CORE U.S. History: Chapters 1-12
Learning Plan Outline: Exploration of the Americas.
The Americas:
The standards focus on three groups of prehistoric Indians and ask students to describe
them. However, an equally important concept is the Columbian Exchange and its
consequences.
STRAND 1: Concept 2: Early Civilizations
PO 1. Describe Prehistoric Cultures of the North American continent:
a. Paleo-Indians (i.e. Clovis, Folsom, Plano)
b. Moundbuilders (i.e. Adena, Hopewell, Mississippian)
c. Southwestern (i.e. Mogollon, Hohokam, Anasazi)
NS 1: Comparative characteristics of societies in the Americas, Western Europe, and
Western Africa that increasingly interacted after 1450.
1A: The student understands the patterns of change in indigenous societies in the
Americas up to the Columbian voyages.
1B: The student understands changes in Western European societies in the age of
exploration.
1C: The student understands developments in Western African societies in the period
of early contact with Europeans.
1D: The student understands the differences and similarities among Africans,
Europeans, and American Indians who converged in the western hemisphere after
1492.
NS 2: How early European exploration and colonization resulted in cultural and
ecological interactions among previously unconnected peoples.
2A: The student understands the stages of European oceanic and overland
exploration, amid international rivalries, from the 9th to 17th centuries.
2B: The student understands the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the Americas
Enduring Understandings:
 When cultures collide, technology can be a determining factor.
 Globalization has positives and negatives.
 Civilizations build on each other.
 Trade and economics play a large role in which group dominates.
 Early civilizations were closely tied to their environments.
Essential Questions:
 What is culture and why is it important?
 What determines technological advancement?
 What is globalization?


How can we determine what influence a previous civilization had on the
current one?
Is there a correlating factor between wealth and empire?
Transferable Concepts:
 Globalization today and its link to terrorism (dislike for western influence)
 Economic patterns and western influence (American economists tutoring
other countries with economic problems)
 Environmental Movements
Learning Plan Outline: The Early Americas.
Europe was emerging from a long period of demographic and economic stagnation; the
intellectual, commercial, and scientific consequences of the European Renaissance; the
rise of the new monarchies in late 15th-century France, Aragon, and Castile; the
quickening of seaborne commerce; and the “military revolution,” beginning in the 16th
century, that set off a European arms race and fostered national rivalries in overseas
expansion. In addition, the Protestant Reformation, the reform movements of Martin
Luther and Calvin with their anti-hierarchical tendencies, and the Catholic-Protestant
division within Christianity all would deeply affect societies on both sides of the Atlantic.
Before European contact, the indigenous peoples of the Americas had developed beliefs
concerning their origins, hundreds of linguistically distinct and culturally elaborate
societies, extensive trading networks, effective agricultural practices based on geography,
a matrilineal family structure, systems of government and a value system. Some 50-100
million people inhabited the Americas prior to Columbus with approximately 4-7 million
of them living north of the Rio Grande.
There had been contact between Africa and the Middle East since the 9th century which
had increased religious and cultural diversity. The kingdoms of West Africa were highly
populated; they were agriculturally sophisticated; they placed a high premium on family
–mostly matrilineal; their art exemplified in wood, metal and ivory would help sweep
away myths about “the dark continent”; and, they had developed strong religious beliefs.
When these three civilizations converged in the Americas, there would be long-term
consequences: redistribution of the world’s population; the catastrophic losses of
indigenous populations of the Americas –in large part through disease; the rise of the
Spanish and Portuguese global empires, followed by those of the English and the French;
the commercial expansion of systems of forced labor in the Americas; and the planting of
English ideas of representative government in North America.
1. Reading log
2. Study Guide for guided reading
3. Outside readings for homework
4. Lecture: HO for notes; “World’s Collide” with transparencies; What is culture? What
are the elements of culture? Why is culture important? How do you think each cultural
group views itself? What is your evidence?
