Semester Unit Outline of American History II
(Sample Draft)
Unit #
1
2
3
4
5
The Unit Title
How The West Was Lost And The Rest Was Won
(Passing of the American western frontier, the
industrial build-up of America’s business and industry,
and workforces, which encouraged the Great
Migration, and the scramble to become a world power,
which meant a shift in economic and political focus to
areas outside of the U.S.; build-up of our military, etc.)
What Goes Up Must Come Down
(The era from Harding to Hoover. The desired focus
will be on the administrations of Taft, Wilson, Harding,
Coolidge and Hoover to show how their economic and
political decisions or indecisions really hurt the
American economy long term and snowballed the U.S.
toward a great economic depression. Also, focuses on
how the lifestyles of those who benefited from
economic decisions of the government as well as those
who were hurt by them helped lead the nation into the
Great Depression of the 1930s.)
Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave!
(The successful industrial buildup in America
encourages increased international interdependence
and sets the stage for the U.S. to eventually have to
enter a war they wanted to watch from the side lines,
on two occasions –WWI &WWII.)
Living on the Edge
(Origins of the Cold War up through the Counter
Culture era: What was the American home front like
after WWII? The baby boom and its effects on society
and culture. The US begins to take a direction that
focuses them politically on the policy of containment.
How does communism and containment affect the
economic, political and social decisions of the US? This
unit will address the US and how we react to
communism in our own back door. The Space Race and
development of the Highway system guide the US in to
areas that force a change in the fabric of American
society and its culture. A new generation of youth
begin to concern themselves with issues of justice,
fairness, freedom, equality, human rights at home and
abroad.)
Second Class Citizen in a First Class Nation: Two
Americas Collide
1950s – 1970s:
As America moved into a more industrialized nation
after the Civil War what were the conditions and
decisions of Reconstruction that led to a continued
practice of two Americas? How do Americans address
the question of civil rights for all Americans? The focus
in this unit will address the voices of the oppressed,
List All Clarifying Objectives That Can Be
Covered In This Unit
USH.H.2.1, USH.H.2.2, USH.H.3.1,
USH.H.3.2, USH.H.3.3, USH.H.3.4,
USH.H.4.1, USH.H.4.2, USH.H.4.3,
USH.H.4.4, USH.H.7.1, USH.H. 7.3,
USH.H.8.2, USH.H.8.3, USH.H.8.4
The Conceptual
Lens
Industrialization and
Power
USH.H.2.1, USH.H.2.2, USH.H.3.2,
USH.H.3.3, USH.H.3.4, USH.H.4.1,
USH.H.4.2, USH.H.4.4, USH.H.5.2,
USH.H.7.1, USH.H. 7.3, USH.H.8.2,
USH.H.8.3, USH.H.8.4
Leadership and
Excess
USH.H.2.1, USH.H.2.2, USH.H.3.2,
USH.H.3.3, USH.H.3.4, USH.H.4.1,
USH.H.4.2, USH.H.4.3, USH.H.4.4,
USH.H.5.1, USH.H.5.2, USH.H.7.1, USH.H.
7.3, USH.H.8.2, USH.H.8.3, USH.H.8.4
Cooperation and
Consequence
USH.H.2.1, USH.H.2.2, USH.H.4.1,
USH.H.4.2, USH.H.4.3, USH.H.4.4,
USH.H.5.2, USH.H.6.1, USH.H.6.2,
USH.H.7.1, USH.H.7.2, USH.H. 7.3,
USH.H.8.3, USH.H.8.4
Fear and Change
USH.H.2.1, USH.H.2.2, USH.H.3.2,
USH.H.3.3, USH.H.3.4, USH.H.4.1,
USH.H.4.2, USH.H.4.3, USH.H.4.4,
USH.H.5.1, USH.H.5.2, USH.H.7.1, USH.H.
7.3, USH.H.8.2, USH.H.8.3, USH.H.8.4
Chaos and
Accomplishment
Semester Unit Outline of American History II
(Sample Draft)
who rise up and demand civil rights for all Americans.
This unit will incorporate key political, social, and
economic turning points in American history take place
between 1950 and 1970. This unit will look at various
forms of civil disobedience and protest over time in the
United States and their connections to the civil rights
movement of the late 20th century. The chaos of wars
can be included as a part of this unit and how those
wars brought out issues of citizenship and rights of all
Americans.
6
An Era of Lies, Limits and Legacies
1968 – 1990s
(Nixon & Watergate, Ford and Carter Administrations,
Environmental Activism)
The focus of this unit will be to understand the political,
social and economic events that changed the US
economically and politically. The time period will span
US History between the election of Richard Nixon the
ending of the Cold War. The trust of American citizens
was shaken by Watergate scandal so the unit will focus
on the change in politics and government and the limits
placed on leaders and organizations. The unit will the
economic problems of the 1970s that the next two
presidents failed to fix and the legacies that will follow
the US into the 1990s and turn of the 21st century due
to the political, diplomatic and economic decisions
toward issues in the middle east between Arab nations
as well as the Palestinians and Jews. This unit will
address the vast social changes of the 1990s, such as
the ending of the Cold War, that reshape the lives of
Americans while at the same time encountering
challenges and opportunities that propel them toward
a new century. This unit will address the growing
conservatism in the American public of the 1980s along
with the economic changes that occur as a result of the
ending of the Cold War.
USH.H.2.1, USH.H.2.2, USH.H.3.2, ,
USH.H.3.4, USH.H.4.1, USH.H.4.2,
USH.H.4.3, USH.H.4.4, USH.H.5.1,
USH.H.5.2, USH.H.6.1, USH.H.7.1
Decisions and
Legacies