Skills Based Learning Targets (year long)

• Analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources and use the message, context, intended audience, and other factors to reach a full understanding of the source (Reading Analysis)
• Write and speak coherently and clearly in a variety of formats and settings and clearly present information both visually & verbally (Communication)
• Take information and ideas from a wide variety of sources to reach a broader understanding and develop arguments (Synthesis)
• Development an argument and support and defend arguments using historical evidence (Argumentation)
• Analyze historical events through the lenses of cause & effect, compare and contrast, and contextualization (Historical Analysis)

Content Based Learning Targets (by Unit)

• Understand the historical context for American history by describing the societies of the America's, Europe, and Africa prior to European exploration (1.1)
• Understand the motivations, causes, and effects of European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, & the European conquest of the Americas (1.2)
• Compare and contrast the economic, political, and social features of the various European colonial models in the Americas during the colonial era (2.1)
• Compare and contrast the economic, social, cultural, & political patterns of the three major regions of British North America from 1600-1750 (2.2)
• Understand the historical factors that led to the Atlantic Slave Trade, how the trade system worked, and the lives of slaves and the creation of African-American culture, including its connection to modern racism (2.3)
• Understand the ideas and impact of Enlightenment and Great Awakening on colonial American society and culture (2.4)
• Understand the main political events and forces that shaped the founding and evolution of British colonies in North America from 1600-1750 (2.5)
• Describe the political, social, economic, and ecological impact of European arrival on Native American societies (2.6)
• Analyze the causes of the American Revolution using a combination of primary and secondary sources and compare arguments on the causes made by various historians (3.1)
• Understand the factors that led to the American victory in the Revolutionary War and the effects of the war (3.2)
• Develop an argument about the degree to which the American Revolution transformed American society (3.3)
• Understand the main features of the Articles of Confederation and other early trials in American government and the factors that led to their failure (4.1)
• Understand the background and compromises of the Constitutional Convention and ratification process, along with the major features and principles of the Constitution and Bill of Rights (4.2)
• Describe the major political events & trends in America during the 1790's, including Hamilton's financial program, the formation of political parties, and the westward expansion of the nation (4.3)
• Understand the key events and policies of American politics from 1800-1825, including the Louisiana Purchase, the legal principles established by the Marshall Court, the War of 1812, Monroe Doctrine, and the Missouri Compromise (5.1)
• Understand the legacies and impact of the rise in popular democracy and the Jackson presidency, including the Indian Removal Act (5.2)
• Understand the causes and effects of the creation of the Second Party System in the 1830's and 1840's (5.3)
• Understand the causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution on American society, including the impact of transportation systems and urbanization (6.1)
• Understand the patterns of immigration from 1800-1860 and their impact on American society (6.2)
• Understand the major forces that shaped the formation of a distinct American culture and the impact of the Second Great Awakening and the subsequent reform movements (6.3)
• Understand the main forces shaping the antebellum South, including the expansion of slavery and the domestic slave trade and the social and cultural lives of whites and blacks in the South (6.4)
• Compare and contrast northern and southern societies on the eve of the Civil War (6.5)
• Understand the causes and effects of American westward expansion and the ideology of Manifest Destiny (7.1)
• Understand the causes and effects of the Mexican-American War (7.2)
• Analyze the causes of the American Civil War through primary and secondary sources and create an argument on the central causes of the war (7.3)
• Analyze the factors that led to the Union’s victory and the key turning points in the Civil War (8.1)
• Use primary sources to analyze the evolution of the goals of the Civil War and the role of abolition in the war’s goals (8.2)
• Understand the effects and legacy of the Civil War (8.3)
• Understand the Reconstruction Amendments and the other policies of Reconstruction (9.1)
• Understand the Southern violent backlash to Reconstruction and the resulting policies (9.2)
• Analyze the legacy of Reconstruction, including the creation of ‘Lost Cause’ mythology, and evaluate Lincoln as a historical figure (9.3)
• Explain the causes and effects of the settlement of the West from 1877 to 1898. (10.1)
• Analyze historians arguments on the issue of whether or not Americans committed a genocide agaisnt Native Americans and construct an argument based on those claims (10.2)
• Understand the changes and continuities in industrialization, immigration, and labor that continued shape American society from 1877-1914 (11.1)
• Understand the causes and effects of the deterioration of race relations known as the Nadir (11.2)
• Understand the causes of cultural change in American society and the new forms of cultural expression and entertainment that arose from 1877-1914 (11.3)
• Understand the processes of urbanization and efforts to reform industrial cities from 1877-1914 (11.4)
• Understand the forces that led to the calls for political reforms and the effects of the Progressive era (11.5)
• Understand the arguments and motivations of American imperialism (12.1)
• Understand the effects of the Spanish-American War and other American territorial acquisitions in the late 1800’s (12.2)
• Explain the causes and consequences of U.S. involvement in World War I and the U.S. role in World War I (13.1)
• Understand the social, economic, and cultural effects of World War I on American society from 1919-1932 (14.1)
• Understand the causes of the Great Depression, the extent of the crisis, and the early responses by the government (14.2)
• Understand the major programs, reforms, and initiatives of the New Deal and their impact on American political, social, and economic life over time (15.1)
• Understand the factors that led to World War II and led to American involvement in the war (16.1)
• Understand America’s role in WWII and the efforts undertaken to mobilize the nation for the war effort (16.2)
• Examine and analyze the impact of WWII on American society and evaluate America’s actions taken during WWII (16.3)
• Understand the major foreign policies of the early Cold War and the decisions and impact of those policies (17.1)
• Understand the impact of the Cold War on domestic politics and American society from 1945-1963 (17.2)
• Understand the causes and effects of postwar economic growth, including the development of the middle class and the growth of suburbs and consumerism (18.1)
• Understand the values that shaped American culture and society in the postwar years (18.2)
• Understand the variety of factors that helped lead to the Civil Rights movement (19.1)
• Understand the tactics and successes of the Civil Rights Movement and resulting legislation (19.2)
• Use a variety of research information to evaluate the extent to which the Civil Rights Movement achieved its goals (19.3)
• Understand the Great Society programs and their impact (20.1)
• Understand the factors that led to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the nature of the war (20.2)
• Understand the public reaction to the Vietnam War and the conservative backlash to anti-war protests and other social change movements of the 1960’s (20.3)
• Understand the causes and effects of the environmental movement, deindustrialization, and economic stagnation beginning in the 1970’s (21.1)
• Understand the origins and evolution of the New Right and the groups that made up the Republican coalition by the 1980’s (22.1)
• Understand the domestic and foreign policies of the Reagan administration, including supply side economics, and their impact and legacy (22.2)
• Understand the causes and effects of the end of the Cold War and its legacy (22.3)
• Analyze U.S. decision making throughout the entire Cold War and construct an argument that either defends or criticizes those decisions (22.4)
• Understand the impact of both globalization and the Digital Revolution have had on American society since the 1990’s (23.1)
• Understand the dynamics of politics from 1990-2012, including the rise of political partisanship, 9/11 and the War on Terror, and responses to the Great Recession (23.2)
• Understand the impact of immigration and the creation of increasingly pluralistic society since the 1990’s (23.3)
• Evaluate major trends in modern American society, including increasing political polarization, mass incarceration and the War on Drugs, continued racial unrest, mass shootings, and other issues (23.4)

Textbook -- America’s History- 8th Edition (Henrietta)