School Curriculum: American History
This page is designed to enable parents to understand what their child should be learning, when they should be learning it, and what degree of mastery the child should have attained (at a median level) by a certain grade level. For Homeschoolers, we hope that this page will serve as a valuable asset in establishing a baseline curriculum. For parents whose children attend public or private schools (or for the inquisitive student) this page should give some guidance as to whether or not the school curriculum and methods are providing students with an adequate standard of education.
What is meant by "American History," why is it important, and how is it approached ? Below is a description of the core discipline and its components, and the answers to why-how-when these components are taught. American History components have median level goals to be attained by the end of Grade 2, by the end of Grade 4, by the end of Grade 8, and by the end of Grade 12.
This page
does not contain articles for education in this discipline.
For educational articles, go to: American
History Family
and Community Life, State
and Nation, Many
Worlds Meet (to 1620), Colonization
and Settlement (1585-1763), Revolution
and the New Nation (1754-1820), Expansion
and Reform (1801-1861), Civil
War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), The
Industrial Revolution (1870-1900), The
Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930), The
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945), Postwar
Years (1945-1970), Contemporary
America (1968-present)
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STANDARD 6.4 (UNITED STATES AND STATE HISTORY) ALL STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE KNOWLEDGE OF UNITED STATES AND STATE HISTORY IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND LIFE AND EVENTS IN THE PAST AND HOW THEY RELATE TO THE PRESENT AND FUTURE. |
Descriptive statement: This standard introduces students in grades K-4 to the history of the United States and individual States through the study of family and community life. Through this study, students also become aware of many cultural traditions and heritages that contribute to the diversity of this country. As a foundation for further study in grades 5-8, students learn about important issues and personalities that have influenced the history of the state and the nation. Within the grades 5-12 cluster, students study the following ten periods in State and American history:
Within the ten broad eras, the indicators cover the political, social, cultural, diplomatic, scientific/technological, and military aspects of United States history. Throughout the teaching of these periods, teachers are encouraged to connect events being studied to similar occurrences at different times in history and to current events. In addition, the study of individual State history provides an excellent laboratory for teaching major themes in American history. State history, and the many historical sites located throughout the state, provides close-at-hand, immediate examples that make American history real to students.
Strands and Cumulative Progress Indicators
By the end of Grade 2, students will:
A. Family and Community Life
1. Recognize change and continuity in their lives.
2. Describe their family history through two generations.
3. Compare family life today with long ago.
4. Tell about their family heritage using stories, songs, and drawings.
B. State and Nation
1. Recognize the names of major figures in American history, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Sacajawea, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King Jr.
2. Discuss the contributions of important women, African Americans, and Native Americans to United States and State history.
3. Explain the historical significance of major national holidays (e.g. Independence Day, Labor Day) and American symbols.
4. Relate why important national buildings, statues, and monuments are associated with our national history.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 4, students will:
A. Family and Community Life
1. Discuss how families long ago expressed and transmitted their beliefs and values through oral tradition, literature, songs, and celebrations.
2. Compare family life in a community of the past to life in a community of the present.
3. Discuss the reasons why various groups, voluntarily and involuntarily, immigrated to America and New Jersey and describe the problems they encountered.
4. Discuss the history of their community, including the origins of its name, groups and individuals who lived there, and access to important places and buildings in the community.
5. Explain that Americans have come from different parts of the world and have a common American heritage, in addition to the heritage of the countries of origin.
6. Describe situations in which people from diverse backgrounds work together to solve common problems.
B. State and Nation
1. Compare the major early culture of the Lenape that existed in the region that became New Jersey prior to contact with the Europeans.
2. Discuss the reasons why revolutionary leaders, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Governor William Livingston fought for independence from England.
3. Discuss New Jersey’s role during the American Revolution.
4. Identify major documents and symbols in the State and American history, including the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the State Seal, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech.
5. Identify and discuss major scientific discoveries and inventions, the scientists and inventors who developed them (e.g., Thomas Edison), and their impact on life today.
6. Discuss the experiences of immigrants who came to the United States and the State, including reasons for immigrating, experiences at Ellis Island, and working and living conditions in America.
7. Describe the population shift from the farm to the cities.
8. Discuss the value of the American national heritage including:
Diverse folklore and cultural contributions from the State and other regions in the United States
History and values celebrated in American songs, symbols, slogans, and major holidays
Historical preservation of primary documents, buildings, places of memory, and significant artifacts
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students will:
A. Family and Community Life
Reinforce indicators from previous grade levels.
B. State and Nation
Reinforce indicators from previous grade levels.
C. Many Worlds Meet (to 1620)
1. Discuss factors that stimulated European overseas explorations between the 15th and 17th centuries and the impact of that exploration on the modern world.
2. Trace the major land and water routes of the explorers.
3. Compare the political, social, economic, and religious systems of Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans who converged in the western hemisphere after 1492 (e.g., civic values, population levels, family structure, communication, use of natural resources).
4. Discuss the characteristics of the Spanish and Portuguese exploration and conquest of the Americas, including Spanish interaction with the Incan and Aztec empires, expeditions in the American Southwest, and the social composition of early settlers and their motives for exploration and conquest.
5. Describe the migration of the ancestors of the Lenape Indians and their culture at the time of first contact with Europeans.
6. Compare and contrast historic Native American groups of the West, Southwest, Northwest, Arctic and sub-Arctic, Great Plains, and Eastern Woodland regions at the beginning of European exploration.
7. Analyze the cultures and interactions of peoples in the Americas, Western Europe, and Africa after 1450 including the transatlantic slave trade.
8. Discuss how millions of Africans, brought against their will from Central Africa to the Americas, including Brazil, Caribbean nations, North America and other destinations, retained their humanity, their families, and their cultures during enslavement.
D. Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
1. Analyze the political, social, and cultural characteristics of the English colonies.
2. Describe the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that emerged in Colonial America.
3. Explain the differences in colonization of the Americas by England, the Netherlands, France, and Spain, including governance, relation to the mother countries, and interactions with other colonies and Native Americans.
4. Examine the interactions between Native Americans and European settlers, such as agriculture, trade, cultural exchanges, and military alliances and conflicts.
5. Describe Native American resistance to colonization, including the Cherokee War against the English, the French and Indian War, and King George’s War.
6. Identify factors that account for the establishment of African slavery in the Americas.
7. Discuss Spanish exploration, settlement, and missions in the American Southwest.
E. Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820)
1. Discuss the background and major issues of the American Revolution, including the political and economic causes and consequences of the revolution.
2. Discuss the major events (e.g. Boston Tea Party, Battle of Trenton) and personalities (e.g., George Washington, John Adams, John Witherspoon, William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson) of the American Revolution.
3. Identify major British and American leaders and describe their roles in key events, such as the First and Second Continental Congresses, drafting and approving the Declaration of Independence (1776), the publication of "Common Sense," and major battles of the Revolutionary War.
4. Explain the various States critical role in the American Revolution, including major battles, the involvement of women and African Americans, and the origins of the movement to abolish slavery.
5. Discuss the political and philosophical origins of the United States Constitution and its implementation in the 1790s.
6. Describe and map American territorial expansions and the settlement of the frontier during this period.
7. Analyze the causes and consequences of continuing conflict between Native American tribes and colonists (e.g., Tecumseh’s rebellion).
8. Discuss the background and major issues of the War of 1812 (e.g., sectional issues, role of Native Americans).
F. Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
1. Describe the political, economic, and social changes in American society preceding the Civil War, including the early stages of industrialization, the growth of cities, and the political, legal, and social controversies surrounding the expansion of slavery.
2. Discuss American cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period (e.g., abolitionists, the Second Great Awakening, the origins of the labor and women’s movements).
3. Explain the concept of the Manifest Destiny and its relationship to the westward movement of settlers and territorial expansion, including the purchase of Florida (1819), the annexation of Texas (1845), the acquisition of the Oregon Territory (1846), and territorial acquisition resulting from the Mexican War (1846-1848).
4. Explain the characteristics of political and social reform movements in the antebellum period, including the temperance movement, the abolition movement, and the women’s rights movement.
5. Compare political interests and views regarding the War of 1812 (e.g., US responses to shipping harassment, interests of Native Americans and white settlers in the Northwest Territory).
6. Discuss sectional compromises associated with westward expansion of slavery, such as the Missouri Compromise (1820) and the continued resistance to slavery by African Americans (e.g., Amistad Revolt).
7. Describe and map the continuing territorial expansion and settlement of the frontier, including the acquisition of new territories and conflicts with Native Americans, the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the California gold rush.
8. Explain how state and federal policies influenced various Native American tribes (e.g., homeland vs. resettlement, Black Hawk War, Trail of Tears).
9. Understand the institution of slavery in the United States, resistance to it, and the States role in the Underground Railroad.
G. Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
1. Explain the major events, issues, and personalities of the American Civil War including:
The causes of the Civil War (e.g., slavery, states’ rights)
The course and conduct of the war (e.g., Antietam, Vicksburg, Gettysburg)
Sectionalism
The Dred Scott and other Supreme Court decisions
The role of women
The role of African Americans
The Gettysburg Address
The Emancipation Proclamation
Juneteenth Independence Day
2. Analyze different points of view in the Civil War, including abolitionist sentiment.
3. Explain Reconstruction as a government action, how it worked, and its effects after the war.
4. Discuss the impact of retaliatory state laws and general Southern resistance to Reconstruction.
5. Discuss the Dawes Act of 1887, how it attempted to assimilate Native Americans by converting tribal lands to individual ownership, and its impact on Native Americans.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 12, students will:
A. Family and Community Life
Reinforce indicators from previous grade levels.
B. State and Nation
Reinforce indicators from previous grade levels.
C. Many Worlds Meet (to 1620)
Reinforce indicators from previous grade levels.
D. Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
1. Analyze the major issues of the colonial period, including European hegemony over North America and mercantilism and trade.
2. Analyze how American colonial experiences caused change in the economic institutions of Europe, Africa, and the native population by examining indentured servitude and slavery and the rights of men and women.
3. Analyze the cultural reactions and survival techniques used by enslaved Africans to maintain their family structure, culture, and faith.
4. Analyze the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that emerged in colonial New Jersey.
5. Discuss Spanish exploration, settlement, and missions in the American Southwest.
E. Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820)
1. Discuss the social, political, and religious aspects of the American Revolution, including key decisions leading to the Revolution, efforts by Parliament and the colonies to prevent revolution, the ideas of different religious denominations, and the economic and social differences of Loyalists, Patriots, and those who remained neutral.
2. Analyze the social and economic impact of the Revolutionary War, including problems of financing the war (e.g., wartime inflation, hoarding and profiteering), the impact of the war on women and African Americans, and the personal and economic hardships on families involved with the war.
3. Discuss the involvement of European nations during the Revolution and how their involvement influenced the outcome and aftermath (e.g., the assistance of France and Spain, how the self-interests of France and Spain differed from the United States after the war, the contributions of European military leaders, the creation of the Alien Sedition Acts).
4. Analyze strategic elements used during the Revolutionary War, discuss turning points during the war, and explain how the Americans won the war against superior resources.
5. Compare and contrast the major philosophical and historical influences on the development of the Constitution (e.g., Washington’s Farewell Address (1796), Locke’s Second Treatise, the ideas of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and William Paterson).
6. Describe the early evolution of the system of government and political parties in the United States (e.g., presidential elections of 1792, 1796, 1800).
7. Discuss the implementation of the federal government under the United States Constitution during the presidency of George Washington.
8. Describe the origin and development of the political parties, the Federalists, and the Democratic Republicans (1793-1801).
F. Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
1. Discuss the political interests and views of the War of 1812 (e.g., US responses to shipping harassment, role of Native Americans, role of white settlers in the Northwest Territory; congressional positions for and against the war).
2. Analyze American territorial expansion during this period, including the reasons for and consequences of the Louisiana Purchase, the Monroe Doctrine, Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War, the settlement of the frontier, and conflicts with Native-Americans.
3. Analyze the political, economic, and social changes prior to the Civil War, including the growth of cities, the early stages of industrialization, including Alexander Hamilton and the Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufacturing, and the political and economic implications of the transportation monopolies.
4. Compare and contrast the characteristics of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period, including the abolition movement, the public school movement, the temperance movement, and the women’s rights movement (e.g., Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments).
G. Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
1. Analyze key issues, events, and personalities of the Civil War period, including the Abolitionist Movement and the national elections, and the roles of women and children in factories.
2. Assess the continuing social and political issues following the Civil War, including the various Reconstruction plans, the amendments to the United States Constitution, and the women’s suffrage movement.
H. The Industrial Revolution (1870-1900)
1. Analyze and evaluate key events, people, and groups associated with industrialization and its impact on urbanization, immigration, farmers, the labor movement, social reform, and government regulation including:
Inventions such as the telephone and electric light
The formation of Standard Oil Trust
The Interstate Commerce Act
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act
2. Analyze the development of industrialization in America and New Jersey during this period and the resulting transformation of the country, including the construction of the transcontinental railroad, the introduction of mechanized farming, the rise of corporations and organized labor, and the growth of cities.
3. Analyze social and political trends in post Reconstruction America, including immigration restrictions, Jim Crow Laws and racial segregation, the rise of extra legal organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, and the Plessy v. Ferguson decision.
4. Describe the economic development by which the United States became a major industrial power in the world and analyze the factors that contributed to industrialization.
5. Discuss the causes and consequences of the Spanish-American War (e.g., United States’ justifications, the role of the United States in Cuba, impact on international relations, the acquisition of new territories).
6. Discuss elements that contributed to late 19th century expansionist foreign policy, including racial ideology, missionary zeal, nationalism, domestic tensions, and economic interests.
I. The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
1. Analyze the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904) and explain how it modified the Monroe Doctrine (1823), justifying a new direction in United States foreign policy.
2. Discuss the rise of the Progressive Movement, including the relationship between Progressivism and the Populist Movement, Woodrow Wilson as Governor of New Jersey, anti-trust reform, the woman suffrage movement (e.g., Alice Paul), and municipal reform (e.g., Frank Hague).
3. Analyze United States foreign policy through World War I, including relations with Japan and China, the Spanish, Cuban, American War, and the building of the Panama Canal.
4. Describe the major events, personalities, and decisions of World War I, including the causes of United States involvement, social conditions on the home front, significant battles, Wilson’s peace plan, and isolationism.
5. Explore and evaluate the role of industry in World War I.
6. Analyze President Woodrow Wilson’s "Fourteen Points" Address to Congress (1918) and explain how it differed from proposals by French and British leaders for a treaty to conclude World War I.
7. Discuss the ratification of the Versailles Treaty and United States non-participation in the League of Nations.
8. Compare and contrast the social, cultural, and technological changes in the inter-war period, including the changing role of women, the rise of a consumer economy, the resurgence of nativism and racial violence, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Great Migration of African Americans from the south.
9. Discuss the working conditions in the Paterson silk mills and the strike of 1913.
10. Discuss the creation of social, labor, political, and economic advocacy organizations and institutions, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the AFL/CIO and other labor organizations, and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
11. Discuss the role of Chief Sitting Bull, the outcome and impact of the Wounded Knee Tragedy of 1890, and the suppression of the American Indian revivalist movement known as Ghost Dance.
J. The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
1. Explain the economic impact of the Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930).
2. Describe how the Great Depression and the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt transformed America, including the growth of the federal government, the rise of the Welfare State, and industrial unionism.
3. Analyze how the Great Depression and the New Deal transformed the Nation, including Work Progress Administration (WPA) projects and New Deal projects.
4. Discuss how the Depression contributed to the development of Social Security, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
5. Compare and contrast key events and people involved with the causes, course, and consequences of World War II, including:
Axis Powers
Allied Forces
Pearl Harbor
Battle of Midway
D-Day Invasion
Yalta Conference
Potsdam Conference
Douglas MacArthur
Dwight Eisenhower
George Marshall
Winston Churchill
J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Joseph Stalin and the role of the USSR
6. Describe the political background leading to American involvement in World War II, the course of the war in Europe and Asia, the mobilization of women and African Americans into the military and related industries, the segregated military, the use of the Atom Bomb, and the founding of the United Nations.
7. Describe your State’s role in World War II, including:
The Japanese-Americans wartime detention camps
The role of women in defense industries
Key military installations in your State
The role of military units from your State
The contributions of Albert Einstein
K. Postwar Years (1945-1970s)
1. Discuss how American policies following World War II developed as a result of the failures experienced and lessons learned after World War I.
2. Explain changes in the post war society of the United States, including the impact of television, the interstate highway system, the growth of the suburbs, and the democratization of education.
3. Interpret political trends in post-war State, including the impact of legal cases such as the banning of segregation in the schools, the development and impact of laws against discrimination, and the shift of political power from rural and urban areas to the suburbs.
4. Analyze United States foreign policy during the Cold War period, including US/USSR relations, United States reaction to the Soviet subjugation of Eastern Europe, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and relations with China.
5. Analyze political trends in post war America, including major United States Supreme Court decisions and the administrations of Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
6. Analyze the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Civil Rights Act (1957 and 1964), the Little Rock Schools Crisis, the Voting Rights Act, Brown v. Board of Education, the formation of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the American Indian Movement (AIM), the formation of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the passing of Title IX.
7. Describe how changes in federal policy impacted immigration to your State and America, including the shift in places of origin from Western Europe to Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia.
L. Contemporary America (1968-present)
1. Examine the administration of American presidents, beginning with President Richard M. Nixon, as a means to analyze political and economic issues in contemporary America, including domestic policy and international affairs.
2. Investigate the economic and social patterns in contemporary State, including shifts in immigration patterns, urban decline and renewal, important State & US Supreme Court rulings, and the issue of preserving open space.
3. Describe the growth of industries in State.
4. Analyze United States domestic policies, including the civil rights movement, affirmative action, the labor and women’s movements, conservatism vs. liberalism, the post-industrial economy, free trade, and international trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
5. Compare and contrast key events and people associated with foreign policy, including the fall of communism and the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, United States involvement in Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Kosovo, the Iran Hostage Crisis, and the war on terrorism.
6. Compare and contrast population trends and immigration and migration patterns in the United States (e.g., growth of Hispanic population, demographic and residential mobility).
7. Discuss major contemporary social issues, such as the evolution of governmental rights for individuals with disabilities, multiculturalism, bilingual education, gay rights, free expression in the media, and the modern feminist movement.