Santa Fe and the Oregon Country.

Fort Scott was known to be the “crack post of the frontier.” By the time the fort was closed for the first time in the 1850s, America had stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean and showed off their power by winning the Mexican War and gaining millions of acres of new land. Soldiers stationed at the fort played a part in fulfilling America’s manifest destiny.

In this lesson, your class will learn the reasons Fort Scott was built, discover why it was built where it was, and will compare and contrast the different people(s) at the fort and the roles they played to make the fort a success. Lastly, students will compare their lives today with the way of life for the soldiers in Fort Scott.