Rhode Island
Skills available for Rhode Island high school social studies standards
Standards are in black and IXL social studies skills are in dark green. Hold your mouse over the name of a skill to view a sample question. Click on the name of a skill to practice that skill.
Show alignments for:
- Rhode Island Social Studies Standards (adopted in 2023): Civics Rhode Island Social Studies Standards (adopted in 2023): Civics
- Rhode Island Social Studies Standards (adopted in 2023): United States History I: Pre-European Contact to Reconstruction Rhode Island Social Studies Standards (adopted in 2023): United States History I: Pre-European Contact to Reconstruction
- Rhode Island Social Studies Standards (adopted in 2023): United States History II: Late 19th Century to Present Rhode Island Social Studies Standards (adopted in 2023): United States History II: Late 19th Century to Present
- Rhode Island Grade Level and Grade Span Expectations: Civics and Government Rhode Island Grade Level and Grade Span Expectations: Civics and Government
Actions
1 Government and the Concept of Citizenship
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SSHS.CVC.1.1 Earliest forms of government
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SSHS.CVC.1.1 Analyze the history and philosophy of different forms of government.
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SSHS.CVC.1.1.a Explain the purposes and uses of government.
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SSHS.CVC.1.1.b Explain structures of governments in ancient civilizations (e.g., Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Ghana, Mali, China, India, Mesoamerica).
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SSHS.CVC.1.1.c Explain structures of governments in modern societies.
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SSHS.CVC.1.1.d Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each form of government (e.g., oligarchy, democracy, monarchy), and argue who benefits under each form.
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SSHS.CVC.1.1.e Explain the rationale and conditions for governmental change (e.g., elections, protests, insurrections, revolutions).
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SSHS.CVC.1.2 Governmental power and role
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SSHS.CVC.1.2 Analyze the functions of government and ways that governments provide services and benefits to the population they serve.
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SSHS.CVC.1.2.a Analyze the legislative function of government and checks upon it.
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SSHS.CVC.1.2.b Analyze the executive function of government and checks upon it.
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SSHS.CVC.1.2.c Analyze the judicial function of government and checks upon it.
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SSHS.CVC.1.2.d Analyze governmental functions that protect and serve people, and argue the impact of those functions.
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SSHS.CVC.1.2.e Analyze ways governmental power can be limited by societies, and argue who benefits from those limits.
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SSHS.CVC.1.3 Citizenship and obligations of citizens
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SSHS.CVC.1.3 Argue how different definitions of citizenship and how to act as a citizen have impacted different people over time.
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SSHS.CVC.1.3.a Explain the differences between "citizenship" as it pertains to being an active and responsible participant in any community or group and legal citizenship.
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SSHS.CVC.1.3.b Analyze the changes in how legal citizenship has been defined over time, and argue the impacts and who has benefited.
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SSHS.CVC.1.3.c Explain the responsibilities of being an active and responsible participant in a community.
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SSHS.CVC.1.3.d Analyze the barriers to full participation as citizens, and argue who benefits from them.
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SSHS.CVC.1.3.e Analyze instances when citizenship has been challenged or denied, and argue who benefited.
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2 Origins and Role of American Government
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SSHS.CVC.2.1 Ideological influences on the American Revolution
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SSHS.CVC.2.1 Argue the impact of 18th century philosophical ideas about power and government on the American Revolution.
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SSHS.CVC.2.1.a Analyze the ideas of Enlightenment figures (e.g., Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu), and argue the impact of those ideas across societal groups.
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SSHS.CVC.2.1.b Analyze the components of republicanism and democracy, and argue who benefits from each.
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SSHS.CVC.2.1.c Analyze the impact of social and economic changes after the Revolutionary War, and argue who benefited.
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SSHS.CVC.2.1.d Explain the challenges to the government created under the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States.
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SSHS.CVC.2.1.e Analyze the social and economic status of the Founding Fathers, and argue their impacts to the creation of the United States.
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SSHS.CVC.2.2 Ideas expressed in Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence
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SSHS.CVC.2.2 Argue how the ideas in Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence led to a redefinition of the political relationships between the American colonies and Britain.
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SSHS.CVC.2.2.a Analyze the ideas expressed in Common Sense, and argue its impact.
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SSHS.CVC.2.2.b Explain events leading to a declaration of independence from Britain (e.g., Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Tea Act, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre).
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SSHS.CVC.2.2.c Explain Jefferson's ideas about rights and responsibilities, and analyze how those compare with his personal life.
