Standards, Benchmarks and Indicators
Virginia and United States History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.1: Historical Skills and Thinking
STANDARD 1: The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical
analysis, including the ability to
a) Identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary source documents,
records, and data, including artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, journals,
newspapers, historical accounts, and art to increase understanding of events and
life in the United States;
b) Evaluate the authenticity, authority, and credibility of sources;
c) Formulate historical questions and defend findings based on inquiry and
interpretation;
d) Develop perspectives of time and place, including the construction of maps and
various time lines of events, periods, and personalities in American history;
e) Communicate findings orally and in analytical essays and/or comprehensive
papers;
f) Develop skills in discussion, debate, and persuasive writing with respect to
enduring issues and determine how divergent viewpoints have been addressed
and reconciled;
g) Apply geographic skills and reference sources to understand how relationships
between humans and their environment have changed over time;
h) Interpret the significance of excerpts from famous speeches and other
documents.
Focus Questions:
1. What is the correlation of geography to the study of history?
2. What is the difference between primary and secondary sources?
3. How does analyzing and verifying historical data contribute to interpreting historical events?
4. What are various ways in which one can present historical data?
5. How does the analysis of historical events contribute to decision-making used to solve current
problems?
Essential Historical Skills: Students should conduct inquiries and research—acquiring,
organizing, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and communicating facts, themes, and
general principles operating in American history.
Benchmark 1.1: The student will gather and organize various data and information.
Performance Indicator 1.1
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Use primary and secondary sources, including library and museum collections, diaries,
interviews, newspapers, artifacts, historic sites, and electronic technologies such as online sources and the Internet.
B. Use visual, literary, and musical sources, including fine arts, architecture, literature, folk
tales, cartoons, and popular and classical music.
C. Use historical maps to explain geography’s influence on historical events, demonstrating
an understanding of basic geographical concepts, such as:
Scale
Longitude
Map projection
Map bias
Direction
Latitude
Elevation
Relative location
Legend
Time-zones
Land forms
Distribution
D. Use information organized in a variety of charts, tables, graphs, and graphic organizers.
E. Use sources of information in the community including interviewing family and
community members, inviting speakers to school, visiting local historical sites, and
attending cultural events.
F. Group information in categories according to appropriate criteria and state relationships
between categories of information.
Benchmark 1.2: The student will analyze, interpret, and evaluate information and data.
Performance Indicator 1.2
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Read primary and secondary sources to reconstruct the literal meaning of the historical
passage by identifying who was involved, what happened, where it happened, why it
happened, and what outcomes followed.
B. Read for a variety of purposes: critically, analytically, to predict outcomes, to answer a
question, to form an opinion, to skim for facts, and to draw inferences.
C. Formulate historical questions based on critical examination of relevant information in
order to develop hypotheses, to test the hypotheses, and to construct a thesis about a topic
in American history.
D. Analyze cause and effect relationships, focusing on multiple causations; the importance
of the individual in history; the influence of ideas, human interests, and beliefs.
E. Compare and contrast different accounts of the same event assessing the credibility and
authenticity of the sources.
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F. Differentiate between historical facts and interpretation.
G. Challenge arguments of historical inevitability, recognizing that different choices might
have led to different outcomes.
H. Detect bias in data presented in various forms: graphic, tabular, visual, and print.
I. Assess differing interpretations historians have written about the past.
Benchmark 1.3: The student will communicate information in various formats.
Performance Indicator 1.3
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Create time lines to demonstrate chronological thinking.
B. Use a variety of maps to present information.
C. Present information visually, using a variety of charts, graphs, models, graphic
organizers, and illustrations.
D. Use a variety of electronic technologies, including word processing to plan, draft, revise,
edit, and publish information; telecommunications and multimedia to communicate
historical understandings.
E. Construct a historical narrative reflecting the origins, development, and outcome of an
issue, problem, or event, using a variety of written forms such as:
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Diaries
Letters
Journals
Parodies
Dialogue
I-searches
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Poems
Reviews
Learning logs
Research papers
Satire
Cartoons
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Classroom games
Songs
Research projects
Newspaper articles
Essays
Interviews
F. Prepare an oral or visual presentation on a topic in American history such as:
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Speeches
Simulations
Slide shows
Photo essay
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Dramatizations
Posters
Graphic organizers
Panel discussions
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Role plays
Multimedia
presentations
Debate
G. Document information appropriately, including the use of citations, footnotes, or other
forms of attribution to demonstrate scholarly integrity.
Benchmark 1.4: The student will apply knowledge of American history to make decisions
and to solve problems.
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Performance Indicator 1.4
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify a situation in which a decision is required.
B. Secure needed factual information relevant to making the decision.
C. Recognize the values implicit in historical events and decisions.
D. Identify alternate courses of action and predict likely consequences of each.
E. Make decisions based on the data obtained.
F. Take action to implement the decision.
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United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1492 – 1760
Standards 2 & 3
The study of United States history begins with an examination of the first people of North
America some 30,000 years ago. It is important to discuss briefly the extensive and complex
settlement in what Europeans called the “New World.” Students might want to embark on this
survey through an examination of the role that geography played in the development of Native
American cultures. Students should note the extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity of
Native American societies in the Americas.
After examining Native-American life and culture, students should study the epic events of the
late fifteenth century when three worlds met: when Europeans, the inhabitants of North and
South America, and the peoples of Africa entered upon an historic encounter that was to shape
much of modern history in over half the world. The ensuing exchange of ideas, technology,
food, and disease had enormous implications for the world.
The study of the colonial era in United States history is essential for students because the
foundations for many of the most crucial developments were established during those years.
Without an understanding of the “seed time” of the American nation it is almost impossible for
students to understand such important developments as the formation of political institutions and
values, the development of economic systems, the multi-ethnic and culturally diverse population
of the United States, and the history of slavery and the enduring problems of race that were its
legacy.
A brief survey should be made of the English, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish
colonization. Major emphasis should be placed on the English colonies where new political
values and institutions were shaped. The sheer scope of our nation’s colonial history requires
that students have a clear focus for instruction—one that may be found using any of the three
following themes to concentrate on continuity in the period.
One way to embark upon a study of the colonial period is to carry forward the theme of the
coming together of varied peoples and their cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity. An analysis
of the social, cultural, and economic similarities and differences among the New England,
Middle-Atlantic, and Southern colonies will illustrate the diverse character of settlements that
characterized early America.
Another important theme for understanding the colonial era is the pre-revolutionary development
of self-government, as shaped during the evolution of civic life, political ideas, and institutions.
Special attention should be given to the building blocks of representative government—the New
England town meeting and the first elected colonial legislatures.
A third focus for studying the colonial period is an examination of the economic development of
the colonies. Colonial economic development is important because the abundance of land,
periodic labor shortages, the absence of craft guilds, and the “Protestant work ethic” created
wider opportunities for upward mobility. Many colonists nurtured a competitive, entrepreneurial
ethos, and a devotion to private property that grew to become part of the American value system.
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.2: Early Interactions
STANDARD 2: The student will describe how early European exploration and
colonization resulted in cultural interactions among Europeans, Africans, and American
Indians (First Americans).
Instructional Time: 1 week
Focus Questions:
1. What were the characteristics of societies in the Americas prior to 1492?
2. What motivated the English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese to explore and to settle
colonies in North America and how did it impact their settlements?
3. What were the consequences of the interactions between indigenous societies, Europeans,
and Africans?
4. What ideas of representative government and religious toleration did the colonies implement
in the new world?
5. What immigrants settled in the colonies and why?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 2.1: The student understands reasons for European exploration and
colonization.
2.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Review the technological and commercial advances in Europe that prompted
exploration in the Americas.
B. Compare motives for English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese exploration
and colonization (religious freedom, economic opportunity).
C. Evaluate the course and consequences (diseases and violent conflicts) of the
Columbian Exchange on Western Africa, the Americas, and Western Europe.
Benchmark 2.2: The student understands the contacts between Native Americans
(First Americans) and European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the precolonial period.
2.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Describe the social composition of the early settlers and compare their various
motives for exploration and colonization.
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B. Analyze the relationship among the English colonists, Native Americans, and
Africans in the redistribution of the world’s population as millions of people from
Europe and Africa voluntarily and involuntarily moved to the New World.
C. Describe the evolution and long-term consequences of the labor systems such as
encomienda and slavery in Spanish and Portuguese America.
D. Explain and evaluate the Spanish interactions with the Aztecs, Incas, and Pueblos.
E. Contrast French settlement with British settlement in the New World.
Benchmark 2.3: The student understands the characteristics of early exploration and
settlement in the New World.
2.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze the ideas of representative government in the colonies (“covenant
community,” Mayflower Compact, town meetings, direct democracy, House of
Burgesses – first democratic assembly elected in New World; today known as the
Virginia General Assembly – 1640s)
B. Compare and contrast the characteristics and motives for settlement in the New
England (Puritans), Middle-Atlantic (English, Dutch, and German immigrants), and
Southern Colonies (Virginia “cavaliers,” Jamestown - 1607, Virginia Company of
London, Shenandoah Valley or western Virginia).
C. Compare and contrast indentured servitude and slavery in the British colonies.
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.3: Colonial Beginnings
STANDARD 3: The student will describe 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.
Instructional Time: 1 week
Focus Questions:
1. What were the social, cultural, and economic similarities and differences among the New
England, Middle Atlantic, and Southern colonies?
2. How did political institutions and ideas about religious freedom evolve in the North
American colonies?
3. Why was slavery introduced into the colonies and how did it influence European and African
life in the colonies?
4. How did slave labor and indentured servant labor systems differ?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 3.1: The student understands the economic characteristics and social
developments of the New England, Middle-Atlantic, and Southern colonies.
3.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify the impact of geographic features on the political, economic, and social
developments in the colonies.
B. Analyze the motivation for colonization and the influences of these motives on the
patterns of settlement (the establishment of private ownership and free enterprise in
colonial life).
C. Explain the economic relationship between the mother country (England and Spain)
and its colonies (mercantilism).
D. Compare the economic and labor systems in the New England colonies (shipbuilding,
fishing, lumbering, small-scale subsistence farming), Middle colonies (shipbuilding,
small-scale farming, and trading among middle class artisans and business owners),
and Southern colonies (plantations, “cash crops”—tobacco, rice, indigo, Appalachian
subsistence farming, hunting, and trading).
E. Describe religious groups in the colonies and the role of religion in colonial
communities, including: Puritans (Massachusetts; Puritan work ethic; religious
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intolerance), Quakers (Pennsylvania; religious tolerance), Catholics (Maryland;
religious tolerance), and the Church of England or Anglican Church (Virginia).
F. Identify the growth of colonial cities (seaports and commercial centers) such as New
York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.
Benchmark 3.2: The student understands social and cultural change in British
America.
3.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Explain how and why family and community life differed in various regions of
colonial North America.
B. Explain the reasons for settlement of Rhode Island (religious dissenters fleeing
persecution by Puritans in Massachusetts).
C. Analyze how Enlightenment ideas of 17th and 18th centuries influenced American
political and cultural values.
D. Explain the impact of the mid-18th century series of religious revivals, the Great
Awakening (Methodists and Baptists), on colonial society in the justification for the
American Revolution.
E. Compare and contrast in the New England colonies with the Middle-Atlantic and
Southern colonies (family status, education, social structure and land ownership).
Benchmark 3.3: The student understands how the development of indentured
servitude and slavery influenced European and African life in the colonies.
3.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze the forced relocation of Africans to the English colonies in North America
and the Caribbean (Middle Passage).
B. Identify the changing status of Africans and African-Americans in the American
colonies after their first arrival in Jamestown (1619).
C. Explain why the slave labor system in many of the colonies resulted from plantation
economies and labor shortages.
D. Compare and contrast indentured servants (poor people from England, Scotland, and
Ireland) and slaves (enslaved people from Africa and the Caribbean).
E. Analyze how a slavery-based agricultural economy in the Southern colonies would
lead to the Civil War.
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F. Analyze the impact of Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia (1676).
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United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1760 – 1790
Standards 4 & 5
The American Revolution is of single importance to the study of United States history for the
light it sheds for students on a major theme in history: the long struggle for liberty, equality,
justice, and dignity. The American Revolution severed the colonial relationship with England
and created the United States of America. The revolutionary generation laid the institutional
foundations for the system of government under which the United States is governed. The
Revolution, inspired by the ideas concerning natural rights and political authority that were
transatlantic in nature, affected people and governments over a large part of the globe in what
has been called “the age of democratic revolution.”
A study of the American Revolution has a natural starting point in the Seven Years’ War. This
contest for empire removed France from North America, reducing the colonists’ need for
England’s protection. The war prepared a group of political and military leaders to play roles on
a larger stage and gave the colonists a sense of confidence in themselves. England’s decision to
maintain troops in the colonies after the war and to make colonists bear part of the cost of the
war began to drive a wedge between England and her North American colonies.
In studying the decade preceding the American Revolution students should be able to trace the
political and constitutional rights invoked by those colonists who debated and protested English
policies. Students should discern the connection between revolutionary ideals and the economic
interests of different groups such as Virginia tobacco planters, New England merchants, and
urban artisans. Some of the drama of the period can be brought to life by exploring the
character, thought, and political theatre of the various leaders and polemists such as John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams.
The Revolutionary Era lends itself to developing a respect for the power of ideas in history, how
they originate, how they are shaped over time, and how they are expressed at particular moments
of crisis to promote and channel the forces of change.
The Revolution changed the ways Americans thought, acted, and ordered their institutions.
Students should be able to draw up a rough balance sheet that indicates to what extent different
groups in society accomplished their goals and to what extent compromises were made.
Students should study how the rebellious colonists established new governments and they should
understand the political principles upon which they built government anew. A thoughtful study
of the Declaration of Independence will become a touchstone for the survey that follows.
Students should also examine the powers allowed the central government and the powers
reserved to the states under the Articles of Confederation.
The study of nation building in the generation after 1783 is important for students to understand
the creation and ratification of the United States Constitution and the evolution of the political
democracy it established. Students should examine the fundamental ideas underpinning the
political vision of the nation’s eighteenth century founders expressed in the Constitution, the
debates over ratification, and the Bill of Rights. The debate over the Constitution’s ratification is
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equally absorbing and important. To study the ratification debates in Virginia, where Madison
and Randolph debated Henry and Mason, is to open windows to the politically sophisticated
political discourse of this era. Students gain an understanding of both the fluidity and
uncertainty of those early years and the sharp division of opinion at the very time the United
States was struggling to define itself.
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.4: Revolutionary America
STANDARD 4: The student will demonstrate knowledge of events and issues of the
Revolutionary Period by
a) Analyzing how the political ideas of John Locke and those expressed in Common
Sense helped shape the Declaration of Independence;
b) Describing the political differences among the colonists concerning separation
from Britain;
c) Analyzing reasons for colonial victory in the Revolutionary War.
Instructional Time: 2 weeks
Focus Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
How did the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers influence colonial leaders?
What ideas, motives, and events led to the colonist’s decision to declare independence?
What differences existed among Americans concerning separation from Great Britain?
Who were the key military and diplomatic leaders of the American Revolution?
What were the key battles and events of the American Revolution?
What factors contributed to the victory of the American Rebels?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 4.1: The student explains the causes of the American Revolution, ideas,
and interests involved in forging the Revolutionary movement, and the reasons for the
American victory.
4.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Explain the concept of the “rights of Englishmen” and the impact of the English Civil
War and the Glorious Revolution on the colonies as justification for the Declaration
of Independence.
B. Explain the causes and consequences of the Seven Year’s War/French and Indian
War (French driven out of Canada and territory west of the Appalachian Mountains)
and the overhaul of the English imperial policy following the Treaty of Paris (1763).
C. Analyze the ideas of Enlightenment philosopher John Locke and how he influenced
the idea of self-government in the colonies (social contract, sovereignty, natural
rights: “life, liberty, and property,” and ordered liberty).
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D. Analyze how Thomas Paine’s Common Sense challenged the rule of the American
colonies by the King of England, George III and how it influenced the Declaration of
Independence.
E. Reconstruct the chronology of critical events leading to the outbreak of armed
conflict between the American colonies and England (Proclamation of 1763, Stamp
Act, Boston Tea Party, First Continental Congress, Boston Massacre, Minutemen).
F. Read and interpret the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson) and Common
Sense.
a. “We hold these truths . . . pursuit of happiness.”
b. “That to secure these rights . . . consent of the governed . . .”
c. “That whenever any form of government . . . to institute new government . . .”
Benchmark 4.2: The student will describe the political differences among the colonists
concerning separation from Great Britain.
4.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify the differences between the Patriots, Loyalists (Tories), and Neutrals.
B. Reconstruct the arguments between the Patriots (George Washington, Patrick Henry “Give me liberty or give me death”) and Loyalists about independence, and draw
conclusions about their decision to declare independence.
