The student will demonstrate knowledge of European exploration in North America and West Africa by
a) describing the motivations for, obstacles to, and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English explorations;
b) describing cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians that led to cooperation and conflict, with emphasis on the American Indian concept of land;
c) identifying the locations and describing the characteristics of West African societies (Ghana, Mali, and Songhai) and their interactions with traders.
Unit 3
November/
December 2012
Colonial America
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the factors that shaped colonial
America by
a) describing the religious and economic events and conditions that led to the colonization of America;
b) describing life in New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies, with emphasis on how people interacted with their environment to produce goods and services, including examples of specialization and interdependence;
c) describing colonial life in America from the perspectives of large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, free African Americans, indentured servants, and enslaved African Americans;
d) identifying the political and economic relationships between the colonies and Great Britain.
Unit 4
December/
January
2012-1013
American Revolution
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the causes and results of the
b) identifying how political ideas shaped the revolutionary movement in America and led to the Declaration of Independence;
c) describing key events and the roles of key individuals in the American Revolution, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry;
d) explaining reasons why the colonies were able to defeat Great Britain.
a) identifying the weaknesses of the government established by the Articles of Confederation;
b) describing the historical development of the Constitution of the United States;
c) describing the major accomplishments of the first five presidents of the United States.
Unit 6
March 2013
Westward Expansion and Reform
The student will demonstrate knowledge of westward expansion and reform in
America from 1801 to 1861 by
a) describing territorial expansion and how it affected the political map of the United States, with emphasis on the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the acquisitions of Florida, Texas, Oregon, and California;
b) identifying the geographic and economic factors that influenced the westward movement of settlers;
c) describing the impact of inventions, including the cotton gin, the reaper, the steamboat, and the steam locomotive, on life in America.
a) describing the cultural, economic, and constitutional issues that divided the nation;
b) explaining how the issues of states’ rights and slavery increased sectional tensions;
c) identifying on a map the states that seceded from the Union and those that remained in the Union;
d) describing the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and Frederick Douglass in events leading to and during the war;
e) using maps to explain critical developments in the war, including major battles;
f) describing the effects of war from the perspectives of Union and Confederate soldiers (including African American soldiers), women, and enslaved African Americans.