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SSHS.CVC.2.2.d Analyze the perspectives on natural rights and the role of government outlined in the Declaration of Independence, and argue the impacts of those perspectives.
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SSHS.CVC.2.3 Structure, provisions, and limitations of the Articles of Confederation
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SSHS.CVC.2.3 Argue the impacts of the issues and challenges to the Articles of Confederation.
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SSHS.CVC.2.3.a Analyze the rights and responsibilities given to the states and the national government under the Articles of Confederation, and argue who benefited from them.
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SSHS.CVC.2.3.b Analyze the limitations of the national government under the Articles of Confederation, and argue the impact of those limitations and who benefited from them.
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SSHS.CVC.2.3.c Analyze the rationale for, and argue the impacts of Shays' Rebellion.
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SSHS.CVC.2.4 Creating the government of the new United States
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SSHS.CVC.2.4 Argue the impacts of the challenges the founders faced to the creation of a new government under the Constitution of the United States.
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SSHS.CVC.2.4.a Analyze the definition of and the rationale for federalism, and argue who benefited from that system.
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SSHS.CVC.2.4.b Analyze the arguments and rationales found in the Federalist Papers, and argue who benefited (Suggested Federalist Papers – 9, 10, 39, 51, 70, 78, 84).
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SSHS.CVC.2.4.c Analyze the distinctions between the Virginia and New Jersey plans, and argue who benefited under each plan.
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SSHS.CVC.2.4.d Analyze the impact of the Constitution on different groups in American society, and argue who benefited.
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SSHS.CVC.2.4.e Analyze the reasons why Rhode Island refused to send a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
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3 The Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights
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SSHS.CVC.3.1 Influences on the Constitution of the United States
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SSHS.CVC.3.1 Argue the impact of the structure of government and law established by the Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights.
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SSHS.CVC.3.1.a Explain the rationale for components of representative government, and argue who benefits under that system.
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SSHS.CVC.3.1.b Analyze the influence of Enlightenment ideas on the Constitution of the United States (e.g., social contract, separation of powers).
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SSHS.CVC.3.1.c Explain the influence of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on the Constitution.
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SSHS.CVC.3.1.d Analyze the validity of differing perceptions of the Constitution, and argue who benefited from each position.
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SSHS.CVC.3.1.e Analyze the elements of the Constitution and the structure of government they created, and argue its impact.
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SSHS.CVC.3.2 The Constitution as a product of compromise
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SSHS.CVC.3.2 Argue the impacts of the compromises that went into the passage of the Constitution of the United States, including the addition of the Bill of Rights.
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SSHS.CVC.3.2.a Explain the influences of the anti-federalists on the Constitution.
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SSHS.CVC.3.2.b Analyze the reasons for Rhode Island's reluctance to ratify the Constitution.
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SSHS.CVC.3.2.c Analyze the rationale for and components of the Bill of Rights, and argue the impact and who benefited.
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SSHS.CVC.3.2.d Analyze the relationship between the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
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SSHS.CVC.3.3 The Constitution and slavery
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SSHS.CVC.3.3 Argue the impacts of how the authors of the Constitution of the United States handled the system of slavery.
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SSHS.CVC.3.3.a Explain the elements of Enlightenment thinking related to slavery, analyze the impact of that thinking, and argue who benefited.
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SSHS.CVC.3.3.b Analyze the arguments among representatives at the Constitutional Convention over slavery.
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SSHS.CVC.3.3.c Analyze the manner in which slavery is addressed in the Constitution, and argue the impact and who benefited from those decisions.
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SSHS.CVC.3.3.d Analyze how the Constitution reinforced the system of slavery (e.g., the Three-Fifths Clause, the Importation Clause, the Slave Insurrection Clause, and the Fugitive Slave Clause).
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SSHS.CVC.3.4 Civil rights and civil liberties
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SSHS.CVC.3.4 Argue the impacts of interpreting and using the Constitution of the United States to expand freedom and opportunity.
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SSHS.CVC.3.4.a Analyze the distinctions between civil rights and civil liberties.
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SSHS.CVC.3.4.b Analyze challenges to civil rights (e.g., denial of voting rights to some groups, redlining) and argue their impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.3.4.c Analyze challenges to civil liberties (e.g., segregation, the internment of Japanese Americans, discrimination against people based on their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity), and argue their impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.3.4.d Analyze constitutional amendments, Supreme Court decisions, and legislation that had to do with the expansion of rights for Black Americans (e.g., 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Case, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act) and resistance to these measures, and argue the impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.3.4.e Analyze constitutional amendments, Supreme Court decisions, and legislation that had to do with the expansion of rights for women (e.g., 19th amendment, proposed Equal Rights Amendment) and resistance to these measures. and argue the impacts.