Benchmark 4.3: The student identifies key battles, strategic and diplomatic decisions,
and leaders of the Revolution.
4.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Appraise George Washington’s military and political leadership in conducting the
Revolutionary War.
B. Explain how the Americans won the war against superior British resources.
C. Compare and contrast the roles of men and women, including white settlers, free and
enslaved African Americans, and Native Americans in the Revolutionary War.
D. Analyze the United States’ relationship with France during the Revolution, the role of
Benjamin Franklin in negotiating a Treaty of Alliance with France, and the
contributions of France to the American victory.
E. Reconstruct the chronology of the critical military events that led to the colonial
victory ( Lexington and Concord, Trenton, Saratoga, Yorktown).
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United States and Virginia History:
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.5: Establishing a New Nation
STANDARD 5: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues involved in the
creation and ratification of the United States Constitution and how the principles of
limited government, consent of the governed, and the social contract are embodied in it
by
a) Explaining the origins of the Constitution, including the Articles of Confederation;
b) Examining the significance of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia
Statute for Religious Freedom in the framing of the Bill of Rights;
c) Identifying the major compromises necessary to produce the Constitution, and
the role of James Madison and George Washington;
d) Describing the conflict over ratification, including the Bill of Rights and the
arguments of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
1. What were the political, social, and economic consequences of the American
Revolution?
2. What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
3. What issues and events led to the writing of the United States Constitution?
4. What major compromises were achieved during the Constitutional Convention?
5. What are the major components of the national government?
6. What is the Bill of Rights and what is its significance in United States History?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 5.1: The student will evaluate the social, political, economic, and cultural
effects of the Revolution.
5.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1783) and how they affected United States
relations with Native Americans and European powers that held territories in North
America.
B. Assess the accomplishments and failures of the Second Continental Congress and
identify the reasons for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation.
C. Analyze the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation (weak national government,
no power to tax or regulate commerce, no common currency, one state one vote, no
executive or judicial branch).
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D. Assess the importance of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance
of 1787.
E. Determine the causes and effects of Shays’ Rebellion.
F. Explain how the revolutionary ideals impacted the enslaved and free African
Americans and led to the gradual abolition of slavery in the United States.
G. Analyze the ideas put forth arguing for new women’s roles and rights and explain the
customs of the 18th century that limited women’s aspirations and achievements.
Benchmark 5.2: The student analyzes and explains events and legacies of the
Constitutional Era.
5.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Interpret and analyze the importance of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (George
Mason), the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom (Thomas Jefferson), and the new
constitutions in Virginia and the other states.
B. Discuss the issues, policies, and events affecting relations among the existing and
future states that led to the creation and ratification of the United States Constitution.
C. Analyze important Constitutional debates and compromises in the struggle for
ratification including the Virginia Plan (James Madison), New Jersey Plan, Great
(Connecticut) Compromise, 3/5 Compromise, The Federalist Papers, the addition of
the Bill of Rights, and the leadership of James Madison (Father of the Constitution)
and George Washington (Chairman of the Convention).
D. Compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation and United States Constitution,
with particular consideration to the republican principles.
E. Describe the organization of the national government under the new Constitution
(Supremacy Clause, three co-equal branches/separation of powers, bicameral
legislature, checks and balances, limited government).
Benchmark 5.3: The student understands the guarantees of the Bill of Rights and its
continuing significance.
5.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Evaluate the arguments of the Federalists (argued that political factions would check
each other, a national Bill of Rights would be redundant because most states already
had a bill of rights, checks and balances prevented one branch from acquiring
preponderant power, and the need for a strong national government to facilitate
interstate commerce, manage foreign trade, national defense, and foreign relations).
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B. Evaluate the arguments of the Anti-Federalists (argued for the necessity of the Bill of
Rights and protection of state powers against a strong national government).
C. Identify the liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights (James Madison).
D. Assess the significance of the Bill of Rights.
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United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1790 – 1850
Standard 6
The study of the expanding nation from the Federal Period to the decade prior to the outbreak of
the Civil War is vital. This was a period of dramatic territorial expansion and economic growth
spurred on by the great optimism of Americans that anything was possible with hard work and
imagination. The study of this era begins with the first years of the early republic. The Federal
Period was crucial to the development of the United States as Americans forged a national
identity and created institutions and practices to govern a nation. It was in this period that local
and state loyalties were displaced by the seeds of nationalism. New political practices arose—
the rise of the two-party system, contested presidential elections and judicial review. The
institutions created by the Constitution took shape. The United States secured its place in the
world by fending off both internal and external threats to nationhood. In their study of the
Federal period students should explore the dynamic and explosive character of the time.
The beginning of the nineteenth century marked a major step in the economic transformation of
the United States as regions underwent an economic expansion and modernization that changed
the way Americans worked, where they lived and increased their productivity and their contact
with the world beyond. Industrialization created new wealth, broader opportunities, and
numerous social problems. It spurred the growth of cities and attracted a great wave of
immigrants. Women and children were drawn into the labor system as small craft shop
production gradually gave way to factory production. Students should explore how this market
development was made possible by the spectacular “transportation revolution.”
Widespread material changes ushered in by the early industrialization were accompanied by
significant developments in the American society, religion, popular culture, and intellectual life.
The rise of theatre, the proliferation of academies of art and music, and the flowering of
American literature all reflected the cultural changes of the time.
These years also witnessed a range of reform movements as diverse and enthusiastic as an in
American history. Students should find excitement and relevance in exploring antebellum
reform. These reformers themselves are fascinating and the issues they addressed have
contemporary resonance. While time does not permit study of every reform movement, the
crusades for temperance, public education, women’s rights, and the abolition of slavery are of
special importance because they lead to fundamental changes and have relevance in the next
century.
This era provides students with an exceptionally dramatic chapter in the evolution of political
democracy in the United States. The republicanism of the founders was diluted by the
democratic expansion of the white male participation in state and national politics and the rise of
the second party system.
The story of the nation’s westward expansion is one of the central stories of the time. Students
need to examine how the United States expanded its borders through international diplomacy and
war and justified this expansion with the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. Stories of the westward
movement should impress upon students the importance of the individual in history and provide
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students with an opportunity to examine engaging primary sources. Another important
development that students should explore is the expansion of agriculture and exploitation of
natural resources; the emergence of slavery as a divisive political issue; and the evolution of the
nation’s nineteenth century policy toward the American Indians.
Although the vitality and the democratic spirit of this age are noteworthy, it also important for
students to understand that important sectional differences over slavery, protective tariffs, and
states’ rights dominated the political debate of the day. Only a strong national spirit and the
statesmanship of congressional giants such as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster forestalled the
deepening sectional differences that would reach crisis proportions in the following decade.
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.6: The Growth of the New Republic
STANDARD 6: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the major events during the
first half of the nineteenth century by
a) Identifying the economic, political, and geographic factors that led to territorial
expansion and its impact on the American Indians (First Americans);
b) Describing the key features of the Jackson Era, with emphasis on federal
banking policies;
c) Describing the cultural, economic, and political issues that divided the nation,
including slavery, the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements, and the role
of the states in the Union.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
1. What precedents and political institutions were established during the early years of the
nation?
2. How did international events affect the domestic and foreign policy of the United States?
3. How was nationalism expressed in cultural, political, economic, and foreign policy
developments?
4. How did economic and technological innovations transform American society?
5. How did Jacksonian democracy and reform movements reflect the growth of political and
social opportunity?
6. How was the judicial power of the federal government transformed during this period?
7. What were the factors that influenced the territorial expansion of the United States?
8. What were the methods and the consequences of United States territorial expansion?
9. How did sectional differences lead to disputes about slavery, the nature of the union, and the
power of the national government that climaxed with the Civil War?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 6.1: The student analyzes the development of the first American political
party system.
6.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify the leaders, supporters, and main ideas of the Federalist Party (John Adams,
Alexander Hamilton; supported by bankers and Northeastern businessmen; believed
in a strong national government and industrial economy).
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B. Identify the leaders, supporters, and main ideas of the Democratic Republican Party
(Thomas Jefferson; supported by farmers, artisans, and Southern frontier settlers;
believed in a weak national government and agricultural economy).
C. Compare and contrast Hamilton’s Federalists and Jefferson’s Democratic
Republicans.
D. Analyze the impact of the election of 1800 (first peaceful transfer of power to
Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson, 12th Amendment).
Benchmark 6.2: The student analyzes foreign policy developments during the early
years of the Republic Era through the mid-19th century.
6.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze the foreign policy decisions of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson
(declaration of neutrality, Jay Treaty, Pinckney’s Treaty, Alien and Sedition Acts,
XYZ Affair, Louisiana Purchase/Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea, Embargo Act, Barbary
pirates).
B. Analyze how the Louisiana Purchase (1803) influenced politics, economic
development, and the concept of Manifest Destiny.
C. Explain President Madison’s reasons for involvement in the War in 1812
(impressments, disruption of trade) and analyze the impact of the war on territorial
expansion (Florida – from Spain, Oregon Territory - Britain).
D. Identify the origins and provisions of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) and how it
influenced hemispheric relations.
Benchmark 6.3: The student analyzes political institutions and practices during the
early Republican Era.
6.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Appraise how John Marshall’s precedent setting decisions interpreted the
Constitution and established the Supreme Court as an independent and equal branch
of the government (Marbury v. Madison, “judicial review,” McCulloch v. Maryland,
“the power to tax is the power to destroy”).
B. Explain why the “common man” considered the victory of Andrew Jackson’s election
(1828) with reference to an increased voting population and the spoils system
(aristocracy, presidential veto).
C. Analyze the political consequences of territorial growth (sectionalism, forced removal
of Native Americans—Indian Removal Act/Trail of Tears, admission of new states –
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Florida (Adams-Onis Treaty), Missouri Compromise, states’ rights, and the new
political parties).
Benchmark 6.4: The student analyzes the impact of growing nationalism on social,
political, economic, and cultural developments of the era.
6.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Examine the role of economic and technological innovations in transforming
American society (growth of railroads and canals, Eli Whitney/cotton gin led to the
“cotton kingdom,” interchangeable parts, mass production).
B. Identify the economic and political effects of the debate over the re-chartering of the
National Bank (pet banks) and the ensuing Panic of 1837 (National Republican Henry
Clay and the American System).
C. Explain the economic, political, racial, and religious roots of Manifest Destiny and
analyze how the concept influenced the westward expansion of the nation.
D. Explain the causes of the Texas Revolution (Alamo) and the Mexican-American War
and evaluate the provisions and consequences of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(acquisition of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado and New
Mexico).
E. Explain the peaceful resolution of the Oregon dispute with Great Britain.
Benchmark 6.5: The student analyzes and evaluates reform movements as attempts to
further opportunities in the new nation.
6.5 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Assess how the Second Great Awakening impinged on the antebellum issues such as
public education, temperance, women’s suffrage, abolition, and commercialization.
B. Define transcendentalism, account for the rise of the first American renaissance and
analyze ideas concerning the individual, society, and nature expressed in the literary
works of transcendentalists.
C. Analyze the activities of women of different racial and social groups and the reform
movements for education, abolition, temperance, and women’s suffrage.
D. Identify the goals of the 1848 Seneca Falls “Declaration of Sentiments” and the roles
of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the fight for women’s suffrage.
Benchmark 6.6: The student analyzes the regional differences and disputes that
climaxed in the era of the Civil War.
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6.6 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify and explain the widening economic, social, and cultural differences between
the North and the South.
B. Compare and contrast the pre-Civil War economic foundations of the industrial North
(manufacturing, supported protective tariffs) and the agrarian South (plantations,
subsistence farming, opposed tariffs) and the role geography played in the alignment
of the North, South, and West during the Civil War.
C. Evaluate events and issues such as slavery (balance of free states and slave states), the
States’ Rights Doctrine, sectionalism, nullification, tariffs, western expansion, and
popular sovereignty that led to secession and the Civil War.
D. Reconstruct the chronology and significance of critical events that led to the Civil
War (Gabriel Prosser, Missouri Compromise in 1820, Nat Turner’s Rebellion,
William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator, Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Act,
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854,
“Bleeding Kansas,” popular sovereignty, Republican Party, Dred Scott decision,
Lincoln-Douglas debates, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” John
Brown/Harper’s Ferry, Election of 1860.)
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United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1850 – 1914
Standards 7 & 8
The Civil War can be approached in many ways—as a final violent phase in a conflict between
two regions with distinct interests; as the breakdown of a democratic political system; as the
climax of several decades of social reform; and as the central chapter in America’s racial history.
A study of the Civil War provides teachers with opportunities to engage students to explore the
great constitutional issues, debates, moral dilemma, political crises, and compromises of the
time. Students should be able to understand the conviction felt by Northerners and Southerners
and how their passionate feelings of righteousness led to the tragedy of the Civil War.
An exploration of the causes of the Civil War reveals the era’s complexity and the inability of
elected officials to forge a lasting compromise. Students should examine how the Civil War was
precipitated by Southern secession, which had grown out of sectional differences dating back to
the founding of the nation. At the same time students need to understand that sectional conflicts
extended beyond the slavery issue to cultural differences, conflicting economic interests, and
opposing perspectives on the Constitution. Examining the great speeches of Webster, Clay, and
Calhoun, and the debates between Lincoln and Douglas will help students understand the
competing interests of the time. It is important, however, for students to note that the North and
the South were not monolithic—within each region there was widespread diversity, although
both Northerners and Southerners continued to support many of the same the republican
principles of government.
The Union victory and the era known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) began the process of
rebuilding political, cultural, and economic institutions. One problem at the end of the war was
the status of the former Confederates states and their residents. Another problem was the status
of the newly liberated slaves in the post-war nation. Much of the complexity of Reconstruction
resulted from the connections between these two problems.
The retreat from Reconstruction is an important topic that students should explore. Students
should confront and discuss De Tocqueville’s grim prediction, made thirty years prior, that
observing that although slavery may be abolished “the prejudice to which it has birth is
immovable.” Students should examine how the hopes of African-Americans for full equality,
constitutionally guaranteed by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, were subsequently
undermined by the courts, by political interests, and by white southerners’ resistance, opening a
century-long struggle to realize equal rights for African Americans.
As the South struggled to deal with the challenge of Reconstruction, the Great Plains was rapidly
settled. By 1870, the expansion of the railroads accelerated migration to the West.
Homesteaders, cowboys, and prospectors led the way. Over the next three decades American
agricultural production doubled. The building of the railroads, the destruction of the native
bison, and federal land policies signaled the end of tribal life for the Indians of the Great Plains.
United States policies of Indian removal culminated in the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which
ended the policy of respecting tribal bonds, allocated acreage to individuals, and promised
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eventual citizenship to the Indians, setting the course for federal Indian policy until the New
Deal. Students should examine Indian attempts to maintain their culture, dramatically and
tragically illustrated by the Ghost Dance movement of 1889-1890, which ended with the
massacre at Wounded Knee.
The frontier legend tied “free land” to the ideals of freedom, opportunity, and individual selfdetermination. Students can explore this vision of the West in dime store novels of the era, in the
writings of Theodore Roosevelt, and in the scholarship of Frederick Jackson Turner.
The nineteenth century closed on a less than auspicious note: the frontier of the American West
was pronounced closed, the Plains Indians were herded together on reservations, and the African
American quest for full equality before the law was frustrated by the Supreme Court’s ruling in
Plessy v. Ferguson.
The rise of business, a growing labor movement, technical innovations, and new immigration
patterns all transformed the United States. These changes brought modern conveniences and an
improved standard of living for most Americans, but also ushered in many problems associated
with increased industrialization, urbanization, and political corruption. Students should examine
the role of the Progressives as they responded to these new problems, especially the political,
social, and economic reforms at the local, state, and national level.
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.7: Civil War and Reconstruction
STANDARD 7: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Civil War and
Reconstruction Era and its importance as a major turning point in American history by
a) Identifying the major events and the roles of key leaders of the Civil War Era,
with emphasis on Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and
Frederick Douglass.
b) Analyzing the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the principles
outlined in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
c) Examining the political, economic, and social impact of the war and
Reconstruction, including the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to
the Constitution of the United States of America.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
1. What were the Northern and Southern viewpoints regarding secession?
2. Who were the key political and military leaders during the Civil War?
3. What was Lincoln’s vision for the American nation as professed in the Emancipation
Proclamation and Gettysburg Address?
4. What were the key military turning points in the Civil War?
5. What were the social and economic consequences of the Civil War?
6. What was Reconstruction and what were the political debates over its implementation?
7. What were the long-term social and economic consequences for the South following the end
of Reconstruction?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 7.1: The student analyzes significant elements of the Civil War including
the secession process; advantages and disadvantages of the Union and the Confederacy;
military strategies; and the role of key individuals.
7.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Compare Northern and Southern positions on the right of a state to secede (States’
Rights Doctrine vs. federal supremacy).