5. Group work: enduring understanding vocabulary
6. Hohokam legacy: Desert Canals: http//www.waterhistory.org/histories/hohokam2/
6. Formal assessment: Chapter 1 M/C and four essay questions from readings –
benchmark
Learning Plan Outline: The Colonial Period.
Jamestown:
The standards focus on the establishment of the regional colonies and ask students to
compare the three areas. The activity for this unit is designed to accomplish that;
however, the cornerstones for a new nation are being laid in these three regions and
require a more comprehensive investigation of economic, social, and political issues.
STRAND 1: Concept 3: Exploration and Colonization
PO1. Review the reciprocal impact resulting from early European contact through
exploration on indigenous peoples:
a. religious (e.g., conversion attempts)
b. economic (e.g., land disputes, trade)
c. social (e.g., spread of disease, partnerships)
d. food (e.g., corn)
e. government (e.g., Iroquois Confederacy, matriarchal leadership, democratic
influence)
PO 2. Describe the reasons for colonization of America (e.g., religious freedom, desire
for land, economic opportunity, and a new life)
PO 3. Compare the characteristics of the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies:
a. colonial governments geographic influences, resources and economic systems
b. religious beliefs and social patterns
PO 4. Describe the impact of key individuals who were important to the colonization of
America (e.g., John Smith, William Penn, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, John
Winthrop)
NS 1: Why the Americas attracted the Europeans, why they brought enslaved Africans to
their colonies, and how Europeans struggled for control of North America and the
Caribbean.
1A: The student understands how diverse immigrants affected the formation of
European colonies.
1B: The student understands the European struggle for control of North America.
NS 2: How political, religious, and social institutions emerged in the English colonies.
2A: The student understands the roots of representative government and how political
rights were defined.
2B: The students understand religious diversity in the colonies and how ideas about
religious freedom evolved.
2C: The student understands social and cultural change in British America.
NS 3: How the values and institutions of European economic life took root in the
colonies, and how slavery reshaped European and African life in the Americas.
3A: The student understands colonial economic life and labor systems in the
Americas.
3B: The student understands economic life and the development of labor systems in
the English colonies.
3C: The student understands African life under slavery.
Enduring Understandings:
 Economics and religious freedom motivate immigration.
 Conquering groups consider themselves superior.
 Utopian societies stifle decent.
 Natural resources can dictate economies.
 Unenforceable laws foster social and political problems.
Essential Questions:
 What were the economic and religious reasons colonists came to the New
World?
 What factors led Europeans to view themselves as superior? What
ramifications might this have for American Indians?
 Why were Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson forced to leave the Puritan
colonies?
 How did the environment and natural resources play a role in how the three
colonial regions developed?
 Why were the colonists prone to smuggling?
 How did slavery evolve?
Transferable Concepts:
 Religious ideas found their way into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
 Manifest Destiny: ‘City Upon a Hill…’
 Long-term Indian policy determined by the Pequot War.
 Smuggling to prohibition, to Roe
1. Reading logs
2. Lecture: HO for notes –Jamestown; Bacon’s Rebellion; Evolution of slavery –
reference http://www.virtualjamestown.org “A Peculiar Institution”; House of
Burgesses as first assembly.
3. RLAH: Did Pocahontas save John Smith’s Life? Why do maps change over time?
New England:
We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and
liberality. We must delight in each other; make other’s conditions our own; rejoice
together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our
commission and community in the work, as members of the same body… For we must
consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So
that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause
Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be a story and a by-word through the
world.” Puritan John Winthrop, 1630
1. Lecture: HO for notes; Puritan migration. What is the difference between Pilgrims and
Puritans? (Separatists, or Pilgrims, arrived in Plymouth in 1620 on the Mayflower.
Their Compact was the 1st document of self-government in America. 44 out of 102
survived. Leader was William Bradford.) Puritans established Massachusetts Bay
Colony in 1630 for economic and religious reasons. 900 settlers governed by John
Winthrop. Ruled as “Bible Commonwealth” with franchise restricted to male members
of Puritan church.) What is a theocracy? Why did this “Utopian experiment
disintegrate”? Long- term legacy of this community.
