United States History: 1877 to the Present

Skills

USII.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;
c) sequence events in United States history from pre-Columbian times to 1877;
d) interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives;
e) evaluate and discuss issues orally and in writing;
f) analyze and interpret maps to explain relationships among landforms, water features, climatic characteristics, and historical events;
g) distinguish between parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude;
h) interpret patriotic slogans and excerpts from notable speeches and documents.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Generate discussions in class and in writing by introducing the following topics:
Develop a comparison chart of the seven geographic regions of the United States and encourage students to discuss verbally, or in writing, what geographical features/characteristics contributed to specific differences between these regions.
Guide a discussion on what factors would motivate someone to relocate from familiar territory to a totally unknown place and what might be the concerns of immigrants. Guide the discussion to what motivated immigrants to come to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Guide a discussion or writing assignment on the issue of how the American Indians (First Americans) were treated by Americans in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Encourage students to think about positive and negative aspects for both the American Indians (First Americans) and Americans.
Ask students if any have traveled along the eastern coastline of North America outside of Virginia. For those who have, ask them to share the 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 "Jim Crow" laws and discuss how African Americans were discriminated against. Have students research how African Americans responded to discrimination and "Jim Crow" laws.
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.
Have the students research and write about how the reforms of the Progressive Movement changed the United States.
Have the students research and write about how the results of the women's suffrage movement changed life in the United States.
Guide a discussion on how the social and economic life in the twentieth century differed from that of the late nineteenth century.
Generate a discussion on the causes and events that led to American involvement in World War II.
Generate a discussion on how the United States helped rebuild postwar Europe and Japan.
Instruct students to develop essays or other writing products on key historical individuals and events as identified in the United States History: 1877 to the Present Standards of Learning.

WEB SITES

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

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
Designed and developed to support the teaching of American History in K-12 schools and colleges. Supported by the Department of History and the College of Education at the University of Houston.

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/
A portal for American history offering high-quality educational material for teachers, students, historians, and the public. Maintained by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

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://www2.lib.udel.edu/subj/hist/ushist/internet/
Internet Resources for U.S. History from the University of Delaware Library

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi
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 by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal government agency, in partnership with WorldCom Foundation, the Council of the Great City Schools, and the National Trust for the Humanities for the benefit of parents, students, and teachers.

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