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B. Identify major military and political leaders from the period (Abraham Lincoln –
Elections of 1860 & 1864, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, George
McClellan, William Sherman, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Frederick Douglass).
C. Compare the human resources of the Union and the Confederacy at the beginning of
the Civil War and assess the tactical advantages of each side.
D. Identify the innovations in military technology and explain their impact on humans,
property, and the final outcome of the war.
E. Identify the key battles of the Civil War and evaluate how the political, military, and
diplomatic leadership affected the outcome of the conflict (Fort Sumter, Antietam,
Gettysburg – turning point, Vicksburg, Appomattox Court House – Lee’s surrender).
Benchmark 7.2: The student analyzes the role of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil
War Era.
7.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze the impact of Lincoln’s campaign, election, and presidency on the start of
the Civil War (viewed the Civil War as a “Second American Revolution”).
B. Evaluate the provisions and the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and
Lincoln’s basis for issuing it following the Union victory at Antietam (freed slaves in
rebelling states, established the abolition of slavery as a war aim, discouraged foreign
interference).
C. Analyze the significance of the Gettysburg Address (“ . . . dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal,” ruled by a government “of the people, by
the people, and for the people,” “one nation”).
Benchmark 7.3: The student understands the social experience of the war on the
battlefield and the home front.
7.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Compare the motives for fighting and the daily life experiences of Confederate
soldiers with those of white and African-American Union soldiers.
B. Identify the reasons for the northern draft riots.
C. Evaluate the Union’s reasons for curbing wartime civil liberties.
D. Compare women’s homefront and battlefront roles in the Union and the Confederacy.
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E. Compare the human and material costs of the war in the North and the South and
assess the impact the Civil War had on the nation.
Benchmark 7.4: The student analyzes the political and social consequences of
Reconstruction on the South and the rest of the Nation.
7.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Compare and contrast the Reconstruction policies advocated by Abraham Lincoln
(secession was illegal, quickly reunify, “malice toward none…”), Andrew Johnson,
and the Radical Republicans.
B. Analyze the escalating conflict between the President and Congress (Radical
Republicans) and the reasons for and consequences of Johnson’s impeachment trial.
C. Explain the provisions of the Civil War Amendments 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
and the political forces supporting and opposing each.
D. Discuss the significance of the election of 1876 and its impact on the end of
Reconstruction with the Compromise of 1877.
E. Describe how art, music, photography, and literature of the time period captured the
continuing crises of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
F. Explain the economic and social problems (farms, railroads, and factories were
destroyed throughout the South) facing the South and appraise their impact on
different social groups (Jim Crow).
G. Assess the long-term economic, political, and social consequences of the Civil War
and Reconstruction on the nation.
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.8: The Rise of Modern America
STANDARD 8: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and
changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by
a) Explaining the relationship among territorial expansion, westward movement of
the population, new immigration, growth of cities, and the admission of new
states to the Union.
b) Describing the transformation of the American economy from a primarily
agrarian to a modern industrial economy and identifying major inventions that
improved life in the United States.
c) Analyzing prejudice and discrimination during this time period, with emphasis
on “Jim Crow” and the responses of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois.
d) Identifying the impact of the Progressive Movement, including child labor and
anti-trust laws, the use of labor unions, and the success of the women’s suffrage
movement.
Instructional Time: 4.5 weeks
Focus Questions:
1. What factors influenced Western expansion and economic growth in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century?
2. In what ways did changing patterns of immigration to the United States and the movements
of people within the country create new patterns and conflicts?
3. What is the significance of the closing of the frontier?
4. How did westward expansion and settlement impact Native Americans?
5. What significant shifts in immigration patterns occurred at the turn of the 20th century?
6. How did US immigration policies respond to the challenges of the new wave of immigrants?
7. How did race relations in the South change after Reconstruction, and what was the African
American response?
8. How did rapid industrialization, the rise of big business, the labor movement, and
technological innovations transform the United States?
9. How did industrialization affect workers?
10. What were the goals of the labor leaders and union organizers?
11. What social, economic, and political issues gave rise to the Populist movement?
12. What were the short and long term results of the Progressive movement?
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Benchmarks:
Benchmark 8.1: The student analyzes the causes and effects of western expansion
during the second half of the 19th century.
8.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify and discuss factors that influenced western migration, including political,
social, cultural, and economic factors (Homestead Act of 1862, Dawes Act,
mechanical reaper, barbed wire, American cowboy, cattle drives, Transcontinental
Railroad).
B. Describe the influence of western expansion on industry, technology, and the labor
supply (Turner Thesis).
C. Discuss the influences of the West and the closing of the frontier on American ideas
and social and cultural developments.
D. Identify and compare the attitudes and policies toward Native Americans by
government officials, the US Army, missionaries, and settlers (Wounded Knee, Battle
of Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull).
E. Recognize that by the early twentieth century the United States admitted all states that
made up the continental United States.
Benchmark 8.2: The student analyzes the ways that cultural and economic change
redefined American ideals at the turn of the 20th century.
8.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Distinguish between “old immigration” (prior to 1871 – northern and western Europe
- Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden) and “new immigration”
(1871-1921 – southern and eastern Europe and Asia - Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia,
present day Hungry and Yugoslavia, China, and Japan) in terms of its volume and the
immigrants’ ethnicity, religion, language, place of origin, and motives for emigrating
from their homelands.
B. Assess the contributions of different immigrant groups (Italian, Polish, and Slavs –
coal mines; Chinese and Irish – transcontinental railroad; Jews, Russians, Japanese)
and the challenges they faced in the United States.
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C. Trace patterns of immigrant settlement in different regions of the country and how
new immigrants helped produce a composite American culture that transcended group
boundaries (“melting pot”).
D. Evaluate the immigration policy of the United States and analyze the social, political
and economic challenges immigrants faced at the turn of the 20th century (Ellis
Island/Angel Island, Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Immigration Restriction Act of
1921, nativism, assimilation, urban life, public schools).
E. Explain how industrialization led to the rapid growth of cities (Chicago, Detroit,
Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York), what problems arose as a result of this rapid
growth, and how cities addressed these problems (New York subway, trolley, sewage
and water systems).
Benchmark 8.3: The student analyzes factors that fueled the modern industrial
economy: industrialization, urbanization, immigration and available natural resources.
8.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify reasons for the economic transformation in the United States at the turn of
the century, including government policies, the labor supply, and natural resources.
B. Identify major industrial leaders and their impact upon the economy (Carnegie - steel,
Rockefeller - oil, Morgan - finance, Vanderbilt - railroads).
C. Analyze governmental economic policies and their impact on industrial development
(trade, monopolies, taxation, money supply, laissez-faire, capitalism, special
consideration for land grants).
D. Evaluate the impact of the industrial growth on the expansion of international
markets.
E. Describe the impact of industrial production on distribution methods, transportation,
and communication technologies.
F. Identify key inventors and the impact of their inventions/innovations (Edison – light
bulb/electricity, Bell - telephone, Bessemer – steel process, Wright Brothers airplane, Ford – assembly line, corporation, the idea of limited liability).
G. Describe the impact of immigration on the labor supply, the movement to organize
labor, and industrial conflict.
H. Describe the impact of industrialization on literature and the arts.
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Benchmark 8.4: The student analyzes the extent to which civil liberties were maintained
or denied during the last part of the 19th century.
8.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Trace the development of existing social customs that resulted in institutionalizing
segregation.
B. Describe the prejudice and discrimination during this time period with emphasis on
the Ku Klux Klan, lynchings, Ida B. Wells, “Jim Crow” laws, Plessy v. Ferguson –
“separate but equal.”
C. Compare and contrast the ideas of Booker T. Washington (Tuskegee Institute) and
W.E.B. DuBois (co-founder of the NAACP).
D. Identify why African Americans began the “Great Migration” to Northern cities in the
early 20th century.
Benchmark 8.5: The student analyzes the rise of the American labor movement and
how political issues reflected social and economic changes.
8.5 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze how working conditions changed (long hours, low wages, no job security, no
benefits, company towns, hazardous conditions, employment of women & children)
and how the workers responded to new industrial conditions.
B. Identify the causes and consequences of the industrial employment of children.
C. Analyze how “reform unions” and “trade unions” differed in terms of agendas for
reform and organizing workers by race, skill, gender, and ethnicity (Knights of Labor,
American Federation of Labor – Samuel Gompers, American Railway Union –
Eugene V. Debs, Industrial Ladies’ Garment Workers Union).
D. Explain the response of management and government at different levels to labor strife
in different regions of the country (Pullman Strike, Haymarket Square, Homestead
Strike).
Benchmark 8.6: The student analyzes how Americans grappled with social, economic
and political issues during the late 19th century.
8.6 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
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A. Explain the political, social, and economic roots of Populism and distinguish
Populism from earlier democratic reform movements.
B. Analyze the Populist Omaha Platform of 1892 as a statement of grievances and an
agenda for reform.
C. Analyze the issues and results of the 1896 election and determine to what extent it
was a turning point in American politics.
D. Evaluate the success and failures of Populism.
E. Identify the goals of the Progressive Movement (government controlled by people,
guaranteed economic opportunities through government regulation, elimination of
social injustices, women’s suffrage).
F. Evaluate the leadership of the Progressive Era Presidents Theodore Roosevelt
(“Square Deal”), William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson (“New Freedom”) in
terms of their effectiveness in obtaining passage of reform measures.
G. Evaluate progressive reforms to expand democracy at local and state levels (27th
Amendment, referendum, recall, initiative, primaries, direct election of senators,
secret ballot, commission and council manager).
H. Describe how the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments reflect the ideals and goals of
Progressivism and the continuing attempt to adapt the founding ideals to a
modernized society.
I. Identify successful attempts at Progressive reform at the federal level (Meat
Inspection Act, Pure Food and Drug Act, Sherman Antitrust Act, Clayton Antitrust
Act, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Reserve Act, Susan B. Anthony).
J. Identify attempts by individuals to expose corruption and inequality during the
Progressive era (muckraking, Ida Tarbell, Jacob Riis, Upton Sinclair/The Jungle).
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United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1898 – 1945
Standards 9, 10, & 11
Throughout its history the United States had been an expansionist nation. By the middle of the
19th century the United States had acquired all the territory in the continental United States from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. In the last decade of the 19th century the United States joined
European powers in imperialistic expansion. The new Manifest Destiny led to acquisition of
overseas possessions in the Caribbean and the Pacific. This imperialistic drive laid the
groundwork for the United States’ role as a World Power.
As a world power, the United States reluctantly entered World War I. Although victorious,
disillusionment with the war and its results led Americans to retreat inwardly. Their sentiments
helped to usher in an era of isolationism, and escapism. Post World War I was a period marked
by a conflict between more simple rural values of the 19th century and the more complex urban
values of the 20th century. As the standard of living rose, more individuals sought the “American
Dream” The economic boom disappeared with the onset of the Great Depression – a depression
that continued for a full decade not only in the United States but also throughout the world. To
recover from the Depression Americans elected Franklin Roosevelt and turned to the federal
government for help. President. Roosevelt and his New Deal sought to address the nation’s
problems and in so doing permanently altered the role of the government in the American
economy and in the lives of the American people.
The Roosevelt Administration abandoned isolationism in response to the rise of totalitarianism
and entered the world stage. The attack on Pearl Harbor pushed the United States into World
War II. Millions of brave men and women served bravely in the armed forces. The United States
success during World War II required a total commitment of its citizens and resources.
Mobilization led to extensive government involvement in the economy and greatly increased the
power of the President. In August 1945, atomic bombs dropped on Japan ended the war. The
story of the bomb’s creation and the decision of the United States to use it deserve close
attention. These events changed the world. Much of the industrial world had experienced the
destruction of battle, and unprecedented death. There were nearly 50 million casualties from the
war and millions more homeless. Only the United States emerged with its homeland intact and
its economy prosperous.
Diplomatic relationship among Allied Powers began to disintegrate as war ended. The war
permanently ended traditional American isolationism.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.9: Becoming a World Power
STANDARD 9: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the emerging role of the
United States in world affairs and key domestic events after 1890 by
a) Explaining the changing policies of the United States toward Latin America and
Asia and the growing influence of the United States in foreign markets.
b) Evaluating the United States involvement in World War I, including Wilson’s
Fourteen Points, the Treaty of Versailles, and the national debate over treaty
ratification and the League of Nations.
c) Explaining the causes of the Great Depression, its impact on the American
people, and the ways the New Deal addressed it.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
1. In what ways did imperialism expand and change the territorial, diplomatic, and military
power of the United States?
2. What were the reasons for United States intervention in World War I?
3. What was the impact at home and abroad of United States involvement in World War I?
4. In what ways did cultural and economic change redefine American ideas and society in the
post-war years?
5. What were the causes of, and the social, political, and economic responses to the Great
Depression?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 9.1: The student analyzes the causes and effects of American foreign policy
at the turn of the 20th century.
A. Explain why the United States abandoned its traditional isolationist policy and began
to emerge as a world power.
B. Analyze the causes and results of the Spanish-American War (annexation of the
Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam, Platt Amendment, Cuba).
C. Identify the change in American foreign policy in Latin America and Asia which
expanded the global economy (John Hay’s Open Door Policy, Taft’s Dollar
Diplomacy, Panama’s independence from Columbia, Roosevelt Corollary, Theodore
Roosevelt and the Panama Canal, Hawaii).
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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D. Describe the economic and political consequences (growth in international trade,
Dollar Diplomacyof American foreign policy in Latin America and Asia.
Benchmark 9.2: The student analyzes and examines the significance of World War I.
9.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Examine the importance of nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and alliances as
underlying causes of World War I (1914 Germany and Austria-Hungry went to war
with Britain, France, and Russia).
B. Examine the reasons for the shift from the United States’ three-year isolationist policy
to active military involvement in WWI leading to Germany’s defeat (United States’
ties to Great Britain, unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking of the Lusitania,
Zimmerman note, Wilsonian ideals - “make the world safe for democracy”).
C. Evaluate Wilson’s 14 Points, his negotiations at the Versailles Treaty talks, and the
national debate over treaty ratification and US participation in the League of Nations
(mandate system, self-determination, freedom of the seas).
D. Identify the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles (punishment of Germany,
League of Nations, European boundaries redrawn creating new nations, United States
Senate does not ratify).
Benchmark 9.3: The student understands social tensions and their consequences in the
postwar era.
9.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Assess state and federal government reactions to the growth of radical political
movements.
B. Examine rising racial and ethnic tensions with regard to the resurgence of the KKK,
Palmer Raids, Sacco and Vanzetti, Scottsboro Trial.
C. Examine the rise of religious fundamentalism and the clash between traditional moral
values and changing ideas as exemplified in the controversy over prohibition and the
Scopes Trial.
D. Analyze how the emergence of the “New Woman” challenged Victorian values.
E. Examine the contributions of artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance.
Benchmark 9.4: The student analyzes the causes of the Great Depression and how it
affected American society.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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9.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze the causes of the Great Depression and the consequences of the stock market
crash of 1929 (overspeculation, overproduction/Dust Bowl, available credit, failure of
the Federal Reserve, high protective tariffs/Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930).
B. Explain the global context of the Great Depression and the reasons for the worldwide
economic collapse.
C. Analyze the impact of the Great Depression on the American people (unemployment,
homelessness, bank closings, farm foreclosures, migration, “Hoovervilles,” Bonus
Army March, political unrest, growing militancy of labor unions).
D. Contrast the background and leadership abilities of Franklin D. Roosevelt (“We have
nothing to fear but fear itself”) with those of Herbert Hoover.
E. Evaluate the successes and failures of the relief, reform, and recovery measures of the
New Deal (First Hundred Days, Works Progress Administration, Agricultural
Adjustment Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Social Security Act,
Tennessee Valley Authority, Securities and Exchange Commission, Brain Trust).
F. Examine the extent to which the New Deal expanded the role of government in the
economy.
G. Recognize the impact of federal policies on encouraging the preservation of historical
records and the promotion of the arts.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.10: World War II
STANDARD 10: The student will demonstrate knowledge of World War II by
a) Identifying the causes and events that led to American involvement in the war,
including military assistance to Britain and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
b) Describing the major battles and turning points of the war in North Africa,
Europe, and the Pacific, including Midway, Stalingrad, the Normandy landing
(D-Day), and Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb to force the surrender of
Japan.
c) Describing the role of all-minority units, including the Tuskegee Airmen and
Nisei Regiments.
d) Describing the Geneva Convention and the treatment of prisoners of war during
World War II.
e) Analyzing the Holocaust (Hitler’s Final Solution), its impact on Jews and other
groups, and the postwar trials of war criminals.
Instructional Time: 2 weeks
Focus Questions
1. How did the United States respond to increasing totalitarian aggression in Europe and Asia?
2. What were the reasons for U.S. intervention in World War II?
3. What was the overall strategy of the United States in World War II?
4. What were the pivotal battles in World War II?
5. What roles did minorities play in the American war effort?
6. What was the purpose of the Geneva Convention and how was it implemented during the
war?