2. RLAH: Were the Puritans selfish of selfless? What can passenger lists tell us about
who settled in the New World and where they settled? What caused King Philip’s War
of 1675? What caused the Salem Witch Crisis of 1692?
3. DVD: Three Sovereigns for Sarah with HO –understanding the complex reasons for
the Witch Trials based on the research of Mary Beth Norton.
4. Pequot War (From series 10 Days that Changed America) with questions and activity.
Middle Colonies:
1. Lecture: HO for notes: Quakers –and long-term impact on social issues.
2. Activity assessment: Comparison chart of three colonies.
3. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor.
4. Assessment: Chapter 2 M/C with short answer essay.
Learning Plan Outline: The French and Indian War (Seven Years War) and The
American Revolution.
Between the end of the Salem Witch Trials and the French and Indian War, we need to
note two important events: In 1734 the First Great Awakening begins and will create
profound changes and the Stono Slave Rebellion in South Carolina in 1739.
There is little emphasize in the standards on the French and Indian War; however,
without this war there might not have been a revolution. “Victory over the French in 1763
established Great Britain as the dominant power in eastern North America. Faced with
defiant Indians, a huge empire, and burdensome debt, the royal authorities determined to
enact a series of comprehensive imperial reforms. To many Americans, those reforms
seemed to pose as serious a threat to their liberties as had been presented by the French
and Spanish. Ironically, at the height of British power in North America, the colonies
would begin to resist Parliament’s authority. During the next twelve years three
successive crises led to a rebellion that neither the British nor the colonists had
anticipated. Confrontation had hardened the resolve of both sides and fighting broke out
in 1775. A year later the colonists declared their independence.” (Beasley)
STRAND 1: Concept 4: Revolution and New Nation
PO 1. Assess the economic, political, and social reasons for the American Revolution:
a. British attempts to tax and regulate colonial trade as a result of the French and
Indian War
b. colonists’ reaction to British policy ideas expressed in the Declaration of
Independence
PO 2. Analyze the effects of European involvement in the American Revolution on the
outcome of the war.
PO 3. Describe the significance of major events in the Revolutionary War:
a. Lexington and Concord
b. Bunker Hill
c. Saratoga
d. writing and ratification of the Declaration of Independence
e. Yorktown
NS 1: The causes of the American Revolution, the ideas and interests involved in forging
the revolutionary movement, and the reasons for the American victory.
1A: The student understands the cause of the American Revolution.
1B: The student understands the principles articulated in the Declaration of
Independence.
1C: The student understands the factors affecting the course of the war and
contributing to the American victory.
NS 2: The impact of the American Revolution on politics, economy, and society.
2A: The student understands revolutionary government-making at national and state
levels.
2B: The student understands the economic issues arising out of the Revolution.
2C: The student understands the Revolution’s effects on different social groups.
French and Indian War:
Enduring Understandings:
 It is difficult to remove freedom from a people once they have it.
 When people fight for a cause, they expect a reward.
Essential Questions:
 What was the essence of the power struggle between the colonists and Great
Britain?
 How did the Treaty of Paris in 1763 further stifle colonial growth?
 Could there have been a revolution without the French and Indian War?
Transferable Concepts:
 If people do not support a law, you can’t enforce it.
 Common cultural values foster nationalism.
1. Reading log
2. RLAH: Why was George Whitefield so popular?
3. Lecture: HO for notes; First Great Awakening compared to the Enlightenment
4. Discussion based on transparencies –Intro to the French and Indian War
5. DVD: The War That Made America with HO
6. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor
7. Reading comprehension: document with questions
8. Assessment: Chapter 3 M/C with essay question
The causes of the American Revolution can be traced to the economic, political, and
military interactions between Great Britain and the colonies during the previous century.
