Key Concepts for the US History End-of-Course Test
TheU.S. Historykeyconcepts explain what students are expected to knowand be ableto do to demonstratethe content knowledge and skills described in theGLEs.Thesekeyconcepts aremerelyillustrativeexamplesandshouldnotbe consideredallinclusive;sometestitems mayexceedthescopeofthesekeyconcepts.
Standard1 – HistoricalThinkingSkillsStudentsuse factsandconceptstosolveproblems,interpret,analyze,anddraw conclusionsfromhistoricaleventsandtorelatehistoricaleventstocontemporaryevents.
Grade-Level Expectations / KeyConcepts
US.1.1 Produce clear and coherent writingfor a rangeoftasks, purposes, andaudiencesby:
•conductingshort andsustainedresearch
•evaluatingconclusionsfromevidence (broadvariety,primary andsecondary sources)
•evaluatingvariedexplanationsfor actions/events
•determiningthemeaningofwordsand phrases fromhistoricaltexts
•analyzinghistorians’pointsof view / Refer to the Assessment Structure document for information about the assessment of Standard 1.
US.1.2 Compare and/orcontrast historical periodsintermsof:
•differingpolitical,social,religious,or economiccontexts
•similarissues, actions,andtrends
•bothchangeandcontinuity
US.1.3 Propose and defend a specific point of view on a contemporary or historical issue and provide supporting evidence to justify that position
US.1.4 Discriminatebetween types of propagandaanddraw conclusionsconcerning theirintent
US.1.5Analyzehistorical periods using timelines,cartoons,maps,graphs, debates,and otherhistoricalsources
Standard2 –Western Expansionto Progressivism
Studentsunderstandthesocial,political,andeconomicchangesthatdevelopedbetweenthe periodsofthe UnitedStates’westwardexpansion,industrialgrowth,andtheProgressiveEra.
Grade-Level Expectations / KeyConcepts
US.2.1 Evaluatethesocial, political, and economicantagonismthatoccurredbetween ethnicandculturalgroups as a resultof westwardexpansion / •assimilation
•ChineseExclusionAct
•Exodusters
•battleswithPlainsIndians
•DawesAct
•dispersalofthePlainsIndians
•Ghost Dance
US.2.2Describetheeconomicchanges that cameabouton thewesternfrontierasaresultof theexpansionoftherailroad,cattlekingdoms, andfarming / •boomandbustnatureofminingtowns
•effects oftheHomesteadAct
•endoftheopenrange
•transcontinentaltradefromtherailroad
US.2.3 Describe the causes of the political, social, and economic problems encountered by farmers on the western frontier and critique the solutions developed by the Populist movement / •agrarianmovement
•Patrons ofHusbandry/theGrange
•Populism
•People’sParty/PopulistParty
•bimetallism
•freesilver
•WilliamJennings Bryan
•“Cross ofGold”speech
US.2.4 Examine the effect of the government’s laissez-faire policy, innovations in technology and transportation, and changes in business organization that led to the growth of an industrial economy / •Bessemerprocess
•electricity
•telephone
•expansionof railroads
•mass production
•assemblyline
•corporations
•horizontalintegration
•verticalintegration
•monopolies
•trusts
•robberbarons vs. captainsofindustry
•Andrew Carnegie
•John D. Rockefeller
•J. P. Morgan
•Standard Oil Company
•CarnegieSteel
US.2.5 Illustrate the phases, geographic origins, and motivations behind mass immigration and explain how these factors accelerated urbanization / •“new”immigrants ofthelate nineteenthcenturyandearlytwentieth century
•easternandsouthernEuropean immigrants
•push andpullfactorsofimmigration
•AngelIsland
•EllisIsland
US.2.6 Describe the challenges associated with immigration, urbanization, and rapid industrialization and evaluate the government’s response / •assimilation
•ghettos
•settlement houses(Hull House)
•tenementhousing
•politicalmachines(BossWilliamTweed,TammanyHall)
•ShermanAnti-TrustAct
•ClaytonAnti-TrustAct
•FederalReserveAct
•SocialDarwinism
US.2.7 Examine the social, political, and economic struggles of a growing labor force that resulted in the formation of labor unions and evaluate their attempts to improve working conditions / •laborleaders(TerenceV. Powderly, Samuel Gompers, EugeneDebs)
•laborunions(KnightsofLabor, AmericanFederationofLabor, IndustrialWorkersoftheWorld)
•majorlaborstrikes (Great RailroadStrikeof1877, Homestead Strike, PullmanStrike)
•Haymarket SquareRiot
•childlabor
•working conditions
•TriangleShirtwaist factoryfire
•SocialistParty
US.2.8 Identify the goals of Progressivism; describe the influence of the muckrakers, political leaders, and intellectuals; and evaluate the movement’s successes and failures / •socialreformers(MotherJones, FlorenceKelley)
•muckrakers (IdaTarbell, UptonSinclair)
•trustbusting
•conservation
•municipalreforms
•votingreforms(directprimary, initiative,referendum,recall)
•women’ssuffragemovement(AlicePaul, CarrieChapman Catt)
•legislation(MeatInspectionAct, Pure Food andDrugAct)
•amendments(Sixteenth,Seventeenth,Eighteenth,NineteenthAmendments)
•foundingoftheNationalAssociation fortheAdvancement ofColored People
•W.E. B. Du Bois
•TheodoreRoosevelt
•William HowardTaft
•WoodrowWilson
•ProgressiveParty/BullMooseParty
•electionof1912
Standard3 – Isolationism throughtheGreatWar
Students tracethetransition in U.S. foreign policyfrom isolationism to internationalism fromthelatenineteenthcenturyuntiltheendofWorldWar I.
Grade-Level Expectations / KeyConcepts
US.3.1Analyzethecauses ofU.S. imperialisticpoliciesanddescribeboththe immediateandlong-termconsequencesupon newlyacquiredterritories / •economiccauses
•jingoism
•militaryexpansion
•SocialDarwinism
•yellowjournalism
•annexation ofHawaii
•Spanish-AmericanWar
•Cuba
•Guam
•Philippines
•PuertoRico
•PanamaCanal
•GreatWhite Fleet
•mapofterritoriesacquired
•Anti-ImperialistLeague
US.3.2 DescribetheinfluenceofU.S. imperialisticforeignpoliciesuponLatin Americaand thePacificregion / •Open Doorpolicy
•Roosevelt Corollary/BigStick policy
•dollardiplomacy
•moraldiplomacy
•bananarepublics
•BoxerRebellion
•PhilippinesInsurrection
•MexicanRevolutionandPanchoVilla
US.3.3 Describetherootcauses of WorldWarIandevaluatethereasons for U.S. entryinto thewar / •alliances
•assassinationofArchdukeFranzFerdinand
•imperialism
•nationalism
•militarism
•unrestrictedsubmarinewarfare
•sinkingoftheLusitania
•SussexPledge
•ZimmermannTelegram
US.3.4 Explain how theU.S. government financedWWI, managedthe economy, and directedpublicsupportforthewareffort / •Great Migration
•victorygardens
•libertybonds
•propaganda
•Committeeon PublicInformation
•SelectiveServiceAct
•Espionage Act of 1917
•WarIndustriesBoard
•voluntarypoliciesoftheFoodAdministration
•SeditionActof1918
•Schenkv. UnitedStates
US.3.5Analyzehow keymilitaryleaders, innovationsinmilitarytechnology,andmajor eventsaffectedtheoutcomeofWWI / •new weapons (airplanes,automatic weapons, poisongas, tanks)
•trenchwarfare
•BolshevikRevolution
•Gen. John Pershing
•entryofAmericanExpeditionaryForce
US.3.6Describe the goalsof politicalleaders atthe Paris Peace Conference andanalyze the consequencesoftheTreatyofVersailles / •BigFour
•FourteenPoints
•LeagueofNations
•self-determination
•reparations
•warguiltclause
•returntoisolationism
Standard4 – BecomingaWorldPowerthroughWorldWarII
Studentsexaminethesocial,economic,andpoliticalstrugglesandachievementsthatled to theU.S. becoming aworld powerfrom the1920s until the end ofWorldWarII.
Grade-Level Expectations / KeyConcepts
US.4.1 Use examples to show how population shifts,artisticmovements,Prohibition,andthe women’smovementoftheRoaringTwenties werea reflectionof and areaction to changesinAmericansociety / •Great Migration
•Harlem Renaissance
•JazzAge
•women’schangingroles
•EqualRightsAmendment
•flappers
•bootlegging
•organizedcrime
US.4.2 Examinethe economicpolicies, attackson civilliberties,andthepresidential administrationsofthe1920s andexplainhow each reflectedareturn toisolationism / •the FirstRedScare
•immigrationquotas
•nativism
•PalmerRaids
•SaccoandVanzetticase
•anti-lynchingcampaign
•Jim Crow laws
•Ku KluxKlan
•Marcus Garvey
•Warren Hardingand “normalcy”
•Calvin Coolidge
•laissez-faire
US.4.3 Describetheimpact ofmajor technological innovations and scientific theoriesofthe1920s onAmericansociety / •ScopesTrial
•assemblyline
•HenryFord
•effectsof automobileson society
•electricalappliances(refrigerators, vacuumcleaners,washingmachines)
•growth of consumereconomy (advertising,buyingon credit)
•airplane
•growth ofnationalculture
•motionpictures
•radio
US.4.4 Examinethe causes oftheGreat Depression anditseffectson theAmerican people and evaluatehowtheHoover administrationrespondedtothiscrisis / •unequaldistributionofwealth
•weaknesses inagriculturalsector
•overproduction
•consumerdebt
•speculation
•buyingon margin
•stockmarketcrash
•bankfailures
•unemployment
•underconsumption
•Hawley-SmootTariff
•dustbowl
•psychologicaleffects
•BonusArmy
•Hoovervilles
•Reconstruction FinanceCorporation
US.4.5 ClassifythekeyNew Deal programs accordingtoRelief,Recovery,andReform programsanddescribetheirimpacton the social,economic,andpoliticalstructureofthe United States / •Civilian ConservationCorps
•AgriculturalAdjustmentAdministration
•TennesseeValleyAuthority
•FederalDepositInsuranceCorporation
•Securities and ExchangeCommission
•Black Cabinet
•WorksProgressAdministration
•NationalLaborRelationsAct/WagnerAct
•SocialSecurityAct
•SupremeCourt packingplan
•critics ofNew Deal (FatherCoughlin, HueyLong)
•limitations ofNew Deal
US.4.6 Examinethe causes ofWorldWarII and explain the reasons forU.S. entryinto thewar / •fascism
•Nazism
•totalitarianism
•TreatyofVersailles
•appeasement
•Munich Conference
•Axis poweraggression
•Non-Aggression Pact
•U.S. isolationism
•NeutralityActs
•“FourFreedoms”speech
•Lend-LeaseAct
•Pearl Harbor
US.4.7 Explain how theU.S. government financedWorldWarII, managed theeconomy, andencouragedpublicsupport forthewar effort / •OfficeofWarMobilization
•OfficeofPriceAdministration
•deficitspending
•patrioticactivities
•propaganda
•rationing
•victorygardens
•warbond drives
US.4.8 Examinethe roleofminority groups, includingwomen,on thehomefrontandinthemilitaryanddescribehow it changedtheir statusinsociety / •RosietheRiveter
•DoubleVCampaign
•ExecutiveOrder8802
•Congress ofRacial Equality
•A. PhilipRandolph
•TuskegeeAirmen
•codetalkers
•1943 repeal ofChineseExclusionAct
•Zoot-SuitRiotsof1943
•Japaneseinternment
•Korematsu v. UnitedStates
US.4.9Analyzethemajor events, turning points,andkeystrategicdecisionsofWorld WarIIanddescribehowtheyaffectedthe outcomeofthewar / •BattleoftheAtlantic
•BattleofStalingrad
•NorthAfricaCampaign
•D-Day
•BattleofMidway
•BattleofOkinawa
•islandhopping
•kamikazepilots
•ManhattanProject
•droppingof atomicbombson Japan
•war conferences(Tehran,Yalta, Potsdam)
•Holocaust
•Nuremberg Trials
US.4.10 Describehow keypolitical and militaryleadersaffectedtheoutcomeof WorldWarIIandledtothebeginningofthe ColdWar / •AtlanticCharter
•theBigThree (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin)
•Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
•Gen. Douglas MacArthur
•Adm. ChesterNimitz
•HarryS.Truman
•foundingoftheUnited Nations
Standard5 – ColdWarEra
Students examinetheColdWar era and how it influencedU.S. foreign policydecisions, domesticprograms,and majorsocialmovements.
Grade-Level Expectations / KeyConcepts
US.5.1Analyzetheimpact ofU.S. domestic and foreign policyon ColdWar events during the1940s and1950s andexplainhow these policiesattemptedtocontainthespreadof communism / •containment
•deterrence
•dominotheory
•“Iron Curtain”speech
•TrumanDoctrine
•MarshallPlan
•Berlinairlift
•NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization
•WarsawPact
•China (Chang Kai-shek/Mao Zedong)
•KoreanWar
•Suez Crisis
•Sputnik
•theSecondRedScare
•HouseUn-AmericanActivitiesCommittee
•HollywoodTen
•Taft-HartleyAct of1947
•FairDeal
•McCarthyism
•military-industrialcomplex
US.5.2 Cite evidencethat links domestic eventsandforeignpoliciesofthe1960s and1970s to escalatingColdWartensions / •foreignpoliciesofKennedy,Johnson, Nixon, and Carter
•spacerace
•U-2 incident
•BayofPigs invasion
•brinkmanship
•Cuban MissileCrisis
•BerlinWall
•LimitedTest Ban Treaty
•dominotheory
•VietnamWar (GulfofTonkin Resolution,TetOffensive,MyLai Massacre,Vietnamization, Cambodia, WarPowersAct)
•silentmajority
•President Nixon travels to China
•détente
•SovietinvasionofAfghanistan
•culturalandathleticcompetitions
US.5.3 Explain howthepost-war social movementscausedchangebyanalyzingthe methodsused bytheleaders,theeffectivenessof legislation,andtheimpactofkeyevents / •babyboomers
•GIBill
•counterculture
•GreatSocietyprograms(WaronPoverty, Medicaid,Medicare,education,Dept.of HousingandUrbanDevelopment)
•Studentsfor aDemocraticSociety
•DemocraticPartyConvention of1968
•anti-warprotests(KentState, Jackson State)
•women’srightsmovement(BettyFriedan,EqualRightsAmendment,National OrganizationforWomen,oppositionto the women’srightsmovement)
•environmentalmovement
•AmericanIndianmovement
•Cesar Chavez
US.5.4 Describetheroleand importanceof thecivilrightsmovementintheexpansionofopportunitiesforAfricanAmericansintheUnited States / •NationalAssociation for theAdvancementofColoredPeople
•Brownv. Board ofEducation
•massiveresistance
•RosaParks
•MontgomeryBusBoycott
•Dr. MartinLutherKing, Jr.
•SouthernChristianLeadershipConference
•LittleRock Nine
•lunchcountersit-ins
•StudentNonviolentCoordinatingCommittee
•New Orleans school integrationcrisis
•FreedomRides
•integration oftheUniversityofMississippi(JamesMeredith)
•“Letter fromBirminghamJail”
•MarchonWashingtonof1963
•Twenty-FourthAmendment
•FreedomSummer
•CivilRightsActof1964
•SelmaMarches
•VotingRightsActof1965
•MalcolmX
•blackpower
•BlackPantherParty
•raceriots(Harlem,Watts)
•dejurevs. defactosegregation
•desegregationbusing
•affirmativeaction
US.5.5 Explain how theleaders’personalities, events,andpoliciesofthe1980s combinedto bringabout an end to the ColdWar / •Mikhail Gorbachev
•RonaldReagan
•Poland’sSolidaritymovement
•StrategicDefenseInitiative
•Intermediate-RangeNuclearForcesTreaty
•StrategicArms ReductionTreaties
•glasnost
•perestroika
•German reunification
•TiananmenSquareprotestsof1989
•dissolution oftheSoviet Union
Standard6 –TheModernAge
Students understand theshift inAmericangovernment and societyfrom a ColdWar identitytoa cultureofglobalinterdependence.
Grade-Level Expectations / KeyConcepts
US.6.1 Compare and contrast thedomestic policies ofthepost-ColdWarpresidencies / •GeorgeH.W. Bush
•Bill Clinton
•GeorgeW. Bush
•BarackObama
•theReligiousRight
•1988“readmylips”campaignpromise
•effects oftheNorthAmericanFreeTradeAgreement
•1993 failureofhealthcarevs. 2010 passageofhealthcare
•Contract withAmericaof1994
•federalgovernmentshutdown of1995–1996
•Clinton impeachment
•electionof2000
•Bush tax cutsof2001 and2003
•electionof2008
US.6.2 Describeadvances in medicine, technology,andthemediaduringthe moderneraand explainhow theseadvances havealteredsociety / •AIDSresearch
•breakthroughsin geneticresearch(Human GenomeProject)
•cancerresearch
•stemcellresearch
•geneticallymodifiedfood
•personalcomputer
•theInternet
•cellphoneandsmartphone
•digitaldivide
•socialmedia
US.6.3Tracethe evolution ofUnited States relationshipswithMiddleEastcountriesand explain how theseinteractions havedefined ourimageintheregion / •Afghanistan
•Egypt
•Iran
•Iraq
•Israel
•PalestinianLiberationOrganization
•OrganizationofPetroleumExportingCountries
•Arab-Israeli Conflict
•oilembargoof1973
•Camp DavidAccords
•oilcrisisof1979
•Iranhostagecrisis
•PersianGulfWar
•warinAfghanistan
•warin Iraq
•Axis ofEvil
•Arab Spring
•weapons ofmass destruction
US.6.4 Describeevents that changed Americanpeople’sperceptionsof governmentovertime / •VietnamWar
•PentagonPapers
•Watergatescandal
•LoveCanal
•Iran-ContraAffair
•ClarenceThomas SupremeCourt nominationhearing
•“Don’tAsk, Don’tTell”policy
•Clinton impeachment
•presidentialelectionof2000
•responseto9/11attacks
•wars in IraqandAfghanistan
•responseto HurricaneKatrina
•federaldebt
US.6.5 Identifylandmark SupremeCourt decisions from theWarren Court to thepresent, categorizetheideologyofthedecisions,andassess theimpactonpoliticalandsocial institutions / •Engelv. Vitale
•Gideonv.Wainwright
•Escobedov. Illinois
•NewYorkTimes Co.v. Sullivan
•Reynoldsv. Sims
•Griswold v. Connecticut
•Mirandav.Arizona
•Roev.Wade
US.6.6Tracethe riseindomestic and foreign terrorismandanalyzeits effectonAmerica’s wayoflife / •OklahomaCitybombing
•USSColebombing
•September 11, 2001
•al-Qaeda
•Osamabin Laden
•Taliban
•weapons ofmass destruction
•Department ofHomeland Security
•TransportationSecurityAdministration
•PatriotAct
•GuantánamoBay, Cuba, detention camp