7. What was the Holocaust and what was its impact?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 10.1: The student will analyze the rise of totalitarian regimes, global
economic instability, and the failure of international institutions as underlying causes of
the war.
10.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze how the political and economic problems that resulted from the Treaty of
Versailles and the League of Nations led to World War II (appeasement/Munich
Conference).
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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B. Identify the acts of aggression of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan
that led to World War II (Manchuria, Ethiopia, Rhineland, Sudetenland, Poland 1939).
C. Analyze the reasons and the actions by which the United States and President
Roosevelt moved from a policy of neutrality to involvement in World War II
(isolationism, but increasing aid to the British with the destroyer for bases deal, LendLease Act – “lending a garden hose to a next-door neighbor whose house is on fire”,
oil and steel embargo on Japan (Stimson Doctrine), Neutrality Acts, cash and carry
policy, Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941 - “a date that will live in infamy”).
Benchmark 10.2: Students will analyze the military strategies, major battles and
turning points of World War II.
10.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify the Allied and Axis powers and their major political leaders (Churchill,
DeGaulle, Stalin, Chiang Kai-shek, Roosevelt, Truman, Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito,
and Tojo) and military leaders (Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, Nimitz,
Montgomery, Bradley, Rommel, Goering, Yamamoto).
B. Identify the strategies of Germany and Japan to defeat the Allies, including
Germany’s plans for bombing campaigns, submarine warfare, and the seizure of
Soviet oil fields.
C. Identify the Allies’ military strategy in the European and Pacific theatres (“Defeat
Hitler first,” “island hopping,” cutting off Japanese supplies through submarine
warfare).
D. Describe the significant battles and turning points in the war (El Alamein – Suez
Canal, Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Normandy – D-Day, 6 June 1944, Battle of the
Bulge, Midway, Iwo Jima, Okinawa).
E. Evaluate Truman’s decision to employ atomic weapons against Japan and assess the
later controversies over the decision (Hiroshima, Nagasaki).
Benchmark 10.3: The student will analyze how minority and female participation in
World War II contributed to the Allied victory.
10.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify the experience of minorities and women (segregated units and non-combat
roles) and their contributions to the war effort with emphasis on the Tuskegee
Airmen, Nisei regiments, the Navajo Indians, and Mexican Americans.
Benchmark 10.4: The student will analyze the violations of human rights that took
place before and during World War II.
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10.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze Hitler’s “Final Solution” (genocide), its impact on Jews, Poles, Slavs,
Gypsies, and “undesirables,” and the Allied response to the Holocaust.
B. Identify the terms of the Geneva Convention and the extent to which they were
followed in the European and Pacific Theatres (Bataan Death March), and analyze the
postwar trials of war criminals in Nuremberg and Tokyo.
C. Analyze the impact of the Nuremberg trials on the establishment of a Jewish
homeland.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.11: World War II: Domestic Effects
STANDARD 11: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the effects of World War
II on the home front by
a) Explaining how the United States mobilized its economic, human, and
military resources.
b) Describing the contributions of women and minorities to the war effort.
c) Explaining the internment of Japanese Americans during the war.
d) Describing the role of media and communications in the war effort.
Instructional Time: 2 weeks
Focus Questions
1. How did the United States organize and distribute its resources to achieve victory during
World War II??
2. What was the role of women and minorities and how did World War II affect them?
3. How were civil liberties limited during WWII?
4. How did public education and the media assist the Allied efforts during the war?
5. What impact did WWII have on science and technology?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 11.1: The student will analyze how the United States mobilized for war.
11. 1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Examine how the United States allocated its economic and human resources to
achieve victory during World War II (rationing, peacetime to wartime retooling,
production quotas, draft/selective service).
B. Discuss how the need to maximize the use of human resources accounted for minority
and female success in gaining access to wartime jobs (Rosie the Riveter).
C. Explain how the government used war bonds and income taxes to finance the war.
Benchmark 11.2: The student will understand how prejudice and traditional role
models were impacted by the war effort.
11. 2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
II - 41
A. Identify the reasons for the strong anti-Japanese prejudice on the West Coast and list
the justifications given for the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps.
B. Evaluate the effects of World War II on gender roles and the American family.
C. Identify the contributions of women and minority groups to the labor force (AfricanAmericans migrated to cities).
Benchmark 11.3: The student will evaluate the efforts of the government and the media
to influence public opinion and sustain morale.
11. 3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Examine and evaluate government efforts to bolster morale (cartoons, posters,
movies, public education).
B. Discuss government efforts to censor reporting of the war.
C. Explain how the entertainment industry contributed to the war effort by raising
morale, stereotyping the enemy, and supporting patriotism.
Benchmark 11.4: The student will evaluate the impact of World War II on science and
technology.
11. 4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Discuss changes in military technology during WWII.
B. Examine the impact of WWII on the field of medicine.
C. Explore the effect of WWII on the technology of television and the development of
synthetic materials.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1945 – Present
Standards 12, 13 & 14
The United States attempted to meet the expanding challenges for global interdependencies in an
ever-shrinking world of instant communication, limited natural resources, and expanded populations.
With the fall of communism in Europe the nation continued to face foreign policy decisions of a
major world power. At home, modern America faced new patterns of immigration and demographic
settlements, which resulted in new social, political and economic issues as it entered the 21st century.
The origins of the Cold War have been a subject debated by historians. Most historians agree that
both the United States and the Soviet Union were responsible for the atmosphere of hostility and
suspicion that existed shortly after the peace. The Cold War also had a significant effect on
domestic affairs. Anxieties provoked by fears of communist aggression and domestic subversion led
to McCarthyism with witch hunts undermining civil liberties.
The Cold War changed the United States. It abandoned its historic political isolation from world
events and became a participant in a global struggle to contain the Soviet Union and stop
communism. The nation built a massive military establishment, signed defense pacts, intervened in
affairs of other countries and launched a nuclear arms race. The policy of “containment” led to a
struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
As a result of this struggle Americans went to war in both Korea and Vietnam hoping to contain
communism and defend freedom.
The Cold War affected every presidential election and administration from 1948 to 1992. The
destruction of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany were among the events between 1986
and 1991 that transformed the world. The Cold War, which had been a fact of life since World War
II, came to an end. Its demise led to changes in American politics and economics.
By the 1960s growing discontent was evident among many groups in American society. Concern
with American involvement in Vietnam, oppression of rights for African Americans, women and
minorities, increasing signs of poverty and other frustrations with American life erupted in a demand
for change. These groups who had been left out of mainstream America fought for their rights and
better opportunities. In response to these demands the Great Society legislation promoted health,
education voting rights, urban renewal, immigration reform, protection of the environment and a war
against poverty. Despite this landmark legislation many problems were left unsolved. These
challenges to traditional values and existing power relationships created a backlash among the white,
working and middle classes.
American social and cultural trends of the 1970s and 1980s were a result of the demonstrations and
activism of the 1960s. The United States did become more tolerant, diverse and open although there
were still areas of discontent. By the late 1980s and early 1990s there was another series of social
and economic changes. These changes led to a demand for moral values, spirituality and a
resurgence of interest in religion. At the beginning of the 21st century Americans were uncertain
whether these changes would bring a better or a safer world or a harsher, more dangerous one.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.12: The Cold War
STANDARD 12: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the United States foreign
policy since World War II by
a) Describing outcomes of World War II, including political boundary changes,
the formation of the United Nations, and the Marshall Plan.
b) Explaining the origins of the Cold War, and describing the Truman Doctrine
and the policy of containment of communism, the American role of wars in
Korea and Vietnam, and the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) in Europe.
c) Explaining the role of America’s military and veterans in defending freedom
during the Cold War.
d) Explaining the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War,
including the role of Ronald Reagan.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
1. What were the political, economic, and social consequences of World War II?
2. How was United States foreign and domestic policy shaped by the Cold War?
3. What were the reasons for, responses to, and consequences of, United States involvement in
Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam?
4. How did threats and responses to communism impact domestic affairs?
5. What important events marked the rise of the US as a world economic power?
6. How did the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam conflict affect the Executive Branch?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 12.1: The student analyzes the impact of international affairs on the foreign
policy of the United States after World War II.
12.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Describe the global economy (capitalism v. communism) and political changes
(democracy/totalitarianism/de-colonization) in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and
the United States at the end of World War II and beginning of the Cold War (partitioning
of Germany into eastern and western spheres, “iron curtain”, Soviet domination of
Central and Eastern Europe, American occupation of Japan).
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
II - 44
B. Identify measures taken by the United States to ensure stability in Europe after the war
(Marshall Plan, NATO v. Warsaw Pact, United Nations).
C. Explain the rationale, implementation, and effectiveness of the US containment policy
(Truman Doctrine).
D. Examine the implications of the Cold War on the space program (Sputnik).
E. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of the United States’ involvement in
Korea (38th Parallel, Chinese involvement, firing of MacArthur, stalemate).
F. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of the United States’ involvement in
Cuba (Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile
Crisis (October 1962), blockade).
G. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of, the United States’ involvement in
Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, French/Dien Bien Phu, North Vietnam’s attempts to install a
communist government in South Vietnam, 17th Parallel, containment, John F. Kennedy,
Lyndon Johnson, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, limited war, escalation, Tet Offensive,
Vietcong, Richard Nixon, “Vietnamization,” 1975 – North & South Vietnam merged
under communist control).
H. Analyze the foreign policy of the United States toward rivals China (People’s Revolution
in 1949) and the Soviet Union during the Cold War (“massive retaliation”, brinkmanship,
détente).
I. Identify the internal and external reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union (1989) and
the end of the Cold War (nationalism in Soviet republics, market economy, economic
inefficiency, glasnost, perestroika, Ronald Reagan – “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this
wall,” increased U.S. military and economic pressure, Mikhail Gorbachev, Berlin Wall).
Benchmark 12.2: The student analyzes the political impact of the Cold War on domestic
affairs.
12.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Examine how the fear of communism and the threat of nuclear war affected American
life throughout the Cold War (Alger Hiss, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, bomb shelters,
public schools—“duck and cover”).
B. Explain the reasons for the rise of McCarthyism and its significance in the larger
American culture.
C. Discuss why foreign policy was a major issue in the presidential elections during the
Cold War era.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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D. Identify famous excerpts from President Kennedy’s inaugural address (“pay any price . . .
to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” and “Ask not what your country . . . you
can do for your country.”).
E. Identify the contributions of President Kennedy to the American space program (NASA,
John Glenn, July 1969 – Neil Armstrong, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap
for mankind.”)
F. Recognize that JFK was assassinated in 1963, sparking great domestic divisiveness.
G. Assess the Vietnam policies of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Administrations and the
shifts of public opinion about the war (hawks v. doves, Kent State, protests,
discrimination against veterans).
Benchmark 12.3: The student traces the rise of the United States as a major economic and
military power in the Post-War Era.
12.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Describe the postwar economy and its effects on the American consumer.
B. Explain the conservative reaction to liberalism and evaluate supply-side economic
strategies of the Reagan and Bush administrations.
C. Analyze the economic implications of demographic changes (baby boomers, sunbelt,
credit cards, suburbs, advertising).
D. Describe the role of the federal government in providing economic opportunities
(G. I. Bill, National Defense Education Act, Great Society legislation).
E. Identify how heavy military expenditures during the Cold War benefited Virginia’s
economy more than other states (Hampton Roads – naval/air bases, Northern Virginia –
Pentagon, private companies contracted with the military).
Benchmark 12.4: The student analyzes and explains domestic and foreign policy measures
of the national government during the Post-War Era.
12.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Analyze the constitutional issues raised by the Watergate affair and evaluate the effects
of Watergate on public opinion.
B. Evaluate the impact of the Vietnam War on the Executive Branch of the National
Government.
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.13: Civil Rights Era
STANDARD 13: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Civil Rights movement of
the 1950s and 1960s by
a) Identifying the importance of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the roles
of Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill, and how Virginia responded.
b) Describing the importance of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), the 1963 March on Washington, the Civil Act of 1964,
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Instructional Time: 1.5 weeks
Focus Questions:
1. How did the struggle for Civil Rights, the “Second Reconstruction,” transform society and
politics in the United States after 1950?
2. What were the demands and grievances of those involved in the movements for change that
gained prominence in the 1960s and 1970s?
3. How did Virginia respond to the Supreme Court decisions concerning Civil Rights?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 13.1: The student describes and evaluates the efforts and accomplishments
of individuals and groups, within the public and private sectors, to affect change in
Civil Rights.
13.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify and evaluate patterns of Supreme Court decisions (Brown v. Board of
Education – “with all deliberate speed”), the role of key civil rights leaders and
organizations (Thurgood Marshall/Oliver Hill/NAACP, Martin Luther King
Jr/Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee, Black Panthers), and acts of civil disobedience (Montgomery Bus
Boycott/Rosa Parks, sit-ins, March on Washington - 1963, Selma, AL) as catalysts for
the desegregation of public education, accommodations, transportation, housing, and
employment.
B. Evaluate the response of Virginia and other Southern states to the Supreme Court’s
decisions and Congressional legislation concerning Civil Rights (Little Rock/Central
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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High School, massive resistance/Prince Edward County, establishment of private
academies, “white flight”).
C. Analyze the ideas presented in Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham
Jail” and “I Have a Dream” speech (March on Washington, August 28, 1963).
D. Explain federal civil rights and voting rights developments in terms of political
representation, participation, and affirmative action (Lyndon B. Johnson, Civil Rights
Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965).
E. Compare the positions of the political parties and interest groups on major Civil
Rights issues.
F. Analyze the ways that popular literature, art, and music reflected social issues and
trends in this period.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.14: The U.S. in Today’s World
STANDARD 14: The student will demonstrate knowledge of economic, social, cultural,
and political developments in the contemporary United States by
a) Analyzing the effects of increased participation of women in the work force.
b) Analyzing how changing patterns of immigration affect the diversity of the
United States population, the reasons new immigrants choose to come to this
country, and their contributions to contemporary America.
c) Explaining the media influence on contemporary America culture and how
scientific and technological advances affect the workplace, health care, and
education.
d) Analyzing the major economic, political, and social issues facing Americans in
the twenty-first century.
Instructional Time: 1 week
Focus Questions:
1. How did women’s activism impact the social, economic, and cultural changes that
transformed life in the United States in the last decades of the twentieth century?
2. What changes resulted from the expanding role of government in the society and economy in
the 1960s and 1970s?
3. In what ways have immigration to the United States, the movement of people within the
country, and demographic changes created new social patterns?
4. How have an increasingly global economy, rapid technological innovations and the end of
the Cold War presented the United States with challenges at home and abroad?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 14.1: The student analyzes the changing world of women in the last
decades of the twentieth century.
14.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Describe the ways in which the roles of women have changed since the 1960s
(working mothers).
B. Examine the issues and concerns that developed because of changes in women’s
traditional roles (Sandra Day O’Connor, Sally Ride, “pink collar” ghetto – low
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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prestige, low-paying jobs, “glass ceiling,” need for affordable day care, and equitable
pay).
Benchmark 14.2: The student examines the new social, political, and economic issues
facing America as it entered the 21st century.
14.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Define the idea of the “American Dream” and how it has evolved from the 17th
century to the 21st century.
B. Compare the reasons for immigration to America at the end of twentieth century
versus the reasons given by earlier immigrants (political freedom, economic
opportunity, particularly as affecting Cuban immigrants). Identify the regions of the
world (especially from Asian and Latin American countries) that recently have
contributed to America’s immigrant population.
C. Describe the impact of immigration on education, housing, labor, language, ethnic
food, music, the arts, and culture (Bilingual education/ESOL courses, voting, and
politics).
D. Examine major social concerns (an aging population, drugs, AIDS, environmental
issues, racism, immigration).
E. Examine how the political landscape changed in the last decades of the twentieth
century.
F. Compare the positions of the political parties and interest groups on major issues.
G. Trace the development and effects of new technologies and scientific discoveries on
American life (Dr. Jonas Salk – polio vaccine).
H. Examine the role of the media and new technologies in making information and
communication more accessible (Cable TV/24-hour news, CNN, personal computers,
cellular phones, World Wide Web, distance learning, telecommuting, growth in white
collar careers).
Benchmark 14.3: The student evaluates the changing role of the United States within
the world community.
14.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Discuss the implications of the changing role of the United States in the global
economy.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
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B. Evaluate the influences of economic and political issues on global alliances of the
United States.
C. Discuss the interrelationship between the acquisition of natural resources and foreign
policy in such regions as the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
D. Discuss the global impact of the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and the
end of the Cold War on US foreign policy.
E. Describe the new challenges, such as terrorism, that threaten the American way of
life.
