8th grade us history
content standards
8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the Civil War.
1. Compare the conflicting interpretations of state and federal authority as emphasized in the speeches and writings of statesmen such as Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun.
2. Trace the boundaries constituting the North and the South, the geographical differences between the two regions, and the differences between agrarians and industrialists.
3. Identify the constitutional issues posed by the doctrine of nullification and secession and the earliest origins of that doctrine.
4. Discuss Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and his significant writings and speeches and their relationship to the Declaration of Independence, such as his “House Divided” speech (1858), Gettysburg Address (1863), Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and inaugural addresses (1861 and 1865).
5. Study the views and lives of leaders (e.g., Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee) and soldiers on both sides of the war, including those of black soldiers and regiments.
6. Describe critical developments and events in the war, including the major battles, geographical advantages and obstacles, technological advances, and General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
7. Explain how the war affected combatants, civilians, the physical environment, and future warfare.
8.11 Students analyze the character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction.
1. List the original aims of Reconstruction and describe its effects on the political and social structures of different regions.
2. Identify the push-pull factors in the movement of former slaves to the cities in the North and to the West and their differing experiences in those regions (e.g., the experiences of Buffalo Soldiers).
3. Understand the effects of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the restrictions placed on the rights and opportunities of freedmen, including racial segregation and “Jim Crow” laws.
4. Trace the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and describe the Klan’s effects.
5. Understand the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and analyze their connection to Reconstruction.
1. Compare the conflicting interpretations of state and federal authority as emphasized in the speeches and writings of statesmen such as Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun.
2. Trace the boundaries constituting the North and the South, the geographical differences between the two regions, and the differences between agrarians and industrialists.
3. Identify the constitutional issues posed by the doctrine of nullification and secession and the earliest origins of that doctrine.
4. Discuss Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and his significant writings and speeches and their relationship to the Declaration of Independence, such as his “House Divided” speech (1858), Gettysburg Address (1863), Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and inaugural addresses (1861 and 1865).
5. Study the views and lives of leaders (e.g., Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee) and soldiers on both sides of the war, including those of black soldiers and regiments.
6. Describe critical developments and events in the war, including the major battles, geographical advantages and obstacles, technological advances, and General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
7. Explain how the war affected combatants, civilians, the physical environment, and future warfare.
8.11 Students analyze the character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction.
1. List the original aims of Reconstruction and describe its effects on the political and social structures of different regions.
2. Identify the push-pull factors in the movement of former slaves to the cities in the North and to the West and their differing experiences in those regions (e.g., the experiences of Buffalo Soldiers).
3. Understand the effects of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the restrictions placed on the rights and opportunities of freedmen, including racial segregation and “Jim Crow” laws.
4. Trace the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and describe the Klan’s effects.
5. Understand the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and analyze their connection to Reconstruction.
common core standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.8
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7
Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7
Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
Historical questions
Why did the Civil War begin?
How did the Civil War end?
How did the Civil War/Reconstruction affect the United States?
How did the Civil War end?
How did the Civil War/Reconstruction affect the United States?
big ideas
The Civil War had one of the biggest impacts on the United States.
unit goals
Students will be able to explain why the Civil War began.
Students will be able to explain why the Civil War ended.
Students will be able to discuss the affects of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the United States.
Students will compare and contrast the North and South during the Civil War.
Students will be able to explain why the Civil War ended.
Students will be able to discuss the affects of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the United States.
Students will compare and contrast the North and South during the Civil War.
unit assessments
A timeline depicting the Civil War and Reconstruction with the affects it had on the US.
A compare and contrast essay about the North and South during the Civil War.
The students will choose a person (white man in the North/South, slave, free black man, woman, etc) and write an essay about their experience in the war.
A compare and contrast essay about the North and South during the Civil War.
The students will choose a person (white man in the North/South, slave, free black man, woman, etc) and write an essay about their experience in the war.