The ninth grade utilizes the time period of 1815 through 1919 to provide a context for the six strands of the social studies program. Events in American history are studied within the realm of world events. This time period is the immediate predecessor to the modern era and provides excellent opportunities for learners to investigate the backgrounds for today's issues.
Objectives which correlate to the learning outcomes of the Proficiency Tests are marked with the bold numbers 4, 6, 9, and/or 12 which denotes the grade level Proficiency Test which that objective supports. Some objectives may be marked with multiple numbers in that they are included in learning outcomes at multiple grade levels. Complete listing and correlation to the total learning outcomes may be found in the appendix.
1. Given significant events in history between 1815 and 1919, the learner will ascertain whether or not "lessons" of the past pertain to similar situations in modern times (American Heritage Strand)
2. Given information about cultures on three different continents between 1815 and 1919, the learner will select and compare at least three of the following:
3. The learner will select and discuss the contributions of a cultural group or a representative individual to American society (World Interaction Strand)**12
4. Given the time period between 1815 and 1919, the learner will cite and explain at least one example each of social, economic, and political interdependence (Decision Making and Resources Strand)
5. Given access to background information, the learner will compare the efforts of the United States government with governments in other nations to promote competition, to protect national economic interests, or to regulate economic activity (Decision Making and Resources Strand)**12
6. Given a list of reforms enacted in the United States between 1815 and 1919, the learner will identify two and explain how they helped to make the United States government more democratic (Democratic Processes Strand)
7. Given selected narratives, the learner will determine whether they include examples of propaganda and describe the propaganda techniques being used (Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Strand)
The learner will
1. group events by broadly defined historical eras and use time lines to explain patterns of historical continuity and change in the historical succession of related events Comments/Activities: Such as African, Asian, Australian, European, North American, and South American societies; 1815 through 1919
2. work forward from some initiating event to its outcome recognizing cause and effect factors but also considering the accidental or irrational as a causal factor in history Comments/Activities: Follow development and transformations.
3. incorporate multiple causation into analyses and explanations of historical events Comments/Activities: The American Civil War is an excellent example of an event with multiple causation. Students may examine causes such as slavery, states' rights, land policy and westward expansion, differences between the industrial North and the agrarian South, and tariffs.
4. compare the perspectives of historical narratives
A. synthesize multiple perspectives in the records of human experience**12 Comments/Activities: Consider differing views as encountered in written work, art, music, photography, cartography.
B. suggest how framing of questions, elements of argumentation, and perspective influence historical interpretation**12
5. identify significant developments in history and gauge their impact on subsequent events Comments/Activities: Such as political revolutions, Industrial Revolution, social reform movements, Reconstruction, European colonization of Africa and Asia, Meiji Restoration in Japan
6. draw connections between ideas, interests, beliefs, and ideologies and their influence on individual and group historical actions**12 Comments/Activities: For example, consider the impact of Abraham Lincoln's ideas about slavery and the Union on his conduct of the War Between the States; the influence of the ideas of Karl Marx on Lenin and the Russian Revolution; and the influence of the Social Gospel movement on later reform efforts.
7. construct a definition of the emerging American culture of the nineteenth century and compare this culture with others around the world Comments/Activities: Examine historical developments that helped determine the American culture, for example, immigration patterns, growth of democratic ideas, westward expansion, growth of big business.
8. ascertain whether or not "lessons" of the past pertain to similar situations in modern times
9. use the geographic themes of place, human relationships with environment, movement, and regions to show the interrelationship between geography and historic events**12 Comments/Activities: Categorize and chart examples, such as: impact of Russian winter on Napoleonic campaigning (human relationships with environment), development of sectionalism (regions), idea of "the South" (place), development of colonies and spheres of influence (regions), immigration patterns (movement)
The learner will
1. trace and compare the development of three cultures on three different continents from 1815 to 1919 with regard to:
2. identify various groups of immigrants that came to the United States between 1815 and 1919 and trace the social, political, and economic developments that led to the migrations**12
3. read narratives about individual immigrant's experiences in the United States and determine if they substantiate general summaries about immigration
4. describe the changing economic, political, and social situation of immigrants, African-Americans, and Native Americans in the United States from 1815 to 1919 Comments/Activities: For example, students may use the ideas and activities of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington to examine perspectives about the changing conditions of African-Americans during the nineteenth century.
