American Revolution

KEY IDEA: COLONIAL FOUNDATIONS (1607– 1763): European colonization in North America prompted cultural contact and exchange between diverse peoples; cultural differences and misunderstandings at times led to conflict. A variety of factors contributed to the development of regional differences, including social and racial hierarchies, in colonial America.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Contact between Native American groups and Europeans occurred through cultural exchanges, resistance efforts, and conflict. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will trace European contact with Native Americans, including the Dutch, the English, the French and the Spanish. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the impacts of European colonization on Native Americans, who eventually lost much of their land and experienced a drastic decline in population through diseases and armed conflict. 

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: A number of factors influenced colonial economic development, social structures, and labor systems, causing variation by region. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the impacts of geographic factors on patterns of settlement and the development of colonial economic systems. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the factors influencing variations in colonial social structures and labor systems. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will analyze slavery as a deeply established component of the colonial economic system and social structure, indentured servitude vs. slavery, the increased concentration of slaves in the South, and the development of slavery as a racial institution. 

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Colonial political developments were influenced by British political traditions, Enlightenment ideas, and the colonial experience. Self-governing structures were common, and yet varied across the colonies. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine colonial political institutions to determine how they were influenced by Enlightenment ideas, British traditions such as the Magna Carta, and the colonial experience. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine colonial democratic principles by studying documents such as the Mayflower Compact and the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649, colonial governmental structures such as New England town meetings and the Virginia House of Burgesses, and the practice of the right of petition in New Netherland. 

KEY IDEA: CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS (1763 – 1824): Growing political and economic tensions led the American colonists to declare their independence from Great Britain. Once independent, the new nation confronted the challenge of creating a stable federal republic.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Following the French and Indian War, the British government attempted to gain greater political and economic control over the colonies. Colonists resisted these efforts, leading to increasing tensions between the colonists and the British government.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine British efforts to gain greater political and economic control, such as the Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, the Townsend Acts, the Tea Act, the Boston Massacre, and the Coercive Acts, and colonial reactions to these efforts.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Failed attempts to mitigate the conflicts between the British government and the colonists led the colonists to declare independence, which they eventually won through the Revolutionary War, which affected individuals in different ways.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the purpose of and the ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence and consider its long term impacts.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the impacts of the Revolutionary War on workers, African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led to a convention whose purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation but instead resulted in the writing of a new Constitution. The ratification debate over the proposed Constitution led the Federalists to agree to add a bill of rights to the Constitution.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the weaknesses and successes of government under the Articles of Confederation.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will explore the development of the Constitution, including the major debates and their resolutions, which included compromises over representation, taxation, and slavery.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the structure, power, and function of the federal government as created by the Constitution, including key constitutional principles such as the division of power between federal and state government, the separation of powers at the federal level, the creation of checks and balances, the sovereignty of the people, and judicial independence.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the key points of debate expressed in the Federalist Papers and the Antifederalist Papers, focusing on the protection of individual rights and the proper size for a republic.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the rights and protections provided by the Bill of Rights and to whom they initially applied.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Under the new Constitution, the young nation sought to achieve national security and political stability, as the three branches of government established their relationships with each other and the states.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will identify presidential actions and precedents established by George Washington, including those articulated in his Farewell Address

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine Hamilton’s economic plan, the debate surrounding the plan, and its impacts on the development of political parties.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power established in the presidential election of 1800 and compare it to the presidential election of 2000, focusing on the roles of the Electoral College and Congress in 1800 and the Electoral College and the Supreme Court in 2000.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine Supreme Court cases, including Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden, and analyze how these decisions strengthened the powers of the federal government.

KEY IDEA: COLONIAL FOUNDATIONS (1607– 1763): European colonization in North America prompted cultural contact and exchange between diverse peoples; cultural differences and misunderstandings at times led to conflict. A variety of factors contributed to the development of regional differences, including social and racial hierarchies, in colonial America.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Contact between Native American groups and Europeans occurred through cultural exchanges, resistance efforts, and conflict. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will trace European contact with Native Americans, including the Dutch, the English, the French and the Spanish. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the impacts of European colonization on Native Americans, who eventually lost much of their land and experienced a drastic decline in population through diseases and armed conflict. 

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: A number of factors influenced colonial economic development, social structures, and labor systems, causing variation by region. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the impacts of geographic factors on patterns of settlement and the development of colonial economic systems. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the factors influencing variations in colonial social structures and labor systems. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will analyze slavery as a deeply established component of the colonial economic system and social structure, indentured servitude vs. slavery, the increased concentration of slaves in the South, and the development of slavery as a racial institution. 

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Colonial political developments were influenced by British political traditions, Enlightenment ideas, and the colonial experience. Self-governing structures were common, and yet varied across the colonies. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine colonial political institutions to determine how they were influenced by Enlightenment ideas, British traditions such as the Magna Carta, and the colonial experience. 

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine colonial democratic principles by studying documents such as the Mayflower Compact and the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649, colonial governmental structures such as New England town meetings and the Virginia House of Burgesses, and the practice of the right of petition in New Netherland. 

KEY IDEA: CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS (1763 – 1824): Growing political and economic tensions led the American colonists to declare their independence from Great Britain. Once independent, the new nation confronted the challenge of creating a stable federal republic.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Following the French and Indian War, the British government attempted to gain greater political and economic control over the colonies. Colonists resisted these efforts, leading to increasing tensions between the colonists and the British government.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine British efforts to gain greater political and economic control, such as the Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, the Townsend Acts, the Tea Act, the Boston Massacre, and the Coercive Acts, and colonial reactions to these efforts.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Failed attempts to mitigate the conflicts between the British government and the colonists led the colonists to declare independence, which they eventually won through the Revolutionary War, which affected individuals in different ways.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the purpose of and the ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence and consider its long term impacts.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the impacts of the Revolutionary War on workers, African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led to a convention whose purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation but instead resulted in the writing of a new Constitution. The ratification debate over the proposed Constitution led the Federalists to agree to add a bill of rights to the Constitution.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the weaknesses and successes of government under the Articles of Confederation.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will explore the development of the Constitution, including the major debates and their resolutions, which included compromises over representation, taxation, and slavery.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the structure, power, and function of the federal government as created by the Constitution, including key constitutional principles such as the division of power between federal and state government, the separation of powers at the federal level, the creation of checks and balances, the sovereignty of the people, and judicial independence.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the key points of debate expressed in the Federalist Papers and the Antifederalist Papers, focusing on the protection of individual rights and the proper size for a republic.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the rights and protections provided by the Bill of Rights and to whom they initially applied.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Under the new Constitution, the young nation sought to achieve national security and political stability, as the three branches of government established their relationships with each other and the states.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will identify presidential actions and precedents established by George Washington, including those articulated in his Farewell Address

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine Hamilton’s economic plan, the debate surrounding the plan, and its impacts on the development of political parties.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power established in the presidential election of 1800 and compare it to the presidential election of 2000, focusing on the roles of the Electoral College and Congress in 1800 and the Electoral College and the Supreme Court in 2000.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine Supreme Court cases, including Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden, and analyze how these decisions strengthened the powers of the federal government.