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4 The Separation of Powers and the Three Branches of Government
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SSHS.CVC.4.1 The concept and practice of checks and balances
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SSHS.CVC.4.1 Argue the ways the Enlightenment idea of checks and balances as a deterrent to tyranny influenced the Constitution of the United States.
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SSHS.CVC.4.1.a Explain Montesquieu's rationale for check and balances in government.
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SSHS.CVC.4.1.b Analyze ways that checks and balances are instantiated in the structure of the national government, and argue the impacts of that inclusion.
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SSHS.CVC.4.1.c Analyze ways that checks and balances are instantiated between state and national governments, and argue the impacts of that inclusion.
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SSHS.CVC.4.2 Role and powers of the legislative branch
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SSHS.CVC.4.2 Analyze the structure and role of the legislative branch of the national government.
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SSHS.CVC.4.2.a Explain the functions of the legislative branch.
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SSHS.CVC.4.2.b Analyze the distinctions in the roles played by the legislative branch in domestic and foreign policy.
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SSHS.CVC.4.2.c Analyze the checks that the legislative branch exercises on the executive and judicial branches.
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SSHS.CVC.4.2.d Analyze the changes in the power of the legislative branch over time.
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SSHS.CVC.4.3 Role and powers of the executive branch
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SSHS.CVC.4.3 Analyze the structure and role of the executive branch of the national government.
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SSHS.CVC.4.3.a Analyze the functions of the executive branch.
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SSHS.CVC.4.3.b Analyze the distinctions in the roles of the executive branch in domestic and foreign policy.
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SSHS.CVC.4.3.c Analyze the checks that the executive branch exercises on the legislative and judicial branches.
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SSHS.CVC.4.3.d Analyze the changes in the power of the executive branch over time.
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SSHS.CVC.4.4 Role and powers of the judicial branch
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SSHS.CVC.4.4 Analyze the structure and role of the judicial branch of the national government.
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SSHS.CVC.4.4.a Explain the functions of the judicial branch.
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SSHS.CVC.4.4.b Analyze the checks that the judicial branch exercises on the legislative and executive branches (e.g., judicial review, impeachment).
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SSHS.CVC.4.4.c Analyze the changes in the power of the judicial branch over time.
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SSHS.CVC.4.5 State, local, and tribal governments
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SSHS.CVC.4.5 Analyze other governmental systems of the United States, including state, local, and tribal governments, and their interactions with each other and the federal government.
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SSHS.CVC.4.5.a Explain the powers of state governments as explained in the Constitution of the United States.
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SSHS.CVC.4.5.b Explain the powers of local governments as explained in the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
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SSHS.CVC.4.5.c Explain the definition of sovereignty and the role of federal and state recognition of tribes.
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SSHS.CVC.4.5.d Explain the powers and structures of tribal governments.
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SSHS.CVC.4.5.e Analyze the powers, structures, and authorities of local municipalities, the state of Rhode Island, and local tribal governments (e.g., Narragansett in RI, Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan in CT, and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head and Mashpee Wampanoag in MA).
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SSHS.CVC.4.5.f Analyze the relationships between different levels of government and their powers.
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SSHS.CVC.4.5.g Analyze the relationships between the Narragansett tribal and local and state governments and their powers.
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5 Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Politics
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SSHS.CVC.5.1 The emergence of political parties in the United States
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SSHS.CVC.5.1 Argue the impacts of the ways that Americans have fought for greater control of the political system throughout history.
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SSHS.CVC.5.1.a Analyze the various perspectives on governmental factions in the Federalist Papers, and argue the impacts of those views.
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SSHS.CVC.5.1.b Analyze the distinctions between the First and Second Party Systems, and argue the impact of each.
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SSHS.CVC.5.1.c Analyze the changes in nature and conditions of political parties over time, and argue their impacts and who benefited.
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SSHS.CVC.5.1.d Analyze the rationale for and third-party challenges (e.g., Theodore Roosevelt, Robert La Follette, Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, Ross Perot), and argue the impact of those challenges.
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SSHS.CVC.5.2 The role of political parties
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SSHS.CVC.5.2 Argue the impacts of party platforms and partisanship on the United States political party system.
