Standard 1. Standard 2. Standard 3. Choices have consequences. Individuals have rights and responsibilities

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1 Standard 1 Choices have consequences 1.1 The student will recognize and evaluate significant choices made by individuals, communities, states and nations that have impacted our lives and futures. 1.2 The student will analyze the context under which choices are made and draw conclusions about the motivations and goals of the decision makers. 1.3 The student will investigate examples of causes and consequences of particular choices and connect those choices with contemporary issues. 1.4 The student will use his/her understanding of choices and consequences to construct a decision making model. Standard 2 Individuals have rights and responsibilities 2.1 The student will recognize and evaluate the rights and responsibilities of people living in societies. 2.2 The student will analyze the context under which these rights and responsibilities are defined and demonstrated, their various interpretations, and draw conclusions about those interpretations. 2.3 The student will investigate specific rights and responsibilities of individuals and connect those rights and responsibilities with contemporary issues. 2.4 The student will use his/her knowledge of rights and responsibilities to address contemporary human rights issues. Standard 3 Societies are shaped by beliefs, ideas and diversity 3.1 The student will recognize and evaluate significant beliefs and ideas of the many diverse peoples and groups and their impact on individuals, communities, states and nations. 3.2 The student will draw conclusions about these beliefs and ideas analyzing the origins and context under which these competing ideals were reached and the multiple perspectives from which they come.

2 3.3 The student will investigate specific beliefs, ideas, and/or diverse populations and connect those beliefs, ideas and/or diversity to contemporary issues. 3.4 The student will use his/her understandings of beliefs, ideas and diversity to justify or redefine personal, community, state, national and international ideals. Standard 4 Societies experience continuity and change over time 4.1 The student will recognize and evaluate continuity and change over time and its impact on individuals, institutions, communities, states and nations. 4.2 The student will analyze the context of continuity and change and the vehicles of reform drawing conclusions about past change and potential future change. 4.3 The student will investigate an example of continuity and/or change and connect that continuity and/or change to a contemporary issues. 4.4 The student will use his/her knowledge of continuity and change to construct a model for contemporary reform. Standard 5 The relationships among people, places, and environments are dynam 5.1 The student will recognize and evaluate the dynamic relationships that impact lives, in communities, states, and nations. 5.2 The student will analyze the context of these relationships and draw conclusions about a contemporary world. 5.3 The student will investigate the relationship among people, places, and/or the environment and connect those relationships to contemporary issues. 5.4 The student will use his/her knowledge of these dynamic relationships to create a personal, community, state and/or national narrative.

3 Grade 8 United States History Constitutional Age to International Expansionism The eighth- grade course of study begins with a review of the major ideas, issues, and events of the founding of the nation and Constitutional Period. Students will then concentrate on the critical events, people, groups, ideas, and issues of the period from 1800 to including Westward expansion, sectionalism, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Populism, and Imperialism. The course should be rigorous and relevant with instruction that integrates thinking skills, historical processes, and content so that students are able to apply their learning to their own lives. Connecting with Past Learning Students should possess a general understanding of the exploration and colonization of North America and the establishment of the United States prior to They should be familiar ancient and medieval civilizations. They should have experience with the Best Practices and Literacy Expectations and be able to integrate those into their own learning. The course should begin with an in- depth examination of the major events and ideas leading to the American War for Independence. Readings from the Declaration of Independence may be used to discuss these sorts of questions: What are natural rights and natural law? What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he wrote that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights? Students should also review the decisions made during the Constitutional Convention and their impact on the new nation. Instructional Narrative Establishing America In this unit students consider the enormous tasks that faced the new nation and its leaders through this difficult period; such as Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Hamilton. The United States had to demonstrate that it could survive as an independent state, and in 1812 it had to fight a war to prove its authority. The country had to survive a variety of constitutional interpretations such as the Alien and Sedition Act, the Louisiana Purchase, and decisions by the Supreme Court. Changes occurred with the growth of industry and technology, students should analyze the impact this had on American society. Americans

