Grade 8

Identify the major eras in U.S. history through 1877, including colonization, revolution, creation and ratification of the Constitution, early republic, the Age of Jackson, westward expansion, reform movements, sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction, and describe their causes and effects.

Explain the significance of the following dates: 1607, founding of Jamestown; 1620, arrival of the Pilgrims and signing of the Mayflower Compact; 1776, adoption of the Declaration of Independence; 1787, writing of the U.S. Constitution; 1803, Louisiana Purchase; and 1861-1865, Civil War.

Identify reasons for English, Spanish, and French exploration and colonization of North America.

Compare political, economic, religious, and social reasons for the establishment of the 13 English colonies.

Explain the reasons for the growth of representative government and institutions during the colonial period.

Analyze the importance of the Mayflower Compact, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, and the Virginia House of Burgesses to the growth of representative government.

Describe how religion and virtue contributed to the growth of representative government in the American colonies.

Analyze causes of the American Revolution, including the Proclamation of 1763, the Intolerable Acts, the Stamp Act, mercantilism, lack of representation in Parliament, and British economic policies following the French and Indian War.

Explain the roles played by significant individuals during the American Revolution, including Abigail Adams, John Adams, Wentworth Cheswell, Samuel Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, James Armistead, Benjamin Franklin, Crispus Attucks, King George III, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Paine, and George Washington.

Explain the issues surrounding important events of the American Revolution, including declaring independence; fighting the battles of Lexington and Concord, Saratoga, and Yorktown; enduring the winter at Valley Forge; and signing the Treaty of Paris of 1783.

Analyze the issues of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, including the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise.

Describe major domestic problems faced by the leaders of the new republic, including maintaining national security, creating a stable economic system, and setting up the court system.

Explain the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.

Summarize arguments regarding protective tariffs, taxation, and the banking system.

Explain the origin and development of American political parties.

Explain the causes, important events, and effects of the War of 1812.

Identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe and explain the impact of Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine.

Explain the impact of the election of Andrew Jackson, including expanded suffrage.

Analyze the reasons for the removal and resettlement of Cherokee Indians during the Jacksonian era, including the Indian Removal Act, Worcester v. Georgia, and the Trail of Tears.

Explain how the Northwest Ordinance established principles and procedures for orderly expansion of the United States.

Analyze the westward growth of the nation, including the Louisiana Purchase and Manifest Destiny.

Explain the causes and effects of the U.S.-Mexican War and their impact on the United States.

Analyze the impact of tariff policies on sections of the United States before the Civil War.

Compare the effects of political, economic, and social factors on slaves and free Blacks.

Analyze the impact of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 on slavery, free Blacks, and abolitionists.

Analyze the impact of slavery on different sections of the United States.

Identify the provisions and compare the effects of congressional conflicts and compromises prior to the Civil War, including the role of John Quincy Adams.

Explain the roles played by significant individuals during the Civil War, including Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Abraham Lincoln, and heroes such as congressional Medal of Honor recipients William Carney and Philip Bazaar.

Explain the central role of the expansion of slavery in causing sectionalism, disagreement over states' rights, and the Civil War.

Explain significant events of the Civil War, including the firing on Fort Sumter; the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg; the Emancipation Proclamation; Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House; and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Analyze Abraham Lincoln's ideas about liberty, equality, union, and government as contained in his first and second inaugural addresses and the Gettysburg Address and contrast them with the ideas contained in Jefferson Davis's inaugural address.

Evaluate legislative reform programs of the Radical Reconstruction Congress and reconstructed state governments.

Explain the impact of the election of African Americans from the South such as Hiram Rhodes Revels.

Explain the economic, political, and social problems during Reconstruction and evaluate their impact on different groups.

Locate places and regions directly related to major eras and turning points in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

Compare places and regions of the United States in terms of physical and human characteristics.

Analyze the effects of physical and human geographic factors such as weather, landforms, waterways, transportation, and communication on major historical events in the United States.

Analyze how physical characteristics of the environment influenced population distribution, settlement patterns, and economic activities in the United States.

Describe the positive and negative consequences of human modification of the physical environment of the United States.

Identify economic differences among different regions of the United States.

Explain reasons for the development of the plantation system, the transatlantic slave trade, and the spread of slavery.

Analyze the causes and effects of economic differences among different regions of the United States at selected times.

Analyze the economic effects of the War of 1812.

Identify the economic factors that brought about rapid industrialization and urbanization.

