ODE Grade 8 - Early American History - Mr. Nedved

ODE
MIDDLE SCHOOL (Grade 8)
EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY

U.S. Studies from 1492 to 1877: Exploration through Reconstruction

The historical focus continues in the eighth grade with the study of European exploration and the early years of the United States. This study incorporates all four social studies strands into a chronological view of the development of the United States. Students examine how historic events are shaped by geographic, social, cultural, economic and political factors.

Historical Thinking and Skills

1. Primary and secondary sources are used to examine events from multiple perspectives and to present and defend a position.

Throughout the study of history, historical documents, artifacts and other materials can be examined in terms of the perspective or point of view they represent.
Primary and secondary sources can be studied to understand how the same event might be portrayed from different perspectives. Primary sources provide first-hand information about historical events. Secondary sources provide interpretations of events by people who were not present at the events they discuss.
In using documents, historians determine the applicability of information and separate factual information from opinion and fiction. Historians also use evidence provided by the primary and secondary sources to construct arguments that support a stated position

Resource: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past
Resource: History Matters
Resource: Primary Sources at Yale
Resource: The National Archives
Resource: Boston Massacre
Resource: Famous American Trials
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Evaluating Eyewitness Reports

Examples of Historical Thinking - Narratives of Slavery - Teaching Strategies

Historian Richard Follett analyzes two narratives of slavery: an investigative report written by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1853 for the New York Times and Solomon Northrup's book Twelve Years A Slave. He discusses each document separately and then compares their very different perspectives on slavery in Louisiana's sugar growing parishes. Follett models several historical thinking skills, including: close reading, specifically the process of analyzing the language, meaning, and in some cases, the silences in both accounts; attention to key source information, including who wrote each account, when, and for what purpose; and exploring how to make sense of multiple perspectives and conflicting accounts to try to understand a complex system that affected individuals in radically different ways.

http://teachinghistory.org/best-pract...

Colonization to Independence

2. North America, originally inhabited by American Indians, was explored and colonized by Europeans for economic and religious reasons.

There were many different American Indian cultures inhabiting North America prior to the arrival of Europeans. In grade five, students learned about the unique characteristics of their cultures.
Economic reasons behind the European exploration of North America include the pursuit for new trade routes to Asia, the quest for new opportunities and the search for resources (e.g., gold, silver). The Europeans found goods that had a market in Europe (e.g., food, timber, fur, tobacco).
The religious reasons for Europeans coming to North America include escaping religious persecution, creating a religious utopia and converting American Indians to Christianity.

St. Augustine - First Colony

Explore Research at the University of Florida: Florida Museum of Natural History Distinguished Research Curator Kathleen Deagan discusses research at St. Augustine, Fla., where she has worked since 1976. In 1565, long before Jamestown, Spaniards, free and enslaved Africans and Native Americans crafted our country's first enduring European settlement in St. Augustine. The site of the abandoned first settlement remained buried, lost from memory of history for more than 400 years, until archaeologists rediscovered it at what is today's Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. Deagan and other UF archaeologists helped the Florida Museum produce a traveling exhibit telling the story of St. Augustine, "First Colony: Our Spanish Origins." The exhibit is on display at the St. Augustine Government House until 2016, when it will open at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

America the Story of Us: Life in Jamestown

Find out what life was like in the Jamestown settlement.

The Pilgrims Chapter 1

In the early 17th century, a small group of religious radicals embarked from England to establish a separatist religious community in the New World. They struggled against disease, climate and the native people to establish a colony that would eventually trigger an influx of colonists throughout New England. "The Pilgrims" premieres November 24 at 8/7c on PBS American Experience.

Deconstructing History: Mayflower | History

How many people were on the Mayflower? And how long did it take for them to get to Plymouth? Get the facts.

Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Images of the New World
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Colonizing the Bay
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Jamestown Changes

3. Competition for control of territory and resources in North America led to conflicts among colonizing powers

National rivalries spurred the powerful European countries to make land claims and to exploit the resources of the Western Hemisphere.
The British, French, Spanish, Swedes and Dutch struggled with each other to control settlement and colonization of North America. One consequence was a series of wars involving colonial powers, colonists and American Indians (e.g., King William’s War, Queen Anne’s War, King George’s War, the French and Indian War).

Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Early Multi-National Influences in the United States
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Empire and Identity in the American Colonies

4. The practice of race-based slavery led to the forced migration of Africans to the American colonies. Their knowledge and traditions contributed to the development of those colonies and the United States.

The perspective of many Europeans that black Africans were inferior and uncivilized led to the forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of Africans to the American colonies. Although Africans aided Europeans in enslaving and in trading slaves, the practice was race-based and economically motivated. Europeans and many of the American colonists felt that the African slaves provided a source of cheap labor.
Africans were not simply victims, but were intricately involved in the economic development of the colonies and, after the American Revolution, the United States. Slaves and freed Africans helped provide labor for northern manufacturers. They were particularly important in the maritime trade in the northern and southern colonies.
Slaves also worked as artisans and domestics. Slavery was the foundation of the agricultural system in most of the Southern colonies and was critical in sustaining the cultivation of rice, cotton and tobacco as cash crops. Slaves from West and Central Africa contributed their knowledge of planting rice and sweet potatoes to the colonies. The cultural contributions of American slaves include their folklore and music.

Ted-Ed: The Atlantic slave trade: What too few textbooks told you

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlanti...
Slavery has occurred in many forms throughout the world, but the Atlantic slave trade -- which forcibly brought more than 10 million Africans to the Americas -- stands out for both its global scale and its lasting legacy. Anthony Hazard discusses the historical, economic and personal impact of this massive historical injustice.
Lesson by Anthony Hazard, animation by NEIGHBOR.

5. The ideas of the Enlightenment and dissatisfaction with colonial rule led English colonists to write the Declaration of Independence and launch the American Revolution.

The American Revolution was made possible in part by the chain of political, economic and social changes that occurred during the Enlightenment. The ideas of Enlightenment (e.g., rights of the citizen, natural law, reason, idea of popular government) thinkers fueled the discontent felt by the American colonists with a series of actions instituted by the British government following the French and Indian War (e.g., Proclamation of 1763, Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Tea Act, Coercive Acts, Quartering Act, Quebec Act).
Enlightenment ideas also influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence, with an emphasis on natural rights, limitations on the power of the government, social contract and consent of the governed.

Resource: National Archives - Charters of Freedom
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Background on the Patriot Attitude Toward the Monarchy
Resource: K ing George, Give Us A Break!
Resource: Creating the Declaration of Independence – Interactive website
Resource: National Archives and Records Administration: Digital Classroom, Teaching with Documents

TedEd: The story behind the Boston Tea Party - Ben Labaree

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-story-b...
Before the Revolutionary War, American colonists were taxed heavily for importing tea from Britain. The colonists, not fans of "taxation without representation", reacted by dumping tea into the Boston Harbor, a night now known as the Boston Tea Party. Ben Labaree gets into the nitty-gritty of that famous revolutionary act.
Lesson by Ben Labaree, animation by Nick Fox-Gieg Animation.

Schoolhouse Rock!: America - The Shot Heard 'Round the World

Take a pilgrimage through American history with the award-winning series that has engaged generations of school children. With eleven classic animated songs, including "Shot Heard 'Round the World" and "Fireworks," your students will feel the beat of history as they learn about the key milestones, events and people that make up this great country.