5. compare the social, political, and economic, status of women and men in the United States from 1815 to 1919
6. examine the contributions of various cultural groups and representative individuals to American society**12 Comments/Activities: Examples of groups are the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Ku Klux Klan, Chinese railroad workers. Examples of individuals are W.E.B. DuBois, Andrew Carnegie, and Walter Rauschenbusch.
7. examine the general trend of government from 1815 to 1919 to become more inclusive of various groups in American society and identify contradictions to this trend
8. analyze the social and economic impact of the transformation from an agrarian rural society to an industrialized urban society
The learner will
1. compare climate patterns and graphs for the United State with climate data for other world regions and make generalizations about global climate patterns Comments/Activities: Construct a computer data base
2. describe ways in which natural processes and human activities contribute to global environmental problems**12 Comments/Activities: Such as droughts, floods, acid precipitation, ozone depletion, urbanization, industrialization
3. examine transportation and communication systems and their impact on the diffusion of people, ideas, products, and historical events Comments/Activities: Such as rivers, canals, railroads, interurban trollies, telegraph, telephone, postal service (mail order), satellites, FAX technology
4. cite examples of social, economic, and political interdependence in history Comments/Activities: Such as the international labor movement, British Commonwealth, Triple Alliance
5. read, listen to, or view works of literature and the arts that describe particular places Comments/Activities: For example, Pioneer Women, Dixie, photographs of Jacob Riis, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," The Moldau, Around the World in Eighty Days
6. examine reasons why people have gone to war against each other Comments/Activities: Such as the Crimean War, War Between the States, Spanish-American War, Boxer Uprising, World War I
7. compare plans for peace at the end of wars and identify factors of different plans that prompted later conflicts or assisted in preserving peace**12 Comments/Activities: Such as Presidential vs. Congressional Reconstruction, negotiations at Versailles
The learner will
1. analyze the economic factors influencing the colonization of Africa and Asia by European nations and discuss the diverse reactions in different regions of the world to colonization efforts**12 Comments/Activities: Such as resources, trade barriers, markets
2. compare the transformation of the United States from an agrarian to an industrial nation with similar transformations in other countries
3. explain the reasons for the rise of labor organizations between 1815 and 1919 and describe their impact on the economic development of the United States
4. compare the laissez-faire attitude of the United States government toward the economy through much of the 19th century with the increased activism of the government in the economy during the late 19th century and during the Progressive Era**12
5. compare the efforts of the United States government with governments in other nations to promote competition, to protect national economic interests, and to regulate economic activity**12
6. explain the qualities of an efficient system of taxation Comments/Activities: Such as cost of collection, tax base, ease of compliance, ability to pay
The learner will
1. develop a list of characteristics common to democratic governments in existence between 1815 and 1919
2. identify consequences resulting from provisions of the United States Constitution**12 Comments/Activities: Lack of specificity prompting calls for a bill of rights, arguments over states' rights, the need for particular amendments
3. examine how applications of the United States Constitution have changed over time and interpret applications of the document in terms of its contractual provisions and the use of the supremacy clause**12 Comments/Activities: Consider the amendment process, judicial interpretation, federal laws, and presidential action Refer to grade 8 for discussion of the United States Constitution as a contract
4. distinguish between the powers held by each branch of government and determine when particular checks and balances are appropriate**12
5. explain "judicial review" and cite historical instances of its use
6. trace the development of political parties in the United States form 1815 to 1919, focusing on the attempts of political parties to address the significant issues of the day and the groups from which they drew their support**12
7. evaluate the role of political parties in the United States between 1815 and 1919 on the basis of the following criteria: **12
8. cite examples of the importance of voter participation and political party activity Comments/Activities: For example, the closeness of presidential elections in the Gilded Age as well as the election of 1976, identification issues by the Populist Party as well as by H. Ross Perot in 1992
9. weigh the effectiveness of political reforms enacted to make the United States government more democratic with reforms enacted in the other democratic nations Comments/Activities: Compare electoral reforms associated with"Jacksonian Democracy" with similar reforms taking place in Great Britain.
The learner will
1. compare opportunities for citizenship participation in various societies from 1815 to 1919 with opportunities in those same societies today
2. acquire, interpret, and analyze information regarding civic issues
3. identify sources of propaganda, describe the most common techniques, and explain how propaganda is used to influence behavior
4. monitor public policy discussions for the influence of propaganda and speculate about why it is being used
5. explain why it is important for citizens to participate in the public policy process