United States History

Course Description

In United States History, students study the history of the United States Reconstruction to the present. The six social studies standards of essential content knowledge and four process skills are integrated for instructional purposes. Students will utilize different methods that historians use to interpret the past, including points of view and historical context.

Era 6: Industrial Development of the United States (1870-1900)

Learning Expectations:

Standard Number 1.0: Culture

Understand how industrial development affected the United States culture.

Understand how the influx of immigrants after 1880 affected United States’ culture.

Standard Number 2.0: Economics

Investigate how the modernization of agriculture and capitalist industrial development affected the economy of the United States.

Understand the economic disparity between farmers and wage earners as compared to industrial capitalists.

Standard Number 3.0: Geography

Recognize the geographic areas in which industrialism occurred.

Recognize the areas affected by westward expansion of the United States.

Standard Number 4.0: Governance and Civics

Understand the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the United States politics.

Understand the political issues and problems that affected the United States during the last half of the nineteenth century.

Standard Number 5.0: History

Investigate the dynamics of the post-Reconstruction era and the people and events that influenced the country.

Identify the events and impact of the westward movement and the Indian Wars.

Standard Number 6.0: Individuals Groups and Interactions

Appreciate the diversity of various cultures and their influences on the United States.

Investigate the effect of big business upon the lives of farmers and wage earners

Performance Indicators State:

As documented through state assessment,

• 6.1 Identify how the effects of 19th century warfare promoted the growth of industrialism (i.e., railroads, iron vs. steel industry, textiles, coal, rubber, processed foods).
• 6.2 Identify major agricultural post-Civil War American geographic areas on a map.
• 6.3 Identify major urban areas of the United States on a map (i.e., Northeast, upper Midwest, Atlantic Coast, California).
• 6.4 Identify patterns of immigration and the causal factors that led to immigration to the United States  of America (i.e., crop famines, European social and political unrest, religious freedom)
• 6.5 Distinguish the differences in assimilation of "old" vs. "new" immigration. (i.e., languages, settlement patterns, education, employment, housing, Nativist reaction, religion, geographic origin).
• 6.6 Read and interpret a primary source document reflecting the dynamics of the Gilded Age American society (e.g., Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise," Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth," Sojourner Truth "Ain't I A Woman," Jane Addams' Hull House accounts, Jacob Riis photographs and/or writings, a sweatshop worker's personal story).
• 6.7 Recognize technological and industrial advancements to the era (i.e., advancements in mining,   farming or ranching).
• 6.8 Match innovators to their industrial and technological contributions (i.e., Vanderbilt, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Pullman, Hershey, Dupont, Bell, Edison, Rockefeller, Swift, and  Armour).
• 6.9 Recognize the economic disparity among farmers, wage earners, immigrants, or racial groups when compared to industrial capitalists.
• 6.10 Interpret a political cartoon which portrays the controversial aspects of the Gilded Age (e.g. Populist reaction to politician and/or tycoons, railroad development, westward expansion, Dawes Act, urban developments).
• 6.11Analyze the impact of different forms of corruption and its consequences in American politics during the later half of the Age.(i.e., Grant's Black Friday, Credit Mobilier, Whiskey Ring, Tammany Hall,  Boss System, Garfield's assassination, Civil Service Reform, Granger laws, Interstate Commerce Act).
• 6.12 Assess the effect of late 19th century technological innovation on the daily lives of American people (i.e., electricity, indoor plumbing, communication, transportation).