TedEd: What you might not know about the Declaration of Independence - Kenneth C. Davis

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-you-mi...
In June 1776, a little over a year after the start of the American Revolutionary War, the US Continental Congress huddled together in a hot room in Philadelphia to talk independence. Kenneth C. Davis dives into some of the lesser known facts about the process of writing the Declaration of Independence and questions one very controversial omission.
Lesson by Kenneth C. Davis, animation by Karrot Animation.

America the Story of Us: Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence marks the first such document declaring the equality of men.

Resource: LoC - A Guide to the American Revolution, 1763-1783
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - "Common Sense": The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
Resource: National Archives - Pictures of the Revolutionary War
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Boycotting Baubles of Britain
Resource: PBS Liberty! The American Revolution
Resource: NPS - The American Revolution, Lighting Freedom's Flame
Resource: American Independence Museum
Resource: Northern Illinois University- American Archives Documents of the American Revolutionary Period
Resource: History.com - American Revolution
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Colonial Broadsides and the American Revolution
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Colonial Broadsides: A Student-Created Play
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The American War for Independence (3 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - What Made George Washington a Good Military Leader? (4 Lessons)

Orson Welles Thomas Paine The American Crisis

The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood

Resource: The Year of the Hangman
ISBN 9780142400784
OVERVIEW
In 1776, the rebellion of the American colonies against British rule was crushed. Now, in 1777-the year of the hangman-George Washington is awaiting execution, Benjamin Franklin’s banned rebel newspaper, Liberty Tree, has gone underground, and young ne’er-do-well Creighton Brown, a fifteen-year-old Brit, has just arrived in the colonies. Having been shipped off against his will, with nothing but a distance for English authorities, Creighton befriends Franklin, and lands a job with his print shop. But the English general expects the spoiled yet loyal Creighton to spy on Franklin. As battles unfold and falsehoods are exposed, Creighton must decide where his loyalties lie…a choice that could determine the fate of a nation.

Resource: Quizlet - Year of the Hangman
Resource: Timetoast - Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood

America the Story of Us: American Revolution | History

How the revolution shaped our nation, and the tough and thrilling beginning of the United States. Own America:

What if the United States Lost the Revolution?

What if the United States lost the revolution against Britain? What if the US stayed apart of the British Empire and remained colonies? This is a question which many people have always pondered, and as American it affects everything in my society. So what would change in this new world? Not surprisingly, a lot.

A New Nation

6. The outcome of the American Revolution was national independence and new political, social and economic relationships for the American people.

The American Revolution achieved national independence for the United States of America, a new country organized under the Articles of Confederation.
As citizens of a new nation, the American people found themselves having to adjust to a new series of relationships. Thirteen colonies owing allegiance to Great Britain transitioned into 13 sovereign states loosely united as a confederation. Each state had to create new governing documents and address issues such as who would become citizens and with what rights, would there be established churches, and what would be done with the institution of slavery. The former colonies moved from support of a mother country under a mercantilist system to 13 separate economies facing currency, banking and trade issues.
One of the successes of the Articles of Confederation was the passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. This ordinance established a precedent for protecting rights and set the stage for national growth.

Resource: American Legion
Resource: Veterans of Foreign Wars
Resource: Transcript of Northwest Ordinance (1787)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - George Washington: The Living Symbol
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Benjamin Franklin's Many "Hats"
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Inventing a New Republican Culture for America
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Jefferson vs. Franklin: Renaissance Men
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers

The Articles of Confederation and the Northwest Ordinance

Visit Study.com for thousands more videos like this one. You'll get full access to our interactive quizzes and transcripts and can find out how to use our videos to earn real college credit. YouTube hosts only the first few lessons in each course. The rest are at Study.com. Take the next step in your educational future and graduate with less debt and in less time.

7. Problems arising under the Articles of Confederation led to debate over the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

Major domestic problems faced by the leaders of the new republic under the Articles of Confederation led to the creation of a new constitution. Problems under the Articles included:

Maintaining national security;
Creating a stable economic system;
Paying war debts;
Collecting revenue;
Regulating trade; and
Correcting flaws in the central government.

Challenges in writing and ratifying the U.S. Constitution included:

Issues debated during the convention (e.g., powers of the central government vs. the states, representation of the states vs. the people, the extent of democratic participation, the continued institution of slavery);
The Federalist/Anti-Federalist debate (i.e., Federalists supported a strong national government with its separation of powers into three independent branches, Anti-Federalists opposed a strong central government believing it threatened the power of the states and lacked a bill of rights)

Resource: The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Who Was Really Our First President? A Lost Hero (3 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Constitutional Convention of 1787 (3 Lessons)
Resource: A Great Compromise
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The First American Party System: Events, Issues, and Positions (3 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Before and Beyond the Constitution: What Should a President do? (3 Lessons)
Resource: Rights of the People - The Federalist Papers
Resource: The Federalist Debates: Balancing Power Between State and Federal Government
Resource: The Federalist Papers
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Federalist and Anti-federalist Debates on Diversity and the Extended Republic (2 Lessons)

USA State and Federal Powers

A cartoon clip from ignite learning which describes some of the different powers that the USA State Governments have compared to the USA Federal Governments. Thanks to Ignite Learning.

Resource: National Paralegal College - Presidential Powers

*Identified and recommended by Tyler and Ms. Torres from Colorado

Three Branches of Government School House Rock

8. Actions of early presidential administrations established a strong federal government, provided peaceful transitions of power and repelled a foreign invasion.

Actions of early U.S. presidential administrations established a strong federal government, including:

Assumption of state debts, creation of the national bank, ending the Whiskey Rebellion, negotiating the Jay Treaty (Washington Administration);
Creation of the Navy Department, maintenance of neutrality (Adams Administration);
Expansion of U.S. territory with the Louisiana Purchase (Jefferson Administration);
Waging the War of 1812 (Madison Administration);
Winning the McCulloch v. Maryland decision, negotiating treaties to secure U.S. borders, instituting the Monroe Doctrine (Monroe Administration).

Peaceful transitions of the presidency began with Washington when he established the tradition of a two-term limit. Peaceful transitions occurred despite disputes in the elections of 1800 and 1824.

Attempts by Great Britain to invade the United States during the War of 1812 were turned back and the Madison Administration preserved the pre-war status of the United States.

Resource: History.com - The U.S. Presidents
Resource: American President: An Online Reference Resource
Resource: LoC - U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875
Resource: Yale Law School - George Washington - Proclamation of September 15, 1792
Resource: Yale Law School - The Whiskey Rebellion
Resource: Yale Law School - George Washington - Proclamation of September 25, 1794
Resource: Yale Law School - Sixth Annual Message of George Washington
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - James Madison: From Father of the Constitution to President (4 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Crisis of American Diplomacy, 1793–1808 (3 Lessons)
Resource: LoC - Primary Documents in American History Jay's Treaty
Resource: Yale Law School - British-American Diplomacy The Jay Treaty 1794 and Associated Documents
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Sedition Act: Certain Crimes Against the United States (5 Lessons)
Resource: LoC - Primary Documents in American History Lousiana Purchase
Resource: ERIC Digest - Teaching about the Louisiana Purchase
Resource: Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial
Resource: C-SPAN - Booknotes A Wilderness So Immense an interview with Jon Kukla
Resource: The Monroe Doctrine: Origin and Early American Foreign Policy
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Monroe Doctrine: Origin and Early American Foreign Policy (4 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - President Madison's 1812 War Message (3 Lessons)

TedEd: Inventing the American presidency - Kenneth C. Davis

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/inventing-t...
When the founders of the United States gathered to create the foundations of the country, they decided on three branches of government, with a president central to the executive branch. Kenneth C. Davis explains why this decision was not necessarily inevitable and what variables were up for debate.
Lesson by Kenneth C. Davis, animation by G. Melissa Graziano-Humphrey.