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Standards, Benchmarks and Indicators
Virginia and United States History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.1: Historical Skills and Thinking
STANDARD 1: The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical
analysis, including the ability to
i) Identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary source documents,
records, and data, including artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, journals,
newspapers, historical accounts, and art to increase understanding of events and
life in the United States;
j) Evaluate the authenticity, authority, and credibility of sources;
k) Formulate historical questions and defend findings based on inquiry and
interpretation;
l) Develop perspectives of time and place, including the construction of maps and
various time lines of events, periods, and personalities in American history;
m) Communicate findings orally and in analytical essays and/or comprehensive
papers;
n) Develop skills in discussion, debate, and persuasive writing with respect to
enduring issues and determine how divergent viewpoints have been addressed
and reconciled;
o) Apply geographic skills and reference sources to understand how relationships
between humans and their environment have changed over time;
p) Interpret the significance of excerpts from famous speeches and other
documents.
Focus Questions:
1. What is the correlation of geography to the study of history?
2. What is the difference between primary and secondary sources?
3. How does analyzing and verifying historical data contribute to interpreting historical events?
4. What are various ways in which one can present historical data?
5. How does the analysis of historical events contribute to decision-making used to solve current
problems?
Essential Historical Skills: Students should conduct inquiries and research—acquiring,
organizing, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and communicating facts, themes, and
general principles operating in American history.
Benchmark 1.1: The student will gather and organize various data and information.
Standards, Benchmarks & Indicators
II - 1
Performance Indicator 1.1
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
G. Use primary and secondary sources, including library and museum collections, diaries,
interviews, newspapers, artifacts, historic sites, and electronic technologies such as online sources and the Internet.
H. Use visual, literary, and musical sources, including fine arts, architecture, literature, folk
tales, cartoons, and popular and classical music.
I. Use historical maps to explain geography’s influence on historical events, demonstrating
an understanding of basic geographical concepts, such as:
Scale
Longitude
Map projection
Map bias
Direction
Latitude
Elevation
Relative location
Legend
Time-zones
Land forms
Distribution
J. Use information organized in a variety of charts, tables, graphs, and graphic organizers.
K. Use sources of information in the community including interviewing family and
community members, inviting speakers to school, visiting local historical sites, and
attending cultural events.
L. Group information in categories according to appropriate criteria and state relationships
between categories of information.
Benchmark 1.2: The student will analyze, interpret, and evaluate information and data.
Performance Indicator 1.2
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
J. Read primary and secondary sources to reconstruct the literal meaning of the historical
passage by identifying who was involved, what happened, where it happened, why it
happened, and what outcomes followed.
K. Read for a variety of purposes: critically, analytically, to predict outcomes, to answer a
question, to form an opinion, to skim for facts, and to draw inferences.
L. Formulate historical questions based on critical examination of relevant information in
order to develop hypotheses, to test the hypotheses, and to construct a thesis about a topic
in American history.
M. Analyze cause and effect relationships, focusing on multiple causations; the importance
of the individual in history; the influence of ideas, human interests, and beliefs.
N. Compare and contrast different accounts of the same event assessing the credibility and
authenticity of the sources.
O. Differentiate between historical facts and interpretation.
P. Challenge arguments of historical inevitability, recognizing that different choices might
have led to different outcomes.
Q. Detect bias in data presented in various forms: graphic, tabular, visual, and print.
R. Assess differing interpretations historians have written about the past.
Benchmark 1.3: The student will communicate information in various formats.
Performance Indicator 1.3
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
H. Create time lines to demonstrate chronological thinking.
I. Use a variety of maps to present information.
J. Present information visually, using a variety of charts, graphs, models, graphic
organizers, and illustrations.
K. Use a variety of electronic technologies, including word processing to plan, draft, revise,
edit, and publish information; telecommunications and multimedia to communicate
historical understandings.
L. Construct a historical narrative reflecting the origins, development, and outcome of an
issue, problem, or event, using a variety of written forms such as:
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Diaries
Letters
Journals
Parodies
Dialogue
I-searches
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Poems
Reviews
Learning logs
Research papers
Satire
Cartoons
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Classroom games
Songs
Research projects
Newspaper articles
Essays
Interviews
M. Prepare an oral or visual presentation on a topic in American history such as:
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Speeches
Simulations
Slide shows
Photo essay
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Dramatizations
Posters
Graphic organizers
Panel discussions
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Role plays
Multimedia
presentations
Debate
N. Document information appropriately, including the use of citations, footnotes, or other
forms of attribution to demonstrate scholarly integrity.
Benchmark 1.4: The student will apply knowledge of American history to make decisions
and to solve problems.
Performance Indicator 1.4
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
G. Identify a situation in which a decision is required.
H. Secure needed factual information relevant to making the decision.
I. Recognize the values implicit in historical events and decisions.
J. Identify alternate courses of action and predict likely consequences of each.
K. Make decisions based on the data obtained.
L. Take action to implement the decision.
United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1492 – 1760
Standards 2 & 3
The study of United States history begins with an examination of the first people of North
America some 30,000 years ago. It is important to discuss briefly the extensive and complex
settlement in what Europeans called the “New World.” Students might want to embark on this
survey through an examination of the role that geography played in the development of Native
American cultures. Students should note the extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity of
Native American societies in the Americas.
After examining Native-American life and culture, students should study the epic events of the
late fifteenth century when three worlds met: when Europeans, the inhabitants of North and
South America, and the peoples of Africa entered upon an historic encounter that was to shape
much of modern history in over half the world. The ensuing exchange of ideas, technology,
food, and disease had enormous implications for the world.
The study of the colonial era in United States history is essential for students because the
foundations for many of the most crucial developments were established during those years.
Without an understanding of the “seed time” of the American nation it is almost impossible for
students to understand such important developments as the formation of political institutions and
values, the development of economic systems, the multi-ethnic and culturally diverse population
of the United States, and the history of slavery and the enduring problems of race that were its
legacy.
A brief survey should be made of the English, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish
colonization. Major emphasis should be placed on the English colonies where new political
values and institutions were shaped. The sheer scope of our nation’s colonial history requires
that students have a clear focus for instruction—one that may be found using any of the three
following themes to concentrate on continuity in the period.
One way to embark upon a study of the colonial period is to carry forward the theme of the
coming together of varied peoples and their cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity. An analysis
of the social, cultural, and economic similarities and differences among the New England,
Middle-Atlantic, and Southern colonies will illustrate the diverse character of settlements that
characterized early America.
Another important theme for understanding the colonial era is the pre-revolutionary development
of self-government, as shaped during the evolution of civic life, political ideas, and institutions.
Special attention should be given to the building blocks of representative government—the New
England town meeting and the first elected colonial legislatures.
A third focus for studying the colonial period is an examination of the economic development of
the colonies. Colonial economic development is important because the abundance of land,
periodic labor shortages, the absence of craft guilds, and the “Protestant work ethic” created
wider opportunities for upward mobility. Many colonists nurtured a competitive, entrepreneurial
ethos, and a devotion to private property that grew to become part of the American value system.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.2: Early Interactions
STANDARD 2: The student will describe how early European exploration and
colonization resulted in cultural interactions among Europeans, Africans, and American
Indians (First Americans).
Instructional Time: 1 week
Focus Questions:
1. What were the characteristics of societies in the Americas prior to 1492?
2. What motivated the English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese to explore and to settle
colonies in North America and how did it impact their settlements?
3. What were the consequences of the interactions between indigenous societies, Europeans,
and Africans?
4. What ideas of representative government and religious toleration did the colonies implement
in the new world?
5. What immigrants settled in the colonies and why?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 2.1: The student understands reasons for European exploration and
colonization.
2.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Review the technological and commercial advances in Europe that prompted
exploration in the Americas.
E. Compare motives for English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese exploration
and colonization (religious freedom, economic opportunity).
F. Evaluate the course and consequences (diseases and violent conflicts) of the
Columbian Exchange on Western Africa, the Americas, and Western Europe.
Benchmark 2.2: The student understands the contacts between Native Americans
(First Americans) and European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the precolonial period.
2.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Describe the social composition of the early settlers and compare their various
motives for exploration and colonization.
G. Analyze the relationship among the English colonists, Native Americans, and
Africans in the redistribution of the world’s population as millions of people from
Europe and Africa voluntarily and involuntarily moved to the New World.
H. Describe the evolution and long-term consequences of the labor systems such as
encomienda and slavery in Spanish and Portuguese America.
I. Explain and evaluate the Spanish interactions with the Aztecs, Incas, and Pueblos.
J. Contrast French settlement with British settlement in the New World.
Benchmark 2.3: The student understands the characteristics of early exploration and
settlement in the New World.
2.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
C. Analyze the ideas of representative government in the colonies (“covenant
community,” Mayflower Compact, town meetings, direct democracy, House of
Burgesses – first democratic assembly elected in New World; today known as the
Virginia General Assembly – 1640s)
D. Compare and contrast the characteristics and motives for settlement in the New
England (Puritans), Middle-Atlantic (English, Dutch, and German immigrants), and
Southern Colonies (Virginia “cavaliers,” Jamestown - 1607, Virginia Company of
London, Shenandoah Valley or western Virginia).
C. Compare and contrast indentured servitude and slavery in the British colonies.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.3: Colonial Beginnings
STANDARD 3: The student will describe 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.
Instructional Time: 1 week
Focus Questions:
5. What were the social, cultural, and economic similarities and differences among the New
England, Middle Atlantic, and Southern colonies?
6. How did political institutions and ideas about religious freedom evolve in the North
American colonies?
7. Why was slavery introduced into the colonies and how did it influence European and African
life in the colonies?
8. How did slave labor and indentured servant labor systems differ?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 3.1: The student understands the economic characteristics and social
developments of the New England, Middle-Atlantic, and Southern colonies.
3.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
G. Identify the impact of geographic features on the political, economic, and social
developments in the colonies.
H. Analyze the motivation for colonization and the influences of these motives on the
patterns of settlement (the establishment of private ownership and free enterprise in
colonial life).
I. Explain the economic relationship between the mother country (England and Spain)
and its colonies (mercantilism).
J. Compare the economic and labor systems in the New England colonies (shipbuilding,
fishing, lumbering, small-scale subsistence farming), Middle colonies (shipbuilding,
small-scale farming, and trading among middle class artisans and business owners),
and Southern colonies (plantations, “cash crops”—tobacco, rice, indigo, Appalachian
subsistence farming, hunting, and trading).
K. Describe religious groups in the colonies and the role of religion in colonial
communities, including: Puritans (Massachusetts; Puritan work ethic; religious
intolerance), Quakers (Pennsylvania; religious tolerance), Catholics (Maryland;
religious tolerance), and the Church of England or Anglican Church (Virginia).
L. Identify the growth of colonial cities (seaports and commercial centers) such as New
York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.
Benchmark 3.2: The student understands social and cultural change in British
America.
3.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Explain how and why family and community life differed in various regions of
colonial North America.
G. Explain the reasons for settlement of Rhode Island (religious dissenters fleeing
persecution by Puritans in Massachusetts).
H. Analyze how Enlightenment ideas of 17th and 18th centuries influenced American
political and cultural values.
I. Explain the impact of the mid-18th century series of religious revivals, the Great
Awakening (Methodists and Baptists), on colonial society in the justification for the
American Revolution.
J. Compare and contrast in the New England colonies with the Middle-Atlantic and
Southern colonies (family status, education, social structure and land ownership).
Benchmark 3.3: The student understands how the development of indentured
servitude and slavery influenced European and African life in the colonies.
3.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
G. Analyze the forced relocation of Africans to the English colonies in North America
and the Caribbean (Middle Passage).
H. Identify the changing status of Africans and African-Americans in the American
colonies after their first arrival in Jamestown (1619).
I. Explain why the slave labor system in many of the colonies resulted from plantation
economies and labor shortages.
J. Compare and contrast indentured servants (poor people from England, Scotland, and
Ireland) and slaves (enslaved people from Africa and the Caribbean).
K. Analyze how a slavery-based agricultural economy in the Southern colonies would
lead to the Civil War.
L. Analyze the impact of Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia (1676).
United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1760 – 1790
Standards 4 & 5
The American Revolution is of single importance to the study of United States history for the
light it sheds for students on a major theme in history: the long struggle for liberty, equality,
justice, and dignity. The American Revolution severed the colonial relationship with England
and created the United States of America. The revolutionary generation laid the institutional
foundations for the system of government under which the United States is governed. The
Revolution, inspired by the ideas concerning natural rights and political authority that were
transatlantic in nature, affected people and governments over a large part of the globe in what
has been called “the age of democratic revolution.”
A study of the American Revolution has a natural starting point in the Seven Years’ War. This
contest for empire removed France from North America, reducing the colonists’ need for
England’s protection. The war prepared a group of political and military leaders to play roles on
a larger stage and gave the colonists a sense of confidence in themselves. England’s decision to
maintain troops in the colonies after the war and to make colonists bear part of the cost of the
war began to drive a wedge between England and her North American colonies.
In studying the decade preceding the American Revolution students should be able to trace the
political and constitutional rights invoked by those colonists who debated and protested English
policies. Students should discern the connection between revolutionary ideals and the economic
interests of different groups such as Virginia tobacco planters, New England merchants, and
urban artisans. Some of the drama of the period can be brought to life by exploring the
character, thought, and political theatre of the various leaders and polemists such as John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams.
The Revolutionary Era lends itself to developing a respect for the power of ideas in history, how
they originate, how they are shaped over time, and how they are expressed at particular moments
of crisis to promote and channel the forces of change.
The Revolution changed the ways Americans thought, acted, and ordered their institutions.
Students should be able to draw up a rough balance sheet that indicates to what extent different
groups in society accomplished their goals and to what extent compromises were made.
Students should study how the rebellious colonists established new governments and they should
understand the political principles upon which they built government anew. A thoughtful study
of the Declaration of Independence will become a touchstone for the survey that follows.
Students should also examine the powers allowed the central government and the powers
reserved to the states under the Articles of Confederation.
The study of nation building in the generation after 1783 is important for students to understand
the creation and ratification of the United States Constitution and the evolution of the political
democracy it established. Students should examine the fundamental ideas underpinning the
political vision of the nation’s eighteenth century founders expressed in the Constitution, the
debates over ratification, and the Bill of Rights. The debate over the Constitution’s ratification is
equally absorbing and important. To study the ratification debates in Virginia, where Madison
and Randolph debated Henry and Mason, is to open windows to the politically sophisticated
political discourse of this era. Students gain an understanding of both the fluidity and
uncertainty of those early years and the sharp division of opinion at the very time the United
States was struggling to define itself.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.4: Revolutionary America
STANDARD 4: The student will demonstrate knowledge of events and issues of the
Revolutionary Period by
d) Analyzing how the political ideas of John Locke and those expressed in Common
Sense helped shape the Declaration of Independence;
e) Describing the political differences among the colonists concerning separation
from Britain;
f) Analyzing reasons for colonial victory in the Revolutionary War.
Instructional Time: 2 weeks
Focus Questions:
7. How did the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers influence colonial leaders?
8. What ideas, motives, and events led to the colonist’s decision to declare independence?
9. What differences existed among Americans concerning separation from Great Britain?
10. Who were the key military and diplomatic leaders of the American Revolution?
11. What were the key battles and events of the American Revolution?
12. What factors contributed to the victory of the American Rebels?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 4.1: The student explains the causes of the American Revolution, ideas,
and interests involved in forging the Revolutionary movement, and the reasons for the
American victory.
4.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
G. Explain the concept of the “rights of Englishmen” and the impact of the English Civil
War and the Glorious Revolution on the colonies as justification for the Declaration
of Independence.
H. Explain the causes and consequences of the Seven Year’s War/French and Indian
War (French driven out of Canada and territory west of the Appalachian Mountains)
and the overhaul of the English imperial policy following the Treaty of Paris (1763).
I. Analyze the ideas of Enlightenment philosopher John Locke and how he influenced
the idea of self-government in the colonies (social contract, sovereignty, natural
rights: “life, liberty, and property,” and ordered liberty).
J. Analyze how Thomas Paine’s Common Sense challenged the rule of the American
colonies by the King of England, George III and how it influenced the Declaration of
Independence.
K. Reconstruct the chronology of critical events leading to the outbreak of armed
conflict between the American colonies and England (Proclamation of 1763, Stamp
Act, Boston Tea Party, First Continental Congress, Boston Massacre, Minutemen).
L. Read and interpret the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson) and Common
Sense.
a. “We hold these truths . . . pursuit of happiness.”
b. “That to secure these rights . . . consent of the governed . . .”
c. “That whenever any form of government . . . to institute new government . . .”
Benchmark 4.2: The student will describe the political differences among the colonists
concerning separation from Great Britain.
4.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify the differences between the Patriots, Loyalists (Tories), and Neutrals.
B. Reconstruct the arguments between the Patriots (George Washington, Patrick Henry “Give me liberty or give me death”) and Loyalists about independence, and draw
conclusions about their decision to declare independence.
Benchmark 4.3: The student identifies key battles, strategic and diplomatic decisions,
and leaders of the Revolution.
