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U.S. History A
   

Course Description

This course is designed to introduce students to various concepts of the study of U.S. History. Students will learn what history is and why it is an integral (an important) part of their studies. This course focuses on colonial history, the founding of the nation and the writing of the Constitution, the industrial revolution, World War I, and various economic and social issues (labor conditions, immigration, Prohibition, suffrage, African American rights, the Great Depression, etc.). In conjunction with the Unit, students will utilize the textbook entitled America’s History, Land of Liberty, Book Two: Since 1865.

Credits: 5
Languages: English and Spanish


University of California
A-G Approval
State Standards
High School Exit Exam

Course Content

Unit 1 - In Order to Form a More Perfect Union: Creating A New Nation

California History-Social Science Curriculum Standards

Students distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations. Students identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. (Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View 1 and 2)

11.1.1 Describe the Enlightenment and the rise of democratic ideas as the context in which the nation was founded.

11.1.2 Analyze the ideological origins of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers' philosophy of divinely bestowed unalienable natural rights, the debates on the drafting and ratification of the Constitution, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.

11.1.3 Understand the history of the Constitution after 1787 with emphasis on federal versus state authority and growing democratization.

11.3.1 Describe the contributions of various religious groups to American civic principles and social reform movements.

11.3.2 Analyze the great religious revivals and the leaders involved in them, including the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, the Civil War revivals…

11.3.3 Cite incidences of religious intolerance in the United States.

11.3.5 Describe the principles of religious liberty found in the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment, including the debate on the issue of separation of church and state.

Unit Objectives

Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Understand the colonial period in America and the contributions of European settlers to American government.
  • Understand the causes of and events in the Revolutionary War.
  • Understand the U.S. Constitution and the challenges colonists faced in drafting it.
  • Understand the foundations of democracy in the United States.
  • Understand later challenges to the Constitution like the Civil War.
  • Demonstrate their understanding of important concepts throughout various activities and writing assignments.


Unit 2 - America Comes of Age: The Gilded Age and Progressive Era

California History-Social Science Curriculum Standards

11.1.4 Examine the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction and of the industrial revolution, including demographic shifts and the emergence in the late nineteenth century of the United States as a world power.

11.2.1 Know the effects of industrialization on living and working conditions, including the portrayal of working conditions and food safety in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.

11.2.2 Describe the changing landscape, including the growth of cities linked by industry and trade, and the development of cities divided according to race, ethnicity, and class.

11.2.3 Trace the effect of the Americanization movement.

11.2.4 Analyze the effect of urban political machines and responses to them by immigrants and middle-class reformers.

11.2.5 Discuss corporate mergers that produced trusts and cartels and the economic and political policies of industrial leaders.

11.2.6 Trace the economic development of the United States and its emergence as a major industrial power, including its gains from trade and the advantages of its physical geography.

11.2.7 Analyze the similarities and differences between the ideologies of Social Darwinism and Social Gospel.

11.2.8. Examine the effect of political programs and activities of Populists.

11.2.9 Understand the effect of political programs and activities of the Progressives

11.3.1 Describe the contributions of various religious groups to American civic principles and social reform movements.

11.3.2 Analyze the great religious revivals and the leaders involved in them, including the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, the Civil War revivals, the Social Gospel Movement, the rise of Christian liberal theology in the nineteenth century, the impact of the Second Vatican Council, and the rise of Christian fundamentalism in current times.

11.3.3 Cite incidences of religious intolerance in the United States.

11.6.5 Trace the advances and retreats of organized labor, from the creation of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations to current issues of a postindustrial, multinational economy, including the United Farm Workers in California.

Unit Objectives

Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Understand Reconstruction.
  • Understand issues related to the frontier: the Transcontinental Railroad, the settling of the Great Plains, Indian relations, etc.
  • Understand the effects of technology and the Gilded Age on the U.S.
  • Explore industrial issues and working conditions
  • Understand early immigration issues
  • Demonstrate their understanding of important concepts throughout various activities and writing assignments.


