US History Course

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 1 PAGE

 

Course Description and Course Outline

 

This course of U. S. History will examine events that led to the creation of the United States of America. This course, which is required for graduation in the State of Georgia, is designed to be a semester long class. Additionally this course is structured to provide students with a comprehensive examination and analysis of the major events and themes in United States History. Naturally, the course begins with early European colonization of North America, and follows with a chronological examination of events and individuals that have shaped this country and its development. The course concludes with significant developments in the early 21st century.

 

            Units                                                     Topic(s)            

 

Unit One	SSUSH 1-4 Colonies to Country
Unit Two	SSUSH 5-6 A New Nation to Expansion
Unit Three	SSUSH 7-8 The Era of Jackson to the Antebellum period
Unit Four	SSUSH 9-10 The Civil War and the Ordeal of Reconstruction
Unit Five	SSUSH 11-14 The Gilded Age to American Imperialism
Unit Six	SSUSH 15-16 World War I to the Roaring 20s
Unit Seven	SSUSH 17-19 The Great Depression to World War II
Unit Eight	SSUSH 20-21 The Cold War through Civil Rights
Unit Nine	SSUSH 22-23 The Modern Era

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SSUSH1 Compare and contrast the development of English settlement and colonization during the 17th Century.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Investigate how mercantilism and trans-Atlantic trade led to the development of colonies.

b. Explain the development of the Southern Colonies, including but not limited to reasons established, impact of location and place, relations with American Indians, and economic development.

c. Explain the development of the New England Colonies, including but not limited to
reasons established, impact of location and place, relations with American Indians and economic development.

d. Explain the development of the Mid-Atlantic Colonies, including but not limited to reasons established, impact of location and place, relations with American Indians, and economic development.
 

SSUSH2 Describe the early English colonial society and investigate the development of its governance.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Describe European cultural diversity including the contributions of different ethnic and religious groups.

b. Describe the Middle Passage, the growth of the African population and their contributions, including but not limited to architecture, agriculture, and foodways.

c. Describe different methods of colonial self-governance in the period of Salutary Neglect

d. Explain the role of the Great Awakening in creating unity in the colonies and challenging traditional authority.
 

SSUSH3 Analyze the causes of the American Revolution.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Explain how the French and Indian War and the 1763 Treaty of Paris laid the groundwork for the American Revolution.

b. Explain colonial response to the Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, and the Intolerable Acts as seen in the Sons and Daughters of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence.

c. Explain the importance of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense to the movement for independence.

 

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 3 PAGE

 

SSUSH4 Analyze the ideological, military, social, and diplomatic aspects of the American Revolution.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Investigate the intellectual sources, organization, and argument of the Declaration of Independence including the role of Thomas Jefferson and the Committee of Five.

b. Explain the reason for and significance of the French alliance and other foreign assistance including the diplomacy of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams.

c. Analyze George Washington as a military leader, including but not limited to the influence of Baron von Steuben, the Marquis de LaFayette, and the significance of Valley Forge in the creation of a professional military.

d. Investigate the role of geography at the Battles of Trenton, Saratoga, and Yorktown.

e. Examine the roles of women, American Indians, and enslaved and free Blacks in
supporting the war effort.

f. Explain the significance of the Treaty of Paris, 1783.
 

 

SSUSH5 Investigate specific events and key ideas that brought about the adoption and implementation of the United States Constitution.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Examine the strengths of the Articles of Confederation, including but not limited to the Land Ordinance of 1785, Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and their influence on westward migration, slavery, public education, and the addition of new states.

b. Evaluate how weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation and Daniel Shays’ Rebellion led to a call for a stronger central government.

c. Explain the key features of the Constitution, including the Great Compromise, limited government, and the Three-Fifths Compromise.

d. Evaluate the major arguments of the Anti-Federalists and Federalists during the debate on ratification of the Constitution, The Federalist Papers, and the roles of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.

Explain how objections to the ratification of the Constitution were addressed in the Bill of Rights.

 

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 4

SSUSH6 Analyze the challenges faced by the first five presidents and how they responded.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Examine the presidency of Washington, including the precedents he set.

b. Explain the presidency of John Adams including the Sedition Act and its influence on the election of 1800.

c. Explore Jefferson’s expansion of presidential power including the purchase and exploration of the Louisiana Territory.

d. Explain James Madison’s presidency in relation to the War of 1812 and the war’s
significance in the development of a national identity.

e. Explain James Monroe’s presidency in relation to the Monroe Doctrine.
 

