The Revolution through Reconstruction,
1763-1877 Students examine the historical and intellectual origins of the United States during the Revolutionary and Constitutional eras. They learn about the important political and economic factors that contributed to the outbreak of the Revolution as well as the consequences of the Revolution, including the writing and key ideas of the U.S. Constitution. Students also study the basic framework of American democracy and the basic concepts of America government such as popular sovereignty, federalism, separation of powers, and individual rights. Students study America's westward expansion, the establishment of political parties, and economic and social change. Finally, students will learn about the growth of sectional conflict, how sectional conflict led to the Civil War, and the consequences of the Civil War, including Reconstruction.
The reading of primary source documents is a key feature of the two-year set of U.S. history standards. Below the appropriate standards are listed selected primary source documents with which students should become familiar. Students should read an excerpt or the whole text when appropriate. Those documents listed as "seminal primary documents to read" are required and may be included in the history and social science MCAS. Those documents listed as "seminal primary documents to consider" are only suggested. Department staff will gather additional suggestions for seminal documents from high school teachers in the coming months.
U.S. I Learning Standards

The Political and Intellectual Origins of the American Nation: the Revolution and the
Constitution, 1763-1789
USI.1 Explain the political and economic factors that contributed to the American Revolution. (H,
C)
a. the impact on the colonies of the French and Indian War including how the war led to an
overhaul of British imperial policy from 1763 to 1775
b. how freedom from European feudalism and aristocracy and the widespread ownership of
property fostered individualism and contributed to the Revolution

USI.2 Explain the historical and intellectual influences on the American Revolution and the
formation and framework of the American government. (H, C)
a. the legacy of ancient Greece and Rome
b. the political theories of such European philosophers as Locke and Montesquieu
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: Mayflower Compact (1620).
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641) and John
Locke's Treatises of Civil Government (1690).

USI.3 Explain the influence and ideas of the Declaration of Independence and the political
philosophy of Thomas Jefferson. (H, C)
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: the Declaration of Independence (1776).
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: the Suffolk Resolves (1774) and the Virginia Statute
for Religious Freedom (1786).

USI.4 Analyze how Americans resisted British policies before 1775 and analyze the reasons for
the American victory and the British defeat during the Revolutionary war. (H)

USI.5 Explain the role of Massachusetts in the revolution including important events that took
place in Massachusetts and important leaders from Massachusetts. (H)
a. the Boston Massacre
b. the Boston Tea Party
c. the Battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill
d. Sam Adams, John Adams, and John Hancock
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: the Massachusetts Constitution (1780).

USI.6 Explain the reasons for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 including
why its drafters created a weak central government; analyze the shortcomings of the national
government under the Articles; and describe the crucial events (e.g., Shays's rebellion) leading to
the Constitutional Convention. (H, C)
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: the Northwest Ordinance (1787).

USI.7 Explain the roles of various Founders at the Convention and describe the major debates
that occurred at the Convention, and the "Great Compromise" that was reached. (H, C)
Major Debates:
a. the distribution of political power
b. the rights of individuals
c. the rights of states
d. slavery.
Founders:
e. George Washington
f. Alexander Hamilton
g. James Madison
h. Benjamin Franklin
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: the U.S. Constitution.

USI.8 Describe the debate over the ratification of the Constitution between Federalists and Anti-
Federalists and explain the key ideas contained in the Federalist Papers on federalism, factions,
checks and balances, and the importance of an independent judiciary. (H, C)
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: Federalist Papers number 10.
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Federalist Papers, numbers 1, 9, 39, 51, and 78.

USI.9 Explain the reasons for the passage of the Bill of Rights. (H, C)
a. the influence of the British concept of limited government
b. the particular ways in which the Bill of Rights protects basic freedoms, restricts government
power, and insures rights to persons accused of crimes
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: the Bill of Rights (1791).
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Magna Carta (1215) and the English Bill of Rights
(1689).

