History of the United States II / Unit 2 USH2 0153 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Great American Desert
Captions available
The idea
Major Stephen Harriman Long, after his expedition of eighteen nineteen and eighteen twenty, described the Great Plains as a great American desert.
In practice
The Great Plains labelled a desert, land thought unfit for farming or settlement.
Where people slip
The anchor says the eighteen forties overturned that perception, as settlers crossed the Plains in growing numbers.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
- Nothing. This is a starting point.
Unlocks
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for History of the United States II