SSUSH7 Investigate political, economic, and social developments during the Age of Jackson.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Explain Jacksonian Democracy, including expanding suffrage, the Nullification Crisis and states’ rights, and the Indian Removal Act.

b. Explain how the North, South, and West were linked through industrial and economic expansion including Henry Clay and the American System.

c. Explain the influence of the Second Great Awakening on social reform movements, including temperance, public education, and women’s efforts to gain suffrage.

d. Explain how the significance of slavery grew in American politics including slave rebellions and the rise of abolitionism.
 

SSUSH8 Explore the relationship between slavery, growing north-south divisions, and westward expansion that led to the outbreak of the Civil War.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Explain the impact of the Missouri Compromise on the admission of states from the Louisiana Territory.

a. Examine James K. Polk’s presidency in the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny including the Texas annexation and Oregon.

b. Analyze the impact of the Mexican War on growing sectionalism.

c. Explain how the Compromise of 1850 arose out of territorial expansion and population growth.

Evaluate the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the failure of popular sovereignty, Scott v. Sanford, John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry, and the election of 1860 as events leading to the Civil War.

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 5

 

SSUSH9 Evaluate key events, issues, and individuals related to the Civil War.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Explain the importance of the growing economic disparity between the North and the South through an examination of population, functioning railroads, and industrial output.

b. Discuss Lincoln’s purpose in using emergency powers to suspend habeas corpus, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, and delivering the Gettysburg and Second Inaugural Addresses.

c. Examine the influences of Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, William T. Sherman, and Jefferson Davis.

d. Explain the importance of Fort Sumter, Antietam, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Atlanta, as well as the impact of geography on these battles.
 

SSUSH10 Identify the legal, political, and social dimensions of Reconstruction.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Compare and contrast Presidential Reconstruction with Congressional Reconstruction, including the significance of Lincoln’s assassination and Johnson’s impeachment.

b. Investigate the efforts of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen’s Bureau) to support poor whites, former slaves, and American Indians.

c. Describe the significance of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments.

d. Explain the Black Codes, the Ku Klux Klan, and other forms of resistance to racial equality during Reconstruction.

e. Analyze how the Presidential Election of 1876 marked the end of Reconstruction.
 

SSUSH11 Examine connections between the rise of big business, the growth of labor unions, and technological innovations.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Explain the effects of railroads on other industries, including steel and oil.

b. Examine the significance of John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie in the rise of trusts and monopolies.

c. Examine the influence of key inventions on U.S. infrastructure, including but not limited to the telegraph, telephone, and electric light bulb.

d. Describe Ellis and Angel Islands, the change in immigrants’ origins and their influence on the economy, politics, and culture of the United States.

Discuss the origins, growth, influence, and tactics of labor unions including the American Federation of Labor.

 

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 6

 

SSUSH12 Evaluate how westward expansion impacted the Plains Indians and fulfilled Manifest Destiny.

During the course of this standard, you will:

a.  Examine the construction of the transcontinental railroad including the use of immigrant labor.

b. Evaluate how the growth of the western population and innovations in farming and ranching impacted Plains Indians.

c. Explain the Plains Indians’ resistance to western expansion of the United States and the consequences of their resistance.

SSUSH13 Evaluate efforts to reform American society and politics in the Progressive Era.

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Describe the influence of muckrakers on affecting change by bringing attention to social problems.

b. Examine and explain the roles of women in reform movements.Connect the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson to the expansion of Jim Crow laws, and the  formation of the NAACP.

c. Describe Progressive legislative actions including empowerment of the voter, labor laws, and the conservation movement.

SSUSH14 Explain America’s evolving relationship with the world at the turn of the twentieth century.

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Describe how the Spanish-American War, war in the Philippines, and territorial expansion led to the debate over American imperialism.

b. Examine U.S. involvement in Latin America, as reflected by the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and the creation of the Panama Canal.
 

SSUSH15 Analyze the origins and impact of U.S. involvement in World War I.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Describe the movement from U.S. neutrality to engagement in World War I, including unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmerman Telegram.

b. Explain the domestic impact of World War I, including the origins of the Great Migration, the Espionage Act, and socialist Eugene Debs.