USI.10 On a map of North America, identify the first 13 states to ratify the Constitution. (H, G)
The Formation and Framework of American Democracyª

USI.11 Describe the purpose and functions of government. (H,C)

USI.12 Explain and provide examples of different forms of government, including democracy,
monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, and autocracy. (H,C)

USI.13 Explain why the United States government is classified as a democratic government.
(H,C)

USI.14 Explain the characteristics of American democracy, including the concepts of popular
ª Though this unit on government is placed here, it can be studied at any juncture during the course of this set of standards.sovereignty and constitutional government (which includes representative institutions, federalism, separation of powers, shared powers, checks and balances, and individual rights). (H, C)

USI.15 Explain the varying roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local governments in
the United States. (H, C)

USI.16 Describe the evolution of the role of the federal government, including public services,
taxation, economic policy, foreign policy, and common defense. (H, C)

USI.17 Explain the major components of Massachusetts' state government, including the roles
and functions of the Governor, state legislature and other constitutional officers. (H, C)

USI.18 Explain the major components of local government in Massachusetts, including the roles
and functions of school boards, town meetings, mayors and the city council, and the board of
selectmen. (H, C)

USI.19 Explain the rights and the responsibilities of citizenship and describe how a democracy
provides opportunities for citizens to participate in the political process through elections,
political parties, and interest groups. (H, C)

USI.20 Explain the evolution and function of political parties, including their role in federal,
state, and local elections. (H, C)

USI.21 Describe how decisions are made in a democracy, including the role of legislatures,
courts, executives, and the public. (H, C)

Political Democratization, Westward Expansion, and Diplomatic Developments, 1790-1860

USI.22 Summarize the major policies and political developments that took place during the
presidencies of George Washington (1789-1797), John Adams (1797-1801), and Thomas
Jefferson (1801-1809). (H, C)
a. the origins of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties in the 1790s
b. the conflicting ideas of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton
c. the Alien and Sedition Acts
d. the Louisiana Purchase
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Washington's Farewell Address (1796) and Jefferson's
First Inaugural Address (1801).

USI.23 Analyze the rising levels of political participation and the expansion of the suffrage in
antebellum America. (C, H)
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume
I (1835) and Volume II (1839).

USI.24 Describe the election of 1828, the importance of Jacksonian democracy, and Jackson's
actions as President. (H)
a. the spoils system
b. Jackson's veto of the National Bank
c. Jackson's policy of Indian Removal

USI.25 Trace the influence and ideas of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall and the
importance of the doctrine of judicial review as manifested in Marbury v. Madison (1803). (H,C)

USI.26 Describe the causes, course, and consequences of America's westward expansion and its
growing diplomatic assertiveness. Use a map of North America to trace America's expansion to
the Civil War, including the location of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. (H, E, G)
a. the War of 1812
b. the purchase of Florida in 1819
c. the 1823 Monroe Doctrine
d. the Cherokees' Trail of Tears
e. the annexation of Texas in 1845
f. the concept of Manifest Destiny and its relationship to westward expansion
g. the acquisition of the Oregon Territory in 1846
h. the territorial acquisitions resulting from the Mexican War
i. the search for gold in California
j. the Gadsden Purchase of 1854

Economic Growth in the North and South, 1800-1860

USI.26 Explain the importance of the Transportation Revolution of the 19th century (the building
of canals, roads, bridges, turnpikes, steamboats, and railroads), including the stimulus it provided
to the growth of a market economy. (H, E)

USI.27 Explain the emergence and impact of the textile industry in New England and industrial
growth generally throughout antebellum America. (H, E)
a. the technological improvements and inventions that contributed to industrial growth
b. the causes and impact of the wave of immigration from Northern Europe to America in the
1840s and 1850s
c. the rise of a business class of merchants and manufacturers
d. the roles of women in New England textile factories

USI.28 Describe the rapid growth of slavery in the South after 1800 and analyze slave life and
resistance on plantations and farms across the South, as well as the impact of the cotton gin on the
economics of slavery and Southern agriculture. (H)
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: Frederick Douglass, Independence Day Speech at
Rochester, New York (1852)

Social, Political, and Religious Change, 1800-1860

USI.29 Summarize the growth of the American education system and Horace Mann's campaign
for free compulsory public education. (H)

USI.30 Describe the formation of the abolitionist movement, the roles of various abolitionists,
and the response of southerners and northerners to abolitionism. (H)
a. Harriet Tubman
b. Frederick Douglass
c. Theodore Weld
d. William Lloyd Garrison
e. Sojourner Truth

USI.31 Describe important religious trends that shaped antebellum America. (H)
a. the increase in the number of Protestant denominations
b. the Second Great Awakening
c. the influence of these trends on the reaction of Protestants to the growth of Catholic
immigration

USI.32 Analyze the goals and effect of the antebellum women's suffrage movement. (H)
a. the 1848 Seneca Falls convention
b. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
c. Susan B. Anthony
d. Margaret Fuller
e. Lucretia Mott
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and
Resolutions (1848).