4.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Appraise George Washington’s military and political leadership in conducting the
Revolutionary War.
B. Explain how the Americans won the war against superior British resources.
C. Compare and contrast the roles of men and women, including white settlers, free and
enslaved African Americans, and Native Americans in the Revolutionary War.
D. Analyze the United States’ relationship with France during the Revolution, the role of
Benjamin Franklin in negotiating a Treaty of Alliance with France, and the
contributions of France to the American victory.
E. Reconstruct the chronology of the critical military events that led to the colonial
victory ( Lexington and Concord, Trenton, Saratoga, Yorktown).
United States and Virginia History:
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.5: Establishing a New Nation
STANDARD 5: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues involved in the
creation and ratification of the United States Constitution and how the principles of
limited government, consent of the governed, and the social contract are embodied in it
by
e) Explaining the origins of the Constitution, including the Articles of Confederation;
f) Examining the significance of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia
Statute for Religious Freedom in the framing of the Bill of Rights;
g) Identifying the major compromises necessary to produce the Constitution, and
the role of James Madison and George Washington;
h) Describing the conflict over ratification, including the Bill of Rights and the
arguments of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
7. What were the political, social, and economic consequences of the American
Revolution?
8. What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
9. What issues and events led to the writing of the United States Constitution?
10. What major compromises were achieved during the Constitutional Convention?
11. What are the major components of the national government?
12. What is the Bill of Rights and what is its significance in United States History?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 5.1: The student will evaluate the social, political, economic, and cultural
effects of the Revolution.
5.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
H. Analyze the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1783) and how they affected United States
relations with Native Americans and European powers that held territories in North
America.
I. Assess the accomplishments and failures of the Second Continental Congress and
identify the reasons for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation.
J. Analyze the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation (weak national government,
no power to tax or regulate commerce, no common currency, one state one vote, no
executive or judicial branch).
K. Assess the importance of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance
of 1787.
L. Determine the causes and effects of Shays’ Rebellion.
M. Explain how the revolutionary ideals impacted the enslaved and free African
Americans and led to the gradual abolition of slavery in the United States.
N. Analyze the ideas put forth arguing for new women’s roles and rights and explain the
customs of the 18th century that limited women’s aspirations and achievements.
Benchmark 5.2: The student analyzes and explains events and legacies of the
Constitutional Era.
5.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Interpret and analyze the importance of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (George
Mason), the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom (Thomas Jefferson), and the new
constitutions in Virginia and the other states.
G. Discuss the issues, policies, and events affecting relations among the existing and
future states that led to the creation and ratification of the United States Constitution.
H. Analyze important Constitutional debates and compromises in the struggle for
ratification including the Virginia Plan (James Madison), New Jersey Plan, Great
(Connecticut) Compromise, 3/5 Compromise, The Federalist Papers, the addition of
the Bill of Rights, and the leadership of James Madison (Father of the Constitution)
and George Washington (Chairman of the Convention).
I. Compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation and United States Constitution,
with particular consideration to the republican principles.
J. Describe the organization of the national government under the new Constitution
(Supremacy Clause, three co-equal branches/separation of powers, bicameral
legislature, checks and balances, limited government).
Benchmark 5.3: The student understands the guarantees of the Bill of Rights and its
continuing significance.
5.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Evaluate the arguments of the Federalists (argued that political factions would check
each other, a national Bill of Rights would be redundant because most states already
had a bill of rights, checks and balances prevented one branch from acquiring
preponderant power, and the need for a strong national government to facilitate
interstate commerce, manage foreign trade, national defense, and foreign relations).
B. Evaluate the arguments of the Anti-Federalists (argued for the necessity of the Bill of
Rights and protection of state powers against a strong national government).
C. Identify the liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights (James Madison).
D. Assess the significance of the Bill of Rights.
United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1790 – 1850
Standard 6
The study of the expanding nation from the Federal Period to the decade prior to the outbreak of
the Civil War is vital. This was a period of dramatic territorial expansion and economic growth
spurred on by the great optimism of Americans that anything was possible with hard work and
imagination. The study of this era begins with the first years of the early republic. The Federal
Period was crucial to the development of the United States as Americans forged a national
identity and created institutions and practices to govern a nation. It was in this period that local
and state loyalties were displaced by the seeds of nationalism. New political practices arose—
the rise of the two-party system, contested presidential elections and judicial review. The
institutions created by the Constitution took shape. The United States secured its place in the
world by fending off both internal and external threats to nationhood. In their study of the
Federal period students should explore the dynamic and explosive character of the time.
The beginning of the nineteenth century marked a major step in the economic transformation of
the United States as regions underwent an economic expansion and modernization that changed
the way Americans worked, where they lived and increased their productivity and their contact
with the world beyond. Industrialization created new wealth, broader opportunities, and
numerous social problems. It spurred the growth of cities and attracted a great wave of
immigrants. Women and children were drawn into the labor system as small craft shop
production gradually gave way to factory production. Students should explore how this market
development was made possible by the spectacular “transportation revolution.”
Widespread material changes ushered in by the early industrialization were accompanied by
significant developments in the American society, religion, popular culture, and intellectual life.
The rise of theatre, the proliferation of academies of art and music, and the flowering of
American literature all reflected the cultural changes of the time.
These years also witnessed a range of reform movements as diverse and enthusiastic as an in
American history. Students should find excitement and relevance in exploring antebellum
reform. These reformers themselves are fascinating and the issues they addressed have
contemporary resonance. While time does not permit study of every reform movement, the
crusades for temperance, public education, women’s rights, and the abolition of slavery are of
special importance because they lead to fundamental changes and have relevance in the next
century.
This era provides students with an exceptionally dramatic chapter in the evolution of political
democracy in the United States. The republicanism of the founders was diluted by the
democratic expansion of the white male participation in state and national politics and the rise of
the second party system.
The story of the nation’s westward expansion is one of the central stories of the time. Students
need to examine how the United States expanded its borders through international diplomacy and
war and justified this expansion with the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. Stories of the westward
movement should impress upon students the importance of the individual in history and provide
students with an opportunity to examine engaging primary sources. Another important
development that students should explore is the expansion of agriculture and exploitation of
natural resources; the emergence of slavery as a divisive political issue; and the evolution of the
nation’s nineteenth century policy toward the American Indians.
Although the vitality and the democratic spirit of this age are noteworthy, it also important for
students to understand that important sectional differences over slavery, protective tariffs, and
states’ rights dominated the political debate of the day. Only a strong national spirit and the
statesmanship of congressional giants such as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster forestalled the
deepening sectional differences that would reach crisis proportions in the following decade.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.6: The Growth of the New Republic
STANDARD 6: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the major events during the
first half of the nineteenth century by
d) Identifying the economic, political, and geographic factors that led to territorial
expansion and its impact on the American Indians (First Americans);
e) Describing the key features of the Jackson Era, with emphasis on federal
banking policies;
f) Describing the cultural, economic, and political issues that divided the nation,
including slavery, the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements, and the role
of the states in the Union.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
10. What precedents and political institutions were established during the early years of the
nation?
11. How did international events affect the domestic and foreign policy of the United States?
12. How was nationalism expressed in cultural, political, economic, and foreign policy
developments?
13. How did economic and technological innovations transform American society?
14. How did Jacksonian democracy and reform movements reflect the growth of political and
social opportunity?
15. How was the judicial power of the federal government transformed during this period?
16. What were the factors that influenced the territorial expansion of the United States?
17. What were the methods and the consequences of United States territorial expansion?
18. How did sectional differences lead to disputes about slavery, the nature of the union, and the
power of the national government that climaxed with the Civil War?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 6.1: The student analyzes the development of the first American political
party system.
6.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
A. Identify the leaders, supporters, and main ideas of the Federalist Party (John Adams,
Alexander Hamilton; supported by bankers and Northeastern businessmen; believed
in a strong national government and industrial economy).
B. Identify the leaders, supporters, and main ideas of the Democratic Republican Party
(Thomas Jefferson; supported by farmers, artisans, and Southern frontier settlers;
believed in a weak national government and agricultural economy).
C. Compare and contrast Hamilton’s Federalists and Jefferson’s Democratic
Republicans.
D. Analyze the impact of the election of 1800 (first peaceful transfer of power to
Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson, 12th Amendment).
Benchmark 6.2: The student analyzes foreign policy developments during the early
years of the Republic Era through the mid-19th century.
6.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
E. Analyze the foreign policy decisions of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson
(declaration of neutrality, Jay Treaty, Pinckney’s Treaty, Alien and Sedition Acts,
XYZ Affair, Louisiana Purchase/Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea, Embargo Act, Barbary
pirates).
F. Analyze how the Louisiana Purchase (1803) influenced politics, economic
development, and the concept of Manifest Destiny.
G. Explain President Madison’s reasons for involvement in the War in 1812
(impressments, disruption of trade) and analyze the impact of the war on territorial
expansion (Florida – from Spain, Oregon Territory - Britain).
H. Identify the origins and provisions of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) and how it
influenced hemispheric relations.
Benchmark 6.3: The student analyzes political institutions and practices during the
early Republican Era.
6.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Appraise how John Marshall’s precedent setting decisions interpreted the
Constitution and established the Supreme Court as an independent and equal branch
of the government (Marbury v. Madison, “judicial review,” McCulloch v. Maryland,
“the power to tax is the power to destroy”).
E. Explain why the “common man” considered the victory of Andrew Jackson’s election
(1828) with reference to an increased voting population and the spoils system
(aristocracy, presidential veto).
F. Analyze the political consequences of territorial growth (sectionalism, forced removal
of Native Americans—Indian Removal Act/Trail of Tears, admission of new states –
Florida (Adams-Onis Treaty), Missouri Compromise, states’ rights, and the new
political parties).
Benchmark 6.4: The student analyzes the impact of growing nationalism on social,
political, economic, and cultural developments of the era.
6.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Examine the role of economic and technological innovations in transforming
American society (growth of railroads and canals, Eli Whitney/cotton gin led to the
“cotton kingdom,” interchangeable parts, mass production).
G. Identify the economic and political effects of the debate over the re-chartering of the
National Bank (pet banks) and the ensuing Panic of 1837 (National Republican Henry
Clay and the American System).
H. Explain the economic, political, racial, and religious roots of Manifest Destiny and
analyze how the concept influenced the westward expansion of the nation.
I. Explain the causes of the Texas Revolution (Alamo) and the Mexican-American War
and evaluate the provisions and consequences of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(acquisition of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado and New
Mexico).
J. Explain the peaceful resolution of the Oregon dispute with Great Britain.
Benchmark 6.5: The student analyzes and evaluates reform movements as attempts to
further opportunities in the new nation.
6.5 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
E. Assess how the Second Great Awakening impinged on the antebellum issues such as
public education, temperance, women’s suffrage, abolition, and commercialization.
F. Define transcendentalism, account for the rise of the first American renaissance and
analyze ideas concerning the individual, society, and nature expressed in the literary
works of transcendentalists.
G. Analyze the activities of women of different racial and social groups and the reform
movements for education, abolition, temperance, and women’s suffrage.
H. Identify the goals of the 1848 Seneca Falls “Declaration of Sentiments” and the roles
of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the fight for women’s suffrage.
Benchmark 6.6: The student analyzes the regional differences and disputes that
climaxed in the era of the Civil War.
6.6 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
E. Identify and explain the widening economic, social, and cultural differences between
the North and the South.
F. Compare and contrast the pre-Civil War economic foundations of the industrial North
(manufacturing, supported protective tariffs) and the agrarian South (plantations,
subsistence farming, opposed tariffs) and the role geography played in the alignment
of the North, South, and West during the Civil War.
G. Evaluate events and issues such as slavery (balance of free states and slave states), the
States’ Rights Doctrine, sectionalism, nullification, tariffs, western expansion, and
popular sovereignty that led to secession and the Civil War.
H. Reconstruct the chronology and significance of critical events that led to the Civil
War (Gabriel Prosser, Missouri Compromise in 1820, Nat Turner’s Rebellion,
William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator, Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Act,
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854,
“Bleeding Kansas,” popular sovereignty, Republican Party, Dred Scott decision,
Lincoln-Douglas debates, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” John
Brown/Harper’s Ferry, Election of 1860.)
United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1850 – 1914
Standards 7 & 8
The Civil War can be approached in many ways—as a final violent phase in a conflict between
two regions with distinct interests; as the breakdown of a democratic political system; as the
climax of several decades of social reform; and as the central chapter in America’s racial history.
A study of the Civil War provides teachers with opportunities to engage students to explore the
great constitutional issues, debates, moral dilemma, political crises, and compromises of the
time. Students should be able to understand the conviction felt by Northerners and Southerners
and how their passionate feelings of righteousness led to the tragedy of the Civil War.
An exploration of the causes of the Civil War reveals the era’s complexity and the inability of
elected officials to forge a lasting compromise. Students should examine how the Civil War was
precipitated by Southern secession, which had grown out of sectional differences dating back to
the founding of the nation. At the same time students need to understand that sectional conflicts
extended beyond the slavery issue to cultural differences, conflicting economic interests, and
opposing perspectives on the Constitution. Examining the great speeches of Webster, Clay, and
Calhoun, and the debates between Lincoln and Douglas will help students understand the
competing interests of the time. It is important, however, for students to note that the North and
the South were not monolithic—within each region there was widespread diversity, although
both Northerners and Southerners continued to support many of the same the republican
principles of government.
The Union victory and the era known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) began the process of
rebuilding political, cultural, and economic institutions. One problem at the end of the war was
the status of the former Confederates states and their residents. Another problem was the status
of the newly liberated slaves in the post-war nation. Much of the complexity of Reconstruction
resulted from the connections between these two problems.
The retreat from Reconstruction is an important topic that students should explore. Students
should confront and discuss De Tocqueville’s grim prediction, made thirty years prior, that
observing that although slavery may be abolished “the prejudice to which it has birth is
immovable.” Students should examine how the hopes of African-Americans for full equality,
constitutionally guaranteed by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, were subsequently
undermined by the courts, by political interests, and by white southerners’ resistance, opening a
century-long struggle to realize equal rights for African Americans.
As the South struggled to deal with the challenge of Reconstruction, the Great Plains was rapidly
settled. By 1870, the expansion of the railroads accelerated migration to the West.
Homesteaders, cowboys, and prospectors led the way. Over the next three decades American
agricultural production doubled. The building of the railroads, the destruction of the native
bison, and federal land policies signaled the end of tribal life for the Indians of the Great Plains.
United States policies of Indian removal culminated in the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which
ended the policy of respecting tribal bonds, allocated acreage to individuals, and promised
eventual citizenship to the Indians, setting the course for federal Indian policy until the New
Deal. Students should examine Indian attempts to maintain their culture, dramatically and
tragically illustrated by the Ghost Dance movement of 1889-1890, which ended with the
massacre at Wounded Knee.
The frontier legend tied “free land” to the ideals of freedom, opportunity, and individual selfdetermination. Students can explore this vision of the West in dime store novels of the era, in the
writings of Theodore Roosevelt, and in the scholarship of Frederick Jackson Turner.
The nineteenth century closed on a less than auspicious note: the frontier of the American West
was pronounced closed, the Plains Indians were herded together on reservations, and the African
American quest for full equality before the law was frustrated by the Supreme Court’s ruling in
Plessy v. Ferguson.
The rise of business, a growing labor movement, technical innovations, and new immigration
patterns all transformed the United States. These changes brought modern conveniences and an
improved standard of living for most Americans, but also ushered in many problems associated
with increased industrialization, urbanization, and political corruption. Students should examine
the role of the Progressives as they responded to these new problems, especially the political,
social, and economic reforms at the local, state, and national level.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.7: Civil War and Reconstruction
STANDARD 7: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Civil War and
Reconstruction Era and its importance as a major turning point in American history by
d) Identifying the major events and the roles of key leaders of the Civil War Era,
with emphasis on Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and
Frederick Douglass.
e) Analyzing the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the principles
outlined in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
f) Examining the political, economic, and social impact of the war and
Reconstruction, including the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to
the Constitution of the United States of America.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
8. What were the Northern and Southern viewpoints regarding secession?
9. Who were the key political and military leaders during the Civil War?
10. What was Lincoln’s vision for the American nation as professed in the Emancipation
Proclamation and Gettysburg Address?
11. What were the key military turning points in the Civil War?
12. What were the social and economic consequences of the Civil War?
13. What was Reconstruction and what were the political debates over its implementation?
14. What were the long-term social and economic consequences for the South following the end
of Reconstruction?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 7.1: The student analyzes significant elements of the Civil War including
the secession process; advantages and disadvantages of the Union and the Confederacy;
military strategies; and the role of key individuals.
7.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Compare Northern and Southern positions on the right of a state to secede (States’
Rights Doctrine vs. federal supremacy).