Performance Indicators Teacher:

As documented through teacher observation,

• 6.1 Trace the stages of America's westward growth through the analysis of maps and primary source accounts.
• 6.2 Illustrate differences between rural and urban economies.
• 6.3 Summarize why America is a "nation of immigrants."
• 6.4 Analyze the economic, social, and political impact of permanent migration of farmers, miners, merchants, ranchers upon Native Americans in the West.
• 6.5 Trace the settlement and transition to statehood of the Western territories.
• 6.6 Associate economic interests with their respective geographic regions
• 6.7 Identify the effects of political patronage upon local and national politics.
• 6.8 Identify the origins and impact of Populism by the use of historical investigation.
• 6.9 Analyze the dynamics of late 19th C immigration and the growth of Nativism.
• 6.10 Identify major leaders in industry and labor by contrasting their differing points of view
• 6.11 Analyze the basic principles of Turner's frontier thesis.
• 6.12 Analyze the theory of Social Darwinism and its application to society and politics from multiple perspectives.

Era 7: Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)

Learning Expectations:

Standard Number 1.0: Culture

Understand social tensions and their consequences after the turn of the century.

Understand the cultural changes in the early 20th century.

Standard Number 2.0: Economics

Recognize how industrialization of World War I changed the United States economy.

Understand the economy of the United States in the 1920s.

Standard Number 3.0: Geography

Identify the countries involved in World War I.

Understand the geographic scope of American imperialism.

Standard Number 4.0: Governance and Civics

Understand the reforms and changes in American politics and government as a result of the Progressive Movement.

Understand the governmental policies that affected America and the world during the 1890s- 1930s.

Standard Number 5.0: History

Understand the role of the United States in world affairs.

Understand the causes for WWI and the reasons for America’s entry into the war.

Standard Number 6.0: Individuals Groups and Interactions

Understand the effect of World War I on the American people.

Understand the moral, social, and cultural changes that occurred in the 1920s.

Performance Indicators State:

As documented through state assessment,

• 7.1 Identify causes of American imperialism (i.e., raw materials, nationalism, missionaries, militarism, Monroe Doctrine).
• 7.2 Identify consequences of American imperialism (i.e. Spanish American War, expanding trade, extractive economies, Panama Canal, the idea of a superior Anglo-Saxon culture, yellow journalism, military occupation).
• 7.3 Recognize the progress of political and social reform in America during this era (i.e., Women's Suffrage, Regulation of food and drug, Initiative, Referendum, and Recall, protection of workers' rights, Antitrust Supreme Court decisions, Muckrakers).
• 7.4 Identify the causes of American involvement in World War I (i.e., security concerns, economic benefits, Wilsonian diplomacy, propaganda).
• 7.5 Recognize the new trends, ideas, and innovations of the 1920's popular culture (i.e., radio, automobile, phonograph, Prohibition, birth control, organized crime, sports). recognize the role of Tennessee in the women's suffrage movement. (i.e., "the perfect 36", Anne Dallas Dudley, Harry Burn, Governor Albert Roberts).
• 7.6 Determine the possible factors that led to the economic collapse of 1929 (i.e., over production of  agriculture and industry, expansion of credit, financial speculation, agricultural crop failures, tariff barriers, laissez- faire).
• 7.7 Read and interpret a primary source document reflecting the social dynamics of the 1920's. (e.g. Harlem Renaissance, Lost Generation, Upton Sinclair).
• 7.8 Compare and contrast the philosophies of DuBois, Washington and Garvey.
• 7.9 Analyze the American isolationist position versus interventionist arguments.

Performance Indicators Teacher:

As documented through teacher observation,

• 7.1 Explain why countries seek colonies and define mercantilism.
• 7.2 Recognize European countries by their alliance systems and spheres of influence by using a map.
• 7.3 Explain the dynamics of political and social reform.
• 7.4 Describe the changes in American life due to and exemplified in the new forms of media, art, and technology (e.g. radio, movies, jazz, sports).
• 7.5 Trace America's entry and involvement in World War I.
• 7.6 Examine the transition of America's foreign policy in reaction to international dynamics spawned  from World War I.
• 7.7 Summarize the various aspects of the "Roaring 20's”.
• 7.8 Evaluate the long term political impact of laissez faire policies.
• 7.9 Critique American art and literature from the Social Realists to the Harlem Renaissance to the “Lost Generation."
• 7.10 Appraise the growing impact of militarism on 20th century warfare and economy.
• 7.11 Compare and contrast President Theodore Roosevelt's style of Progressivism and Wilsonian Progressivism.

Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

Learning Expectations:

Standard Number 1.0: Culture

Understand the effect of the Great Depression upon American society.

Understand the effects of World War II upon American society.

Standard Number 2.0: Economics

Understand the economic climate in the United States during the Depression Era.

Understand how World War II affected the American economy.

Standard Number 3.0: Geography

Identify the countries affected by the totalitarian states and their acts of aggression and expansion considering geographic location.

Identify the various theaters of war during World War II.

Standard Number 4.0: Governance and Civics

Recognize the effects of the Great Depression on the United States political and judicial system.

Recognize the effects of political policies on civil liberties during World War II.

Standard Number 5.0: History

Investigate the causes, effects and attempts to deal with the Great Depression.

Understand the changing dynamics of American life during World War II.

Standard Number 6.0: Individuals Groups and Interactions

Understand the changes in American life as a result of the Great Depression.

Understand the changing dynamics of American life during World War II.

Performance Indicators State:

As documented through state assessment,

• 8.1 Identify the causes of World War II (i.e., Treaty of Versailles, fascism, failure of the League of Nations, Japanese imperialism, economic worldwide difficulties).
• 8.2 Recognize the negative patterns of an economic cycle (i.e., increase of unemployment, decrease of price level, excess inventory, decrease of production, prepossession, increase of business failure, and bankruptcy).
• 8.3 Recognize the definitions of totalitarianism, fascism, communism, nationalism, and anti-Semitism.
• 8.4 Identify the changes in social and cultural life caused by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl (i.e., Hoovervilles, Bonus Army, migrations, worldwide economic depression, Democrat victory in 1932, widespread poverty, unemployment, religious revivalism).
• 8.5 Interpret a timeline of major events from World War II.
• 8.6 Identify New Deal Programs/Initiatives (i.e. Social Security, WPA, TVA, Indian Reorganization Act, FDIC, CCC, Wagner/Fair Labor Standards' Act).
• 8.7 Recognize World War II alliances
• 8.8 Analyze how World War II affected the American economy (i.e., women in the workforce, movement to urban centers, minority employment, post war G.I.Bill, rationing, childcare).
• 8.9 Recognize the effect of the New Deal and World War II on Tennessee (i.e, the creation of Fort Campbell the Clarksville Base, Tennessee Valley Authority, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Oak Ridge).
• 8.10 Evaluate the impact of the Manhattan Project. (i.e., the creation of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, nuclear proliferation, espionage, ethical debate, medical experimentation, Nagasaki, Hiroshima).
• 8.11 Interpret a political cartoon involving the New Deal.

Performance Indicators Teacher:

As documented through teacher observation,

• 8.1 Explain the effect of poverty on people's lives by examining multiple perspectives. Give general political responses to economic calamity.
• 8.2 Define aggression, appeasement, and totalitarianism.
• 8.3 Recognize how the industrial and agricultural crisis negatively impacted different socioeconomic groups (e.g., WWI veterans, farmers, women, minorities, factory workers).
• 8.4 Describe how the events can be interpreted as watershed events. (e.g., Bonus Army, the election of 1932, the entry into World War II).
• 8.5 Trace the evolution of FDR's New Deal policies and the opposition to them.
• 8.6 Compare and contrast the United States' military strategy in Asian and European theaters of war.
• 8.7 Explore how World War II impacted everyday American life.
• 8.8 Recognize the various contributions that Tennessee geographic regions made to the war effort (e.g., Camp Campbell, Camp Forrest, Tennessee "volunteerism", Memphis manufacturing firms, Chattanooga's war production plants, Knoxville's TVA and ALCOA influence, and Kingsport's Eastman explosive plant).
• 8.9 Appraise how World War II impacted America's perception of human rights and national security issues.
• 8.10 Assess the lasting impact of the New Deal (e.g., political parties, social security, works projects).
• 8.11 Consider how World War II promoted the formation of a new "American" identity.