4 began moving west during this period affecting the relationship between the US and other nations and American Indians. Students should examine the daily life of ordinary people in the new nation, including farmers, merchants, and traders; women; blacks, both enslaved and free; and American Indians. Reading excerpts from works by James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving will help bring this period alive. Regionalism and Expansion: This period follows the nation s regional development in the West, Northeast, and South. The West should be studied for its influence on the politics, economy, and culture of the nation. The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 symbolized a shift of political power and encouraged the growth of democracy. The acquisition, exploration, and settlement of the trans- Mississippi West, from the Louisiana Purchase to the admission of California, had a large impact on the country, including the growth of nationalism, the belief in Manifest Destiny, and the Mexican- American War. The industrial revolution in the Northeast during this period had repercussions throughout the nation. Inventions between the turn of the century and 1850 transformed manufacturing, transportation, mining, communications, and agriculture and changed the lives of people. Immigrants flooded the cities. Letters by young Massachusetts mill workers and accounts of reformers can be used to help students uncover this period. During this period, the South veered away from the democratic and reforms movements taking place in other parts of the United States. Its aristocratic tradition and economy depended on a system of enslaved persons to maintain its agricultural success. This peculiar institution had dramatic effects on the South s political, social, economic, and cultural development. The region increasingly found itself at odds with the rest of the country. Toward a More Perfect Union: During this unit, students will concentrate on the rise of sectionalism and how the failure of compromise eventually led to the Civil War. The issue of slavery, and its economic impact, became too divisive and led to secession by the Confederate States of America. Events such as the Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas- Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott case, and the Lincoln- Douglas debates can help frame an ongoing discussion about steps taken to avoid conflict. Students should understand the challenge to the Constitution and the Union caused by the

5 secession of the Confederate states and its doctrine of nullification. The institution of slavery needs to be studied in its historical context, with attention given to the differences between the American chattel system and slavery in other places and times. Studying the daily lives of enslaved persons and the many laws that suppressed them is important. Students should compare free blacks in the South and in the North and realize that freedom did not necessarily lead to acceptance and equality. The abolitionist movement story should be told with attention given to what blacks did themselves in working for their own freedom with a focus on the activities of black abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth and the actions of free blacks such as Harriet Tubman and Robert Purvis in the underground movement. While studying battlefield campaigns such as Gettysburg, Antietam, Vicksburg, and Sherman s March to the Sea help students understand larger strategy, students need to also make sense of the human meaning of the war by learning more of the soldiers, free blacks, enslaved persons, and women involved. Abraham Lincoln and his presidency symbolize the change in American attitudes during the period and so his Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, and inaugural addresses are worthy of in- depth study. The economic and social changes brought about by Reconstruction are important for students to understand. They should learn of the postwar struggle for control of the South and legislation granting full equality to black Americans by the adoption of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments. The withdrawal of troops from the former Confederate states following the election of 1876 led to the undermining of progress made by former enslaved persons. Students should learn how slavery was replaced by sharecropping, segregation, Jim Crow laws, and other legal restrictions, capped by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. The Rise of America: The period from the end of Reconstruction to the turn of the century was transformative. Events included the settling and conquering of the West, the expansion of industry, the establishment of large transportation networks, immigration from Europe, urban growth, accumulation of great wealth in the hands of a few, the rise of organized labor, and increased American involvement in foreign affairs. The impact of the railroad, federal Indian policies, the growth of big business, and experiences of immigrants are especially valuable for students to analyze. Students should examine the political programs and activities of Populists,