Explain Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the debate over U.S. entry into the League of Nations.

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 7

 

SSUSH16 Investigate how political, economic, and cultural developments after WW I led to a shared national identity.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Explain how fears of rising communism and socialism in the United States led to the Red Scare and immigrant restriction.

b. Describe the effects of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments.

c. Examine how mass production and advertising led to increasing consumerism, including Henry Ford and the automobile.

d. Describe the impact of radio and movies as a unifying force in the national culture.

e. Describe the emergence of modern forms of cultural expression including the origins of jazz and the Harlem Renaissance.
 

SSUSH17 Analyze the causes and consequences of the Great Depression.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Describe the causes, including overproduction, underconsumption, and stock market speculation that led to the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

b. Explain factors (include over-farming and climate) that led to the Dust Bowl and the resulting movement and migration west.

c. Explain the social and political impact of widespread unemployment that resulted in developments such as Hoovervilles.
 

 

SSUSH18 Evaluate Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal as a response to the Great Depression and compare how governmental programs aided those in need.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Describe Roosevelt’s attempts at relief, recovery, and reform reflected in various New Deal programs.

b. Explain the passage of the Social Security Act as a part of the second New Deal.

c. Analyze political challenges to Roosevelt’s leadership and New Deal programs.

Examine how Eleanor Roosevelt changed the role of the First Lady including development of New Deal programs to aid those in need.

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 8

 

SSUSH19 Examine the origins, major developments, and the domestic impact of World War II, including the growth of the federal government.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Investigate the origins of U.S. involvement in the war including Lend-lease and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

b. Examine the Pacific Theater including the difficulties the U.S. faced in delivering weapons, food, and medical supplies to troops, the Battle of Midway, Manhattan Project and the dropping of the atomic bombs.

c. Examine the European Theater including difficulties the U.S. faced in delivering weapons, food, and medical supplies to troops, D-Day, and the Fall of Berlin.

d. Investigate the domestic impact of the war including war mobilization, as indicated by rationing, wartime conversion, and the role of women and African Americans or Blacks.

e. Examine Roosevelt’s use of executive powers including the integration of defense industries and the internment of Japanese-Americans.
 

SSUSH20 Analyze U.S. international and domestic policies including their influences on technological advancements and social changes during the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Analyze the international policies and actions developed as a response to the Cold War including containment, the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, and the Korean War.

b. Connect major domestic issues to their social effects including the G.I. Bill, Truman’s integration policies, McCarthyism, the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, and Brown v. Board of Education.

c. Examine the influence of Sputnik on U.S. technological innovations and education.

 

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 9

 

SSUSH21 Analyze U.S. international and domestic policies including their influences on technological advancements and social changes during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Analyze the international policies and actions taken as a response to the Cold War including U.S. involvement in Cuba and the escalation of the war in Vietnam as a result of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

b. Connect major domestic issues to their social effects including the passage of civil rights legislation and Johnson’s Great Society, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

c. Describe the impact of television on American culture including the presidential debates (Kennedy/Nixon, 1960), news coverage of the Civil Rights Movement, the moon landing, and the war in Vietnam.

d. Investigate the growth, influence, and tactics of civil rights groups, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Letter from Birmingham Jail, the I Have a Dream Speech, and Cesar Chavez.

e. Describe the social and political turmoil of 1968 including the reactions to assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, the Tet Offensive, and the presidential election.
 

SSUSH22 Analyze U.S. international and domestic policies including their influences on technological advancements and social changes during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Analyze the international policies and actions taken as a response to the Cold War including the opening of and establishment of diplomatic relations with China, the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the War Powers Act, the Camp David Accords, and Carter’s response to the 1979 Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis.

b.  Connect major domestic issues to their social effects including the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the emergence of the National Organization for Women, Nixon’s resignation due to the Watergate scandal, and his pardon by Ford.

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR U.S. HISTORY 10

SSUSH23 Assess the political, economic, and technological changes during the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama administrations.

 

During the course of this standard, you will:

a. Analyze challenges faced by recent presidents including the collapse of the Soviet Union, Clinton’s impeachment, the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the war against terror.

b. Examine economic policies of recent presidents including Reaganomics.

c. Examine the influence of technological changes on society including the personal
computer, the Internet, and social media.

d.  Examine the historic nature of the presidential election of 2008.