Explain why a free enterprise system of economics developed in the new nation, including minimal government regulation, taxation, and property rights.

Describe the characteristics and the benefits of the U.S. free enterprise system through 1877.

Identify the influence of ideas from historic documents, including the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the Mayflower Compact, and the Federalist Papers, on the U.S. system of government.

Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Identify colonial grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence and explain how those grievances were addressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Analyze how the U.S. Constitution reflects the principles of limited government, republicanism, checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, and individual rights.

Explain the role of significant individuals such as Thomas Hooker, Charles de Montesquieu, and John Locke in the development of self-government in colonial America.

Summarize the purposes for amending the U.S. Constitution.

Describe the impact of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

Analyze the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, including those of Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, James Madison, and George Mason, and explain how their debates exemplify civil discourse.

Explain constitutional issues arising over the issue of states' rights, including the Nullification Crisis and the Civil War.

Identify the origin of judicial review.

Summarize the issues, decisions, and significance of landmark Supreme Court cases, including Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden.

Evaluate the impact of the landmark Supreme Court decision Dred Scott v. Sandford on life in the United States.

Define and give examples of unalienable rights.

Summarize rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Identify examples of responsible citizenship, including obeying rules and laws, staying informed on public issues, voting, and serving on juries.

Evaluate the contributions of the Founding Fathers as models of civic virtue.

Analyze reasons for and the impact of selected examples of civil disobedience in U.S. history such as the Boston Tea Party and Henry David Thoreau's refusal to pay a tax.

Identify different points of view of political parties and interest groups on important historical issues.

Describe the importance of free speech and press in a constitutional republic.

Summarize historical events in which compromise resulted in a resolution such as the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Analyze the leadership qualities of elected and appointed leaders of the United States such as George Washington, John Marshall, and Abraham Lincoln.

Describe the contributions of significant political, social, and military leaders of the United States such as Frederick Douglass, John Paul Jones, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Identify racial, ethnic, and religious groups that settled in the United States and explain their reasons for immigration.

Explain how urbanization contributed to conflicts resulting from differences in religion, social class, and political beliefs.

Identify ways conflicts between people from various racial, ethnic, and religious groups were addressed.

Analyze the contributions of people of various racial, ethnic, and religious groups to our national identity.

Identify the political, social, and economic contributions of women to American society.

Describe and evaluate the historical development of the abolition movement, including activities that focused attention on the moral ills of slavery.

Evaluate the impact of reform movements, including educational reform, temperance, the women's rights movement, prison reform, the labor reform movement, and care of the disabled.

Trace the development of religious freedom in the United States.

Describe religious influences on social movements, including the impact of the first and second Great Awakenings.

Analyze the impact of the First Amendment guarantees of religious freedom on the American way of life.

Identify examples of American art, music, and literature that reflect society in different eras such as the Hudson River School artists, the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and transcendental literature.

Analyze the relationship between the arts and continuity and change in the American way of life.

Explain the effects of technological and scientific innovations such as the steamboat, the cotton gin, the telegraph, and interchangeable parts.

Analyze how technological innovations changed the way goods were manufactured and distributed, nationally and internationally.

Analyze how technological innovations brought about economic growth such as the development of the factory system and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.

Compare the effects of scientific discoveries and technological innovations that have influenced daily life in different periods in U.S. history.

Identify examples of how industrialization changed life in the United States.

Differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such as media and news services, biographies, interviews, and artifacts to acquire information about the United States.

Analyze information by applying absolute and relative chronology through sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions.

Organize and interpret information from outlines, reports, databases, and visuals, including graphs, charts, timelines, and maps.

Identify bias and points of view created by the historical context surrounding an event.

Formulate and communicate visually, orally, or in writing a claim supported by evidence and reasoning related to a social studies topic.

Evaluate a variety of historical and contemporary sources for validity, credibility, bias, and accuracy.

Create a visual representation of historical information such as thematic maps, graphs, and charts representing various aspects of the United States.

Pose and answer questions about geographic distributions and patterns shown on maps, graphs, and charts.

Use social studies terminology correctly.

Use effective written communication skills, including proper citations and avoiding plagiarism.

Create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information.

Apply foundational language skills to engage in civil discourse about social studies topics, including those with multiple perspectives.

Describe governmental and democratic processes such as voting, due process, and caucuses using simulations and models.

Use problem-solving and decision-making processes to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.