8Th Grade U.S. History Syllabus

8th Grade U.S. History Syllabus

Eighth grade U.S. history is a study of the United States through 1877. The course focuses on colonization, the American Revolution, the formation and structure of U.S. government, the New Republic, Manifest Destiny and an expanding nation, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Colonization

The lessons in this unit are organized to help students understand the effects of geography on the development of colonial America. The main skill focus is making generalizations. Students analyze the reasons for exploration and the importance of political, economic, and social factors upon the formation of the thirteen colonies.

American Revolution

This unit of study focuses on the political, economic, and social factors that led to the American Revolution and how the self-determination of the colonists led to victory.

Forging a New Government

The principles of the U.S. Constitution and the individual rights, freedoms, and responsibilities created by the Founding Fathers are the centerpiece of Forging a New Government.

New Republic

This unit is designed to help students understand the challenges faced by the new republic during the presidencies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe.

An Expanding Nation

In this unit the content focus is threefold: analyzing westward expansion and its effect on the political, economic, and social development of the nation; analyzing how political, economic and social factors led to the growth of sectionalism and the Civil War; and identifying the impact of science and technology on the development of the U.S. Students assume the role of a settler who goes west during the era of Manifest Destiny and creates a scrapbook as the culminating assessment.

Civil War and Reconstruction

The causes of the Civil War, the major events of the war, and the significance of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments are the foundation for the Civil War and Reconstruction unit. Students develop an understanding of the political dilemmas and the compromises of the times. By probing deeply into the sectional differences, students are challenged with analytical thought through primary source document analysis. Later, the sources are used as a part of the document-based essay on the final exam. In the culminating assessment students combine the skills of communication, information literacy and inter/intrapersonal by working in small groups to make a presentation about a selected Civil War topic