United States History Content Standards for Grades 5 -12
| ERA | STANDARDS |
|---|---|
| Era 1 Three Worlds Meet (Beginnings to 1620) |
Standard 1: Comparative characteristics of societies in the Americas, Western Europe, and Western Africa that increasingly interacted after 1450
Standard 2: How early European exploration and colonization resulted in cultural and ecological interactions among previously unconnected peoples |
| Era 2 Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763) |
Standard 1: Why the Americas attracted Europeans, why they brought enslaved Africans to their colonies, and how Europeans struggled for control of North America and the Caribbean
Standard 2: How political, religious, and social institutions emerged in the English colonies Standard 3:How the values and institutions of European economic life took root in the colonies, and how slavery reshaped European and African life in the America |
| Era 3 Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s) |
Standard 1: The causes of the American Revolution, the ideas and interests involved in forging the revolutionary movement, and the reasons for the American victory
Standard 2: The impact of the American Revolution on politics, economy, and society Standard 3: The institutions and practices of government created during the Revolution and how they were revised between 1787 and 1815 to create the foundation of the American political system based on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights |
| Era 4 Expansion and Reform (1801-1861) |
Standard 1: United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native Americans
Standard 2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions Standard 3: The extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800 Standard 4: The sources and character of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period |
| Era 5 Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877) |
Standard 1: The causes of the Civil War
Standard 2: The course and character of the Civil War and its effects on the American people Standard 3: How various reconstruction plans succeeded or failed |
| Era 6 The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900) |
Standard 1: How the rise of corporations, heavy industry, and mechanized farming transformed the American people
Standard 2: Massive immigration after 1870 and how new social patterns, conflicts, and ideas of national unity developed amid growing cultural diversity Standard 3: The rise of the American labor movement and how political issues reflected social and economic changes Standard 4: Federal Indian policy and United States foreign policy after the Civil War |
| Era 7 The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930) |
Standard 1: How Progressives and others addressed problems of industrial capitalism, urbanization, and political corruption
Standard 2: The changing role of the United States in world affairs through World War I Standard 3: How the United States changed from the end of World War I to the eve of the Great Depression |
| Era 8 The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945) |
Standard 1: The causes of the Great Depression and how it affected American society
Standard 2: How the New Deal addressed the Great Depression, transformed American federalism, and initiated the welfare state Standard 3: The causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at home and abroad, and its reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs |
| Era 9 Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s) |
Standard 1: The economic boom and social transformation of postwar United States
Standard 2: How the Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics Standard 3: Domestic policies after World War II Standard 4: The struggle for racial and gender equality and the extension of civil liberties |
| Era 10 Contemporary United States (1968 to the present) |
Standard 1: Recent developments in foreign and domestic politics
Standard 2: Economic, social, and cultural developments in contemporary United States |