7th and 8th grade American History
Instructor: Joseph Florencio
www.geocities.ws/foxcrofthistory
www.slideshare.net/coachflo
Theme for the Course:
Knowledge of the way people have lived and of the way events and ideas have shaped our lives helps us understand the world of the present. E Pluribus Unum is the nation’s motto: Out of Many, One. From the multiple backgrounds, interests, and experiences of its people, to what extent has the United States forged a national identity? How close has it come to realizing the ideals of its founders? Have noble intentions been forever corroded by the realities of slavery, discrimination, poverty, conflict, war, and special interests? As the United States faces its future can it expect from its people a unity that respects diversity, patriotism that respects dissent, and laws that respect individual rights?
As we grapple with such questions in this course, students should emerge with: (1) an enjoyment of—or at least satisfaction from—the learning process itself; (2) a broad knowledge of the history of the United States. (3) an appreciation and understanding of some of the cross-currents in the nation’s history; (4) the acquisition of skills useful to an ongoing study of history and the social sciences, and (5) an enhanced understanding, through a study of contemporary events, of the role of the United States in today’s world.
An emphasis is placed on interpreting documents, mastering a significant body of factual information, and writing critical essays. Topics include life and thought in colonial America, revolutionary ideology, constitutional development, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy, nineteenth-century reform movements, and Manifest Destiny. Other topics include the Civil War and Reconstruction, immigration, industrialism, Populism, Progressivism, World War I, the Jazz Age, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the post-Cold War era, and the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
In addition to the topics listed above, the course will emphasize a series of key themes throughout the year. These themes have been determined by the National History Standards as essential to a comprehensive study of United States history. The themes will include discussions of American diversity, the development of a unique American identity, the evolution of American culture, demographic changes over the course of America’s history, economic trends and transformations, environmental issues, the development of political institutions and the components of citizenship, social reform movements, the role of religion in the making of the United States and its impact in a multicultural society, the history of slavery and its legacies in this hemisphere, war and diplomacy, and finally, the place of the United States in an increasingly global arena. The course will trace these themes throughout the year, emphasizing the ways in which they are interconnected and examining the ways in which each helps to shape the changes over time that are so important to understanding United States history.
US History is a two year-long survey of American history from the age of exploration to the present. Seventh grade will cover everything up to the Civil War. Eighth grade will cover from Reconstruction to the present. Solid reading and writing skills, along with a willingness to devote considerable time to homework and study, are necessary to succeed. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking skills, essay writing, and interpretation of original documents.
Each unit also utilizes discussions of and writing about related historiography: how interpretations of events have changed over time, how the issues of one time period have had an impact on the experiences and decisions of subsequent generations, and how such reevaluations of the past continue to shape the way historians see the world today.
Make-up Policy:Excused Absences Only
Students are responsible for obtaining and completing work missed when absent within 1 school day upon returning to class. The best way to check for assignments is Edmodo. Do not interrupt class at any time (beginning, during or end) to ask for make-up work. Late work will not be accepted. Unexcused Absences (as determined by the school administration) will receive an automatic 0 and work cannot be made up.
Course Policies
Entering & Exiting the Classroom: Enter the classroom quietly with materials and be prepared for class to start. The class starts and ends at the direction of the teacher.
During Instruction: All students are expected to be responsible, to always come prepared for class, and to respect others.The most effective way to stay on task is to follow directions and refrain from talking out of turn. Students are expected to be active participants in this class. If you have any questions or problems, make an appointment to meet with me afterschool, or email me your concerns.
During Classwork: Start activities as directed and remain in assigned areas. Students should raise their hands with any questions. Work collaboratively and share ideas when appropriate.
Electronic Devices / Edmodo Class Website
Students in this class need to sign up for the class website through Edmodo. All weekly homework and reading assignments will be posted on Edmodo. Students MUST have an email address to access this class website. Instructions will be given in class. Parents who wish to sign up for our class website may do so as well. Electronic devices on campus are covered by the school policies outlined in the student handbook.
