Virginia

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Skills available for Virginia 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.

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Virginia and United States History

  • Skills

  • Early America: Settlement and Colonization

  • Revolution and the New Nation

    • VUS.4 The student will apply social science skills to understand the issues and events leading to and during the Revolutionary Period by

      • a describing the results of the French and Indian War;

      • b evaluating how political ideas of the Enlightenment helped shape American politics;

      • c explaining how conflicting loyalties created political differences among the colonists concerning separation from Great Britain;

      • d analyzing the competing factors that led to colonial victory in the Revolutionary War; and

      • e evaluating how key principles in the Declaration of Independence grew in importance to become unifying ideas of American political philosophy.

    • VUS.5 The student will apply social science skills to understand the development of the American political system by

  • Expansion

    • VUS.6 The student will apply social science skills to understand major events in Virginia and United States history during the first half of the nineteenth century by

      • a explaining territorial expansion and its impact on the American Indians;

      • b describing the political results of territorial expansion;

      • c assessing the political and economic changes that occurred during this period, with emphasis on James Madison and the War of 1812;

      • d analyzing the social and cultural changes during the period, with emphasis on "the age of the common man" (Jacksonian Era);

      • e evaluating the cultural, economic, and political issues that divided the nation, including tariffs, slavery, the abolitionist and women's suffrage movements, and the role of the states in the Union;

      • f explaining how Manifest Destiny and President James K. Polk's policies impacted the nation; and

      • g evaluating and explaining the multiple causes and compromises leading to the Civil War, including the role of the institution of slavery.

  • Civil War and Reconstruction

    • VUS.7 The student will apply social science skills to understand the Civil War and Reconstruction eras and their significance as major turning points in American history by

      • a describing major events and the roles of key leaders of the Civil War era, with emphasis on Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Frederick Douglass;

      • b evaluating and explaining the significance and development of Abraham Lincoln's leadership and political statements, including the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the principles outlined in the Gettysburg Address;

      • c evaluating and explaining the impact of the war on Americans, with emphasis on Virginians, African Americans, the common soldier, and the home front;

      • d evaluating postwar Reconstruction plans presented by key leaders of the Civil War; and

      • e evaluating and explaining the political and economic impact of the war and Reconstruction, including the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

  • Industrialization

    • VUS.8 The student will apply social science skills to understand how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by

      • a explaining the westward movement of the population in the United States, with emphasis on the role of the railroads, communication systems, admission of new states to the Union, and the impact on American Indians;

      • b analyzing the factors that transformed the American economy from agrarian to industrial and explaining how major inventions transformed life in the United States, including the emergence of leisure activities;

      • c examining the contributions of new immigrants and evaluating the challenges they faced, including anti-immigration legislation;

      • d analyzing the impact of prejudice and discrimination, including "Jim Crow" laws, the responses of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, and the practice of eugenics in Virginia;

      • e evaluating and explaining the social and cultural impact of industrialization, including rapid urbanization; and

      • f evaluating and explaining the economic outcomes and the political, cultural and social developments of the Progressive Movement and the impact of its legislation.

  • Emergence of Modern America and World Conflicts

    • VUS.9 The student will apply social science skills to understand the emerging role of the United States in world affairs during the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by

    • VUS.10 The student will apply social science skills to understand key events during the 1920s and 1930s by

    • VUS.11 The student will apply social science skills to understand World War II by

      • a analyzing the causes and events that led to American involvement in the war, including the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the American response;

      • b describing and locating the major battles and key leaders of the European theater;

      • c describing and locating the major battles and key leaders of the Pacific theater;

      • d evaluating and explaining how the United States mobilized its economic and military resources, including the role of all-minority military units (the Tuskegee Airmen and Nisei regiments) and the contributions of media, minorities, and women to the war effort;

      • e analyzing the Holocaust (Hitler's "final solution"), its impact on Jews and other groups, and the postwar trials of war criminals; and

      • f evaluating and explaining the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians by the Allied and Axis powers.

  • The United States since World War II

    • VUS.12 The student will apply social science skills to understand the United States' foreign policy during the Cold War era by

      • a locating and explaining the political boundary changes, and the formation of the United Nations and the Marshall Plan;

      • b explaining the origins and early development of the Cold War and how it changed American foreign policy, with emphasis on the Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment of communism;

      • c analyzing the efforts of the United States to protect Western Europe, including the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);

      • d analyzing the changing role of the United States in Asia, including Korea, Vietnam, and China;

      • e evaluating and explaining how policy changes impacted the United States' relationships in Latin America;

      • f analyzing the domestic impact of the Cold War; and

      • g evaluating and explaining the factors that caused the collapse of communism in Europe and how it changed American foreign policy, including the role of Ronald Reagan.

    • VUS.13 The student will apply social science skills to understand the social, political, and cultural movements and changes in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century by

      • a explaining the factors that led to United States expansion;

      • b evaluating and explaining the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the roles of Thurgood Marshall and Oliver W. Hill, Sr., and how Virginia responded to the decision;

      • c explaining how the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the 1963 March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had an impact on all Americans;

      • d analyzing changes in immigration policy and the impact of increased immigration;

      • e evaluating and explaining the foreign and domestic policies pursued by the American government after the Cold War;

      • f explaining how scientific and technological advances altered American lives; and

      • g evaluating and explaining the changes that occurred in American culture.

    • VUS.14 The student will apply social science skills to understand political and social conditions in the United States during the early twenty-first century by

      • a assessing the development of and changes in domestic policies, with emphasis on the impact of the role the United States Supreme Court played in defining a constitutional right to privacy, affirming equal rights, and upholding the rule of law;

      • b evaluating and explaining the changes in foreign policies and the role of the United States in a world confronted by international terrorism, with emphasis on the American response to 9/11 (September 11, 2001);

      • c evaluating the evolving and changing role of government, including its role in the American economy; and

      • d explaining scientific and technological changes and evaluating their impact on American culture.