TedEd: The oddities of the first American election - Kenneth C. Davis

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-odditie...
How did George Washington become the first president of the United States in 1789? Who got to decide--or vote--who would become president, and how did they decide the winner? Kenneth C. Davis unveils the surprising story behind America's first presidential election.
Lesson by Kenneth C. Davis, animation by Buzzco Associates, inc.

PBS - The War of 1812

In June of 1812, the infant United States, a loose confederation of 18 states, declared war on Great Britain, one of the most powerful countries in the world. Thus began two-and-a-half years of increasingly bitter and brutal war that involved the United States, Britain, the British colonies of Canada, and many Native tribes. It was a war that severely tested both a young American democracy and the ties between British colonies and mother country.

The United States of America was the first modern democratic republic in the world, and 1812 was the first official war that the republic had ever fought as a nation. As such, it immediately brought up numerous questions about the way a democracy conducts war, the powers of the presidency, and the nature of a country made up of independent-minded states. Some of these questions were answered, and answered well; some of those questions continued to hang over the nation's head, and burdened it painfully as the war went on.

Author and noted scholar Donald Hickey has called the War of 1812 "a futile and costly struggle in which the United States barely escaped dismemberment and disunion." The country was far from unified as the war began – the vote to declare war in Congress was the closest war vote in American history. Then one bungled invasion of Canada followed another; British victories on land mounted; a blockade strangled the East Coast; a British army took Washington, and burned the White House and the Capitol; and the American economy fell apart. With those setbacks, a certain peril came from within as well as without. In midsummer 1814, many in New England desired nothing less than secession.

Yet their opponent was not so much more eager. Great Britain’s objective for most of the war was simple: they wanted to keep the United States out of Canada. To many in Britain, the war was an irritant, a minor sidebar to their long-running, titanic wars against Napoleon and France. The military commander in western Canada, General Isaac Brock, even questioned the commitment of local people in a war against the United States, for many had actually come from there. Yet in the end it was not just the British regulars, but Canadian militia, who did defend their lands against American invasion.

For the North American Indian tribes, many of which had allied themselves with the British, the war was their last best hope: the hope that somehow they could stop the full-speed-ahead American encroachment on their lands.

The Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, returned the borders of the belligerent nations to that of the time before war began. Not an inch of territory changed hands, and the issues that ignited the conflict were now largely moot. One could say that no true winner emerged; but the British achieved their objective, and the best that could be said for the United States was that they escaped the war whole.

The war that had no real winner did have a clear loser – the Native tribes. They got nothing; in fact, the treaty paved the way for continued American expansionism into Native lands. After 1812, Native power was never decisive in North America again, and their land rapidly slipped into white hands.

Some would forget the war, and some would remember. If in time Americans largely forgot a war that had gone only sporadically well, and the British forgot a small war that was a distraction to the main event, the Canadian colonists were happy to remember the War of 1812, and Canadians still do. They remained British colonies, but many Canadians today see the war as the time when a disparate group – British, transplanted Americans, and French-Canadians – banded together to protect their land from invasion. The war united Canada in spirit. It's not only historians, but average Canadians, who often see the War of 1812 as a critical event in Canadian history.

What Canadians and Americans have in common, when they remember the War of 1812, is that they tend to come up with parts of the war that are not only legendary, but largely untrue. Within minutes after "don't give up the ship" was uttered, the ship was given up. The famous pirate Jean Lafitte, Andrew Jackson’s right hand at the battle of New Orleans, was probably not on the battlefield at all. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was a poem set to a British drinking song. In Canada, Laura Secord’s walk to alert the British was probably not necessary, since the Americans took an extra day to attack.

The greatest myth about the war, for Americans, was who won it. For much of the war, the United States failed badly on the battlefield; but the final battle of the war, at New Orleans, gave Americans a false but powerful feeling that they had actually won. With the Treaty, they really lost nothing; and they had gained a sense of confidence, pride, and nationalism for the decades to come.

In other words, the war was not exactly won, but spun. But this too – the creation of history as a story that is told and told again, down through time – is part of the War of 1812.

Features:

Expansion

9. The United States added to its territory through treaties and purchases.

The United States negotiated treaties with and purchases from other countries in an effort to expand its territory and to solidify its borders.
Treaties were negotiated with Spain, Great Britain and Mexico (e.g., Adams-Onís Treaty, Webster-Ashburton Treaty, Oregon Treaty, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo).
The U.S. expanded its territory through purchases from France, Mexico and Russia (e.g., Louisiana Purchase, Gadsden Purchase, Alaska purchase).

Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - On This Day With Lewis and Clark
Resource: Teaching With Documents: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Resource: New Perspectives on The West
Resource: Comparative Costs: The Early 19th Century and Today
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Go West: Imagining the Oregon Trail
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - If You Were a Pioneer on the Oregon Trail
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Presidential Election of 1824: The Election is in the House (3 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics (4 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Campaign of 1840: William Henry Harrison and Tyler, Too (3 Lessons)

10. Westward expansion contributed to economic and industrial development, debates over sectional issues, war with Mexico and the displacement of American Indians.

The territorial expansion of the United States continued after the War of 1812. It contributed to economic development by providing land for settlement and development of transportation networks. New resources also were discovered in the acquired territories.
As the country expanded, it developed into sections with distinct economic and cultural characteristics. The sections took different positions on key political issues of the day. Westward expansion escalated the debate over a key sectional issue – whether or not slavery should be extended into the new territories.
Growth of the United States encroached upon Mexico. The annexation of Texas, efforts to purchase Mexican territory and disputes over the Texas-Mexico border led to the Mexican War.
The settlement of the United States led to the displacement of American Indians from their native lands through various means including forced removal through legal and military actions (e.g., Treaty of Greenville, Indian Removal Act). In the 1840s, the idea of Manifest Destiny was used by politicians and leaders to explain and justify continental expansion by the United States.

Resource: New Perspectives on The West
Resource: Teaching With Documents: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Resource: Values and Beliefs of Manifest Destiny
Resource: Smithsonian - Establishing Borders:The Expansion of the United States, 1846-48
Resource: DMWV - A Concise History of the U.S. - Mexican War
Resource: PBS - U.S. -Mexican War
Resource: Lincoln/Net: The Mexican-American War

Ken Burns - New Perspectives on The West | Documentary

THE WEST is an eight-part documentary series which premiered on PBS stations in September 1996. This multimedia guided tour proceeds chapter-by-chapter through each episode in the series, offering selected documentary materials, archival images and commentary, as well as links to background information and other resources of the web site.

Ken Burns - The West: Episode 1 - (To 1806)
The People
The West begins as the whole world to the people who live there. It becomes a New World when Europeans arrive, a world shaken by incompatible visions. And almost three centuries later, when Lewis and Clark venture west to find a Northwest Passage, this world becomes the testing-ground for a young nation's continent-spanning dream.

Ken Burns - The West: Episode 2 - (1806 to 1848)
Empire Upon the Trails
Americans head west along many pathways -- following the fur trade into the mountains, fighting for self-determination in Texas, seeking religious freedom in Utah or a better life along the Oregon Trail. But whatever direction they travel, they move closer with every step to a “Manifest Destiny” that will make the West their own.