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SSHS.CVC.5.2.a Explain the structure and functions of political parties.
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SSHS.CVC.5.2.b Analyze the nature of party platforms, identify examples, and argue the impacts on the political system.
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SSHS.CVC.5.2.c Analyze the demographics of major and minor political parties in the United States today.
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SSHS.CVC.5.2.d Analyze the nature of partisanship, identify examples, and argue the impacts on the political system and who benefits.
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SSHS.CVC.5.3 The role of political interest groups
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SSHS.CVC.5.3 Argue the ways that political interest groups influence policy and have gained power over time.
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SSHS.CVC.5.3.a Explain the purpose of a political interest group.
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SSHS.CVC.5.3.b Analyze the agendas of interest groups (e.g., public, economic, religious, ideological), and argue their impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.5.3.c Analyze the approaches interest groups use to influence public policy (e.g., engage politicians, engage media, lobby, donate to campaigns), and argue their impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.5.4 Participation of citizens
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SSHS.CVC.5.4 Argue the impacts people can have on the American political system by becoming involved with political parties, interest groups, and politics.
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SSHS.CVC.5.4.a Analyze the reasons why people become politically involved.
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SSHS.CVC.5.4.b Explain opportunities to become politically involved, and argue the impacts of that involvement.
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SSHS.CVC.5.4.c Analyze barriers to becoming politically involved (e.g., voting restrictions, intimidation, lack of support) and resistance to those barriers.
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SSHS.CVC.5.5 Tactics to influence politics
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SSHS.CVC.5.5 Argue the impacts people can have when they use political processes outside of the governmental system to effect change.
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SSHS.CVC.5.5.a Analyze how money is used to influence politics, and argue who benefits.
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SSHS.CVC.5.5.b Analyze how media influences politics, and argue who benefits.
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SSHS.CVC.5.5.c Explain the role of polling in politics.
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SSHS.CVC.5.5.d Analyze the rationale for laws regulating the use of money to influence politics, and argue the impact of those laws.
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SSHS.CVC.5.5.e Analyze methods people have used to influence politics (e.g., the Civil Rights Movement's marches, sit-ins), and argue their impact on effecting change.
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6 Elections and the Politics of Voting
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SSHS.CVC.6.1 Voting systems and their role in government
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SSHS.CVC.6.1 Analyze the different types of voting systems and how people vote.
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SSHS.CVC.6.1.a Analyze the similarities and differences among voting systems (e.g., plurality, majority, proportional), and argue the advantages and disadvantages of each.
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SSHS.CVC.6.1.b Explain the conditions and process of registering to vote (e.g., eligibility and debates about eligibility).
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SSHS.CVC.6.1.c Analyze the international principles of electoral integrity, and argue who benefits from them.
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SSHS.CVC.6.2 Primary and general elections
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SSHS.CVC.6.2 Explain the functions of primary and general elections in the United States.
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SSHS.CVC.6.2.a Explain the purposes of different kinds of primary elections (e.g., open, closed, blanket).
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SSHS.CVC.6.2.b Explain the purposes of general elections.
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SSHS.CVC.6.2.c Explain approaches to monitoring elections and reporting of results, and analyze debates questioning the integrity these processes.
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SSHS.CVC.6.3 History of voting rights in the United States
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SSHS.CVC.6.3 Argue the impact of the political marginalization of different groups in American history.
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SSHS.CVC.6.3.a Analyze the historical changes in voting requirements (e.g., property ownership including the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island, religion, gender, race), and argue who has benefited from them.
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SSHS.CVC.6.3.b Analyze the legal and extra-legal approaches to restricting voting, and argue the impacts of those approaches.
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SSHS.CVC.6.3.c Analyze the similarities and differences in approaches groups have taken to fight for voting rights, and argue their impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.6.4 Contemporary controversies surrounding elections and voting
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SSHS.CVC.6.4 Argue the short- and long- term implications of voter turnout and participation on the outcomes of the political process.
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SSHS.CVC.6.4.a Analyze voting behavior and patterns of voting, and argue what influences the behavior and the impacts of that behavior on outcomes (e.g., on elections, on decisions over controversial issues).
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SSHS.CVC.6.4.b Analyze patterns of voting over time, and argue the impacts changes in patterns have had on outcomes.
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SSHS.CVC.6.4.c Analyze gerrymandering, and argue its effects on outcomes and who benefits.
