US I Curriculum Map
Created by Jenn Scharf, Scott Matson, Ian McKay, Peter Cushing, and Kerry Dunne
Content
September
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Essential Questions
British, French, and
Spanish exploration of
America
Jamestown
Mayflower Compact
13 Colonies
French & Indian War
Taxation/Causes of
Amer. Rev
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American Revolution
Articles of Confederation
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October
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November
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December-Jan
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What are the differences between the three colonial
regions?
What were the causes of the colonial resentment towards
the British Government?
How did the colonists resist British policies prior to 1775?
Primary Documents
Shays’ Rebellion
Constitutional
Convention
Federalist Papers/Bill of
Rights
Constitution/Government
Unit (continued into
December)
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Supreme Court Cases
incl. Marbury v.
Madison
Federalists v.
Jeffersonians
Hamilton
Adams and Jefferson’s
presidencies
Louisiana Purchase and
Lewis & Clark
Trade regulations
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How does the concept of change manifest itself in
revolution?
What were the main factors which led to an American
victory in the Revolutionary War?
What role did Massachusetts, including Arlington, play in
the American Revolution?
Who influenced Thomas Jefferson’s writing in the
Declaration of Independence?
What was the significance of the battles of Bunker Hill,
Saratoga, and Yorktown?
How did the Treaty of Paris shape the borders of the
United States?
What were the significant achievements of and failures of
the Articles of Confederation?
What role did Shays’ Rebellion have on the need for a
strong Central Government?
What were the major debates that occurred at the
Constitutional Convention?
What were the arguments for and against the ratification
of the Constitution?
What are the roles and responsibilities of the federal, state,
and local governments?
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In what ways has the concept of America’s expansion
manifested itself in North America?
Why were the first political parties created?
How did the development of the political parties affect the
nation?
How did George Washington influence the functions of
the president?
What is the purpose of government?
Should the government be able to restrict the rights of
people living in the United States?
How did the Borders of the United States expand under
Jefferson?
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December, 2007
Suggested Alternative Assessments/Activities
Virginia Slave Codes
Mayflower Compact
Excerpts from Of Plimouth
Plantation
Treaty of Paris 1763
Fundamental Orders of
Connecticut
Cotton Mathers’ Sermon
Are We to Be Saved?
Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God (Edwards)
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Albany Plan of Union
Sam Adams The Rights of
Colonists (1772)
Declaration and Necessity
of Taking Up Arms
Suffolk Resolves
Virginia Declaration of
Rights
Adam Smith Wealth of
Nations
Olive Branch Petition
Declaration of
Independence
Articles of Confederation
Common Sense & Crisis
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Northwest Ordinance
Constitution/Bill of Rights
Federalist # 10 & # 51
Opposition by Clinton
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Massachusetts Constitution
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Washington’s Farewell
Address
Lewis and Clark Journals
Alien & Sedition Acts
Jefferson’s Inaugural
Addresses
Treaty of San Ildefonso
Livingston’s Letters to
Jefferson
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13 colonies powerpoint/poster/travel brochure
project
Students research and present on the status of
various Native American tribes in the modern US.
Students write petitions asking Parliament to
address colonial concerns.
Students will evaluate the effectiveness of various
tax resistance strategies
Students will debate at what point they believe that
the war became inevitable.
Primary Source Doc. Analysis: letter from John and
Abigail Adams
Biography Project examining the lives of our
“founding fathers”
American Revolution Class Timeline
Students will examine the Declaration of
Independence and evaluate the legitimacy of its
complaints against George III.
Students will compare the strengths and
weaknesses of the colonial and British forces, and
will then use a particular battle as a case study.
Students will examine the 10 Amendments in the
Bill of Rights and determine which they think is the
MOST essential, and which is the LEAST
essential.
Students will design and describe a monument to
one of our founding documents.
Students will take a US citizenship exam.
Students will analyze primary sources including
Federalist #10.
The Trial of Aaron Burr: classroom simulation
Students will examine the history of the town of
Arlington.
Students will write a position paper on whether or
not Thomas Jefferson deserves to be considered
and American hero, and will consider the impact of
his ideas and vision on American society.