Era 9: Post World War II Era (1945-1970s)

Learning Expectations:

Standard Number 1.0: Culture

Investigate the impact of the GI Bill of Rights on American society.

Investigate the effects of desegregation, the Civil Rights Movement, and the turbulent 1960s upon American society.

Standard Number 2.0: Economics

Understand how demobilization and conversion to a peacetime economy affected the United States.

Understand how sustained growth led to an affluent society.

Standard Number 3.0: Geography

Identify countries dominated and threatened by communism after World War II.

Identify the major areas of the world in which the United States was involved after 1945.

Standard Number 4.0: Governance and Civics:

Understand the causes, course, and impact of the Civil Rights Movement.

Investigate Supreme Court decisions that affected the United States from 1945 to the early 1970s.

Standard Number 5.0: History

Understand the causes, course, and effects of the Cold War.

Investigate and understand the active theaters of conflict during the Cold War.

Standard Number 6.0: Individuals Groups and Interactions

Understand how the "baby boom," suburbanization, desegregation, and other social movements affected American society.

Understand how Cold War conformity conflicted with individual rights and self-expression.

Investigate how technological change transformed American society and created popular culture.

Performance Indicators State:

As documented through state assessment,

• 9.1 Recognize differences among the victorious Allied Powers after World War II (i.e., capitalist, communist, military structure, individual differences).
• 9.2 Distinguish social inequities in America in the post World War II era (i.e., racial segregation, generation conflict, gender equity, ethnic identification).
• 9.3 Locate and label countries, using a map, dominated or threatened by Communism.
• 9.4 Recognize the impact of technological and cultural changes on American society (i.e., Space Race, Hollywood, communication networks, mass media, medical advances, interstate highway system).
• 9.5 Identify areas associated with American containment policies (i.e., Korea, Vietnam, Cuba , East and West Germany).
• 9.6 Recognize domestic impact of the Cold War on American society (i.e., McCarthyism, fear, conformity, counterculture, generation gap, highway system, consumerism).
• 9.7 Determine the effects of the Supreme Court's decisions on Civil Rights (i.e., Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board, Miranda v. Arizona, Gideon v. Wainwright).
• 9.8 Identify significant events in the struggle for Civil Rights (i.e. integration of Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee, the Clinton 12 and Governor Clement’s actions, Little Rock Central High, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom Riders’ route, Birmingham bombings, Nashville lunch counters, Martin Luther King's March on Washington speech, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Civil Rights Act of 1968, Escobedo v. Illinois, Great Society).
• 9.9 Recognize the altered American approach to foreign policy (i.e., Bay of Pigs, Brinkmanship, Cuban Missile Crisis, peaceful coexistence).
• 9.10 Match leading figures of the Civil Rights era with their respective groups and goals (i.e., Strom Thurmond, Eugene “ Bull” Conner, George Wallace, Diane Nash, Betty Friedan, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Albert Gore, Sr).
• 9.11Read and interpret Cold War documents (e.g., Truman's announcement of the dropping atomic bombs, the contrast between Eisenhower's farewell speech and Kennedy's speech at Kennedy's inaugural, Goldwater's 1964 party nomination acceptance speech, Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin declaration).
• 9.12Identify the changes in the music industry brought about by Tennessee's influence (i.e., Grand Ole Opry, WSM, Nashville music publishing, Memphis Sun Studio& Stax Records, Elvis Presley).
• 9.13 Evaluate socio-economic impact of the post World War II Baby Boomer generation (i.e., media, entertainment, sports, suburbia, education, and counterculture).
• 9.14 Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of increased global trade and competition  on the U.S. economy

Performance Indicators Teacher:

As documented through teacher assessment,

• 9.1 Map the post World War II geographic changes.
• 9.2 Contrast communism and capitalism.
• 9.3 List milestones in American Civil Rights in terms of ethnicity and gender.
• 9.4 Explain the G.I. Bill and its subsequent effects.
• 9.5 Illustrate domestic and foreign policy issues of the Truman presidential administration.
• 9.6 Examine domestic and foreign policy issues of the Eisenhower presidential administration.
• 9.7 Compare the ideologies and effectiveness of different groups involved in the Civil Rights and women's movement.
• 9.8 Compare and contrast the domestic and foreign policies of the Kennedy/Johnson administrations to the Nixon administration.
• 9.9 Describe the expansion of suburbanization and analyze how the "crabgrass frontier" affected American society.
• 9.10 Assess America's socioeconomic dynamic as a postwar superpower.
• 9.11 Evaluate how the threat of nuclear holocaust contributed to international stability.
• 9.12 Investigate the effects of the turbulent 1960's upon American society.
• 9.13 Analyze Tennessean Estes Kefauver's role as chairman of the Senate Special Committee to
• Investigate Organized Crime, and participation in the Civil Rights movement.

Era 10: The Contemporary United States 1968-present

Learning Expectations:

Standard Number 1.0: Culture

Recognize how the scientific and technological advances of the computer age influenced American culture.

Recognize the transition of minorities, women, and culture groups through history.

Standard Number 2.0: Economics

Investigate trends in the overall economic cycle since the 1970s.

Assess the impact of trade and overseas competition on the economy.

Standard Number 3.0: Geography

Investigate the ongoing population shifts from urban to suburban and the migration from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt.

Identify areas of the world in which commercial and security interests involved the United States from 1968 to the present.

Standard Number 4.0: Governance and Civics

Investigate the impact of political turmoil on American attitudes toward governance since 1968.

Identify the impact of constitutional change, various civil rights movements, feminism, and the Reagan Revolution.

Standard Number 5.0: History

Understand the causes, the course, and the effects of the Vietnam War at home and abroad.

Investigate domestic and foreign policy trends since 1968.

Standard Number 6.0: Individuals Groups and Interactions

Understand the dynamics of the modern American family.

Understand the implications of the changing American society.

Performance Indicators State:

As documented through state assessment,

• 10.1 Match innovators or entrepreneurs in the "new economy" (i.e., Sam Walton, Michael Dell, Ray Kroc, Lee Iococca, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos).
• 10.2 Recognize the roles of the key figures of Watergate (i.e., administration, investigators, media).
• 10.3 Use a timeline to identify America's interest and participation in Southeast Asia since World War II.
• 10.4 Compare and contrast the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations with the Clinton administration and the nature of their respective political opposition (i.e., economic, domestic, budgets, foreign policy, ethics, and generational values).
• 10.5 Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of increased global trade and competition on the U.S. economy (i.e. NAFTA treaty, import quotas, free trade agreements)

Performance Indicators Teacher:

As documented through teacher assessment,

• 10.1 Recognize the impact of scandal on American politics.
• 10.2 Recall prior cultural advances that occurred as a result of inventions and innovations.
• 10.3 Investigate trends in the overall economic cycle from President Nixon to the present.
• 10.4 Examine the roles of the key figures of Watergate (e.g., administration, investigators, and the media).
• 10.5 Construct a timeline of America's interest and participation in Southeast Asia since World War II.
• 10.6 Explain the influence of modern media e.g. internet upon American lifestyles.
• 10.7 Discuss the political impact of generational issues such as social security, health care, and the national deficit.
• 10.8 Discuss the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton administrations and the nature of their respective political opposition.
• 10.9 Consider the challenges to the American family presented by contemporary society.
• 10.10 Evaluate the ongoing influence of the Vietnam War upon United States foreign policy.
• 10.11 Analyze the impact of hemispheric issues upon America's course in the 21st Century.