Ken Burns - The West: Episode 3 - (1848-1856)
Speck of the Future
The Gold Rush brings the whole world to the West, as 49ers from Asia, South America and the eastern states scramble for “a share of the rocks,” littering the hills with mining towns and creating the West’s first metropolis. But in the push to strike it rich, many are violently pushed aside.

Ken Burns - The West: Episode 4 - (1856-1868)
Death Runs Riot
Civil war comes early to the West. In “Bleeding Kansas,” abolitionists battle for free soil. In Utah, federal troops march against Mormon polygamy. And along the Rio Grande, oppressed Mexican Americans rebel. The war between North and South unleashes brute savagery in the West, and leaves behind an army prepared for total war against the native peoples of the plains.

Ken Burns - The West: Episode 5 - (1868-1874)
The Grandest Enterprise Under God
A triumph of the human spirit, the transcontinental railroad opens a new era in the West, carrying homesteaders onto the prairies, bringing cowboys up the cattle trail from Texas, helping give women the vote in Utah and sending buffalo hunters onto the plains, where they drive a symbol of the West -- and a way of life -- to the brink of extinction.

Ken Burns - The West: Episode 6 - (1874-1877)
Fight No More Forever
The federal government tightens its grip on the West, but three bold spirits remain defiant -- Sitting Bull, who prophesies his people's greatest victory but cannot prevent their ultimate defeat; Brigham Young, who must sacrifice a spiritual son to save his church; and Chief Joseph, who triumphs in defeat as an indomitable voice of conscience for the West.

Ken Burns - The West: Episode 7 - (1877-1887)
The Geography of Hope
Newcomers arrive by the millions, bringing a new spirit of conformity to the West. Indian children are taught to forsake their heritage, Mormons are told to abandon a tenet of their faith, and new laws deny Chinese and Mexican Americans a place in society. Yet the legend of the “Wild West” lives on, thanks to the greatest showman of the age.

Ken Burns - The West: Episode 8 - (1887-1914)
One Sky Above Us
As settlers race to claim tribal lands, Native Americans take up the Ghost Dance, trusting in its power to restore a lost way of life until their hopes are crushed at Wounded Knee. The new century marks a new era in the West, an age of aqueducts and smelters. But the West remains what it has always been, a world waiting for a dream.

Ken Burns - The West, Classroom Resources:

PBS: The West, Lesson Plans
teachinghistory.org: New Perspectives on the West

America the Story of Us: Alamo | History

Why the Alamo still captures the imaginations of Americans after two centuries.

Deconstructing History: Alamo | History

It has become the site and symbol of the battle for Texan independence, but there is much more to the story. Find out why Americans will always remember the Alamo.

Sectionalism and the Civil War

11. Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.

The federal system of government created under the U.S. Constitution raised questions during the first half of the 19th century over the power of the federal government versus the powers reserved to the states. States’ rights arguments were first outlined in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798-99.
The country’s expansion helped it develop sections with distinct economic characteristics. The sections took different positions on key political issues of the day (e.g., tariff policy, the national bank, internal improvements, sales of public lands, slavery).
Northern entrepreneurs favored high tariffs to protect their businesses and avoid competition from foreign products. Many southerners, who imported manufactured products, wanted low tariffs to keep their costs low. They also feared that foreign countries would retaliate against American tariffs by not importing southern cotton and other products.
Northerners favored the operations of a national bank that could help finance new business ventures and facilitate commerce. Western farmers tended to be poor and distrusted banks. They objected to bank policies that made it difficult for them to obtain loans.
Westerners favored government programs to enhance internal improvements such as roads and canals. These improvements enabled more people to travel out west and made it easier to ship agricultural products east.
Southerners tended to object to the expense associated with building internal improvements. They did not see their section of the country benefitting from such programs as most of the construction took place in the North and West.
Westerners, many of whom were poor, favored the cheap sale of public lands as a way to acquire better farmland and attract more people to the west. Many northerners opposed the cheap sale of public lands. They viewed land sales as way for the federal government to generate income.
Southerners viewed slavery as vital to their agricultural way of life and favored the extension of slavery into the territories as cotton cultivation moved west. Northerners who did not rely on slaves for a workforce objected to slavery as a moral wrong and opposed its extension into the territories.
In several key instances, the sectional issues involved arguments over states’ rights (e.g., the Tariff of Abominations, the Webster -Hayne Debate of 1830, the Nullification Crisis of 1832 -33). One sectional issue in particular – the extension of slavery – prompted much debate in the 1840s and 1850s (e.g., the Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas -Nebraska Act). The debate over this issue culminated with the South’s exercise of the ultimate states’ right – secession.
The American Civil War was fought to resolve the issues of states’ rights versus a federal union , and whether or not the nation would continue to embrace slavery.

Resource: United States History for Kids - Secession and Civil War Era: 1850 - 1860
Resource: Teaching American History - Interactive map, The Missouri Compromise
Resource: Our Documents: Transcripts of the Missouri Compromise
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America: A House Dividing (4 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Abraham Lincoln on the American Union: “A Word Fitly Spoken” (4 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Life in the North and South 1847–1861: Before Brother Fought Brother (5 Lessons)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Lincoln's First Inaugural Address: We Must Not Be Enemies
Resource: YouTube - Compromise of 1850 ("Shake It Off" Parody) - @MrBettsClass
Resource: YouTube - U.S. Sectionalism for Dummies -The Civil War, States Rights and... - Keith Hughes
Resource: Mapping History, Interactive map - The Spread of Cotton and of Slavery 1790-1860
Resource: The Root - Slavery by the Numbers
Resource: Active History - “When People Eat Chocolate, They Are Eating My Flesh”
Resource: National Geographic - How Slavery Helped Build a World Economy
Resource: Scholastic - The Underground Railroad
Resource: National Geographic - The Underground Railroad: Journey to Freedom
Resource: UVa - Uncle Tom's Cabin
Resource: PBS - "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro"
Resource: PBS - Dred Scott's fight for freedom
Resource: NPS - Bleeding Kansas - Sparks of War
Resource: Teaching American History, Interactive map - The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Resource: NPS - John Brown’s Raid: Readers' Theatre
Resource: United States History for Kids - Secession and Civil War Era: 1860 - 1865
Resource: Google Maps - US Civil War
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Civil War: A "Terrible Swift Sword" (3 Lessons)

Ted-Ed: How one piece of legislation divided a nation

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-legisla...
You may think that things are heated in Washington today, but the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 had members of Congress so angry they pulled out their weapons -- and formed the Republican Party. The issues? Slavery and states' rights, which led the divided nation straight into the Civil War. Ben Labaree, Jr. explains how Abraham Lincoln's party emerged amidst the madness.
Lesson by Ben Labaree, Jr., animation by Qa'ed Mai

Ken Burns - The Civil War | Documentary

When The Civil War first appeared on PBS in the fall of 1990, no one -- myself included -- was at all prepared for the overwhelming national response that followed. The film was then, as it is now, a timely reminder of the frightful cost our ancestors had paid to make this nation a truly United States. It is a chronicle of making permanent that which was promised, but not delivered, in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

In making this documentary we wanted to tell the story of the bloodiest war in American history through the voices of the men and women who actually lived through it. Each of them has a story to tell and their lives are woven into the larger fabric of the war.