USI.33 Analyze the emergence of the Transcendentalist movement through the writings of Ralph
Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. (H)

The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1877

USI.34 Describe how the different economies and cultures of the North and South contributed to
the growing importance of sectional politics in the early 19th century. (H)

USI.35 Summarize the critical developments leading to the Civil War. (H)
a. the Missouri Compromise (1820)
b. the South Carolina Nullification Crisis (1832-1833)
c. the Wilmot Proviso (1846)
d. the Compromise of 1850
e. the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851-1852)
f. the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
g. the Dred Scott Supreme Court case (1857)
h. the Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858)
i. John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry (1859)
j. the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860

USI.36 On a map of North America, identify Union and Confederate States at the Outbreak of the
war. (H, G)

USI.37 Analyze Abraham Lincoln's presidency, his views on slavery, and the political obstacles
he encountered. (H, C)
a. the Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863) and Lincoln's second
inaugural address (1865).
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Lincoln's "House Divided" speech (1858).

USI.38 Analyze the roles and policies of various Civil War leaders and describe the important
Civil War battles and events. (H)
People:
a. Ulysses S. Grant
b. Jefferson Davis
c. Robert E. Lee
Battles:
d. the Massachusetts 54th Regiment and the Battle at Fort Wagner
e. Antietam
f. Vicksburg
g. Gettysburg

USI.39 Provide examples of the various effects of the Civil War. (H, E)
a. Physical and economic destruction
b. the increased role of the federal government
c. the greatest loss of life on a per capita basis of any U.S. war before or since

USI.40 Explain the policies and consequences of Reconstruction. (H, C)
a. Presidential and Congressional Reconstruction
b. the impeachment of President Johnson
c. the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
d. the opposition of Southern whites to Reconstruction
e. the accomplishments and failures of Radical Reconstruction
f. the presidential election of 1876 and the end of Reconstruction
g. the rise of Jim Crow laws
h. the Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

U.S. History, II:
Reconstruction to the Present,
1877-2001

Students will analyze the causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution and America's growing
role in diplomatic relations. Students will study the goals and accomplishments of the Progressive
movement and the New Deal. Students will also learn about the various factors that led to America's
entry into World War II as well as the consequences of World War II on American life. Finally,
students will study the causes and course of the Cold War, important economic and political changes during the Cold War, including the Civil Rights movement, and recent events and trends that have shaped modern-day America.

U.S. II Learning Standards
Industrial America and Its Emerging Role in International Affairs, 1870-1920

USII.1 Explain the various causes of the Industrial Revolution. (H, E)
a. the economic impetus provided by the Civil War
b. Important technological and scientific advances
c. the role of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and inventors such as Thomas Edison, Alexander
Graham Bell, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt

USII.2 Explain the important consequences of the Industrial Revolution. (H, E)
a. the growth of big business
b. the environmental impact of the Industrial Revolution
c. the expansion of cities

USII.3 Describe the causes of the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans, and Chinese,
Korean, and Japanese to America in the late 19th and early 20th century, and describe the major
roles of these immigrants in the industrialization of America. (H)
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" (1883),
Younghill Kang, East Goes West (1937).

