Course: Grade 8 Social Studies: American History Year: 2016-2017 Teacher: C. Sabetta and P. DePalma Unit 1: What is History? CCSS- -What is history? RH 6-8.1 RH 6-8.2 RH 6-8.4 RH 6-8.6 RH 6-8.8 Frameworks- INQ 6-8.6 INQ 6-8.7 INQ 6-8.8 INQ 6-8.9 -History is an account of the past -Accounts differ depending on one s perspective -We rely on evidence to study the past -We must question the reliability of each piece of evidence -We must consider multiple sources to build a plausible account of the past Approximate Time Frame: 1 Week -Evaluate sources and evidence through contextualizing and corroborating in order to make a claim. Real-life scenarios account perspective evidence plausibility bias source to source contextualize corroborate history historian
Unit 2: Birth of a Nation : American Revolution Era How do the ideas of the few influence the actions of the many? 1. What was life like in colonial America? 2. What was the justification of the people s perspective leading up to the American Revolution? 3. What factors resulted in the division between Loyalists and Patriots? 4.What were the different perspectives on the relationship between Britain and the colonies? 5. How was an inexperienced military able to defeat a more experienced military? -Multiple factors influence perspectives of people during different historical eras -Perspectives of people change over time -People s perspectives influence what information is available in the historical sources they create Approximate Time Frame: 8 Weeks -Identify differences between primary and secondary sources -Develop close reading strategies to annotate historical text -Develop strategies for analyzing primary sources -Answer open-ended questions using textbased evidence to support claims -Social and family structures in pre-revolutionary New England colonies - Actions taken by the British and colonists in increasing tensions between both groups - Attitudes of colonists, such as merchants, shopkeepers, farmers, women, slaves, and freed blacks, toward conflict with the British -Thomas Paine s Common Sense -Declaration of Independence -How the newly formed Continental Army defeated the experienced British military
Unit 3: The Early Nation: US Constitution What is the role of government in ensuring the freedom and equality of its citizens? 1. What were the successes and failures of the Articles of Confederation? 2. How did the Federalists and anti-federalists each view the role of government? 3. To what extent did the Articles of the Confederation and/or Constitution support equality? 4. To what extent does the Constitution and Bill of Rights uphold the values of the nation then and now? Approximate Time Frame: 6 Weeks -How Articles of Confederation and Shay s Rebellion led to the development of the US Constitution -Ways that the US Constitution reflected American beliefs concerning government and the rights of the individual during this era -Views of Federalists vs. anti- Federalists, and the ways that this debate continues through the present day -Bill of Rights
Unit 4: Growing and Changing How does a nation grow over time? 1. How does a nation s growth impact different people differently? 2. Who is responsible for the growth of a nation? 3. In what ways does a nation grow: Economically? Geographically? Politically? Socially? Approximate Time Frame: 12 Weeks -Political growth 1. Development of political parties 2. Early Presidents -Economic growth 1. Hamilton vs. Jefferson 2. Industrial Revolution 3. Impact of immigrants on economic and cultural life during this era -Geographic Growth 1. Louisiana Purchase 2. Manifest Destiny 3. Westward Expansion (Including the impact of Westward Expansion on Indigenous people and settlers) -Social Growth 1. Causes, goals, and outcomes of mid- 19 th century reform movements (women s rights, temperance, education, mental health, prisons)
2. Impact of the Second Great Awakening on 19 th Century reform movements 3. The attitudes of Southern plantation owners, poor Southern farmers, Northern industrialists, abolitionists, and free blacks toward slavery
Unit 5: Growing Pains: The Civil War -How was the Civil War a struggle for freedom, equality, and social justice? 1.What factors led to the Civil War? 2.How did the Confederacy and Union each view the Civil War as a struggle for freedom and equality? 3.What was Connecticut and North Branford s role in the Civil War? 4.How did Civil War impact the geography, economics, and society of the nation? 5.How did technology impact the outcome of the war? Approximate Time Frame: 4 Weeks - Long-term and short-term reasons for conflict between the North and the South -Factors that affect the outcome of the war - Role of Connecticut and North Branford in the Civil War and the attitudes towards the Civil War in the state
Unit 6: Reconstruction of our Nation -In what ways did Reconstruction shape America s identity? 1.What was reconstructed during the Reconstruction Era? 2.How were lives changed during this era? 3.What were the successes and failures of Reconstruction? 4.How did Reconstruction promote social justice? Approximate Time Frame: 4 Weeks -Ways that black life both changed and stayed the same during the Reconstruction era. -Reasons that the Reconstruction era could be seen as both a success and a failure.