The Pig War | Dynamic History Module | Grades 9-12

Turn the famous Pig War story into a rigorous two-day evidence investigation about borders, jurisdiction, military escalation, diplomacy, and arbitration. In this Dynamic History module for grades 9-12, students begin with the 1846 Oregon Treaty and ask why the phrase "the channel" left the water boundary around the San Juan Islands unresolved.

Students then trace how competing U.S. and British legal claims, settlement, and land use made a local pig shooting matter. They use maps and primary-source evidence to separate the trigger from the deeper causes, follow the 1859 military buildup, analyze the decisions that prevented a shooting war, and explain why joint occupation managed the crisis while the 1872 arbitration award finally settled the boundary.

What students investigate

• Why the 1846 Oregon Treaty left an ambiguous water boundary between Vancouver Island and the mainland
• How Haro Strait and Rosario Strait produced competing territorial outcomes for the San Juan Islands
• How settlement, farming, taxation, policing, and land claims turned a map problem into a conflict over jurisdiction and sovereignty
• Why the June 1859 pig shooting triggered a crisis but did not create the older border dispute
• How troop occupation, British naval response, refusal to withdraw, and reinforcements escalated the danger
• How restraint, reduced forces, and physical separation lowered the risk of war
• Why joint occupation was temporary crisis management rather than a final border settlement
• How the Treaty of Washington and 1872 arbitration award selected Haro Strait and resolved the boundary question

What's included

• Two-day guided Dynamic History investigation with six historical stops
• Teacher Guide and Answer Key with suggested Day 1 and Day 2 pacing
• Standard Offline Print Module for classrooms without reliable internet or student devices
• Accessible Offline Print Module with the same core history, evidence, and questions at reduced reading complexity
• Editable digital student worksheet and print student worksheet
• Self-graded Google Forms quiz and multiple-choice print quiz
• Assessment bank with 5 vocabulary terms, 4 two-part short-answer questions, 2 two-part challenge questions, and 15 multiple-choice questions

Flexible classroom use

• Teach the core investigation across two 45-50 minute class periods
• Use the interactive Dynamic History experience when students have devices
• Switch to the Standard or Accessible Offline Print Module when internet or device access is limited
• Use selected written questions for homework, review, or a short check for understanding
• Use the complete assessment as a separate assessment period when desired

Skills addressed

• Using maps, treaty language, affidavits, official correspondence, and arbitration evidence to support historical claims
• Distinguishing an immediate trigger from deeper historical causes
• Tracing escalation and de-escalation as sequences of government choices
• Distinguishing physical occupation from legal sovereignty and temporary management from permanent settlement
• Evaluating what primary sources and geographic evidence can and cannot prove

Standards alignment

CCSS History/Social Studies literacy connections documented in the Teacher Guide include RH.9-10.1, RH.9-10.2, RH.9-10.7, RH.9-10.9 and the corresponding RH.11-12 standards. Written extensions may also support WHST.9-10.1, WHST.9-10.2, WHST.9-10.9 and the corresponding WHST.11-12 standards.

Offline access included

The Standard and Accessible Offline Print Modules preserve the core readings, maps, primary-source evidence, questions, and historical reasoning so the lesson can still be taught when the interactive module is unavailable.