US history

Units

1. 1

   Indigenous America and European colonization

   4 lessons

   1. Native peoples before EuropeansDescribe four major Native regions of North America before 1492 and explain how land, climate and food shaped how each people lived.
   2. Early European coloniesCompare Spanish, French, Dutch and English colonies in what they wanted and how they settled, and explain how Jamestown and Plymouth began.
   3. The thirteen coloniesCompare the New England, Middle and Southern colonies in their economies, societies and governments.
   4. Slavery in the coloniesExplain how slavery grew in the English colonies and describe the lives and resistance of enslaved people.
2. 2

   The road to revolution and independence

   3 lessons

   1. The French and Indian War and new taxesExplain how the war with France left Britain in debt, why Parliament began to tax the colonies, and why colonists protested the Stamp Act and the Townshend duties.
   2. Protest and independenceExplain how the Boston Massacre, the Tea Party and the Intolerable Acts pushed the colonies from protest toward war, and what the Declaration of Independence says and argues.
   3. The Revolutionary WarDescribe the major battles and leaders of the Revolutionary War from Boston to Yorktown and explain why the colonists won against the strongest power in the world.
3. 3

   The Constitution and the early republic

   4 lessons

   1. The Articles of ConfederationExplain why the first national government was weak by design, what it achieved in the West, and how its weaknesses and Shays' Rebellion led to a new constitution.
   2. The Constitutional ConventionExplain how delegates in Philadelphia in 1787 settled the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise, and how Federalists and Anti-Federalists argued over ratification.
   3. The Constitution and the Bill of RightsExplain separation of powers, checks and balances and federalism in the Constitution, and name what the first ten amendments protect.
   4. The early republicDescribe how Washington built the new government, why Hamilton and Jefferson clashed, and how political parties and the election of 1800 shaped the republic.
4. 4

   Expansion, reform and a growing nation

   4 lessons

   1. Jefferson, Louisiana and the War of 1812Explain why the United States bought Louisiana in 1803, follow Lewis and Clark across it, and give the causes and results of the War of 1812.
   2. Jacksonian democracy and the market revolutionExplain how Andrew Jackson's presidency widened democracy and used strong executive power, why Indian Removal uprooted the Southeast nations, and how canals, mills and railroads changed how Americans worked and traded.
   3. Reform movementsDescribe how the Second Great Awakening inspired reformers, how abolitionists attacked slavery, and how the women's rights movement and public schools expanded the nation's promises.
   4. Manifest DestinyExplain the belief in manifest destiny, how Texas, Oregon and the Mexican Cession were added, and how the Gold Rush brought California quickly into the Union.
5. 5

   Slavery, sectional conflict and the Civil War

   3 lessons

   1. Slavery and sectionalismExplain how the fight over slavery in the territories produced the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott decision, and why each settlement failed to hold.
   2. Lincoln and secessionExplain how Lincoln won the election of 1860, why seven Southern states left the Union, and how the firing on Fort Sumter began the Civil War.
   3. The Civil WarExplain how the Union won the Civil War, why the war became a fight to end slavery, and what it cost the soldiers and the people at home.
6. 6

   Reconstruction

   3 lessons

   1. Plans for ReconstructionCompare the Reconstruction plans of Lincoln, Johnson and Congress and explain what the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments changed.
   2. Reconstruction in the SouthDescribe what freedpeople did with freedom, how the Freedmen's Bureau and Black officeholders changed the South, and how sharecropping limited that freedom.
   3. The end of ReconstructionExplain how violence and Northern weariness weakened Reconstruction, how the disputed election of 1876 ended it in 1877, and how Jim Crow laws replaced the rights won after the Civil War.
7. 7

   Industry, immigration and the Gilded Age

   3 lessons

   1. Industrialization and big businessDescribe how railroads and steel remade the economy, how Carnegie and Rockefeller built giant companies, and how the corporation and the trust changed American business.
   2. Immigration and citiesExplain why millions of immigrants came to the United States between 1880 and 1920, how cities grew and crowded, and how nativism pushed back with laws limiting immigration.
   3. Labor and populismDescribe how workers formed unions and struck for better conditions, why farmers built the Populist movement, and what the election of 1896 settled.
8. 8

   The Progressive Era and overseas expansion

   3 lessons

   1. The Progressive movementExplain what Progressives believed, how muckrakers exposed problems, how reformers changed cities and states, and which four amendments of 1913 to 1920 changed the system.
   2. Progressive presidentsCompare the reforms of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson and explain how the election of 1912 split the reformers.
   3. Overseas expansionExplain why the United States reached overseas in the 1890s, how the Spanish-American War and the annexation of Hawaii brought an empire, and why the Panama Canal and the Roosevelt Corollary extended American power.
9. 9

   World War I and the 1920s

   3 lessons

   1. Entering World War IExplain why the United States stayed neutral from 1914 and why it declared war on Germany in April 1917.
   2. The home front and the peaceExplain how the United States mobilized for World War I, how the war limited free speech, and why the Senate rejected Wilson's peace treaty.
   3. The 1920sDescribe the Red Scare and immigration limits, the new consumer culture, Prohibition, the Harlem Renaissance and the new place of women in the 1920s.
10. 10

    The Great Depression and the New Deal

    3 lessons

    1. The causes of the Great DepressionExplain how the stock market crash of 1929, the failure of banks and the Dust Bowl combined to turn a boom into the Great Depression.
    2. The New DealDescribe Roosevelt's New Deal programs of 1933 to 1938 and explain how they changed the role of the federal government.
    3. Life in the DepressionDescribe unemployment, migration and the culture of the 1930s, and explain how ordinary families survived and kept up their spirits.
11. 11

    World War II

    3 lessons

    1. Road to war and Pearl HarborExplain why the United States stayed out of the war at first, how Lend-Lease moved it toward the Allies, and how the attack on Pearl Harbor brought it in.
    2. The war in Europe and the PacificDescribe the major campaigns of the Second World War, including D-Day, Iwo Jima and the atomic bombs, and explain how the Allies won in Europe and in Asia.
    3. The home frontDescribe war production, the work of women and minorities, and the internment of Japanese Americans, and explain how the war changed life at home.
12. 12

    The Cold War and postwar America

    3 lessons

    1. Origins of the Cold WarExplain why the United States and the Soviet Union became rivals after 1945 and how containment, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and NATO answered the Soviet challenge.
    2. Korea, Vietnam and the arms raceDescribe how containment led the United States into the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War.
    3. Postwar AmericaExplain why the American economy boomed after 1945, how suburbs and the baby boom changed daily life and who was left out, and why fear of communism led to McCarthyism.
13. 13

    The civil rights movement

    3 lessons

    1. Segregation and the legal fightDescribe how Jim Crow worked, what Plessy v. Ferguson allowed, how the NAACP chose its cases, and what Brown v. Board of Education decided in 1954 and how the South answered.
    2. The movementDescribe how nonviolent protest changed the country, from the Montgomery Bus Boycott through the sit-ins and Freedom Rides to Birmingham and the March on Washington.
    3. Legislation and resultsExplain what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 required, how Selma led to the second, and what the movement achieved and left unfinished.
14. 14

    The 1960s and 1970s

    3 lessons

    1. The Great Society and social changeDescribe Johnson's Great Society programs and what they changed, and explain how women, Mexican Americans and American Indians organized for their own rights in the 1960s and early 1970s.
    2. Vietnam and the antiwar movementExplain how the war in Vietnam escalated, why Americans protested it, and how the United States left in 1973.
    3. Watergate and the 1970sDescribe the Watergate scandal, the oil shocks and stagflation, and why many Americans lost trust in government in the 1970s.
15. 15

    The United States since 1980

    3 lessons

    1. Reagan and the end of the Cold WarDescribe the Reagan years, the rise of modern conservatism and how the Cold War ended between 1985 and 1991.
    2. The 1990s and September 11Describe the technology boom of the 1990s, the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the wars and policies that followed.
    3. The United States in the 21st centuryDescribe the 2008 financial crisis, the changing American population and the challenges facing the country today.