USII.4 Analyze the causes of the continuing westward expansion of the American people after
the Civil War and the impact of this migration on the Indians. (H)

USII.5 Explain the formation and goals of unions as well as the rise of radical political parties
during the Industrial era. (H, E)
a. the Knights of Labor
b. the American Federation of Labor headed by Samuel Gompers
c. the Populist Party
d. the Socialist Party headed by Eugene Debs

USII.6 Analyze the causes and course of America's growing role in world affairs from the Civil
War to World War I. (H, E)
a. the influence of the ideas associated with Social Darwinism
b. the purchase of Alaska from Russia
c. America's growing influence in Hawaii leading to annexation
d. the Spanish-American War
e. U.S. expansion into Asia under the Open Door policy
f. President Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
g. America's role in the building of the Panama Canal
h. President Taft's Dollar Diplomacy
i. President Wilson's intervention in Mexico
j. American entry into World War I

USII.7 Explain the course and significance of President Wilson's wartime diplomacy including
his Fourteen Points, the League of Nations, and the failure of the Versailles treaty. (H)

The Age of Reform: Progressivism and the New Deal, 1900-1940

USII.8 Analyze the origins of Progressivism and important Progressive leaders, and summarize
the major accomplishments of Progressivism. (H, E)
People:
a. William Jennings Bryan, President Theodore Roosevelt, President William H. Taft, President
Woodrow Wilson, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, Jane Addams, Robert La Follette, John Dewey
Policies:
b. Bans against child labor; the initiative referendum, and recall; the Sherman Anti-Trust Act
(1890); the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906); the Meat Packing Act (1906); the Federal
Reserve Act (1913); the Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914); and the ratification of the Nineteenth
Amendment in 1920

USII.9 Analyze the post-Civil War struggles of African Americans and women to gain basic civil
rights. (H)
a. Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), Marcus Garvey, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Booker T. Washington, the Atlanta Exposition Address
(1895), and the Niagara Movement Declaration of Principles (1905).

USII.10 Describe how the battle between traditionalism and modernity manifested itself in the
major historical trends and events after World War I and throughout the 1920s. (H)
a. the Boston police strike in 1919
b. the Red Scare and Sacco and Vanzetti
c. Racial and ethnic tensions
d. the Scopes Trial and the debate over Darwin's On the Origins of Species
e. Prohibition

USII.11 Describe the various causes and consequences of the global depression of the 1930s, and
analyze how Americans responded to the Great Depression. (H, E)
a. restrictive monetary policies
b. unemployment
c. support for political and economic reform
d. the influence of the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, and the critique of centralized economic
planning and management by Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich von Hayek, and Milton Friedman

USII.12 Analyze the important polices, institutions, and personalities of the New Deal era. (H)
People:
a. President Herbert Hoover, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Huey Long,
and Charles Coughlin
Policies:
b. the establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange
Commission, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Social Security Act, the National Labor
Relations Act, the Works Progress Administration, and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Institutions:
c. the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and the
American Communist Party

USII.13 Explain how the Great Depression and the New Deal affected American society. (H)
a. the increased importance of the federal government in establishing economic and social
policies
b. the emergence of a "New Deal coalition" consisting of blacks, blue-collar workers, poor
farmers, Jews, and Catholics

World War II, 1939-1945

USII.14 Explain the strength of American isolationism after World War I and analyze its impact
on U.S. foreign policy. (H)

USII.15 Analyze how German aggression in Europe and Japanese aggression in Asia contributed
to the start of World War II and summarize the major battles and events of the war. On a map of
the world, locate the Allied (France, Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States) and Axis
powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan). (H)
a. Fascism in Germany and Italy
b. German rearmament and militarization of the Rhineland
c. Germany's seizure of Austria and Czechoslovakia and Germany's invasion of Poland
d. Japan's invasion of China and the Rape of Nanking
e. Pearl Harbor, Midway, D-Day, Okinawa, the Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, and the Yalta and
Potsdam conferences
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: President Franklin Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech
(1941).
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Justice Robert M. Jackson's opinion for the Supreme
Court in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943). Learned Hand, "The Spirit
of Liberty." (1944)

USII.16 Explain the reasons for the dropping of atom bombs on Japan and its short and long-term
effects. (H)

USII.17 Explain important domestic events that took place during the war. (H, E)

a. How war-inspired economic growth ended the Great Depression
b. A. Philip Randolph and the efforts to eliminate employment discrimination
c. the entry of large numbers of women into the workforce
d. the internment of West Coast Japanese-Americans in the U.S. and Canada

The Cold War Abroad, 1945-1989

USII.18 Analyze the factors that contributed to the Cold War and describe the policy of
containment as America's response to Soviet expansionist policies. (H)
a. the differences between the Soviet and American political and economic systems
b. Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe
c. the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO

USII.19 Analyze the sources and, with a map of the world, locate the areas of Cold War conflict
between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. (H)
a. the Korean War
b. Germany
c. China
d. the Middle East
e. the arms race
f. Latin America
g. Africa
h. the Vietnam War

USII.20 Explain the causes, course, and consequences of the Vietnam War and summarize the
diplomatic and military policies of Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. (H)

USII.21 Analyze how the failure of communist economic policies as well as U.S. sponsored
resistance to Soviet military and diplomatic initiatives contributed to ending the Cold War. (H, E)
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address (1961),
and President Ronald Reagan, Speech at Moscow State University (1988).