As you view portions of the series in your classroom, your students will meet men and women, many no older than they, for whom the war was a very personal experience. They will meet individuals like Elisha Hunt Rhodes and Sam Watkins who were just ordinary young men thrust into extraordinary circumstances that changed their lives forever. They will also meet the heroes of the Civil War, those who are said to have "made history", and continue to capture students’ attention.

In this special classroom section designed just for educators, you’ll find episode descriptions, broken down chapter-by-chapter; episode specific discussion questions; multidisciplinary lesson plans newly created by award-winning educators; and activity ideas from teachers who have been using the video series for years. We’ve also created a unique search interface with the Library of Congress’ extraordinary Civil War photography collection and have an extensive list of resources to help students delve even more into the rich and full history of the United States.

The series can’t replace the teacher or the classroom, but in conjunction with what you as the teacher do, it can make the era come alive in a way never before possible. In many ways, the series asks as many questions as it answers and should serve as a starting point for active learning and classroom discussion.

At the end of the series, I hope your students will have learned not only about the war but also something about what it was like to be alive in another time, a time when the future of the country was in doubt and its fields and roads and churchyards were battlefields. Most of all, I hope they will have learned to recognize in the America of our own time echoes and effects of those events that cost so many lives almost one hundred and forty years ago.

by Ken Burns

Completely restored.
Coming September 7, 2015 to PBS.
www.pbs.org/civilwar

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 1 - The Cause (1861)
Beginning with a searing indictment of slavery, this first episode dramatically evokes the causes of the war, from the Cotton Kingdom of the South to the northern abolitionists who opposed it. Here are the burning questions of Union and States’ rights, John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the firing on Fort Sumter and the jubilant rush to arms on both sides. Along the way the series’ major figures are introduced: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and a host of lesser-known but equally vivid characters. The episode comes to a climax with the disastrous Union defeat at Manassas, Virginia, where both sides now learn it is to be a very long war.

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 2 - A Very Bloody Affair (1862)
1862 saw the birth of modern warfare and the transformation of Lincoln’s war to preserve the Union into a war to emancipate the slaves. Episode Two begins with the political infighting that threatened to swamp Lincoln’s administration and then follows Union General George McClellan’s ill-fated campaign on the Virginia Peninsula, where his huge army meets a smaller but infinitely more resourceful Confederate force. During this episode we witness the battle of ironclad ships, partake of camp life, and watch slavery begin to crumble. We meet Ulysses S. Grant, whose exploits come to a bloody climax at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. The episode ends with rumors of Europe’s readiness to recognize the Confederacy.

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 3 - Forever Free (1862)
This episode charts the dramatic events that led to Lincoln’s decision to set the slaves free. Convinced by July 1862 that emancipation was now morally and militarily crucial to the future of the Union, Lincoln must wait for a victory to issue his proclamation. But as the year wears on there are no Union victories to be had, thanks to the brilliance of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. The episode comes to a climax in September 1862 with Lee’s invasion of Maryland. On the banks of Antietam Creek, the bloodiest day of the war takes place, followed shortly by the brightest: the emancipation of the slaves.

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 4 - Simply Murder (1863)
The nightmarish Union disaster at Fredericksburg comes to two climaxes that spring: at Chancellorsville in May, where Lee wins his most brilliant victory but loses Stonewall Jackson; and at Vicksburg, where Grant’s attempts to take the city by siege are stopped. During the episode we learn of fierce Northern opposition to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the miseries of regimental life and the increasing desperation of the Confederate homefront. As the episode ends, Lee decides to invade the North again to draw Grant’s forces away from Vicksburg.

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 5 - The Universe of Battle (1863)
This episode opens with a dramatic account of the turning point of war: the Battle of Gettysburg, the greatest ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. For three days 150,000 men will fight to the death in the Pennsylvania countryside, culminating in Pickett’s legendary charge. This extended episode then goes on to chronicle the fall of Vicksburg, the New York draft riots, the first use of black troops, and the western battles at Chickamauga, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The episode closes with the dedication of a new Union cemetery at Gettysburg in November, where Abraham Lincoln struggles to put into words what is happening to his people.

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 6 - Valley of the Shadow of Death (1864)
Episode six begins with a biographical comparison of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee and then chronicles the extraordinary series of battles that pitted the two generals against each other from the wilderness to Petersburg in Virginia. In 30 days, the two armies lose more men than both sides have lost in three years of war. With Grant and Lee finally deadlocked at Petersburg, we visit the ghastly hospitals north and south and follow General Sherman’s Atlanta campaign through the mountains of north Georgia. As the horrendous casualty lists increase, Lincoln’s chances for re-election begin to dim, and with them the possibility of Union victory.

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 7 - Most Hallowed Ground (1864)
The episode begins with the presidential election of 1864 that sets Abraham Lincoln against his old commanding general, George McClellan. The stakes are nothing less than the survival of the Union itself: with Grant and Sherman stalled at Petersburg and Atlanta, opinion in the North has turned strongly against the war. But 11th-hour victories at Mobile Bay, Atlanta, and the Shenandoah Valley tilt the election to Lincoln and the Confederacy’s last hope for independence dies. In an ironic twist, poignantly typical of the Civil War, Lee’s Arlington mansion is turned into a Union military hospital and the estate becomes Arlington National Cemetery, the Union’s most hallowed ground.

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War is All Hell (1865)
The episode begins with William Tecumseh Sherman’s brilliant march to the sea, which brings the war to the heart of Georgia and the Carolinas and spells the end of the Confederacy. In March, following Lincoln’s second inauguration, first Petersburg and then Richmond finally fall to Grant’s army. Lee’s tattered Army of Northern Virginia flees westward towards a tiny crossroads town called Appomattox Court House. There the dramatic and deeply moving surrender of Lee to Grant takes place. The episode ends in Washington where John Wilkes Booth begins to dream of vengeance for the South.

Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 9 - The Better Angel of Our Nature (1865)
This extraordinary final episode of The Civil War begins in the bittersweet aftermath of Lee’s surrender and then goes on to narrate the horrendous events of five days later when, on April 14, Lincoln is assassinated. After chronicling Lincoln’s poignant funeral, the series recounts the final days of the war, the capture of John Wilkes Booth and the fates of the Civil War’s major protagonists.
The episode then considers the consequences and meaning of a war that transformed the country from a collection of states to the nation we are today.

Ken Burns - The Civil War, Classroom Resources:

Various Civil War Resources:

Civil War Trust: Saving America's Civil War Battlefields (News, Maps, 360, IN4 videos, Photos, Books, Battle Apps, Saved Lands)
National Parks Service: Civil War Battle Summaries by State
National Paks Service: LP: United States Colored Troops in the Civil War
National Paks Service: LP: Civil War to Civil Rights Trading Cards
National Paks Service: What Would You Do? Plotting and Planning Strategies of the Civil War
National Paks Service: Civilian War Experience: The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
National Paks Service: The Trial of Henry Wirz
National Paks Service: The Battle of Harpers Ferry 1862: Joining Up!
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: The American Civil War
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: Timeline - Civil War & Reconstrucion, 1861-1877
Dickinson College: House Divided Project Index
Dickinson College: House Divided
Dickinson College: House Divided - Top 150 Lincoln Documents
Dickinson College: Understanding Lincoln
PBS Learning Media: Ken Burn's The Address
Daily Mail: Meet Brazil's 'Confederados': They've forgotten how to speak English but the South American descendants of rebels who fled US after the Civil War still turn out by the thousands to celebrate their Dixie roots

America the Story of Us: Lincoln | History

Today he is known as one of the greatest American presidents, but at the time of his election no one would have predicted Lincoln's success.