G. Identify major military and political leaders from the period (Abraham Lincoln –
Elections of 1860 & 1864, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, George
McClellan, William Sherman, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Frederick Douglass).
H. Compare the human resources of the Union and the Confederacy at the beginning of
the Civil War and assess the tactical advantages of each side.
I. Identify the innovations in military technology and explain their impact on humans,
property, and the final outcome of the war.
J. Identify the key battles of the Civil War and evaluate how the political, military, and
diplomatic leadership affected the outcome of the conflict (Fort Sumter, Antietam,
Gettysburg – turning point, Vicksburg, Appomattox Court House – Lee’s surrender).
Benchmark 7.2: The student analyzes the role of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil
War Era.
7.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Analyze the impact of Lincoln’s campaign, election, and presidency on the start of
the Civil War (viewed the Civil War as a “Second American Revolution”).
E. Evaluate the provisions and the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and
Lincoln’s basis for issuing it following the Union victory at Antietam (freed slaves in
rebelling states, established the abolition of slavery as a war aim, discouraged foreign
interference).
F. Analyze the significance of the Gettysburg Address (“ . . . dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal,” ruled by a government “of the people, by
the people, and for the people,” “one nation”).
Benchmark 7.3: The student understands the social experience of the war on the
battlefield and the home front.
7.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Compare the motives for fighting and the daily life experiences of Confederate
soldiers with those of white and African-American Union soldiers.
G. Identify the reasons for the northern draft riots.
H. Evaluate the Union’s reasons for curbing wartime civil liberties.
I. Compare women’s homefront and battlefront roles in the Union and the Confederacy.
J. Compare the human and material costs of the war in the North and the South and
assess the impact the Civil War had on the nation.
Benchmark 7.4: The student analyzes the political and social consequences of
Reconstruction on the South and the rest of the Nation.
7.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
H. Compare and contrast the Reconstruction policies advocated by Abraham Lincoln
(secession was illegal, quickly reunify, “malice toward none…”), Andrew Johnson,
and the Radical Republicans.
I. Analyze the escalating conflict between the President and Congress (Radical
Republicans) and the reasons for and consequences of Johnson’s impeachment trial.
J. Explain the provisions of the Civil War Amendments 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
and the political forces supporting and opposing each.
K. Discuss the significance of the election of 1876 and its impact on the end of
Reconstruction with the Compromise of 1877.
L. Describe how art, music, photography, and literature of the time period captured the
continuing crises of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
M. Explain the economic and social problems (farms, railroads, and factories were
destroyed throughout the South) facing the South and appraise their impact on
different social groups (Jim Crow).
N. Assess the long-term economic, political, and social consequences of the Civil War
and Reconstruction on the nation.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.8: The Rise of Modern America
STANDARD 8: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and
changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by
e) Explaining the relationship among territorial expansion, westward movement of
the population, new immigration, growth of cities, and the admission of new
states to the Union.
f) Describing the transformation of the American economy from a primarily
agrarian to a modern industrial economy and identifying major inventions that
improved life in the United States.
g) Analyzing prejudice and discrimination during this time period, with emphasis
on “Jim Crow” and the responses of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois.
h) Identifying the impact of the Progressive Movement, including child labor and
anti-trust laws, the use of labor unions, and the success of the women’s suffrage
movement.
Instructional Time: 4.5 weeks
Focus Questions:
13. What factors influenced Western expansion and economic growth in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century?
14. In what ways did changing patterns of immigration to the United States and the movements
of people within the country create new patterns and conflicts?
15. What is the significance of the closing of the frontier?
16. How did westward expansion and settlement impact Native Americans?
17. What significant shifts in immigration patterns occurred at the turn of the 20th century?
18. How did US immigration policies respond to the challenges of the new wave of immigrants?
19. How did race relations in the South change after Reconstruction, and what was the African
American response?
20. How did rapid industrialization, the rise of big business, the labor movement, and
technological innovations transform the United States?
21. How did industrialization affect workers?
22. What were the goals of the labor leaders and union organizers?
23. What social, economic, and political issues gave rise to the Populist movement?
24. What were the short and long term results of the Progressive movement?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 8.1: The student analyzes the causes and effects of western expansion
during the second half of the 19th century.
8.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Identify and discuss factors that influenced western migration, including political,
social, cultural, and economic factors (Homestead Act of 1862, Dawes Act,
mechanical reaper, barbed wire, American cowboy, cattle drives, Transcontinental
Railroad).
G. Describe the influence of western expansion on industry, technology, and the labor
supply (Turner Thesis).
H. Discuss the influences of the West and the closing of the frontier on American ideas
and social and cultural developments.
I. Identify and compare the attitudes and policies toward Native Americans by
government officials, the US Army, missionaries, and settlers (Wounded Knee, Battle
of Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull).
J. Recognize that by the early twentieth century the United States admitted all states that
made up the continental United States.
Benchmark 8.2: The student analyzes the ways that cultural and economic change
redefined American ideals at the turn of the 20th century.
8.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Distinguish between “old immigration” (prior to 1871 – northern and western Europe
- Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden) and “new immigration”
(1871-1921 – southern and eastern Europe and Asia - Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia,
present day Hungry and Yugoslavia, China, and Japan) in terms of its volume and the
immigrants’ ethnicity, religion, language, place of origin, and motives for emigrating
from their homelands.
G. Assess the contributions of different immigrant groups (Italian, Polish, and Slavs –
coal mines; Chinese and Irish – transcontinental railroad; Jews, Russians, Japanese)
and the challenges they faced in the United States.
H. Trace patterns of immigrant settlement in different regions of the country and how
new immigrants helped produce a composite American culture that transcended group
boundaries (“melting pot”).
I. Evaluate the immigration policy of the United States and analyze the social, political
and economic challenges immigrants faced at the turn of the 20th century (Ellis
Island/Angel Island, Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Immigration Restriction Act of
1921, nativism, assimilation, urban life, public schools).
J. Explain how industrialization led to the rapid growth of cities (Chicago, Detroit,
Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York), what problems arose as a result of this rapid
growth, and how cities addressed these problems (New York subway, trolley, sewage
and water systems).
Benchmark 8.3: The student analyzes factors that fueled the modern industrial
economy: industrialization, urbanization, immigration and available natural resources.
8.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
I. Identify reasons for the economic transformation in the United States at the turn of
the century, including government policies, the labor supply, and natural resources.
J. Identify major industrial leaders and their impact upon the economy (Carnegie - steel,
Rockefeller - oil, Morgan - finance, Vanderbilt - railroads).
K. Analyze governmental economic policies and their impact on industrial development
(trade, monopolies, taxation, money supply, laissez-faire, capitalism, special
consideration for land grants).
L. Evaluate the impact of the industrial growth on the expansion of international
markets.
M. Describe the impact of industrial production on distribution methods, transportation,
and communication technologies.
N. Identify key inventors and the impact of their inventions/innovations (Edison – light
bulb/electricity, Bell - telephone, Bessemer – steel process, Wright Brothers airplane, Ford – assembly line, corporation, the idea of limited liability).
O. Describe the impact of immigration on the labor supply, the movement to organize
labor, and industrial conflict.
P. Describe the impact of industrialization on literature and the arts.
Benchmark 8.4: The student analyzes the extent to which civil liberties were maintained
or denied during the last part of the 19th century.
8.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
E. Trace the development of existing social customs that resulted in institutionalizing
segregation.
F. Describe the prejudice and discrimination during this time period with emphasis on
the Ku Klux Klan, lynchings, Ida B. Wells, “Jim Crow” laws, Plessy v. Ferguson –
“separate but equal.”
G. Compare and contrast the ideas of Booker T. Washington (Tuskegee Institute) and
W.E.B. DuBois (co-founder of the NAACP).
H. Identify why African Americans began the “Great Migration” to Northern cities in the
early 20th century.
Benchmark 8.5: The student analyzes the rise of the American labor movement and
how political issues reflected social and economic changes.
8.5 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
E. Analyze how working conditions changed (long hours, low wages, no job security, no
benefits, company towns, hazardous conditions, employment of women & children)
and how the workers responded to new industrial conditions.
F. Identify the causes and consequences of the industrial employment of children.
G. Analyze how “reform unions” and “trade unions” differed in terms of agendas for
reform and organizing workers by race, skill, gender, and ethnicity (Knights of Labor,
American Federation of Labor – Samuel Gompers, American Railway Union –
Eugene V. Debs, Industrial Ladies’ Garment Workers Union).
H. Explain the response of management and government at different levels to labor strife
in different regions of the country (Pullman Strike, Haymarket Square, Homestead
Strike).
Benchmark 8.6: The student analyzes how Americans grappled with social, economic
and political issues during the late 19th century.
8.6 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
K. Explain the political, social, and economic roots of Populism and distinguish
Populism from earlier democratic reform movements.
L. Analyze the Populist Omaha Platform of 1892 as a statement of grievances and an
agenda for reform.
M. Analyze the issues and results of the 1896 election and determine to what extent it
was a turning point in American politics.
N. Evaluate the success and failures of Populism.
O. Identify the goals of the Progressive Movement (government controlled by people,
guaranteed economic opportunities through government regulation, elimination of
social injustices, women’s suffrage).
P. Evaluate the leadership of the Progressive Era Presidents Theodore Roosevelt
(“Square Deal”), William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson (“New Freedom”) in
terms of their effectiveness in obtaining passage of reform measures.
Q. Evaluate progressive reforms to expand democracy at local and state levels (27th
Amendment, referendum, recall, initiative, primaries, direct election of senators,
secret ballot, commission and council manager).
R. Describe how the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments reflect the ideals and goals of
Progressivism and the continuing attempt to adapt the founding ideals to a
modernized society.
S. Identify successful attempts at Progressive reform at the federal level (Meat
Inspection Act, Pure Food and Drug Act, Sherman Antitrust Act, Clayton Antitrust
Act, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Reserve Act, Susan B. Anthony).
T. Identify attempts by individuals to expose corruption and inequality during the
Progressive era (muckraking, Ida Tarbell, Jacob Riis, Upton Sinclair/The Jungle).
United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1898 – 1945
Standards 9, 10, & 11
Throughout its history the United States had been an expansionist nation. By the middle of the
19th century the United States had acquired all the territory in the continental United States from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. In the last decade of the 19th century the United States joined
European powers in imperialistic expansion. The new Manifest Destiny led to acquisition of
overseas possessions in the Caribbean and the Pacific. This imperialistic drive laid the
groundwork for the United States’ role as a World Power.
As a world power, the United States reluctantly entered World War I. Although victorious,
disillusionment with the war and its results led Americans to retreat inwardly. Their sentiments
helped to usher in an era of isolationism, and escapism. Post World War I was a period marked
by a conflict between more simple rural values of the 19th century and the more complex urban
values of the 20th century. As the standard of living rose, more individuals sought the “American
Dream” The economic boom disappeared with the onset of the Great Depression – a depression
that continued for a full decade not only in the United States but also throughout the world. To
recover from the Depression Americans elected Franklin Roosevelt and turned to the federal
government for help. President. Roosevelt and his New Deal sought to address the nation’s
problems and in so doing permanently altered the role of the government in the American
economy and in the lives of the American people.
The Roosevelt Administration abandoned isolationism in response to the rise of totalitarianism
and entered the world stage. The attack on Pearl Harbor pushed the United States into World
War II. Millions of brave men and women served bravely in the armed forces. The United States
success during World War II required a total commitment of its citizens and resources.
Mobilization led to extensive government involvement in the economy and greatly increased the
power of the President. In August 1945, atomic bombs dropped on Japan ended the war. The
story of the bomb’s creation and the decision of the United States to use it deserve close
attention. These events changed the world. Much of the industrial world had experienced the
destruction of battle, and unprecedented death. There were nearly 50 million casualties from the
war and millions more homeless. Only the United States emerged with its homeland intact and
its economy prosperous.
Diplomatic relationship among Allied Powers began to disintegrate as war ended. The war
permanently ended traditional American isolationism.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.9: Becoming a World Power
STANDARD 9: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the emerging role of the
United States in world affairs and key domestic events after 1890 by
d) Explaining the changing policies of the United States toward Latin America and
Asia and the growing influence of the United States in foreign markets.
e) Evaluating the United States involvement in World War I, including Wilson’s
Fourteen Points, the Treaty of Versailles, and the national debate over treaty
ratification and the League of Nations.
f) Explaining the causes of the Great Depression, its impact on the American
people, and the ways the New Deal addressed it.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
6. In what ways did imperialism expand and change the territorial, diplomatic, and military
power of the United States?
7. What were the reasons for United States intervention in World War I?
8. What was the impact at home and abroad of United States involvement in World War I?
9. In what ways did cultural and economic change redefine American ideas and society in the
post-war years?
10. What were the causes of, and the social, political, and economic responses to the Great
Depression?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 9.1: The student analyzes the causes and effects of American foreign policy
at the turn of the 20th century.
E. Explain why the United States abandoned its traditional isolationist policy and began
to emerge as a world power.
F. Analyze the causes and results of the Spanish-American War (annexation of the
Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam, Platt Amendment, Cuba).
G. Identify the change in American foreign policy in Latin America and Asia which
expanded the global economy (John Hay’s Open Door Policy, Taft’s Dollar
Diplomacy, Panama’s independence from Columbia, Roosevelt Corollary, Theodore
Roosevelt and the Panama Canal, Hawaii).
H. Describe the economic and political consequences (growth in international trade,
Dollar Diplomacyof American foreign policy in Latin America and Asia.
Benchmark 9.2: The student analyzes and examines the significance of World War I.
9.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
E. Examine the importance of nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and alliances as
underlying causes of World War I (1914 Germany and Austria-Hungry went to war
with Britain, France, and Russia).
F. Examine the reasons for the shift from the United States’ three-year isolationist policy
to active military involvement in WWI leading to Germany’s defeat (United States’
ties to Great Britain, unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking of the Lusitania,
Zimmerman note, Wilsonian ideals - “make the world safe for democracy”).
G. Evaluate Wilson’s 14 Points, his negotiations at the Versailles Treaty talks, and the
national debate over treaty ratification and US participation in the League of Nations
(mandate system, self-determination, freedom of the seas).
H. Identify the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles (punishment of Germany,
League of Nations, European boundaries redrawn creating new nations, United States
Senate does not ratify).
Benchmark 9.3: The student understands social tensions and their consequences in the
postwar era.
9.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Assess state and federal government reactions to the growth of radical political
movements.
G. Examine rising racial and ethnic tensions with regard to the resurgence of the KKK,
Palmer Raids, Sacco and Vanzetti, Scottsboro Trial.
H. Examine the rise of religious fundamentalism and the clash between traditional moral
values and changing ideas as exemplified in the controversy over prohibition and the
Scopes Trial.
I. Analyze how the emergence of the “New Woman” challenged Victorian values.
J. Examine the contributions of artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance.
Benchmark 9.4: The student analyzes the causes of the Great Depression and how it
affected American society.
9.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
H. Analyze the causes of the Great Depression and the consequences of the stock market
crash of 1929 (overspeculation, overproduction/Dust Bowl, available credit, failure of
the Federal Reserve, high protective tariffs/Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930).
I. Explain the global context of the Great Depression and the reasons for the worldwide
economic collapse.
J. Analyze the impact of the Great Depression on the American people (unemployment,
homelessness, bank closings, farm foreclosures, migration, “Hoovervilles,” Bonus
Army March, political unrest, growing militancy of labor unions).
K. Contrast the background and leadership abilities of Franklin D. Roosevelt (“We have
nothing to fear but fear itself”) with those of Herbert Hoover.
L. Evaluate the successes and failures of the relief, reform, and recovery measures of the
New Deal (First Hundred Days, Works Progress Administration, Agricultural
Adjustment Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Social Security Act,
Tennessee Valley Authority, Securities and Exchange Commission, Brain Trust).
M. Examine the extent to which the New Deal expanded the role of government in the
economy.
N. Recognize the impact of federal policies on encouraging the preservation of historical
records and the promotion of the arts.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.10: World War II
STANDARD 10: The student will demonstrate knowledge of World War II by
f) Identifying the causes and events that led to American involvement in the war,
including military assistance to Britain and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
g) Describing the major battles and turning points of the war in North Africa,
Europe, and the Pacific, including Midway, Stalingrad, the Normandy landing
(D-Day), and Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb to force the surrender of
Japan.
h) Describing the role of all-minority units, including the Tuskegee Airmen and
Nisei Regiments.
i) Describing the Geneva Convention and the treatment of prisoners of war during
World War II.
j) Analyzing the Holocaust (Hitler’s Final Solution), its impact on Jews and other
groups, and the postwar trials of war criminals.
Instructional Time: 2 weeks
Focus Questions
8. How did the United States respond to increasing totalitarian aggression in Europe and Asia?
9. What were the reasons for U.S. intervention in World War II?
10. What was the overall strategy of the United States in World War II?
11. What were the pivotal battles in World War II?
12. What roles did minorities play in the American war effort?
13. What was the purpose of the Geneva Convention and how was it implemented during the
war?