Official British economic policy was based on the theory of mercantilism as stated in the
Trade and Navigation Acts while unofficially lax British enforcement of the regulations
allowed colonists to circumvent the rules. …Boston Massacre; three years later Boston
Tea Party, 1773; Lexington and Concord, 1775.
The American Revolution:
Enduring Understandings:
 Failed compromises lead to war.
 Rhetoric is an important element in conflict.
 “Firebrands” radicalize populations.
Essential Questions:
 What is a compromise and what does it accomplish?
 What usually brings an end to a compromise?
 Is there a balance of power required for an effective compromise?
 Why is it more difficult to negotiate before a war than after?
Transferable Concepts:
 failed compromises: Civil War; WWI; WWII: Iraq
 Rhetoric: Civil War and Calhoun, Clay, and Webster; WWI; WWII and
Lindberg, Dr. Seuss

Number of times battles have started with a single shot from an unknown
source (Boston Massacre, Kent State)
1. Reading log
2. Road to Revolution –British legislation to collect revenues and colonial responses; 1st
and 2nd Continental Congresses; Declaration of Independence
3. RLAH: Why were the colonists upset about the Stamp Act? What happened at the
Battle of Lexington? Why did some colonists support England and oppose
independence? Why did the Founders write the Declaration of Independence?
4. The War and its consequences
5. Enduring understanding vocabulary
6. Assessment: Chapter 4 M/C
Learning Plan Outline: The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
“During the last part of the 18th century Americans established a modern idea of a written
constitution and made such written constitutions a practical and everyday part of
governmental life. … It was in this period that local and state loyalties began to wane and
Americans started to fabricate a national identity.” UCLA This is a period of nation
building (1783-1800) and must include the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation;
Shay’s Rebellion; the importance of the individuals at Philadelphia and their issues and
resolutions; the compromise on slavery; ratification debates; the Bill of Rights; the
Hamilton-Jefferson Debates; the origins of the two-party system; the impact of the
French Revolution; the role of presidential leadership; and, the origins of judicial review.
STRAND 1: Concept 4: Revolution and the New Nation
PO 4. Analyze how the new national government was created:
a. Albany Plan of Union influenced by the Iroquois Confederation
b. Articles of Confederation
c. Constitutional Convention
d. struggles over ratification of the Constitution
e. creation of the Bill of Rights
NS 3: The institutions and practices of government created during the Revolution and
how they were revised between 1787 and 1815 to create the foundation of the
American political system based on the U.S. Constitutions and the Bill of Rights.
3A: The student understands the issues involved in the creation and ratification of the
U.S. Constitution and the new government it established.
3B: The student understands the guarantees of the Bill of Rights and its continuing
significance.
3C: The student understands the development of the Supreme Court’s power and its
significance from 1789-1820.
3D: The student understands the development of the first American party system.
Enduring Understandings:
 Constitutions endure longer if flexible.



An educated electorate is necessary in a republic/democracy.
Compromise is a necessity.
There must be checks on power.
Essential Questions:
 Is it possible to be a strict constructionist purist?
 Why did Jefferson promote the concept of virtuous citizens?
 Why did Adams feel that democracy would undermine the republic? How is
this statement connected to their experience under the Articles?
 Why did the Founding Fathers worry about factions?
 Why is separation of church and state important?
 What is republicanism?
Transferable Concepts:
 Value of education throughout history
 Adaptability of political philosophy to reality
 Other historical compromises or lack thereof
 Various interpretations of the separation doctrine
1. Reading log
2. Lecture: HO: Articles of Confederation
3. DVD: Shay’s Rebellion with question
4. RLAH: How did Americans react to Shays’ Rebellion?
5. Lecture: Miracle in Philadelphia
6. Articles v. Constitution –HO: Drafting and ratifying the Constitution.
7. RLAH: What type of government did Federalists and Anti-Federalists prefer? Why did
the Founding Fathers keep slavery in the Constitution? Why did the Constitution allow
slavery to continue, if the Declaration of Independence claimed that “all men are
created equal”?
8. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor
9. Activity: Scavenger hunt –the Constitution
10. Reading comprehension: Article on Constitutional interpretation; summary
11. Assessment: Chapter 5 M/C with short-answer essay
Learning Plan Outline: Launching the New Nation.
PO 5. Examine the significance of the following in the formation of a new nation:
a. presidency of George Washington
b. economic policies of Alexander Hamilton
c. creation of political parties under Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton
d. establishment of the Supreme Court as a co-equal third branch of government
under John Marshall (e.g. Marbury v, Madison)
STRAND 1: Concept 5: Western Expansion
PO 1. Trace the growth of the American nation during the period of western expansion:
a. Northwest Territory
b. Louisiana Territory
PO 2. Analyze how the following events affected the political transformation of the
developing nation:
a. Jefferson’s Presidency
b. War of 1812
PO 3. Identify how economic incentives and geography influenced early American
explorations:
a. explorers (e.g., Lewis and Clark, Pike, Fremont)
b. fur traders
c. miners
d. missionaries (e.g. Father Kino, Circuit Riders)
NS 1: United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected
relations with external powers and American Indians.
1A: The student understands the international background and consequences of the
Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, and the Monroe Doctrine.
This unit will cover the first four ‘Founding Fathers’ Presidents: Washington, Adams,
Jefferson, and Madison
Washington
Enduring Understandings:
 Precedents are important.
 Moderate political positions are valued.
 Neutrality can postpone war.
Essential Questions:
 Was Washington an ideal first president?
 Why is Washington’s Farewell Address important?
 Why did Washington oppose political parties?
Transferable Concepts:
 Neutrality before WWI and WWII
 Foundation for future foreign policy
1. Reading log
2. Lecture: George Washington –HO chart to be completed
3. Cartoon: Washington
4. Cartoon: The Bank
5. Lecture: Federalist Era: Chart: Federalist v Anti-Federalist
6. Cartoon: Jay’s and Pinckney’s
7. Lecture: Jeffersonian Era; Religion of the Founding Fathers
8. Lewis and Clark
9. RLAH: Why did Federalists oppose the Louisiana Purchase? Were Lewis and Clark
respectful to the Native Americans they encountered on their journey?
10. Reading comprehension: Marbury v Madison with question; Legacy of the Marshall
Court
11. Activity: Presidential Stamps
12. DVD: War of 1812 with questions
13. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor
14. Assessment: Chapter 6 M/C with short answer essay
Jefferson
Enduring Understandings:
 Political philosophy is not necessarily compatible with reality.
 Intellectual genius does not necessarily mean you will make a great president.
 Religion can be a source of conflict.
 People rationalize conflicts in their lives.
Essential Questions:
 Do you have to be secular to believe in separation of church and state?
 Does it matter that the laws of the United States are secular and not
religious? What is a theocracy?
 Why is it important that our Founding Fathers were Enlightened Deists?
Transferable Concepts:
 Conflicts over religion
 Unworkable philosophies; utopian societies
 Need to explore
 Strict constructionists then and now
.
Madison
Enduring Understandings:
 Genius is sometimes restricted.
 Presidential wives make a difference in the success/ failure of their husbands.
 Genius and common sense are not necessarily found in the same person.
Essential Questions:
 Was Madison an ineffectual president?
 Why would the Father of the Constitution partner with Jefferson in the
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions?
 Why did Madison ask Congress for a declaration of war against Great
Britain in 1812?
Transferable Concepts:


The relationship between appeasement and aggression; WWI & WWII
Issues of states’ rights
STRAND 1: Concept 5: Western Expansion
PO 1. Trace the Growth of the American nation during the period of western expansion:
c. Florida
James Monroe and John Q. Adams:
Enduring Understandings:
 Nationalism can unite a country.