America the Story of Us: Frederick Douglass | History

Being a slave who had successfully escaped, Frederick Douglass was able to communicate the plight of slaves as no one else cold.

America the Story of Us: Harriet Tubman | History

Born a slave, Harriett Tubman became a famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, leading hundreds of slaves to freedom.

Reconstruction

12. The Reconstruction period resulted in changes to the U.S. Constitution, an affirmation of federal authority and lingering social and political differences.

The conclusion of the American Civil War brought victory for the federal union over the secessionist states, emancipated slaves, and began the period of Reconstruction for the South.
Nationally, Reconstruction took place in part with the passage of the 13 th , 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These amendments ended slavery and attempted to protect the rights of freedmen.
Reconstruction had a particular impact on the Southern states, as they were required to implement a series of actions before being readmitted to the Union. Federal authority was affirmed, as most Southern states had to complete these actions under Military Reconstruction.
Reconstruction resulted in resentments and new issues. White Southerners resented the new status afforded to blacks. They responded by enacting black codes and forming organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan. Southern Democrats resented the Republican carpetbagger governments imposed on the South and restored Democrats to power as Military Reconstruction came to an end. Congress and the presidency engaged in a struggle to control Reconstruction, which threatened the balance of power between the branches.

Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - The Battle Over Reconstruction (3 Lessons)
Resource: The Battle over Reconstruction
Resource: Opposing Views on Reconstruction
Resource: SC Black Codes: A Lesson on Reconstruction Legislation and Amendments
Resource: Louisiana Black Code
Resource: NYU Law - Neglected Voices
Resource: The Freedmen's Bureau Online
Resource: LOC-African American Perspectives, Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection 1818-1907

Geography
Spatial Thinking and Skills

13. Modern and historical maps and other geographic tools are used to analyze how historic events are shaped by geography.

Modern and historical maps, as well as other geographic tools (e.g., GPS, GIS, Internet-based mapping applications, aerial and other photographs, remote sensing images) can be used to analyze how historical events have been influenced by the distribution of natural resources and geographic location.
These tools can be used to understand changes over time. They may be used to help illustrate sectionalism, unification or movement.

Resource: Map Collections
Resource: Geography and Its Impact on Colonial Life

HOW THE STATES GOT THEIR SHAPES

http://www.history.com/shows/how-the-states-got-their-shapes

Church and States
Ever since the Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower, what we believe and how we believe has shaped the American map. Could Utah have been bigger than Texas? How did religion shatter New England into such odd little shapes? And did the Civil War actually begin… in Kansas?

Force of Nature
How have massive geological events helped create the American map? Long before the Founding Fathers drew the map, mother nature shaped some states. How did an asteroid create the border for three states and change history? How did glaciers plow the great plains and how did natural disasters continue to alter the map?

State of Rebellion
How did the most rebellious states took shape? How did they earn their outsized features and outspoken reputations. For instance, why does Montana looks like it took a bite out of Idaho? Why wasn't Texas broken up into five states? And why exactly do we have not one but two Carolinas?

The Great Plains, Trains, & Automobiles
The history of transportation is hidden in the lines of the map. From canals to trains and cars, how did getting around help draw the American map? Could Chicago have been in Wisconsin? Why are states out West or so big and boxy? And why did we almost had a state called Forgottonia?

Mouthing Off
We all live in the same country, so why do we sound do different? It's a matter of where you are on the map. Why didn't the southern accent exist until after the Civil War? How did California athletes end up coining so many new words? Why do we have so many different words for the same things — like pop versus soda? Will one particularly strong accent cause New York to break up and create a 51st state?

A River Runs Through It
How has water has literally shaped the States? There's surprising history hidden in the blue, squiggly lines on the map. Did the founding fathers make a mistake along the Georgia Tennessee border? Can that boundary actually change because of water? Why does Maine have so much water? Why was Nevada was left high and dry? — All these answers can be found in the unique shapes of these states.

Culture Clash
Will rivalries within our states break them into pieces? Cultures compete against each other all over the map. In extreme cases, they can divide states in two. How did World War II preserve the shape of California? Will part of Maine break off and become Northern Massachusetts? And as new cultures move into Florida, will the state's cowboy tradition get pushed off the map?

A Boom with a View
Did money make our map? Through boom and through bust, the sweet smell of profit has drawn and redrawn our states. How did Green Bay help carve our border with Canada? What does football have to do with fur? Is North Carolina the real "Golden State"? And why should we all move to North Dakota?

Use It or Lose It Watch
If you thought our borders were set in stone, you'd be wrong. Who stole a corner of Washington, DC? Is Ohio actually a state? And why isn't St. Louis our nation's capital? One thing's for sure — our map could look very different. How did we create order out of so much chaos? With the vote.

Living on the Edge
What secrets are hiding in our map? What's behind the "blank spots" like Area 51? What possessed the citizens of Key West to throw down their margaritas and secede from Florida? And even in the heartland, there are those living on the edge — in Kansas, old missile bunkers are now five bedroom dream homes. And what about the county in Georgia that was left off the state's quarter?

Geography
Human Systems

14. The availability of natural resources contributed to the geographic and economic expansion of the United States, sometimes resulting in unintended environmental consequences.

The expansion of the United States, both geographically and economically, was influenced by the availability of its natural resources. This expansion sometimes resulted in unintended consequences.
Forest resources and the abundance of fish and fur-bearing animals stimulated the growth of industries in the Northeast. The soil and climate of Virginia was conducive for growing tobacco. Although England originally settled Virginia to discover gold and silver and to trade with Indians for fur, the cultivation of tobacco helped make the colony prosper. Likewise, rice became an important crop in South Carolina, although originally it was thought to be an area for growing sugarcane.
Cotton became a primary crop in the South. Intensive cotton cultivation, however, drained southern soils of essential nutrients and helped force the westward expansion of plantation agriculture.
Expansion westward encouraged the building of canals and railroads, which in turn influenced further western migration. The stagnant waters of the canals often caused diseases and sparks from railroad engines sometimes caused prairie fires. The new settlers in the West affected the environment by destroying native vegetation to cultivate land for farming and by carving up the open plains with barbed-wire fences to protect cropland from animals.

Resource: American Experience: Native Americans

15. The movement of people, products and ideas resulted in new patterns of settlement and land use that influenced the political and economic development of the United States.

The development of the colonies reflected the origins of its settlers (e.g., the English in the New England colonies, the Germans in Pennsylvania) and the displacement of native Indians.
Slavery in the northern colonies was not as prevalent as in the southern colonies and slaves generally were used in a variety of endeavors. Many more African Americans were enslaved in the South where they were mainly used to raise labor-intensive crops. These differences influenced the ideas and political perspectives regarding the institution of slavery as the colonies gained independence and developed as a country.
The opening of lands west of the Appalachians for white settlers led the government to move Indians further west either through treaty negotiations or by forcible removal. Sections of North America developed new patterns of settlement and land use due to the movement of people (e.g., immigration, importation of slaves, displacement of American Indians). These new patterns of settlement and land use influenced the political and economic development of the United States (e.g., Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Land Ordinance of 1785).
The movement of people and products necessitated the construction of better transportation networks (e.g., roads, canals, railroads).

Resource: Western Expansion
Resource: National Atlas

16. Cultural biases, stereotypes and prejudices had social, political and economic consequences for minority groups and the population as a whole.