US I Curriculum Map
Created by Jenn Scharf, Scott Matson, Ian McKay, Peter Cushing, and Kerry Dunne
Content
February
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March
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April
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May- June
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Essential Questions
War of 1812
Monroe Presidency
Clay’s American
System
MO Compromise/Rise
of Sectionalism
Monroe Doctrine
John Quincy Adams
Jacksonian
Democracy/Presidency
Martin Van Buren
Panic of 1837
Rise of the Whigs/ 1840
Election
Reform Movements
incl. Abolitionism and
Women’s Rights/Seneca
Falls
2nd Great Awakening
Immigration
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Industrial Revolution
Economies of
Antebellum North &
South
Manifest Destiny
Mexican War
Gold Rush
Sectionalism (cont. into
May)
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Kansas-Nebraska Act
John Brown & Raids
Election of 1860
Secession and the
outbreak of the Civil
War
Completion of Civil
War
Reconstruction (three
phases)
Review for Final Exam
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December, 2007
Primary Documents
Why was the War of 1812 considered to be the “Second
War of Independence”?
How and why did voting rights expand under Andrew
Jackson?
What was the U.S. Government’s policy towards Native
Americans under Jackson?
What were the factors in the development of the Industrial
Revolution in the United States?
What was the importance of Henry Clay’s American
System?
How is the idea of utopianism evident in the antebellum
reform movements?
What impact did immigrants have throughout the
antebellum United States?
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How did the economies vary in the different regions of the
United States during the antebellum era?
What caused the growth of slavery in the South after 1800?
What was it like for a slave living on a southern
plantation?
What was the impact of Slavery on the development of our
nation?
What is Manifest Destiny?
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What were the causes of the Civil War?
How could the Civil War have been averted?
What impact did technology have on the Civil War?
What impact did free slaves have on the Civil War?
Is Lincoln rightfully remembered as the Great Emancipator
Are the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction
evident today?
Was reconstruction considered a success?
Were the freed slaves truly free?
How would reconstruction have changed if the Radical
Republicans plan had been implemented?
What racial organizations developed during Reconstruction
and what effect did they have on society?
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Final Exam
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Suggested Alternative Assessments/Activities
Alexis de Toqueville’s
Democracy in America.
The Monroe Doctrine
Embargo Act of 1807
Macon’s Bill #2
Missouri Compromise
Madison’s War Message
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Declaration of Sentiments
Slave Narratives/Songs
What have Women to do
with Slavery? (Weld)
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Samuel Morse- Immigrants
A Modest Proposal
Comparative of
Immigration Codes
Nature
Comparison of Monroe Doctrine and Washington’s
Farewell Address
Students will draft letters either supporting or
opposing the War of 1812. They will create a piece
of propaganda to support their view.
Students will research and visit the USS
Constitution.
Students will read and analyze a selection from
Students will create a yearbook with a page
devoted to each prominent pre-Civil War American
reformer.
Students will read and analyze a selection from
Frederick Douglass’ Narrative, and will read
selections from the speeches of William Lloyd
Garrison.
Whitman- Poetry
Notes on America-Dickens
Polk’s War Message
Treaty of Guadeloupe
Hidalgo/Gadsden Purchase
Letters from ‘49ers
Letters from the Alamo
Manifest Destiny
(O’Sullivan)
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Writings from J. Brown
Writings from C. Sumner
Gettysburg Address
Emancipation
Proclamation
Emily Dickinson- Poetry
Melville- Poetry
Amendments 13-15
2nd Inaugural (Lincoln)
Jim Crow Laws
Civil Rights Acts
1866/1875
Reconstruction Plans
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Research/Thesis Papers due before April break
Students will read Henry David Thoreau’s Civil
Disobedience and comment on the use of this
practice in the modern world.
Students will write an account of the Mexican War
from the perspective of Mexicans living in the
Southwest.
Students will read accounts of western settlers and
examine why the West has been romanticized in
American pop culture.
CNN style newscast on the events of Harpers’
Ferry.
Presentations on specific topics related to the Civil
War including battlefield medicine, military
strategy, and the role of women in the war effort,
etc.
Editorial and political cartoon on the events of
Bleeding Kansas.
Development of hypotheses about how the South
could have been more successfully re-integrated
into the Union with the rights of newly freed blacks
ensured.