Materials Needed – minimum requirements
Class Notebooks and Folders (3 subject notebook is ok)
Blue / Black pens (no other color accepted – no pencil work accepted)
Loose leaf paper for daily quizzes and assignments
Folder for class materials (binder is ok)
Electronic device for accessing Edmodo Class Website
Email address for school use
Collaboration/Plagiarism Rules
Collaboration is when pairs or slightly larger groups work well together. Unless otherwise specified, all assignments should be completed individually. In other words, it is okay to collaborate in studying the course material, but the "writing on the page" should be your own "thought product." If portions of your individual assignments have been significantly influenced by someone else, you should prominently give them credit for their contribution. Proper attribution is critically important -- and is an absolute defense against charges of "Academic Dishonesty." Failure to provide proper recognition for the contributions of others towards any graded work may be, at the discretion of the teacher, considered Academic Dishonesty or Plagiarism
Student Expectations:
1. Display respectful behavior to self and others.
2. Be prepared daily with assignments and materials.
3. Participate in daily activities.
4. Be responsible in completing missing assignments and getting notes when absent.
Discipline / Consequences:
NOTE – these consequences are cumulative
1. Verbal warning in-class
2. Written warning on Jupiter
3. Assigned Detention-30 minutes – Headmaster Referral
4. Parent / teacher conference
5. Headmaster referral for other discipline
Grading Scale:
Unit Examinations / Research Paper – 40% of the grade each quarter
Unit tests will be out of class assignments consisting of short answer identifications and/or essays. Overall, tests will be writing intensive affairs. Students can best prepare for the tests by reading the textbook and by studying notes from class lectures and discussions.
Daily Quizzes / Homework – 40 % of the grade each quarter
Daily quizzes will cover material from the previous class and / or assigned readings. Quizzes will be focused on preparing students for the Unit Exam. Homework will be assigned each week on Edmodo and will be due on Mondays at the beginning of the day. Late work will not be accepted.
Trimester Exam – 20% of the grade each quarter
Students will take a comprehensive exam each trimester.
Tentative American History Schedule
Unless specifically noted, readings and homework listed on the weekly schedule should be completed BEFORE the beginning of each week so that students are prepared for class discussions, lectures and PowerPoint presentations.
Syllabus and Expectations for the course
Class Discussion: writing requirements
What is history? Why do we study it? Why study American History?
American history before 1450
Unit 1 – Age of Exploration and Pre-Columbian Societies
Pre-Columbian cultures, early explorations, introduction of slavery, Spanish and French claims, the rise of mercantilism
Portugal and Spain after the Reconquista
Opening a New World -- Colonies in North America
Pre Columbian (Indian) Societies in North America
Nueva Espana
Portuguese Brazil
New France
New Amsterdam
New Sweden
Overview of the English Colonies
Unit 2 – Life during the Colonial Period (1585 to 1763)
Mercantilism and Triangle Trade and Joint Stock Companies
Cash Crops, Slavery and African American culture
Puritans and the City on a Hill
Punishing the Wicked – Salem and the Halfway Covenant
Colonial Family Life – differences between the sections?
Immigration and demographic change,the Atlantic economy, the Great Awakening, education and culture, colonial politics
Unit 3 – American Revolution (1763 to 1783)
The Duel for North America
French and Indian War
Peace of Paris (1763)
Paying for the empire
Acts of Rebellion
Ideological roots of the Revolution
Enlightenment thinking
A Party in Boston
Shot heard round the world
Locke and Jefferson –
The Declaration of Independence
Washington’s Army
Saratoga and the French
War in the South
Yorktown and Surrender
Peace of Paris (1783)
Unit 4 – Confederation and Constitution (1775 to 1789)
Articles of Confederation
Northwest Articles
Shays Rebellion
Constitutional Convention
Economic and Slavery concerns in the process
Ratification fight
Analysis of the Constitution
Checks and Balances
Unit 5 -- Early National Period (1789 to 1824)
Washington and Adams – Creating a Government
Hamilton and Jefferson – different views and new political parties
Creation of a National Bank
VA and KY Resolutions
Republicanism and the Revolution of 1800
Marbury vs. Madison – What is the Role of the Supreme Court?
Louisiana Purchase – Was it Constitutional?
Jefferson and Madison
War of 1812
Death of Federalist Party and the Era of Good Feelings
Missouri Compromise
New Leadership – the 2nd Generation
Unit 6 – The Second Party System (1824 to 1848)
Corrupt Bargain
Jackson and the Mobocracy
American Whiggery and Clay’s American System
Sectionalism and the Nullification Crisis
Jackson vs. the Bank
Jackson vs. the Indians
Lone Star Republic
Panic of 1837
Story of the Amistad Africans
The rise of the market economy
immigration and the increase in nativism
women in the workplace
the new factory system – Lowell Girls
the transportation revolution
Seneca Falls – A lost opportunity?
Unit 7 – Northern Reforms and Southern Paternalism (1820s to 1840s)
Second Great Awakening – Developing a Conscience
Splinter Groups – Mormons and Shakers
Economic Reforms – Wage Slaves in the North
Seneca Falls – A lost opportunity?
Garrison, Douglass and Abolitionism
Slavery as a Necessary Evil / Slavery as a Positive Good
Biblical Defense of Slavery -- Southern Paternalism
Mudsill Theory – An Economic and Social Defense of Slavery
Unit 8 – The Development of Sectionalism (1840 to 1854)
Manifest Destiny -- Texas and Oregon
War with Mexico
Wilmot Proviso vs. Popular Sovereignty
Gold Rush of 1849 and California
Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Laws and the Northern Response
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Kansas-Nebraska and Bleeding Kansas
Collapse of Whiggery and the development of a northern consciousness
Unit 9 – And the War Came (1854 to 1865)
Republicans
Brooks-Sumner Affair
Dred Scott
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
John Brown’s Raid
Election of 1860
Secession Winter
Confederate States of America
Early Confederate Victories
Gettysburg and Vicksburg
Grant and Sherman
Appomattox and the End
NOTE – Units below will be covered in 8th Grade US History II
Unit 10 – Reconstruction (1865-1877)
Lincoln and a Moral Crusade – the Emancipation Proclamation
Andrew Johnson
40 Acres and a Mule – the Freedmen’s Bureau
Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
Collapse of the Southern Economy and a turn to Sharecroppers
Black Codes
Radical Republicans
13th 14th and 15th Amendments
KKK and the White League
Impeachment
Grant’s Scandals and the waning of Reconstruction
Hayes / Tilden and 1876
Redeemer Governments
Legacy of Reconstruction
Unit 11 -- The Gilded Age (1869 to 1890)
Democrats and the Solid South
Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall
Robber Barons and the Gospel of Wealth
Labor Unions, Debs and Socialism
Growth of the Cities – Immigrants
Settlement of the American West
Fencing in the Natives
Turner’s Frontier Thesis
Unit 12 – Progressivism, Reform and the Great War (1890 to 1920)
Populism and Progressivism
Bryan’s Cross of Gold and 1896
Upton Sinclair – The Jungle
Overview of Segregation – will be covered in depth later
Spanish / American War – American Imperialism
Panama and the Canal
The Great War in Europe (review of world history)
American Isolationism
Over There – America goes to War
Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles
Prohibition and the Women’s vote
League of Nations and the American Senate
Unit 13 – The Roaring Twenties (1920 to 1929)
A Return to Normalcy – Social history of the 1920s
La Cosa Nostra
Babe in the Bronx
Monkey Business in Tennessee
Radio and Talkies
Spirit of St. Louis
Herbert Hoover and the “End of Poverty”
Unit 14 – The Great Depression (1929 to 1940)
Black Tuesday
Hoover and the Bonus Army
FDR and a New Deal
The First Hundred Days
Alphabet Soup Legislation
The Kingfisher and “Share our Wealth”
Dust Bowl and Okies
Packing the Court
New Deal Legacy – Recovery or Socialism?
Unit 15 – World War II (1940 to 1945)
Review of Rise of Fascism and National Socialism in Europe
Review of Japanese Imperialism
Neutrality
Japanese Aggression in the Pacific
War in Europe
War in the Pacific
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Unit 16 – The Cold War – America’s role Abroad after WWII (1945 to 1991)
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Containing Communism
Marshall Plan
Berlin and the Airlift
China – A new Element
NATO vs. the Warsaw Pact
Korea
McCarthyism and the War at Home
Sputnik and the Space Race
Berlin Wall
Cuba – the Crisis Deepens
Vietnam
SALT I and SALT II
Regan and the Evil Empire
“Star Wars”
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Unit 17 – Civil Rights Project (end of the year)
Southern Paternalism
Reconstruction and the Black Codes
KKK and the White Knights
Redeemer governments
Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)
Segregation under Law – 1896 to 1954
Jackie Robinson
Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954)
Emmit Till
Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycotts
Little Rock in 1957
SNCC and SCLC
1963 – A Watershed Year
Freedom Summer of 1964
Wallace and the Segregationist Response
Selma and the Legacy of Civil Rights