 Good infrastructure helps the economy
 A national bank is necessary for a healthy economy.
Essential Questions:
 Why was a protective tariff passed?
 How does a good infrastructure help the economy?
 Why is the Monroe Doctrine important?
 What is nationalism? Economic nationalism? Judicial nationalism?
 Why did J.Q. Adams only serve one term?
 What happened to the Federalist Party?
Transferable Concepts:
 Infrastructure; Great Depression; interstate system
 Demise of parties
 Monroe Doctrine
1. Lecture: Era of Good Feelings: HO for notes
2. Nationalism/Sectionalism
3. Primary Document: Monroe Doctrine
4. Assessment: Quiz
PO 2. Analyze how the following events affected the political transformation of the
developing nation:
c. Jackson’s Presidency
PO 4. Describe the impact of European-American expansion on native peoples.
NS 3: The extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800.
3A: The student understands the changing character of American political life in “the
age of the common man.”
Jackson
Enduring Understandings:
 Personality makes a difference.
 Military heroes get elected.
 Rugged individualism is an American value.
Essential Questions:
 What is the difference between Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy?
 What were the economic consequences when the Second Bank was not rechartered?
 What are the consequences when an executive fails to enforce the rule of
law?
 What causes economic panic?
Transferable Concepts:
 Economic panics/depressions
 Exploitation of American Indians
 Education/the uneducated
 Rural v. urban
 Party politics/methods of campaigning
1. Reading log
2. RLAH: Was Nat Turner a hero or a madman?
3. Lecture: Jackson/outline with National Bank diagram
4. HO: Regional economics
5. HO: Synthesizing
6. DVD: Jackson with questions
7. Activity: Map studies –Indian Removal
8. Reading comprehension –class participation: Blankets for the Dead
9. HO: Black Hawk speech with questions
10. RLAH: Why did people in the 1880s support Indian Removal?
11. HO: Hayne-Webster debate with questions
12. Crossword
13. 1st Industrial Revolution –diagram
14. Enduring understanding vocabulary
15. Assessment: Chapter 7 M/C with short answer essay
Reform: 1820-1860
This era marked a major step in the economic transformation of the nation from preindustrial colonial days to the mighty industrial and post-industrial society of the 20th
century. Between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, the northern United States and
parts of the South underwent an economic expansion and modernization that changed the
ways Americans worked, where they lived, their productivity, and their contacts with the
world outside their locale, while simultaneously creating new wealth, new opportunities,
and new social problems.
The widespread material changes ushered in by the first stage of industrialization were
accompanied by significant developments in American society, religion, popular culture,
and intellectual life. The influx of millions of new immigrants in this period was an
important stage in the gathering of the American people, advancing the settlement of new
states and territories in the West, and contributing to the explosive growth of the nation’s
cities. The rise of the theater, of academies of art and music, and the first great flowering
of American literature were all part of the cultural changes of this era. Religious revivals
of the Second Great Awakening drew unprecedented numbers of ordinary men and
women into new Protestant denominations and strengthened the foundations of
community in the fast developing territories of the nation. The Second Great Awakening
also contributed to a variety of reform movements. (UCLA)
Most American religions had their origins in European institutions. What made us unique
was that we separated church from state which increased denominationalism. “We moved
from hierarchy to democracy, from inherited structures to institutional creativity, from
leadership by appointment to leadership by personal charisma, and from theology defined
by elites to theology defined by popular common sense.” (Noll) Then, immigration
reconnected us to European religions. Increased Irish Catholic immigration renewed fears
of undue papal influence; thus, the Know-Nothing Party and nativism. The anti-slavery
movement spread from England to the United States; British church members paid for
Douglass’s freedom. Even the women’s movement had its counterpart in England.
Students should understand that these reform movements were initiated by people and not
government; that they expanded the roles of women and minorities; and that they were
starting points. The Civil War would interrupt these movements which would regroup at
the turn of the century and then regroup later between and after the great wars. Reform is
an ongoing process.