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SSHS.CVC.6.4.d Analyze contemporary debates and issues around voting (e.g., voting hours, transportation to polls, voter identification requirements including the allowance of using tribal IDs to vote in Rhode Island, role of the electoral college, absentee voting) and argue a stance on an issue.
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7 Dissent and Protest in Political Systems
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SSHS.CVC.7.1 Legal basis of dissent and protest
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SSHS.CVC.7.1 Argue the justifications for protest movements in the United States.
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SSHS.CVC.7.1.a Argue justifications for protest and dissent based on freedom of speech.
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SSHS.CVC.7.1.b Argue justifications for protest and dissent based on freedom of assembly.
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SSHS.CVC.7.1.c Argue justifications for protest and dissent based on the right to petition.
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SSHS.CVC.7.1.d Argue justifications for protest and dissent based on the Fourteenth Amendment.
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SSHS.CVC.7.2 Historical examples of different forms of dissent and protest
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SSHS.CVC.7.2 Argue the impacts of Americans who have acted to address social inequalities in the past.
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SSHS.CVC.7.2.a Analyze the approaches taken by people working for the abolition of slavery, and argue the impact of those efforts.
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SSHS.CVC.7.2.b Analyze approaches taken by people working for women's rights, and argue the impact of those efforts.
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SSHS.CVC.7.2.c Analyze approaches taken by people working for the rights of laborers, and argue the impact of those efforts.
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SSHS.CVC.7.3 Contemporary issues of disagreement with laws and policies
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SSHS.CVC.7.3 Explain the ways Americans have tried to assert control over the political system.
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SSHS.CVC.7.3.a Identify a range of contemporary issues (e.g., mass incarceration, gun ownership, affordable housing, immigration).
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SSHS.CVC.7.3.b Analyze the varied perspectives on them.
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SSHS.CVC.7.3.c Analyze options for and the approaches taken to resolve those issues.
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SSHS.CVC.7.3.d Argue a position on one or more of the issues.
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8 Human Rights and Global Citizenship
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SSHS.CVC.8.1 Meaning of "human rights"
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SSHS.CVC.8.1 Argue the impact of international agreements to support global human rights.
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SSHS.CVC.8.1.a Analyze the components of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and argue who benefits.
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SSHS.CVC.8.1.b Analyze the influences of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on U.S. foreign policy.
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SSHS.CVC.8.1.c Analyze the functions of the United Nations and World Court in terms of human rights in particular, and argue who benefits.
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SSHS.CVC.8.1.d Explain extra-governmental organizations' (e.g., Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch) efforts to foster human rights and argue their impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.8.1.e Analyze responsibilities for and process of enforcing international law, and argue who benefits.
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SSHS.CVC.8.2 The role the United States plays in securing human rights
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SSHS.CVC.8.2 Argue the impacts of the role the United States has taken in influencing and intervening in the affairs of other nations in the name of human rights.
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SSHS.CVC.8.2.a Analyze the people and positions in the United States government who make decisions on where and when to allocate resources to other countries (e.g., funds, military, weapons, food, medicine), and argue their impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.8.2.b Analyze the rationales for and U.S. interventions around human rights and genocides in other countries (e.g., Armenian genocide, Jewish Holocaust, Cambodian genocide, Somalian genocide, Darfur genocide, Rwandan genocide), and argue their impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.8.2.c Analyze genocides in the United States (e.g., both physical and cultural genocides of Indigenous peoples), and argue the impact.
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SSHS.CVC.8.2.d Analyze the rationale for foreign intervention (e.g., the United States' involvement in the politics of Vietnam, Western Asia (Middle East), and other countries), and argue the impacts of those interventions.
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SSHS.CVC.8.3 The concept of "global citizenship"
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SSHS.CVC.8.3 Argue the impacts of becoming increasingly connected to the people of other nations.
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SSHS.CVC.8.3.a Analyze issues that cross national and cultural boundaries (e.g., climate change, disease, human trafficking), and argue their impact.
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SSHS.CVC.8.3.b Analyze local issues that connect with global concerns (e.g., food insecurity, mental health, ecological issues), and argue their impact.
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SSHS.CVC.8.3.c Explain opportunities for people to become involved in issues beyond the United States (e.g., volunteering for organizations like Peace Corps, using career skills to work for organizations like Doctors Without Borders), and argue the potential impacts.
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SSHS.CVC.8.3.d Explain other ways to act as responsible citizens of the globe, and argue the potential impacts.
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