Grade 8

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Explain the reasons for the adoption and subsequent failure of the Articles of Confederation.8-U3.3.1

Identify economic, political, and cultural issues facing the nation during the period of the Articles of Confederation and the opening of the Constitutional Convention.8-U3.3.2

Describe the major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention, including the distribution of political power among the states and within the federal government, the conduct of foreign affairs, commerce with tribes, rights of individuals, the election of the executive, and the enslavement of Africans as a regional and federal issue.8-U3.3.3

Explain how the new Constitution resolved (or compromised) the major issues, including sharing and separation of power and checking of power among federal government institutions; dual sovereignty (state-federal power); rights of individuals; the Electoral College; the Three-Fifths Compromise; the Great Compromise; and relationships and affairs with tribal nations.8-U3.3.4

Analyze the debates over the ratification of the Constitution from the perspectives of Federalists and Anti-Federalists and describe how the states ratified the Constitution.8-U3.3.5

Explain how the Bill of Rights reflected the concept of limited government, protection of basic freedoms, and the fear among many Americans of a strong central government.8-U3.3.6

Use important ideas and documents to describe the philosophical origins of constitutional government in the United States with an emphasis on the following ideals: social contract, limited government, natural rights, right of revolution, separation of powers, bicameralism, republicanism, and popular participation in government.8-U3.3.7

use President George Washington's farewell address to analyze Washington's perspective on the most significant challenges the new nation faced.8-U4.1.1

assess the changes in America's relationships with other nations by analyzing the origins, intents, and purposes of treaties.8-U4.1.2

examine the origins and intentions of early American political parties, including how they emerged, who participated, and what influenced their ideologies.8-U4.1.3

use Marbury v. Madison to explain the development of the power of the Supreme Court through the doctrine of judicial review.8-U4.1.4

compare and contrast the social and economic systems of the Northeast, the South, and the Western Frontier (Kentucky, Ohio Valley, etc.) with respect to geography, climate, and the development of:<ul><li>agriculture, including changes in productivity, technology, supply and demand, and price.</li><li>industry, including the entrepreneurial development of new industries, such as textiles.</li><li>the labor force, including labor incentives and changes in labor forces.</li><li>transportation, including changes in transportation (steamboats and canal barges) and the impact on economic markets and prices.</li><li>immigration and the growth of nativism.</li><li>race relations.</li><li>class relations.</li></ul>8-U4.2.1

explain the ideology of the institution of slavery, its policies, and consequences.8-U4.2.2

analyze the annexation of the west through the Louisiana Purchase, the removal of Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral homelands, the Mexican-American War, the growth of a system of commercial agriculture, and the idea of Manifest Destiny.8-U4.2.3

develop an argument based on evidence about the positive and negative consequences of territorial and economic expansion on Indigenous Peoples, efforts to maintain and sustain the institution of slavery, and the relations between free and slave-holding states.8-U4.2.4

Explain the origins of the American education system.8-U4.3.1

Describe the formation and development of the abolitionist movement by considering the roles of key abolitionist leaders and the response of southerners and northerners to the abolitionist movement.8-U4.3.2

Analyze the antebellum women's rights (and suffrage) movement by discussing the goals of its leaders and comparing primary source documents from this era to the Declaration of Independence.8-U4.3.3

Analyze the goals and effects of the antebellum temperance movement.8-U4.3.4

Investigate the role of religion in shaping antebellum reform movements.8-U4.3.5

Compare the differences in the lives of free black people (including those who escaped from slavery) with the lives of free white people and enslaved people.8-U5.1.1

Describe the impact of the Northwest Ordinance on the expansion of slavery.8-U5.1.2

Describe the competing views of John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay on the nature of the union among the states.8-U5.1.3

Draw conclusions about why the following increased sectional tensions:<ul><li>the Missouri Compromise (1820).</li><li>the Wilmot Proviso (1846).</li><li>the Compromise of 1850, including the Fugitive Slave Act.</li><li>the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) and subsequent conflict in Kansas.</li><li>the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (1857).</li><li>changes in the party system.</li></ul>8-U5.1.4

Describe the resistance of enslaved persons and effects of their actions before and during the Civil War.8-U5.1.5

Describe how major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention, such as disagreements over the distribution of political power, rights of individuals (liberty and property), rights of states, the election of the executive, and slavery, help explain the Civil War.8-U5.1.6

Discuss the social, political, economic, and cultural reasons for secession.8-U5.2.1

Make an argument to explain the reasons why the North won the Civil War by considering the following:<ul><li>critical events and battles in the war.</li><li>the political and military leadership of the North and South.</li><li>respective advantages and disadvantages of each side, including geographic, demographic, economic, and technological.</li></ul>8-U5.2.2

Examine Abraham Lincoln's presidency with respect to:<ul><li>his military and political leadership.</li><li>the evolution of his emancipation policy (including the Emancipation Proclamation).</li><li>The role of his significant writings and speeches, including the Gettysburg Address and its relationship to the Declaration of Independence.</li></ul>8-U5.2.3

Describe the role of African-Americans in the war, including black soldiers and regiments, and the increased resistance of enslaved people.8-U5.2.4

Construct generalizations about how the war affected combatants, civilians (including the role of women and Indigenous Peoples), the physical environment, and the future of warfare, including technological developments.8-U5.2.5

Compare the different positions concerning the reconstruction of Southern society and the nation, including the positions of President Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson, Republicans, Democrats, and African-Americans.8-U5.3.1

Describe the early responses to the end of the Civil War by describing:<ul><li>the policies of the Freedmen's Bureau.</li><li>the restrictions placed on the rights and opportunities of freedmen, including racial segregation and Black Codes.</li></ul>8-U5.3.2

Describe the new role of African-Americans in local, state, and federal government in the years after the Civil War and the national and regional resistance to this change, including the Ku Klux Klan.8-U5.3.3

Analyze the intent and the effect of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution.8-U5.3.4

Explain the decision to remove Union troops from the South in 1877 and investigate its impact on Americans.8-U5.3.5

America at Century's End-compare and contrast the United States in 1800 with the United States in 1898, focusing on similarities and differences in:<ul><li>territory.</li><li>population.</li><li>systems of transportation.</li><li>governmental policies promoting economic development.</li><li>economic change.</li><li>the treatment of African-Americans.</li><li>the policies toward Indigenous Peoples.</li></ul>8-U6.1.1

use historical perspectives to analyze issues in the United States from the past and the present; conduct research on a historical issue or topic, identify a connection to a contemporary issue, and present findings (e.g., oral, visual, video, or electronic presentation, persuasive essay, or research paper); include causes and consequences of the historical action and predict possible consequences of the contemporary action.8-U6.2.1