State Curriculum - Social Studies

  
Grade 8
Standard 5.0 History: Students will examine significant ideas, beliefs, and themes; organize patterns and events; and analyze how individuals and societies have changed over time in Maryland and the United States.
A. Individuals and Societies Change Over Time
B. Emergence, Expansion and Changes in Nations and Empires
1. Analyze the growth and the development of the United States
a. Explain the political and economic impact of the Louisiana Purchase on the United States
b. Evaluate Manifest Destiny and its impact on territorial expansion of the nation
2. Evaluate the importance of Jacksonian Democracy and how it represented a change in the social, political and economic life of the United States
a. Explain how the philosophies and policies of the Jacksonian Era represented a move towards greater democratization
b. Analyze how tariff policy and issues of states' rights influenced the development of political parties and prompted sectional differences
3. Evaluate westward movement in the United States before 1877
a. Explain the political, economic, and social factors that motivated people to move west
b. Describe the government strategies used to acquire territory
c. Analyze the impact of westward movement on relations with Native Americans, such as treaty relations, land acquisition and the policy of Indian Removal
4. Analyze patterns of immigration to the United States before 1877
a. Identify the push and pull factors responsible for immigration to the United States, such as the forced migration of Africans and Western European migration
b. Analyze the consequences of the rapid settlement of California and Oregon
5. Analyze the political, economic, and social goals of Reconstruction
a. Explain the goals and policies of the various Reconstruction plans
b. Explain how the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments addressed the issue of civil rights through abolition, the granting of citizenship, and the right to vote
c. Identify the legal and illegal actions used to deny African-Americans civil rights
d. Evaluate the social and economic impact of sharecropping, tenant farming and the Freedman's Bureau in the post Civil War South
C. Conflict between Ideas and Institutions
1. Examine and explain the role of religious, social and political institutions in America at the end of the American Revolution
a. Analyze the political effects of the American Revolution on American society and culture
b. Describe the evolution of the American system of government from a confederal to a federal system of government
c. Describe how unresolved social, economic, and political issues impacted disenfranchised groups
2. Analyze the emerging foreign policy of the United States
a. Explain why the United States adopted a policy of neutrality prior to the War of 1812
b. Explain how the continuing conflict between Great Britain and France influenced the domestic and foreign policy of the United States
c. Evaluate the origins and provisions of the Monroe Doctrine and explain how it influenced foreign affairs
d. Explain causes and effects of the Mexican-American War
3. Analyze the influence of industrialization and technological developments on society in the United States before 1877
a. Describe changes in land and water transportation, including the expanding network of roads, canals, and railroads, and their impact on the economy and settlement patterns
b. Explain how the cotton gin and the opening of new lands in the South and West impacted the institution of slavery
c. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of early industrialization on the economy and society
4. Analyze the institution of slavery and its influence on societies in the United States
a. Describe pro-slavery and anti-slavery positions and explain how debates over slavery influenced politics and sectionalism
b. Analyze the experiences of African-American slaves, and free blacks
c. Compare the relationship of abolitionists to the other reform movements
5. Analyze factors affecting the outcome of the Civil War
a. Analyze government policies regarding slavery, such as the three-fifths clause, the Missouri Compromise (1820) and the Compromise of 1850
b. Analyze the ideological breakdown that resulted from different events and issues, such as Virginia-Kentucky resolutions, the Hartford Convention, nullification/states' rights, political party division, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown raids
c. Explain why the 1860 election led to the secession of the southern states
d. Identify the goals, resources and strategies of the North and the South
e. Describe the political impact of Lincoln's decisions regarding the deployment of black regiments
 

 

MSDE has developed a toolkit for these standards which can be found online at: http://mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/social_studies/vsc_toolkit.html.

 

Date: 6/20/2006