Cultural biases, stereotypes and prejudices contributed to American Indian removal, the enslavement of Africans, violence against Mormons, and the view of women as second-class citizens. Responses to prejudice contributed to Indian wars, slave rebellions, the Mormon migrations and efforts for women to gain equal rights.
Cultural biases, stereotypes and prejudices also impacted other groups, including immigrants. The prejudices could be based on origin (e.g., Ireland, China) or religion (e.g., Judaism, Catholicism). Many immigrants were restricted from certain jobs and limited as to where they could live.

Resource: Injustice

17. Americans began to develop a common national identity among its diverse regional and cultural populations based on democratic ideals.

The democratic ideals that became the cornerstone for the development of a common national identity were freedom, equality, rights and justice. Many of these ideals were reflected in the colonial governments, formed the basis for the colonists’ disagreements over British policies, and were embedded into the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The sense of “being an American” began to form around the time of the American Revolution and gradually replaced the stronger sectional and state identities that were more prevalent before the Civil War. The creation of the public education system helped foster these ideals.
Many immigrants came to the United States in pursuit of these democratic ideals with the hope of assimilating as Americans.

Resource: American Identity: Activity Ideas

AMERICA'S SECRET SLANG

http://www.history.com/shows/americas-secret-slang

Coming to America
Ever wonder why American cowboys say "'git along little doggies" when they're talking about herding cattle? Or why a losing wrestler "cries uncle?" And why do we say "ouch" when we stub a toe? The answers to all these questions can be traced to the millions of immigrants who've flooded into the US over the past 200 years and created a language that's entirely America. Join us as we reveal the history behind America's secret slang.

Y'all Speak Country
The American South has given us words like "y'all" and "rednecks" as well as dozens of colorful phrases like "fly off the handle," "having an axe to grind," and "barking up the wrong tree." But what are the origins of these expressions and why has one group of people contributed so much to the American language? The answers reveal the hidden history behind the American south and its secret slang.

West Word, Ho!
Expressions from "riffraff" to "betting your bottom dollar", "passing the buck," "acid test" and even "heard it through the grapevine" all come from America's frontier days. But have you ever wondered why these phrases were first used and what they mean today? The answers reveal the hidden history behind America and its secret slang.

Government
Civic Participation and Skills

18. Participation in social and civic groups can lead to the attainment of individual and public goals.

Throughout early American history, there are examples of how participation in social and civic groups led to the attainment of individual and public goals. Social groups included the American Temperance Society, which strived to reduce the consumption of alcohol, and the National Trades’ Union, which sought to improve working conditions. Civic groups included the Sons of Liberty, which worked to protest British colonial policy, and the American Anti-Slavery Society, which worked to emancipate slaves.

Resource: Increasing Opportunities for Involvement
Resource: The Sons of Liberty

Ted-Ed: Historical role models

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/historical-...
Many notable American historical figures are considered role models -- but why? George Washington was devilishly smart, and Abraham Lincoln was a brave leader, but have you heard of Sybil Ludington or Beriah Green? Amy Bissetta expounds on the lessons of character we can learn from these historical giants, whether you've heard of them or not.
Lesson by Amy Bissetta, animation by Mark Phillips.

19. Informed citizens understand how media and communication technology influence public opinion.

Media and communication technology influence public opinion through a variety of means. Historically, this includes improvements in printing, mail delivery, distribution of newspapers and the telegraph, which heightened public awareness and provided information. They also exposed people to arguments, emotional appeals and propaganda.
Public opinion in early American history was influenced by pamphlets, books and newspaper articles (e.g., Common Sense, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Federalist Papers, The Liberator). The invention of the telegraph transformed news and hastened the rise of independent, mass-circulation newspapers in the 19th century.

Resource: Is the Media Part of the Story?
Resource: Uncle Tom's Cabin

Ted-Ed: How to choose your news

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-choo...
With the advent of the Internet and social media, news is distributed at an incredible rate by an unprecedented number of different media outlets. How do we choose which news to consume? Damon Brown gives the inside scoop on how the opinions and facts (and sometimes non-facts) make their way into the news and how the smart reader can tell them apart.
Lesson by Damon Brown, animation by Augenblick Studios.

Government
Roles and Systems of Government

20. The U.S. Constitution established a federal system of government, a representative democracy and a framework with separation of powers and checks and balances.

The federal government established by the U.S. Constitution divides power among a central government and territorial subdivisions – the national and state governments. This allows both levels of government some degree of independence.

The United States is a republic or representative democracy in which elected officials representing the people make laws and public policy.

The U.S. Constitution provides for a separation of powers among the three branches of government (e.g., the legislative branch has the power to impose taxes and declare war, the executive branch has the power to command the military and grant pardons, the judicial branch has power to hear cases involving maritime law and controversies between the states).

The U.S. Constitution also provides for a system of checks and balances among the three branches of government. These checks and balances include the: 

Power of the president to veto acts of Congress (e.g., Jackson’s veto of the re-charter of the Bank of the United States in 1832); 
Power of the Senate to approve presidential appointments (e.g., the approval of Daniel Webster as secretary of state in 1841); and 
Independence of Supreme Court justices who hold their offices “during good behavior” (e.g., the impeachment trial of Samuel Chase in 1805)

Resource: The Constitution of the United States of America
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - Balancing Three Branches at Once: Our System of Checks and Balances
Resource: National Constitution Center
Resource: Museum of American Finance, Jackson Vetoes Re-Carter of the Second Bank of the US
Resource: USHistory.org - 24d. The War Against the Bank
Resource: UVA, Miller Center - Bank Veto (July 10, 1832) Transcripts
Resource: Digital History - The Celebrated Bank War
Resource: NNDB - Daniel Webster
Resource: History.com - Daniel Webster
Resource: USDS Office of the Historian, Biographies of the Secretaries of State - Daniel Webster
Resource: United States Senate - November 30, 1804 Senate Prepares for Impeachment Trial
Resource: University of Missouri–Kansas City - The Impeachment Trial of Samuel Chase (1805) by Douglas O. Linder
Resource: PBS- Samual Chase
Resource: Maryland Law Review - The Trials of Mr. Justice Samuel Chase

Ted-Ed: History vs. Andrew Jackson

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/history-vs-...
Andrew Jackson was both beloved and loathed during his presidency. In this imaginary courtroom, you get to be the jury, considering and weighing Jackson's part in the spoils system, economic depression, and the Indian Removal Act, as well as his patriotism and the pressures of the presidency. James Fester explores how time shapes our relationship to controversial historical figures.
Lesson by James Fester, animation by Brett Underhill.

21. The U.S. Constitution protects citizens’ rights by limiting the powers of government.

Throughout the U.S. Constitution (including the Bill of Rights), the rights of citizens are protected by limiting the powers of the government.
The Constitution prohibits the federal government from passing bills of attainder or ex post facto laws and from suspending writs of habeas corpus. The Bill of Rights provides additional protections (e.g., the federal government is prohibited from infringing on the freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition). Citizens also are entitled to due process of law, are guaranteed the right to trial by jury and the right to counsel, and are protected from cruel and unusual punishments.
After the Civil War, Amendments 13, 14 and 15 extended basic rights to the freedmen.