PO 5. Describe the impact of the following aspects of the Industrial Revolution on the
United States:
a. transportation improvements (e.g., railroads, canals, steamboats)
b. factory system, manufacturing
c. urbanization
d. inventions (e.g., telegraph, cotton gin, interchangeable parts)
NS 2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of
slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led
toward regional tensions.
2A: The student understands how the factory system and the transportation and
market revolutions shaped regional patterns of economic development.
2B: The student understands the first era of American urbanization.
2C: The student understands how antebellum immigration changed American society.
Enduring Understanding:
 Moral suasion often translates into political action.
 Industrialization brings social, economic and political change.
 Immigration revitalizes.
Essential Questions:
 What does it mean to adhere to a religion that is not American?
 Does it undermine the nation if one has loyalties to an organization from abroad?
 In what ways did America change religion abroad?
 In what ways did industrialization change American society?
 In what ways does immigration change society?
Transferable Concepts:
 Temperance would find voice in Prohibition
 Religion is a catalyst for social, economic, and political change: Revolutionary
War; the Constitution; Reform Movements including Civil Rights; The Roaring
20s, etc
 Religion played a significant role in national expansion and imperialism in the
Pacific –missionaries.
 Issues of immigration
1. Reading log
2. Project: Second Great Awakening/Reforms
3. Primary Documents: Immigration and Urbanization; Abolition/Underground Railroad
4. Project presentations; peer review; crossword; quiz
5. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor
6. Assessment: Chapter 8 M/C
While reforms dominated the East, many Americans began moving west. Like the settlers
of Jamestown they were looking for economic opportunities; the Mormons, like the
Puritans, were looking for religious freedom; and like those of the middle colonies, they
were looking for farm land. They were migrating west. During this same period,
Mexicans were migrating north and Asians were migrating east. Indians were caught in
the middle.
STRAND 1: Concept 5: Westward Expansion
PO 1. Trace the Growth of the American Nation during the period of western expansion:
d. Texas
e. Oregon Country
f. Mexican Cession
g. Gadsden Purchase
NS 1: United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected
relations with external powers and American Indians.
1B: The student understands federal and state Indian policy and the strategies for
survival forged by American Indians.
1C: The student understands the ideology of Manifest Destiny, the nation’s expansion
to the Northwest, and the Mexican-American War.
NS 2: How the industrial revolution, incr4easing immigration, the rapid expansion of
slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led
toward regional tension.
2E: The student understands the settlement of the West.
James Polk and Western Expansion
Enduring Understandings:
 Manifest Destiny has many forms.
 Internal conflicts put countries at risk from neighboring counties.
 Prophetic visions become justifications.
Essential Questions:
 What is Manifest Destiny?
 Why did many Transcendentalists object to the Mexican/American War?
 How was religion involved in western expansion?
 Is the Turner Thesis valid?
Transferable Concepts:
 Imperialism
 “Frontier Thesis”
 Justification of war.
1. Reading log
2. RLAH: How did Americans justify westward expansion?
3. DVD: California Gold Rush with question
4. DVD: Oregon Trail with questions
5. Lecture: Western expansion with HO for notes
6. Activity: Map detailing acquisitions
7. Primary Documents: The Mexican-American War: Was It In Our Best Interest?
8. RLAH: Why did Texans declare independence from Mexico in 1836? Were the Irish
considered ‘white’ in the 19th century?
9. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor
10. Assessment: Chapter 9 M/C
STRAND 1: Concept 6: Civil War
PO 1. Explain the economic, social, and political causes of the Civil War:
a. economic and social differences between the North, South, and West
b. balance of power in the Senate (e.g., Missouri and 1850 Compromises)
c. extension of slavery into the territories (e.g., Dred Scott decision, the KansasNebraska Act)
d. role of abolitionists (e.g., Frederick Douglass and John Brown)
e. debate over popular sovereignty/states rights
f. Presidential election of 1860
NS 1: The causes of the Civil War.
