Name ______Date ______Block _____

IB History11 – History of the Americas

Unit 1 – Early America

VUS.2 – VUS.6

Summer Assignment – 2017

The Virginia Department of Education Website =

Step 1 = Click on Standards of Learning (SOL) & Testing

Step 2 = Click on History & Social Science

Step 3 = Click on Standards of Learning – Curriculum Framework –Virginia and US History – PDF

Directions: Write a complete response for each of the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. Use the VA/US History Curriculum FrameworkEssential Knowledge Section located on the Virginia Department of Education website listed above as your source.

VUS.2

Early European Exploration and Colonization

  1. Describe New England.
  2. Describe the Middle Atlantic region.
  3. Describe Virginia and the other Southern colonies.
  4. Describe Jamestown.
  5. Describe the interactions among Europeans, Africans, and American Indians.

VUS.3

Economic, Social, and Political Characteristics of the Colonies

  1. Describe the economic characteristics of the New England colonies.
  2. Describe the economic characteristics of the middle colonies.
  3. Describe the economic characteristics of the southern colonies.
  4. What two ideals characterized colonial life everywhere?
  5. Describe the social characteristics of the New England colonies.
  6. Describe the social characteristics of the middle colonies.
  7. Describe the social characteristics of Virginia and the Southern colonies.
  8. Describe the “Great Awakening.”
  9. Describe political life in the New England colonies.
  10. Describe political life in the middle colonies.
  11. Describe political life in the southern colonies.
  12. Describe the development of indentured servitude and slavery in the colonies.

VUS.4a-d

The Revolutionary Period

VUS.4a – The Political Ideas of John Locke and Thomas Paine

  1. Analyze the ideas of John Locke.
  2. Describe Thomas Paine and Common Sense.
  3. Analyze the Declaration of Independence.

VUS.4b – Key Principles of the Declaration of Independence

  1. How did the key principles of the Declaration of Independence increase political, social, and economic participation in the American experience over a period of time?

VUS.4c – Political Differences among the Colonists

  1. Describe the Anglo-French rivalry leading to conflict with the colonies.
  2. Describe the beginning of the American Revolution.
  3. Describe the differences among the colonists.

VUS.4d – Colonial Victory in the Revolutionary War

  1. Describe the diplomatic and military factors that led to colonial victory.

VUS.5a-e

Ratification of the Constitution of the United States

VUS.5a – Origins of the Constitution, including the Articles of Confederation

  1. How did America’s pre-Revolutionary relationship with Britain influence the structure of the first national government?
  2. List five weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

VUS.5b – Major compromises of the Constitution

  1. Identify and describe five key issues and their resolutions (compromises) at the Constitutional Convention.
  2. Describe George Washington’s role at the Constitutional Convention.
  3. Describe James Madison’s role at the Constitutional Convention.

VUS.5c – Important Documents

  1. Who wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights? Describe it.
  2. Who wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom? Describe it.
  3. What two documents did James Madison consult when drafting the amendments that eventually became the United States Bill of Rights?

VUS.5d – Ratification Debates

  1. What did the Federalists advocate?
  2. What did the Anti-Federalists fear?
  3. Who were the two leading Virginia opponents of ratification?
  4. Who were the two leading Virginia proponents of ratification?

VUS.5e – John Marshall and the Supreme Court

  1. How did Chief Justice John Marshall, a Virginian, contribute to the growth of the United States Supreme Court’s importance in relation to the other branches of the national government?

VUS.6a-e

Major Events in United States History: 1790s – 1850s

VUS.6a – Development of Political Parties

  1. Why did competing political parties develop during the 1790s?
  2. Describe the presidential election of 1800.
  3. Describe the Federalists.
  4. Describe the Democratic-Republicans.

VUS.6b – Territorial Expansion

  1. Describe Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory.
  2. Describe the American victory over the British in the War of 1812.
  3. Describe the Monroe Doctrine (1823).
  4. List and describe five factors that influenced westward movement and economic development.
  5. Describe “Manifest Destiny.”
  6. How were American Indians impacted during the period of westward migration?

VUS.6c – The War of 1812

  1. What were the causes of the War of 1812?
  2. Describe the Federalists’ opposition to the War of 1812.

VUS.6d – Jacksonian Era

  1. In what ways did political democracy change in the years following the War of 1812?

VUS.6e – Issues that Divided the Nation

  1. Describe the sectional tensions caused by competing economic interests.
  2. Describe the Missouri Compromise (1820).
  3. Describe the Compromise of 1850.
  4. Describe the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and its effect on Kansas and the Republican Party.
  5. Describe the sectional tensions caused by debates over the nature of the Union.
  6. Describe the sectional tensions caused by the institution of slavery.
  7. Describe the women’s suffrage movement.