Unit 3 - A New World Role

California History-Social Science Curriculum Standards

11.4.1 List the purpose and the effects of the Open Door policy.

11.4.2 Describe the Spanish-American War and U.S. expansion in the South Pacific.

11.4.3 Discuss America's role in the Panama Revolution and the building of the Panama Canal.

11.4.4 Explain Theodore Roosevelt's Big Stick diplomacy, William Taft's Dollar Diplomacy, and Woodrow Wilson's Moral Diplomacy, drawing on relevant speeches.

11.4.5 Analyze the political, economic, and social ramifications of World War I on the home front.

11.4.6 Trace the declining role of Great Britain and the expanding role of the United States in world affairs after World War I.

11.7.3 Identify the roles and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of the special fighting forces.

11.9.7 Examine relations between the United States and Mexico in the twentieth century, including key economic, political, immigration, and environmental issues.

Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Understand American expansion (issues in Alaska, Hawaii, Philippines, Cuba, etc.)
  • Understand the Panama Canal, the Mexican Revolution, etc.
  • Understand the causes of World War I.
  • Understand why the U.S. entered WWI and how the war effected things domestically.
  • Understand the resolution of WWI and the various issues surrounding its end.
  • Demonstrate their understanding of important concepts throughout various activities and writing assignments.


Unit 4 - A Decade of Contrasts: The Twenties

California History-Social Science Curriculum Standards

11.5.1 Discuss the policies of Presidents Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover.

11.5.2 Analyze the international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies that prompted attacks on civil liberties.

11.5.3 Examine the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the Volstead Act (Prohibition).

11.5.4 Analyze the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and the changing role of women in society.

11.5.5 Describe the Harlem Renaissance and new trends in literature, music, and art, with special attention to the work of writers.
 
11.5.6 Trace the growth and effects of radio and movies and their role in the worldwide diffusion of popular culture.

11.5.7 Discuss the rise of mass production techniques, the growth of cities, the impact of new technologies and the resulting prosperity and effect on the American landscape.

Unit Objectives

Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Understand various immigration issues: Red Scare, the Palmer Raids, KKK, Sacco and Vanzetti, ACLU, etc.
  • Understand mass production and mass marketing
  • Understand the era of leisure: airplanes, radio, film, sports, etc.
  • Understand important social issues like Prohibition, suffrage, bohemian lifestyles, etc.
  • Understand issues facing Black Americans in various capacities: politics, Harlem Renaissance, arts, jazz, etc.
  • Demonstrate their understanding of important concepts throughout various activities and writing assignments.


Unit 5 - The Bubble Bursts: The Great Depression and New Deal

California History-Social Science Curriculum Standards

11.3.3 Cite incidences of religious intolerance in the United States.

11.6.1 Describe the monetary issues of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that gave rise to the establishment of the Federal Reserve and the weaknesses in key sectors of the economy in the late 1920s.

11.6.2 Understand the explanations of the principal causes of the Great Depression and the steps taken by the Federal Reserve, Congress, and Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to combat the economic crisis.

11.6.3 Discuss the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effects on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right, with particular attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California.

11.6.4 Analyze the effects of and the controversies arising from New Deal economic policies and the expanded role of the federal government in society and the economy since the 1930s.

11.6.5 Trace the advances and retreats of organized labor, from the creation of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations to current issues of a postindustrial, multinational economy, including the United Farm Workers in California.

11.8.8 Discuss forms of popular culture, with emphasis on their origins and geographic diffusion.

11.9.7 Examine relations between the United States and Mexico in the twentieth century, including key economic, political, immigration, and environmental issues.

Upon completion of this Unit, students will:

  • Understand issues related to the economy of the 1920s and the Stock Market crash.
  • Understand the causes of the Great Depression as well as the economical and social ramifications.
  • Understand the creation and effects of the New Deal.
  • Demonstrate their understanding of important concepts throughout various activities and writing assignments.