Unit 1 -
Settlement of the Americas ( 8
questions)
Students will understand:
1. The reasons for exploration and
settlement of the Americas by the
European powers.
(riches, markets, resources, trade,
religion, land)
2. The development of the four distinct
cultures in the British American colonies.
(Puritans, Midlands (Quakers),
Cavaliers, Backwoods)
3. The extent of the Native American cultures
already present in the Americas and
the impact that
European settlement had on them.
(500 Nations, Wars, Removal and disease)
Unit 2 – The American Enlightenment ( 12
questions)
Students will understand:
1. The concepts, people and works involved in
the American Enlightenment.
(Franklin, Jefferson, Henry and
Paine)
2. The development of a distinct American character in the British
colonies.
(Democratic institutions, religious
diversity, economic development and interdependence)
3. The factors and events that led to the American War of
Independence.
(Mercantilist policies, Stamp, Tea
and Intolerable Acts, Continental Congresses)
4. The factors that led to the American victory
in the War of Independence.
(distance, cause, foreign aid,
leadership, pamphlets)
5. The factors that led to the Constitutional
Convention in 1787.
(Articles of Confederation
weaknesses)
6. The basic concepts of American democratic
government contained in the Constitution.
(Separation of powers, Federalism,
Republic, Checks and Balances, Judicial Review)
Unit 3 – America Finds a Voice (15
questions)
Students will understand:
1. The impact of early policies and decisions
as America began to chart a course of action.
(Hamilton v. Jefferson,
Whiskey Rebellion, neutrality, Barbary Coast, War of 1812, Monroe Doctrine)
2. The differences that developed between the
North and the South, the political factions
that represented them, and the impact on the United States.
(political parties, inventions and
Industrial Revolution, American System, agriculture v.
industry, Tariff of Abominations)
3. The role the wilderness played in American
culture and the difference of opinion as to
how it should be handled.
(Romantics v. Manifest Destiny)
4. The extension of democracy to all white men.
(Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party)
5. The importance of manifest destiny and how it impacted the
extension of the United
States west to the Pacific Ocean.
(Texan Independence, Mexican War, Mormons, Gold Rush,
Cattle, Closing of the
Frontier, Indian Wars and policy)
Unit 4 – The Coming of the Civil War (10
questions)
Students will understand:
1. The
extent of the differences that had developed between the North and the South and
the
Sectionalism that occurred.
(Sectionalism, King Cotton and
slavery, Industrialization, Tariffs)
2. The attempts that were made to compromise
and the reasons for their ultimate failure.
(Missouri Compromise, Compromise of
1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act)
3. The factors and events that led to the
outbreak of the Civil War.
(abolitionists, Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
Dred Scott, John Brown, Election of 1860)
4. The advantages and disadvantages of the
North and the South in fighting the war.
(Cause, Home field, Generals,
Industry, Railroads, Food crops)
5. The results of the war and the impact of
Reconstruction on the South.
(Gettysburg Address, Lincoln v.
Radical Republicans, 13-15th Amendments,
Reconstruction, Jim Crow)
Unit 5 – Industrial America
A. Industrial
Revolution (6 questions)
Students will understand:
1. The factors that led to the growth of
industry in the United States.
(Resources, labor, population,
railroads, inventions, investment)
2. The basic changes that occurred in American
society due to Industrialization.
(immigration, urbanization,
technology)
3. The role technological advances had in the
development of America and the people that
drove those changes and the businesses that that resulted.
(inventions, Robber Barons, major
industries – steel, oil, railroads)
B. An Immigrant Society (6
questions)
Students will understand:
1. The basic timeline of immigration and the
reasons the main immigrant groups came to
the United States.
(Germans and Irish, Asians, Jews
(German and Russian), Poles, Italians and Mexicans)
2. The experience of the main immigrant groups
had in the United States, including the
growing force of nativism.
(nativism, Chinese Exclusion and
Gentlemen’s agreement, Immigration Act of 1924)
C. Chicago – City of the Century (5
questions)
Students will understand:
1. The factors that led to the explosive growth
of Chicago in the 1800’s and its central role
in Industrial America.
(canals and railroads, major
industries – McCormick, meat-packing, steel, department
stores and mail-order)
2. The dynamics of urbanization and how Chicago
dealt with such as it grew as an
Industrial city.
( transportation, skyscrapers,
health, parks)
D. Progressive
Era (10 questions)
Students will understand:
1. The role muckrakers played in bringing out
the injustices, problems and corruption of
the Industrial Era.
(Sinclair, Steffens, Tarbell, Riis,
Hine)
2. The way in which both government and society
reacted to the negative development in
the Industrial Era to bring a sense of justice, opportunity and safety
to American society.
(Sherman anti-trust and cases, Meat
Inspection and Food and Drug Act, National Parks,
Interstate Commerce Act and Granges, Hull House, extension of democratic
participation, privates groups and organizations)
E. American
Imperialism (8 questions)
Students will understand:
1. The forces which led to and justified the
United States expanding it’s influence in the
world.
( Depression of 1893, Josiah
Strong, Alfred T. Mahan, TR, yellow journalism)
2. American foreign policy developments from
Hawaii in 1891 through World War 1.
(Hawaii, Spanish-American War,
Roosevelt Corollary, Open-Door Policy, Panama
Canal, Dollar Diplomacy, WW1, 14 Points)
_________________________________________________________________________
General objectives:
Students will be able to use and interpret the following
in meeting the above mentioned objectives.
1. Map use –
States, major cities, rivers, lakes, oceans and mountains as they relate to the
above-
mentioned objectives
2. Culture –
Literature, art work, photography and music as it relates to the
above-mentioned
objectives.