6 Progressives, and other reformers. They should follow the rise of the labor movement and understand the changing role of government in improving social and economic conditions. The United States began expanding beyond its borders during this period. Tracing this expansion helps students make connections to America s future role as a world power. Essential Knowledge Students should be able to communicate a broad summary of the American experience during the 1800s, including the new nation, the industrial revolution, sectionalism and abolitionism, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Westward expansion, the growth of cities, and immigration. Students should demonstrate an awareness of the multi- ethnic history of the period and how the varied cultural traditions of women and men contribute to America s story. They should also understand the influence of economics and geography on that story. Connecting with Best Practices and Literacy Expectations Historical and social science knowledge content is useless without the ability to apply it. A variety of intellectual skills are to be learned through, and applied to, the content standards for the eighth grade. These skills and content are to be assessed only in conjunction with one another. During the planning of lesson and units, emphasis must be placed on doing of history rather than simple acquisition of content knowledge. Connecting with Future Learning During their high school United States history class, typically during their junior year, students will study the events, places, people, issues and themes from 1900 to the present. Foundational knowledge of the 1800s is essential for success in high school. Critical components of their eighth grade experience must include; reading, writing and communicating about 19 th century American history. Students should become familiar with discipline- specific Best Practices so that they can recognize, evaluate, analyze, and investigate 19 th century topics in order to draw conclusions or parallels between those topics and topics that will be studied in high school. Certain themes will be emphasized as part of the high school class: the expanding role of the federal government and federal courts; the continuing tension between the individual and the state and between minority rights and majority power; the emergence of a modern corporate economy; the change in the ethnic composition of American society; the movements toward equal rights for racial minorities and women; and the role of the United States as a major world power.

7 Content Outline A strong foundational knowledge of content is an essential part of creating a democratic citizen capable of critical thinking. To develop this foundational knowledge, experienced teachers of American history might include, but not be limited to, the following as part of their eighth grade instruction. Establishing America Politics Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan, Three- Fifths Compromise, Great Compromise, Bill of Rights, Federalist Papers, Alien and Sedition Act, Marbury vs. Madison, presidential power during the purchase of Louisiana, Missouri Compromise, extension of male suffrage, Jacksonian democracy, nullification crisis, Whigs, Democrats, Foreign Policy War of 1812, Embargo Act, impressment, freedom of the seas, Madison s War, War Hawks, Francis Scott Key, USS Constitution, burning of Washington, Battle of New Orleans, Treaty of Ghent, Battle of Tippecanoe, Monroe Doctrine, Louisiana Purchase, Domestic Policy Northwest Ordinance, Lewis and Clark & the Corps of Discovery, Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears, beginnings of Manifest Destiny, Five Civilized Tribes, Culture and Society Growth of public schools, increased publication of books and newspapers, Second Great Awakening, Temperance movement, birth of abolitionism, Economics Industrial Revolution, Market Revolution, growth of water powered factories, expansion of canals / railroads / roads, boom and bust cycles, Tariff of 1828, mill worker strikes People James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Tecumseh, William Henry Harrison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William Lloyd Garrison, (need some women / minorities)

8 Regionalism and Expansion: Politics Foreign Policy Texas Republic, the Alamo, Mexican- American War, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Domestic Policy Underground Railroad, Manifest Destiny, California Gold Rush, Oregon Fever, Mormon migration, Indian reservation policy, Culture and Society white supremacy in the South, slave codes, paternalism, white vs. enslaved cultures, free blacks, poor whites in North / South / West, rural vs. urban, agrarian vs. industrial, Mason- Dixon line, enslaved persons response to slavery, increase of European immigration, abolitionism, women s rights, Seneca Falls Convention, Economics King Cotton, spread of slavery, growth of agriculture in the Midwest, American System and interchangeable parts, telegraph, improved railroads, free labor, Civil War Fort Sumter, People Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, Henry Clay, Brer Rabbit, George Fitzhugh, James Polk, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Toward a More Perfect Union: Politics Wilmot Proviso, expansion of slavery, election of 1848, Compromise of 1850, Kansas- Nebraska Act, popular sovereignty, Dred Scott vs. Sanford, Lincoln Douglas Debates, Know Nothings, Republicans, Foreign Policy Gadsen Purchase, Domestic Policy Fugitive Slave Act, John Brown s raid on Harper s ferry, secession,

9 Sumner- Brooks affair, Culture and Society Uncle Tom s Cabin, Bleeding Kansas, Jayhawkers, Bushwhackers, fire- eaters, Economics Tariffs, People Stephan Douglas, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln, James Buchanan, John Brown, Charles Sumner, Preston Brooks, The Rise of America: