United States History to 1877

Skills

USI.1

The student will develop skills for historical and geographical analysis, including the ability to

a.) identify and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history to 1877;

b.) make connections between the past and the present;

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Generate discussions in class and in writing by introducing the following topics:
Develop a comparison chart of the Inuit, Kwakiutl, Sioux, Pueblo, and Iroquois and encourage students to discuss verbally, or in writing, what geographical features/characteristics contributed to specific differences between these groups.
Guide a discussion on what factors would motivate someone to relocate from familiar territory to totally unknown - what might be their concerns - guide the discussion to what motivate earlier settlers of North America
Guide a discussion or writing assignment on the issue of how the American Indians (First Americans) were treated by Europeans. Encourage students to think about positive and negative aspects for both the American Indians (First Americans) and Europeans.
Introduce the West African societies and guide a discussion on the contributions of these societies to North America.
Ask students if any have traveled along the eastern coastline of North America outside of Virginia. For those that have, ask them to share similarities and differences they noted in the geography of the land. Guide discussion on what factors may contribute to the similarities and differences.
Ask students to identify some of the "rules" they live under - this may be at home, at school, or in society. Ask them if they have any say in the rules. Encourage them to discuss why rules may be necessary and who should establish the rules. Guide the discussion to tie it in with the role the English government had in the North American colonies.
Ask students to list rights they feel they should have and then share them with the class. Have the class reach consensus on three rights everyone should have. Lead this into a discussion of John Locke and natural rights.
Encourage students to think back to the discussion on rules. Ask them if they have ever approached the rule makers to discuss rules they felt were unfair. Guide them to discuss how the discussion might take place and expectations they have of the outcome of the discussion. Explain that the Declaration of Independence is a letter to the king listing the issues they feel are unfair. The document also lists the actions the colonists have taken place. Therefore, the document states that they are severing ties with the king. Encourage students to examine the document and re-write the concerns into modern day language and explain them to the class.
Instruct students to develop essays or other writing products on key historical individuals and events as identified in the United States History to 1877 Standards of Learning.

WEB SITES

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
The Library of Congress American Memory Project

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
This Web site was designed and developed to support the teaching of American History in K-12 schools and colleges and is supported by the Department of History and the College of Education at the University of Houston.

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History maintains this Web site to serve as a portal for American history on the Web; to offer high-quality educational material for teachers, students, historians, and the public; and to provide up-to-the-minute information about the Institute's programs and activities.

http://www.cr.nps.gov
Links to the Past from the National Park Service is rich in American history and culture, which the National Park Service is responsible for preserving and protecting. This Web site contains vast amounts of information on these important topics.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/fw.html
Library of Congress Learning Page: Framework for Using Primary Sources with Students

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/colonial.htm
Resources for grades kindergarten through 12 from James Madison University about Colonial America from 1600-1775

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi
This Web site is brought to you from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the largest library in the world and the nation's library.

http://edsitement.neh.gov/tab_lesson.asp?subjectArea=3
"EDSITEment" is a Web site for humanities education developed for the benefit of parents, students, and teachers by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal government agency, in partnership with: WorldCom Foundation, a corporation; The Council of the Great City Schools, a non-profit corporation; and the National Trust for the Humanities, a non-profit corporation (collectively "the sponsors").

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