1A: The student understands how the North and South differed and how politics and
ideologies led to the Civil War.
NS 2: The course and character of the Civil War and its effects on the American people.
2A: The student understands how the resources of the Union and Confederacy
affected the course of the war.
2B: The student understands the social experiences of the war on the battlefield and
home front.
Enduring Understanding:
 War is a failure of compromise.
 Morality is fluid.
 Economics trumps virtue.
 Reform movements are on hold during wartime.
 During war, laws are silent
Essential Questions:
 Is terrorism ever justified?
 How was slavery justified?
 Is the Supreme Court political?
Transferable Concepts:
 Compromises in other wars.
 Economics v virtue.
1. Reading log
2. RLAH: Was John Brown a “misguided fanatic?”
3. Activity: Jigsaw
4. Lecture: HO for notes
5. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor
6. Assessment: Chapter 10 M/C with one essay
PO 2. Analyze aspects of the Civil War:
a. changes in technology
b. importance of resources
c. turning points
d. military and civilian leaders
e. effect of the Emancipation Proclamation
f. effect on the civilian populations
PO 3. b. Lincoln’s assassination
Enduring Understandings:
 During times of national emergency, the rights of citizens are usually
diminished.
 During times of war, technology advances.
 Resources are paramount in war.
 Citizen equality makes nations stronger.
 The outcome of assassination is not predictable.
Essential Questions:
 Could the South have won the war?
 Why do citizens loose liberties in time of war?
 What resources are more valuable in time of war?
 What was the purpose of emancipation?
Transferable Concepts:
 Other political assassinations.
 Technology of other wars.
 Lose of civil liberties in other times of conflict.
1. Reading log
2. Project: Group: Changes in Technology and Tactics; Resources; Civil War Strategy
and Turning Points; The War Behind the Lines; and the Battlefield
3. Lecture: Civil War with movie clips and artifacts (Dances with Wolves, Gettysburg,
Gone with the Wind, and Living in Two Worlds)
4. DVD: Andersonville; Story: Pink and Say
5. RLAH: Did Lincoln free the slaves or did the slaves free themselves? Was Lincoln a
racist?
6. Activity: Map studies
7. Project presentations/quiz
8. Primary Documents: Discussion
9. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor
10. Assessment: Chapter 11 M/C
Learning Plan Outline: Reconstruction:
PO 3. Analyze immediate and long term effects of Reconstruction in post Civil War
America:
a. various plans for reconstruction in the South
b. Johnson’s impeachment
c. Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments
d. resistance to end Reconstruction (e.g., Jim Crow laws, KKK, and the
Compromise of 1877)
NS 3: How various reconstruction plans succeeded or failed.
3A: The student understands the political controversy over Reconstruction.
3B. The student understands the Reconstruction programs to transform social
relations in the South.
3C: The student understands the successes and failures of Reconstruction in the South,
North, and West.
Enduring Understanding:
 People who loose their privileged status frequently engage in violence and/or
acts of sabotage.
 Amendments can’t guarantee outcome.
 Americans have a short attention span.
 Best intentions can be compromised by politics.
Essential Questions:
 What price privilege?
 Why did the North turn its back on the South?
 Do military men make good presidents?
Transferable Concepts:
 Other impeachments.
 50s and 50s Civil Rights Movement; KKK
 Sunni insurgency in Iraq
1. Reading log
2. DVD: Reconstruction with HO for notes
3. Lecture: Short and long-term affects of Reconstruction
4. Impeachment: Johnson; Nixon; and Clinton
5. RLAH: Why was the Radical Republican plan for Reconstruction considered
“radical?” How did Northern attitudes towards freed African Americans change during
Reconstruction? How accurate is the textbook’s description of sharecropping? Were
African Americans free during Reconstruction?
6. Enduring understanding vocabulary –individual endeavor
7. Assessment: Chapter 12 M/C