14. What was the Holocaust and what was its impact?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 10.1: The student will analyze the rise of totalitarian regimes, global
economic instability, and the failure of international institutions as underlying causes of
the war.
10.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Analyze how the political and economic problems that resulted from the Treaty of
Versailles and the League of Nations led to World War II (appeasement/Munich
Conference).
E. Identify the acts of aggression of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan
that led to World War II (Manchuria, Ethiopia, Rhineland, Sudetenland, Poland 1939).
F. Analyze the reasons and the actions by which the United States and President
Roosevelt moved from a policy of neutrality to involvement in World War II
(isolationism, but increasing aid to the British with the destroyer for bases deal, LendLease Act – “lending a garden hose to a next-door neighbor whose house is on fire”,
oil and steel embargo on Japan (Stimson Doctrine), Neutrality Acts, cash and carry
policy, Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941 - “a date that will live in infamy”).
Benchmark 10.2: Students will analyze the military strategies, major battles and
turning points of World War II.
10.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Identify the Allied and Axis powers and their major political leaders (Churchill,
DeGaulle, Stalin, Chiang Kai-shek, Roosevelt, Truman, Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito,
and Tojo) and military leaders (Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, Nimitz,
Montgomery, Bradley, Rommel, Goering, Yamamoto).
G. Identify the strategies of Germany and Japan to defeat the Allies, including
Germany’s plans for bombing campaigns, submarine warfare, and the seizure of
Soviet oil fields.
H. Identify the Allies’ military strategy in the European and Pacific theatres (“Defeat
Hitler first,” “island hopping,” cutting off Japanese supplies through submarine
warfare).
I. Describe the significant battles and turning points in the war (El Alamein – Suez
Canal, Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Normandy – D-Day, 6 June 1944, Battle of the
Bulge, Midway, Iwo Jima, Okinawa).
J. Evaluate Truman’s decision to employ atomic weapons against Japan and assess the
later controversies over the decision (Hiroshima, Nagasaki).
Benchmark 10.3: The student will analyze how minority and female participation in
World War II contributed to the Allied victory.
10.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
B. Identify the experience of minorities and women (segregated units and non-combat
roles) and their contributions to the war effort with emphasis on the Tuskegee
Airmen, Nisei regiments, the Navajo Indians, and Mexican Americans.
Benchmark 10.4: The student will analyze the violations of human rights that took
place before and during World War II.
10.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
H. Analyze Hitler’s “Final Solution” (genocide), its impact on Jews, Poles, Slavs,
Gypsies, and “undesirables,” and the Allied response to the Holocaust.
I. Identify the terms of the Geneva Convention and the extent to which they were
followed in the European and Pacific Theatres (Bataan Death March), and analyze the
postwar trials of war criminals in Nuremberg and Tokyo.
J. Analyze the impact of the Nuremberg trials on the establishment of a Jewish
homeland.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.11: World War II: Domestic Effects
STANDARD 11: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the effects of World War
II on the home front by
e) Explaining how the United States mobilized its economic, human, and
military resources.
f) Describing the contributions of women and minorities to the war effort.
g) Explaining the internment of Japanese Americans during the war.
h) Describing the role of media and communications in the war effort.
Instructional Time: 2 weeks
Focus Questions
6. How did the United States organize and distribute its resources to achieve victory during
World War II??
7. What was the role of women and minorities and how did World War II affect them?
8. How were civil liberties limited during WWII?
9. How did public education and the media assist the Allied efforts during the war?
10. What impact did WWII have on science and technology?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 11.1: The student will analyze how the United States mobilized for war.
11. 1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Examine how the United States allocated its economic and human resources to
achieve victory during World War II (rationing, peacetime to wartime retooling,
production quotas, draft/selective service).
E. Discuss how the need to maximize the use of human resources accounted for minority
and female success in gaining access to wartime jobs (Rosie the Riveter).
F. Explain how the government used war bonds and income taxes to finance the war.
Benchmark 11.2: The student will understand how prejudice and traditional role
models were impacted by the war effort.
11. 2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Identify the reasons for the strong anti-Japanese prejudice on the West Coast and list
the justifications given for the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps.
E. Evaluate the effects of World War II on gender roles and the American family.
F. Identify the contributions of women and minority groups to the labor force (AfricanAmericans migrated to cities).
Benchmark 11.3: The student will evaluate the efforts of the government and the media
to influence public opinion and sustain morale.
11. 3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Examine and evaluate government efforts to bolster morale (cartoons, posters,
movies, public education).
E. Discuss government efforts to censor reporting of the war.
F. Explain how the entertainment industry contributed to the war effort by raising
morale, stereotyping the enemy, and supporting patriotism.
Benchmark 11.4: The student will evaluate the impact of World War II on science and
technology.
11. 4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Discuss changes in military technology during WWII.
E. Examine the impact of WWII on the field of medicine.
F. Explore the effect of WWII on the technology of television and the development of
synthetic materials.
United States and Virginia History
Historical Overview of Period 1945 – Present
Standards 12, 13 & 14
The United States attempted to meet the expanding challenges for global interdependencies in an
ever-shrinking world of instant communication, limited natural resources, and expanded populations.
With the fall of communism in Europe the nation continued to face foreign policy decisions of a
major world power. At home, modern America faced new patterns of immigration and demographic
settlements, which resulted in new social, political and economic issues as it entered the 21st century.
The origins of the Cold War have been a subject debated by historians. Most historians agree that
both the United States and the Soviet Union were responsible for the atmosphere of hostility and
suspicion that existed shortly after the peace. The Cold War also had a significant effect on
domestic affairs. Anxieties provoked by fears of communist aggression and domestic subversion led
to McCarthyism with witch hunts undermining civil liberties.
The Cold War changed the United States. It abandoned its historic political isolation from world
events and became a participant in a global struggle to contain the Soviet Union and stop
communism. The nation built a massive military establishment, signed defense pacts, intervened in
affairs of other countries and launched a nuclear arms race. The policy of “containment” led to a
struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
As a result of this struggle Americans went to war in both Korea and Vietnam hoping to contain
communism and defend freedom.
The Cold War affected every presidential election and administration from 1948 to 1992. The
destruction of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany were among the events between 1986
and 1991 that transformed the world. The Cold War, which had been a fact of life since World War
II, came to an end. Its demise led to changes in American politics and economics.
By the 1960s growing discontent was evident among many groups in American society. Concern
with American involvement in Vietnam, oppression of rights for African Americans, women and
minorities, increasing signs of poverty and other frustrations with American life erupted in a demand
for change. These groups who had been left out of mainstream America fought for their rights and
better opportunities. In response to these demands the Great Society legislation promoted health,
education voting rights, urban renewal, immigration reform, protection of the environment and a war
against poverty. Despite this landmark legislation many problems were left unsolved. These
challenges to traditional values and existing power relationships created a backlash among the white,
working and middle classes.
American social and cultural trends of the 1970s and 1980s were a result of the demonstrations and
activism of the 1960s. The United States did become more tolerant, diverse and open although there
were still areas of discontent. By the late 1980s and early 1990s there was another series of social
and economic changes. These changes led to a demand for moral values, spirituality and a
resurgence of interest in religion. At the beginning of the 21st century Americans were uncertain
whether these changes would bring a better or a safer world or a harsher, more dangerous one.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.12: The Cold War
STANDARD 12: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the United States foreign
policy since World War II by
e) Describing outcomes of World War II, including political boundary changes,
the formation of the United Nations, and the Marshall Plan.
f) Explaining the origins of the Cold War, and describing the Truman Doctrine
and the policy of containment of communism, the American role of wars in
Korea and Vietnam, and the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) in Europe.
g) Explaining the role of America’s military and veterans in defending freedom
during the Cold War.
h) Explaining the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War,
including the role of Ronald Reagan.
Instructional Time: 3 weeks
Focus Questions:
7. What were the political, economic, and social consequences of World War II?
8. How was United States foreign and domestic policy shaped by the Cold War?
9. What were the reasons for, responses to, and consequences of, United States involvement in
Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam?
10. How did threats and responses to communism impact domestic affairs?
11. What important events marked the rise of the US as a world economic power?
12. How did the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam conflict affect the Executive Branch?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 12.1: The student analyzes the impact of international affairs on the foreign
policy of the United States after World War II.
12.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
J. Describe the global economy (capitalism v. communism) and political changes
(democracy/totalitarianism/de-colonization) in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and
the United States at the end of World War II and beginning of the Cold War (partitioning
of Germany into eastern and western spheres, “iron curtain”, Soviet domination of
Central and Eastern Europe, American occupation of Japan).
K. Identify measures taken by the United States to ensure stability in Europe after the war
(Marshall Plan, NATO v. Warsaw Pact, United Nations).
L. Explain the rationale, implementation, and effectiveness of the US containment policy
(Truman Doctrine).
M. Examine the implications of the Cold War on the space program (Sputnik).
N. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of the United States’ involvement in
Korea (38th Parallel, Chinese involvement, firing of MacArthur, stalemate).
O. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of the United States’ involvement in
Cuba (Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile
Crisis (October 1962), blockade).
P. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of, the United States’ involvement in
Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, French/Dien Bien Phu, North Vietnam’s attempts to install a
communist government in South Vietnam, 17th Parallel, containment, John F. Kennedy,
Lyndon Johnson, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, limited war, escalation, Tet Offensive,
Vietcong, Richard Nixon, “Vietnamization,” 1975 – North & South Vietnam merged
under communist control).
Q. Analyze the foreign policy of the United States toward rivals China (People’s Revolution
in 1949) and the Soviet Union during the Cold War (“massive retaliation”, brinkmanship,
détente).
R. Identify the internal and external reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union (1989) and
the end of the Cold War (nationalism in Soviet republics, market economy, economic
inefficiency, glasnost, perestroika, Ronald Reagan – “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this
wall,” increased U.S. military and economic pressure, Mikhail Gorbachev, Berlin Wall).
Benchmark 12.2: The student analyzes the political impact of the Cold War on domestic
affairs.
12.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
D. Examine how the fear of communism and the threat of nuclear war affected American
life throughout the Cold War (Alger Hiss, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, bomb shelters,
public schools—“duck and cover”).
E. Explain the reasons for the rise of McCarthyism and its significance in the larger
American culture.
F. Discuss why foreign policy was a major issue in the presidential elections during the
Cold War era.
K. Identify famous excerpts from President Kennedy’s inaugural address (“pay any price . . .
to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” and “Ask not what your country . . . you
can do for your country.”).
L. Identify the contributions of President Kennedy to the American space program (NASA,
John Glenn, July 1969 – Neil Armstrong, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap
for mankind.”)
M. Recognize that JFK was assassinated in 1963, sparking great domestic divisiveness.
N. Assess the Vietnam policies of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Administrations and the
shifts of public opinion about the war (hawks v. doves, Kent State, protests,
discrimination against veterans).
Benchmark 12.3: The student traces the rise of the United States as a major economic and
military power in the Post-War Era.
12.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Describe the postwar economy and its effects on the American consumer.
G. Explain the conservative reaction to liberalism and evaluate supply-side economic
strategies of the Reagan and Bush administrations.
H. Analyze the economic implications of demographic changes (baby boomers, sunbelt,
credit cards, suburbs, advertising).
I. Describe the role of the federal government in providing economic opportunities
(G. I. Bill, National Defense Education Act, Great Society legislation).
J. Identify how heavy military expenditures during the Cold War benefited Virginia’s
economy more than other states (Hampton Roads – naval/air bases, Northern Virginia –
Pentagon, private companies contracted with the military).
Benchmark 12.4: The student analyzes and explains domestic and foreign policy measures
of the national government during the Post-War Era.
12.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
C. Analyze the constitutional issues raised by the Watergate affair and evaluate the effects
of Watergate on public opinion.
D. Evaluate the impact of the Vietnam War on the Executive Branch of the National
Government.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.13: Civil Rights Era
STANDARD 13: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Civil Rights movement of
the 1950s and 1960s by
c) Identifying the importance of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the roles
of Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill, and how Virginia responded.
d) Describing the importance of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), the 1963 March on Washington, the Civil Act of 1964,
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Instructional Time: 1.5 weeks
Focus Questions:
4. How did the struggle for Civil Rights, the “Second Reconstruction,” transform society and
politics in the United States after 1950?
5. What were the demands and grievances of those involved in the movements for change that
gained prominence in the 1960s and 1970s?
6. How did Virginia respond to the Supreme Court decisions concerning Civil Rights?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 13.1: The student describes and evaluates the efforts and accomplishments
of individuals and groups, within the public and private sectors, to affect change in
Civil Rights.
13.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
G. Identify and evaluate patterns of Supreme Court decisions (Brown v. Board of
Education – “with all deliberate speed”), the role of key civil rights leaders and
organizations (Thurgood Marshall/Oliver Hill/NAACP, Martin Luther King
Jr/Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee, Black Panthers), and acts of civil disobedience (Montgomery Bus
Boycott/Rosa Parks, sit-ins, March on Washington - 1963, Selma, AL) as catalysts for
the desegregation of public education, accommodations, transportation, housing, and
employment.
H. Evaluate the response of Virginia and other Southern states to the Supreme Court’s
decisions and Congressional legislation concerning Civil Rights (Little Rock/Central
High School, massive resistance/Prince Edward County, establishment of private
academies, “white flight”).
I. Analyze the ideas presented in Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham
Jail” and “I Have a Dream” speech (March on Washington, August 28, 1963).
J. Explain federal civil rights and voting rights developments in terms of political
representation, participation, and affirmative action (Lyndon B. Johnson, Civil Rights
Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965).
K. Compare the positions of the political parties and interest groups on major Civil
Rights issues.
L. Analyze the ways that popular literature, art, and music reflected social issues and
trends in this period.
United States and Virginia History
Virginia Standard of Learning VUS.14: The U.S. in Today’s World
STANDARD 14: The student will demonstrate knowledge of economic, social, cultural,
and political developments in the contemporary United States by
e) Analyzing the effects of increased participation of women in the work force.
f) Analyzing how changing patterns of immigration affect the diversity of the
United States population, the reasons new immigrants choose to come to this
country, and their contributions to contemporary America.
g) Explaining the media influence on contemporary America culture and how
scientific and technological advances affect the workplace, health care, and
education.
h) Analyzing the major economic, political, and social issues facing Americans in
the twenty-first century.
Instructional Time: 1 week
Focus Questions:
5. How did women’s activism impact the social, economic, and cultural changes that
transformed life in the United States in the last decades of the twentieth century?
6. What changes resulted from the expanding role of government in the society and economy in
the 1960s and 1970s?
7. In what ways have immigration to the United States, the movement of people within the
country, and demographic changes created new social patterns?
8. How have an increasingly global economy, rapid technological innovations and the end of
the Cold War presented the United States with challenges at home and abroad?
Benchmarks:
Benchmark 14.1: The student analyzes the changing world of women in the last
decades of the twentieth century.
14.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
C. Describe the ways in which the roles of women have changed since the 1960s
(working mothers).
D. Examine the issues and concerns that developed because of changes in women’s
traditional roles (Sandra Day O’Connor, Sally Ride, “pink collar” ghetto – low
prestige, low-paying jobs, “glass ceiling,” need for affordable day care, and equitable
pay).
Benchmark 14.2: The student examines the new social, political, and economic issues
facing America as it entered the 21st century.
14.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
I. Define the idea of the “American Dream” and how it has evolved from the 17th
century to the 21st century.
J. Compare the reasons for immigration to America at the end of twentieth century
versus the reasons given by earlier immigrants (political freedom, economic
opportunity, particularly as affecting Cuban immigrants). Identify the regions of the
world (especially from Asian and Latin American countries) that recently have
contributed to America’s immigrant population.
K. Describe the impact of immigration on education, housing, labor, language, ethnic
food, music, the arts, and culture (Bilingual education/ESOL courses, voting, and
politics).
L. Examine major social concerns (an aging population, drugs, AIDS, environmental
issues, racism, immigration).
M. Examine how the political landscape changed in the last decades of the twentieth
century.
N. Compare the positions of the political parties and interest groups on major issues.
O. Trace the development and effects of new technologies and scientific discoveries on
American life (Dr. Jonas Salk – polio vaccine).
P. Examine the role of the media and new technologies in making information and
communication more accessible (Cable TV/24-hour news, CNN, personal computers,
cellular phones, World Wide Web, distance learning, telecommuting, growth in white
collar careers).
Benchmark 14.3: The student evaluates the changing role of the United States within
the world community.
14.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
F. Discuss the implications of the changing role of the United States in the global
economy.
G. Evaluate the influences of economic and political issues on global alliances of the
United States.
H. Discuss the interrelationship between the acquisition of natural resources and foreign
policy in such regions as the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
I. Discuss the global impact of the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and the
end of the Cold War on US foreign policy.
J. Describe the new challenges, such as terrorism, that threaten the American way of
life.