Resource: The Constitution of the United States of America
Resource: 13th Amendment
Resource: 14th Amendment

Ted-Ed: A 3-minute guide to the Bill of Rights

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-3-minute-...
Daily, Americans exercise their rights secured by the Constitution. The most widely discussed and debated part of the Constitution is known as the Bill of Rights. Belinda Stutzman provides a refresher course on exactly what the first ten amendments grant each and every American citizen.
Lesson by Belinda Stutzman, animation by Jacques Khouri.

Economics
Decision Making and Skills

22. Choices made by individuals, businesses and governments have both present and future consequences.

Economic choices are made because wants are unlimited, but resources are scarce. In any economic decision, whether it is an individual, business or government, there are consequences for the present and the future.

Businesses must weigh the consequences of hiring more workers, investing in research and development, and lowering or raising prices against potential profits in the short and long term.

Governments must consider which public goods and services (e.g., highways, courts, military protection, education) they provide with available revenue (from taxes). They also must weigh the immediate and future impact of raising or lowering revenue through tax and tariff policy.

Historical decisions based in part on economic choices include: 

Exploring new lands; 
Importing slaves to the Americas; 
Imposing new taxes on the American colonies; 
Purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France; 
Building textile mills using water power; 
Setting up a ferry business or building a toll bridge; and 
Imposing tariffs

Resource: Understanding the Colonial Economy
Resource: Monticello - Louisiana Purchase
Resource: HistoryNet - Louisiana Purchase
Resource: Smithsonian - How the Louisiana Purchase Changed the World
Resource: The South’s Decision to Secede: A Violation of Self Interest?
Resource: The Early 19th Century and Today

Ted-Ed: The historical audacity of the Louisiana Purchase

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-audacit...
When the French offered up the Louisiana Territory, Thomas Jefferson knew this real estate deal was too good to pass up. How did the President justify the purchase that doubled the size of the United States? Judy Walton provides President Jefferson's reasoning.
Lesson by Judy Walton, animation by Sumit Seru, Rohit Tandon and Kevin Jaako.

Economics
Production and Consumption

23. The Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed the means of production as a result of improvements in technology, use of new power resources, the advent of interchangeable parts and the shift from craftwork to factory work.

The first Industrial Revolution in the United States took place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and greatly improved the country’s economic growth. It fundamentally changed the means of production through improvements in technology, use of new power resources, the advent of interchangeable parts and the shift from craftwork to factory work.
Although this revolution began with the textile industry, it quickly moved to the production of other goods. Improvements in technology and use of new power resources (e.g., steam engine, cotton gin, mechanical reaper, sewing machine) changed the means of production.
The development of interchangeable parts and mass production techniques brought greater efficiency to the production process and helped shift the nature of work from craftwork to factory work.

Resource: Industrial Revolution
Resource: Textile Industry History
Resource: Women in World History - Textile Workers Industrial Revolution
Resource: Forbes - Washington's Coddling Of U.S. Textile Industry Is Hurting Shoppers
Resource: A History of US

THE MEN WHO BUILT AMERICA

John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan rose from obscurity and in the process built modern America. Their names hang on street signs, are etched into buildings and are a part of the fabric of history. These men created the American Dream and were the engine of capitalism as they transformed everything they touched in building the oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobile and finance industries. Their paths crossed repeatedly as they elected presidents, set economic policies and influenced major events of the 50 most formative years this country has ever known. From the Civil War to the Great Depression and World War I, they led the way.

http://www.history.com/shows/men-who-built-america

The Men Who Built America: Traits of a Titan

Today's business leaders weigh in on what America's first titans of industry all had in common.

Economics
Markets

24. Governments can impact markets by means of spending, regulations, taxes and trade barriers.

Examples of how governments can impact markets by means of spending, regulations, taxes and trade barriers can be found in early American history.
Spending by the U.S. and state governments has impacted markets by financing the building of roads and canals. The United States also purchased land for later development (e.g., the Gadsden Purchase).
Regulations have been used by governments to control markets by limiting the production or exchange of goods (e.g., British trade policy for the colonies, including the Navigation Acts).
Tariffs have been used to make American-produced goods more competitive in the domestic market by raising the price of imported goods (e.g., the Tariff of 1828).
Trade barriers are used by governments to impact markets. They are the means used to prevent certain exchanges of goods (exports or imports) between nations (e.g., the Embargo Act of 1807).

Resource: Transportation: They Say We Had a Revolution (Part 1)
Resource: NEH, EDSITEment - I Hear the Locomotives: The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad

Why do competitors open their stores next to one another?

View full lesson on ed.ted.com - http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-comp...
Why are all the gas stations, cafes and restaurants in one crowded spot? As two competitive cousins vie for ice-cream-selling domination on one small beach, discover how game theory and the Nash Equilibrium inform these retail hotspots.
Lesson by Jac de Haan, animation by Luke Rowsell.

Economics
Financial Literacy

25. The effective management of one’s personal finances includes using basic banking services (e.g., savings accounts and checking accounts) and credit.

The Founders of the United States were generally divided on the idea of a nationwide central bank. Eventually, the First Bank of the United States was created to serve as the government’s fiscal agent and depository for funds. These historical events serve to segue into the study of banking services as part of financial literacy (as required in the Ohio Revised Code for grades seven or eight).
For individuals, the use of banking services and credit enable them to manage their finances effectively. Savings accounts can be used to save for short- and longterm financial goals.
Savings accounts earn interest from banks as payments for the use of the saver’s money.
Checking accounts can be used to pay for goods and services instead of using currency. Some checking accounts carry service fees (including overdraft fees) and some checking accounts earn interest.
There are various types of credit. Banks can make loans and offer credit cards to customers. Loans must be paid back to the bank with interest payments for the use of the money. Credit cards can be used to pay for goods and services instead of using currency. Credit cards may carry service fees. Credit cards offer various payment plans but carrying a balance on an account will require interest payments.

Resource: Junior Achievement: Student Center
Resource: Work, Earnings and Economics: Using ‘Lyddie’ by Katherine Paterson

Ted-Ed: What gives a dollar bill its value?

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-gives-...
The value of money is determined by how much (or how little) of it is in circulation. But who makes that decision, and how does their choice affect the economy at large? Doug Levinson takes a trip into the United States Federal Reserve, examining how the people who work there aim to balance the value of the dollar to prevent inflation or deflation.
Lesson by Doug Levinson, animation by Qa'ed Mai.

National Council for the Social Studies: Social Studies in the Middle School

A Report of the Task Force on Social Studies in the Middle School
Approved by NCSS Board of Directors, January 1991

Tedd Levy, Chair, Norwalk, Connecticut; Pat Nickell, Vice Chair, Lexington, Kentucky; Peggy Altoff, Baltimore, Maryland; Loretta Hannum, Williamsburg, Virginia; Alan Haskvitz, Alta Loma, California; Mel Miller, Washington, Michigan; Richard Moulden, Bellevue, Washington

IntroductionToday's young people are a source of growing social and academic concern. According to the Carnegie Corporation, nearly half of some 28 million adolescents in the United States between the ages of ten and seventeen are moderately or extremely vulnerable to "multiple high-risk behaviors" such as school failure, drugs and alcohol, unsafe sex, and violence that puts their future in serious jeopardy. Although these problems exist in all classes and groups, they are intensified by the decline in harmonious two-parent families, economic and social adversity, most pronounced in urban areas, and among the poor and minorities.

The problems of young adolescents and the changing nature of society are causing a reexamination of education and, in particular, the education of young people at the middle level.

http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/middleschool

ODEMIDDLE SCHOOL (Grade 8)​EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY