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Virginia and
United States History
The
standards for Virginia and United States
History
include the historical development of
American ideas and institutions from
the Age of Exploration to the present.
While
focusing on political and economic history,
the standards provide students with
a basic knowledge of American culture
through
a chronological survey of major issues,
movements, people, and events in United
States and Virginia history. Students
should use historical and geographical
analysis skills to explore in depth
the events, people, and ideas that fostered
our national identity and led to our
country’s
prominence in world affairs.
The study of history must emphasize the intellectual
skills required for responsible citizenship. Students
practice these skills as they extend their understanding
of the essential knowledge defined by all of the
standards for history and social science.
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| Skills |
| VUS.1 |
The
student will demonstrate skills
for historical and geographical
analysis, including the ability
to
- identify, analyze, and
interpret primary and secondary
source documents, records,
and data, including artifacts,
diaries, letters, photographs,
journals, newspapers, historical
accounts, and art to increase
understanding of events
and life in the United States;
- evaluate the authenticity,
authority, and credibility
of sources;
- formulate historical questions
and defend findings based
on inquiry and interpretation;
- develop perspectives of
time and place, including
the construction of maps
and various time lines of
events, periods, and personalities
in American history;
- communicate findings orally
and in analytical essays
and/or comprehensive papers;
- develop skills in discussion,
debate, and persuasive writing
with respect to enduring
issues and determine how
divergent viewpoints have
been addressed and reconciled;
- apply geographic skills
and reference sources to
understand how relationships
between humans and their
environment have changed
over time;
- interpret the significance
of excerpts from famous
speeches and other documents.
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| Early
America: Early Claims, Early
Conflicts |
| VUS.2 |
The
student will describe how early European
exploration and colonization
resulted in cultural interactions
among Europeans, Africans, and American
Indians (First Americans). |
| VUS.3 |
The
student will describe how the
values and institutions of European
economic life took root in the
colonies and how slavery
reshaped European and African
life in the Americas. |
| Revolution
and the New Nation |
| VUS.4 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of events and issues of the Revolutionary
Period by
- analyzing how the political
ideas of John
Locke and those expressed
in Common
Sense helped shape
the Declaration
of Independence;
- describing the political
differences among the colonists
concerning separation from
Britain;
- analyzing reasons for
colonial victory in the Revolutionary
War.
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| VUS.5 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of the issues involved in the
creation and ratification of the
United States Constitution and
how the principles of limited
government, consent of the governed,
and the social contract are embodied
in it by
- explaining the origins
of the Constitution,
including the Articles
of Confederation;
- identifying the major
compromises necessary
to produce the Constitution,
and the roles of James
Madison and George
Washington;
- describing the conflict
over ratification,
including the Bill
of Rights and the arguments
of the Federalists and
Anti-Federalists;
- examining the significance
of the Virginia
Declaration of Rights and
the Virginia
Statute for Religious Freedom in
the framing of the Bill
of Rights.
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| Expansion
and Reform: 1801 to 1860 |
| VUS.6 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of the major events during the
first half of the nineteenth century
by
- identifying the economic,
political, and geographic
factors that led to territorial
expansion and its impact
on the American Indians (First
Americans);
- describing the key features
of the Jacksonian
Era, with emphasis on
federal banking policies;
- describing the cultural,
economic, and political
issues that divided the
nation, including slavery,
the abolitionist and women’s
suffrage movements,
and the role of the states
in the Union.
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| Civil
War and Reconstruction: 1860
to 1877 |
| VUS.7 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of the Civil
War and Reconstruction Era and
its importance as a major turning
point in American history by
- identifying the major
events and the roles of
key leaders of the Civil
War Era, with emphasis
on Abraham
Lincoln, Ulysses
S. Grant, Robert
E. Lee, and Frederick
Douglass;
- analyzing the significance
of the Emancipation
Proclamation and the
principles outlined in
Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address;
- examining the political,
economic, and social impact
of the war and Reconstruction,
including the adoption
of the 13th,
14th, and 15th Amendments
to the Constitution of
the United States.
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| Reshaping
the Nation and the Emergence
of Modern America: 1877 to 1930s |
| VUS.8 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of how the nation grew and changed
from the end of Reconstruction
through the early twentieth century
by
- explaining the relationship
among territorial
expansion, westward movement of
the population, new immigration,
growth of cities, and the
admission of new states
to the Union;
- describing the transformation
of the American economy
from a primarily agrarian
to a modern industrial economy
and identifying major
inventions that improved
life in the United States;
- analyzing prejudice and
discrimination during this
time period, with emphasis
on “Jim
Crow” and the responses
of Booker
T. Washington and W.E.B.
Du Bois;
- identifying the impact
of the Progressive
Movement, including child
labor and antitrust
laws, the rise of labor
unions, and the success
of the women’s
suffrage movement.
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| VUS.9 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of the emerging role of the United
States in world affairs and key
domestic events after 1890 by
- explaining the changing
policies of the United States
toward Latin America and
Asia and the growing influence
of the United States in
foreign markets;
- evaluating United States
involvement in World War
I, including Wilson’s
Fourteen Points, the Treaty
of Versailles, and the
national debate over treaty
ratification and the League
of Nations;
- explaining the causes
of the Great Depression,
its impact on the American
people, and the ways the New
Deal addressed it.
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| Conflict:
The World at War: 1939 to 1945 |
| VUS.10 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of World War II by
- identifying the causes
and events that led to American
involvement in the war,
including military assistance
to Britain and the Japanese
attack on Pearl
Harbor;
- describing the major battles
and turning points of the
war in North Africa, Europe,
and the Pacific, including Midway, Stalingrad,
the Normandy
landing (D-Day), and Truman’s
decision to use the atomic
bomb to force the surrender
of Japan;
- describing the role of
all-minority military units,
including the Tuskegee
Airmen and Nisei regiments;
- describing the Geneva
Convention and the treatment
of prisoners of war during
World War II;
- analyzing the Holocaust (Hitler’s “final
solution”), its impact on
Jews and other groups, and
postwar trials of war
criminals.
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| VUS.11 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of the effects of World
War II on the home front by
- explaining how the United
States mobilized its economic,
human, and military resources;
- describing the contributions
of women and minorities
to the war
effort;
- explaining the internment
of Japanese
Americans during the
war;
- describing the role of
media and communications
in the war effort.
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| The
United States since World War
II |
| VUS.12 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of United States foreign
policy since World War II
by
- describing outcomes of
World War II, including
political boundary changes,
the formation of the United
Nations, and the Marshall
Plan;
- explaining the origins
of the Cold
War, and describing
the Truman
Doctrine and the policy
of containment of communism,
the American role in wars
in Korea and Vietnam,
and the role of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
in Europe;
- explaining the role of
America’s military and veterans
in defending freedom during
the Cold War;
- explaining the collapse
of communism and the end
of the Cold
War, including the role
of Ronald Reagan.
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| VUS.13 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of the Civil
Rights movement of the 1950s
and 1960s by
- identifying the importance
of the Brown
v. Board of Education decision,
the roles of Thurgood
Marshall and Oliver
Hill, and how Virginia
responded;
- describing the importance
of the National Association
for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP),
the 1963 March
on Washington, the Civil
Rights Act of 1964,
and the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
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| VUS.14 |
The
student will demonstrate knowledge
of economic, social, cultural,
and political developments in
the contemporary
United States by
- analyzing the effects
of increased participation
of women in the labor force;
- analyzing how changing
patterns of immigration
affect the diversity of
the United States population,
the reasons new immigrants
choose to come to this country,
and their contributions
to contemporary America;
- explaining the media influence
on contemporary American
culture and how scientific
and technological advances
affect the workplace, health
care, and education.
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Equipment
Available
Updated
Thursday, December 1, 2005