Cold War America at Home: Economic Growth and Optimism, Anticommunism, and
Reform, 1945-1980

USII.22 Analyze the causes and consequences of important domestic Cold War trends. (H, E)
a. Economic growth and declining poverty
b. the baby boom
c. the growth of suburbs and home-ownership
d. the increase in education levels
e. the development of mass media and consumerism

USII.23 Analyze the following domestic policies of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.(H)
a. Truman's Fair Deal
b. the Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
c. Eisenhower's response to the Soviet's launching of Sputnik
d. Eisenhower's civil rights record

USII.24 Analyze the roots of domestic anticommunism as well as the origins and consequences
of McCarthyism. (H)
People:
a. Senator Joseph McCarthy, Whittaker Chambers, Alger Hiss, J. Edgar Hoover, and Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg
Institutions:
b. the American Communist Party (including its close relationship to the Soviet Union), the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the House Committee on Un-American Activities
(HUAC).

USII.25 Analyze the origins, goals, and key events of the Civil Rights movement. (H)
People:
a. Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Robert Kennedy
Institutions:
b. the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Events:
c. Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott, the 1957-
1958 Little Rock School Crisis, the Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides of the early 1960s, the 1963
civil rights protest in Birmingham, the 1963 March on Washington, the 1965 civil rights
protest in Selma and the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: Reverend Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech,
and his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" (1963).

USII.26 Describe the accomplishments of the civil rights movement. (H, E)
a. The 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act
b. The growth of the black middle class, increased political power, and declining rates of black
poverty

USII.27 Analyze the causes and course of the women's rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s.
(H)
a. Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem
b. the birth control pill
c. the increasing number of working women
d. the formation of the National Organization of Women in 1967
e. the debate over the Equal Rights Amendment
f. the 1973 Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade

USII.28 Analyze the important domestic policies and events that took place during the
presidencies of President Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. (H)
a. the space exploration program
Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework
b. the assassination of President Kennedy
c. Johnson's Great Society programs
d. Nixon's appeal to "the silent majority"
e. the anti-war and counter-cultural movements
f. the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970
g. the Watergate scandal (including the Supreme Court case, U.S. v. Nixon)

Contemporary America, 1980-2001

USII.29 Analyze the presidency of Ronald Reagan.(H, E)
a. Reagan's tax rate cuts
b. Reagan's anticommunist foreign and defense policies
c. Reagan's Supreme Court appointments
d. the revitalization of the conservative movement during his tenure as President
e. the replacement of striking air traffic controllers with non-union personnel

USII.30 Describe some of the major economic and social tends of the late 20th century (H, E)
a. the computer and technological revolution of the 1980s and 1990s. (H, E)
b. Scientific and medical discoveries
c. Major immigration and demographic changes such as the rise in Asian and Hispanic
immigration (both legal and illegal)

d. the weakening of the nuclear family and the rise in divorce rates (H, E)
USII.31 Analyze the important domestic policies and events of the Clinton presidency. (H)
a. the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993
b. President Clinton's welfare reform legislation and expansion of the earned income tax credit
c. the first balanced budget in over 25 years
d. the election in 1994 of the first Republican majority in both the House and Senate in 40 years
e. tax-credits for higher education
f. the causes and consequences of the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998

USII.32 Explain the importance of the 2000 presidential election. (H, C)
a. the Supreme Court case, Bush v. Gore
b. the growing influence of the Republican Party in the South and the consolidation of the
Democratic Party's hold on the coasts

USII.33 Analyze the course and consequences of America's recent diplomatic initiatives.(H)
a. the invasion of Panama and the Persian Gulf War
b. American intervention in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo
c. the attempts to negotiate a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
d. America's response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in
New York City and on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.