8th grade U.S. History
Students should enter 8th grade knowing:
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Basic U.S. Geography, including locations and directions
Basic understanding of which countries fought in the American Revolution (Britain vs. the
Colonies)
What defines a country
Various names for Great Britain
Special Dates:
Content Skill 1:5. Commemorate Celebrate Freedom Week by recognizing the sacrifices and contributions
to American freedom by veterans and by reciting the social contract selection from the Declaration of
Independence.
 Celebrate Freedom Week (this is the week surrounding Veterans Day, November 11th). (CS 1.5)
Research:
 Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and
generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
(LS 2.B.7)
Throughout the year:
Literacy Skills Standards 1: The student will develop and demonstrate Social Studies reading literacy
skills.
Literacy Skills Standards 2: The student will develop and demonstrate Social Studies writing literacy skills.
Standard 1 and 2 Social Studies Process and Literacy Skills should be integrated throughout the
content standards and used in teaching and assessing the student’s understanding of the course skills
and content at the classroom and district level. At the state level, the Social Studies Process and
Literacy Standards 1 and 2 will be measured and reported within each of the content standards 1, 2, 3,
4, and 5. Content Standard 6 is to be taught and assessed at the local district and classroom levels.
Process and Literacy Skills assessment items will be content-based and reported under each of the
content standards. For assessment purposes, each standard will have items using primary and
secondary source documents, timelines, maps, charts, graphs, pictures, photographs, and/or political,
cartoons. There will be a balance of graphic and textual stimulus materials within the various United
States History test form. At least 50 percent of the assessment will have appropriate pictorial and
graphical representations.
Checklist:
1st quarter:
 The student will analyze the foundations of the United States by examining the causes, events,
and ideologies which led to the American Revolution. (CS 1)
o French and Indian War
o Albany Plan of Union
o Taxation without Representation
o Boycotts of British Goods
o Stamp Act Resolves
o Boston Massacre, Paul Revere’s engraving
o Boston Tea Party
o Coercive Acts of 1774
o Battles of Lexington and Concord
o Give me Liberty or Give Me Death
o Common Sense, The Crisis
o Patriots and Loyalists points of views
o Olive Branch Petition and King George III’s rejection
o Second Continental Congress
o Declaration of Independence
 John Locke’s theory of Natural rights
 Social Contract
 Equality, Inalienable Rights, and the Consent of the Governed
o Thomas Jefferson’s contributions and the Committee of Five drafting of the Declaration
of Independence
nd
2 quarter:
 The student will examine the foundations of the American nation laid during the Revolutionary
Era through the contributions of significant individuals and groups involved in the key military
and diplomatic events of the Revolutionary War that resulted in an independent nation. (CS 2)
o Articles of Confederation
o Colonies stances on: fighting for independence, remaining loyal to the king, staying
neutral, free and enslaved African Americans- escaping, joining armies, remaining
enslaved, Native Americans and their side to support during the war
o Military Leadership of General Washington, Valley Forge Encampment
o Victories at Boston, Trenton, and Saratoga
o French Alliance
o Defeat of Lord Cornwallis’s army at the Siege of Yorktown
 The student will examine the formation of the American system of government following the
Revolutionary War that led to the creation of the United States Constitution. (CS 3)
o Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787
o Strengths and Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
 Lack of a common national currency, defense
 Management of war debt
o Northwest Ordinance
o Shay’s Rebellion
o Constitutional Convention
o Compromises
 Virginia Plan + New Jersey Plan = The Great Compromise
 Three-Fifths Compromise
o George Washington, James Madison, George Mason, Gouverneur Morris
o Arguments for and against the U.S. Constitution
o Federalist Papers, Number 10 and 51
o Popular sovereignty, consent of the governed, separation of powers, checks and
balances, federalism, judicial review
o All Americans possess right and responsibilities under the U.S. Constitution and the Bill
of Rights
3rd quarter:
 The student will examine the political, economic, social, and geographic transformation of the
United States during the early to mid-1800s. (CS 4)
o Government’s right to tax
 Whiskey Rebellion
o George Washington’s Farewell Address
o Alien and Sedition Acts
o Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
o Presidential Election of 1800
o Louisiana Purchase
 Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Expedition
o Marbury v. Madison
o McCulloch v. Maryland
o War of 1812
o Missouri Compromise
o Monroe Doctrine
o Election of Andrew Jackson
o Nullification Crisis
o Indian Removal
o Separation between the Northern and Southern states
o Underground Railroad
o Women’s suffrage/Abolitionists Movement
o Second Great Awakening
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Manifest Destiny
Mexican Cession
Gadsden Purchase
Westward expansion
Impact on Native Americans in the west
Tensions regarding slavery, Compare the North to the South
4th quarter:
 The student will analyze the social and political transformation of the United States as a result of
the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War during the period of 1850 to
1865. (CS 5)
o Compromise of 1850
o Uncle Tom’s Cabin
o Kansas-Nebraska Act
o Missouri Compromise
o Dred Scott v. Sanford
o Ordinance of Secession
o President Lincoln’s goal to preserve the Union
o Confederate States of America
o Attack on Fort Sumter
o Tensions regarding border states
o Compare and contrast the North v. South troops and leadership including Grant v. Lee,
and Lincoln v. Davis
o Anaconda Plan and Total War Strategy
o Battle of Antietam
o Emancipation Proclamation
o Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address
o Capture of Vicksburg
o Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
o Terms of surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
o Lincoln’s assassination
 The student will analyze the transformation of politics and society during the Reconstruction Era,
1865-1877. (CS 6*)
o Reconstruction of the Confederacy
o Impact of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, Black Codes, Freedmen’s Bureau, Jim
Crow Laws
o Points of view regarding the Civil War, carpetbaggers and scalawags, rise of the KKK,
sharecroppers
o Homestead Act of 1862
o Presidential Election of 1876
*This content standard will not be on the end of the year OCCT test.
Students should leave 8th grade with a mastery of:
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Concepts of states’ rights
The Constitution
Basics of Government
Phases of Westward expansion and the forces/causes behind the acquisitions
Citizenship
*Literacy Standards (LS) and Content Standards (CS) come from the Oklahoma Academic Standards for
the Social Studies.
**Lesson plans aligned to these standards and checklist are available on the district Google Drive.
Contact Heather Goodenough for access. hdgoodenough@baschools.org