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Skills available for Virginia high school social studies standards

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  • VUS The student will apply history and social science skills to the content by

Early America Through the Founding of the New Nation

  • VUS.1 The student will apply history and social science skills to describe early North America by

    • a distinguishing how different Indigenous Peoples of North America used available resources to develop their culture, language, skills, and perspectives, including, but not limited to the nations in the Northeast, the Mississippi River Valley, the Atlantic seaboard, the Pacific coast, and the Southwest of North America;

    • b describing the entrepreneurial characteristics of early explorers, including, but not limited to Christopher Columbus, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, and Ponce de León and the technological developments that made nautical exploration possible;

    • c connecting the aims, obstacles, and accomplishments of the explorers and sponsors of key expeditions to the Spanish Reconquista, the Protestant Reformation, and the Counter-Reformation; and

    • d examining the trade routes, resources, and products that linked Africa, the West Indies, the American colonies, and Europe.

  • VUS.2 The student will apply history and social science skills to describe the political, religious, social, and economic characteristics of the first 13 colonies by

    • a describing the reasons for establishing colonies in North America and the individuals and groups involved, including but not limited to John Smith, Roger Williams, William Penn, Lord Baltimore, William Bradford, and John Winthrop;

    • b describing European settlement in the Americas, the Great Awakening, the character, practices, and growth of religious toleration, and the free exercise of religion;

    • c describing the development of political self-government and a free-market economic system, as well as the differences among the British, Spanish, and French colonial systems; and

    • d explaining the early democratic ideas and practices that emerged during the colonial period, including the significance of representative assemblies and town councils.

  • VUS.3 The student will apply history and social science skills to explain the development of African American culture in America and the impact of the institution of slavery by

    • a describing the diverse cultures, languages, skills, and perspectives of Africans who were captured there and enslaved in the Americas;

    • b describing the Middle Passage, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, chattel slavery, indentured servitude, and forced labor;

    • c describing the slave trade in the U.S., Virginia, and Richmond;

    • d analyzing the growth of the colonial economy that maximized profits through the use of indentured servitude and race-based enslavement of Africans; and

    • e examining the cultures of enslaved Africans and identifying the various ways they persisted towards freedom.

  • VUS.4 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze the cooperation and conflict between the Indigenous peoples and the new settlers by

  • VUS.5 The student will apply history and 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 describing how political, religious, and economic ideas and interests contributed to the start of the American Revolution, including, but not limited to the resistance to imperial policy, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, taxes on tea, the Coercive Acts, the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death" speech, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Second Continental Congress and the Olive Branch Petition, and Thomas Paine's Common Sense;

    • c describing efforts by individuals and groups to mobilize support for the American Revolution, including the Minutemen, the Sons of Liberty, the First and Second Continental Congresses, and the Committees of Correspondence;

    • d examining the contributions of those involved in the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence and the lasting legacy of the document;

    • e analyzing the intervention of France and other factors that led to colonial victory in the Revolutionary War;

    • f evaluating how key principles in the Declaration of Independence grew in importance to become unifying ideas of American political philosophy; and

    • g analyzing the U.S. Presidents of this era, with emphasis on the presidents from Virginia.

  • VUS.6 The student will apply history and social science skills to describe the development and significance of the American political system by

    • a examining founding documents to explore the development of American constitutional government, with emphasis on the significance of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in the framing of the Bill of Rights;

    • b identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation;

    • c describing the major compromises necessary to produce the Constitution of the United States, with emphasis on the struggles of ratification, the reasons for the Bill of Rights, and the roles of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, John Adams, and George Washington;

    • d comparing the powers granted through the Constitution to citizens, Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court with those reserved to the states;

    • e analyzing the issues and debates over the role of the federal government and the formation of political parties during the early National Era; and

    • f explaining the significance of Chief Justice John Marshall and the Marbury v. Madison decision.

Expansion, Civil War, and Reconstruction

  • VUS.7 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze major events in Virginia and United States history during the first half of the 19th century by

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

    • b explaining the role of broken treaties and the factors that led to military defeat of Indigenous peoples, including, but not limited to the resistance of Indigenous nations to encroachments and assimilation and the Trail of Tears;

    • c explaining the influence and achievements of significant leaders of the time, including, but not limited to John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Chief Tecumseh, Chief Logan, Chief John Ross, and Sequoyah;

    • d analyzing the United States' subsequent actions with respect to its Indigenous peoples, including, but not limited to the Indian Reorganization Acts and McGirt v. Oklahoma;

    • e describing the political results of territorial expansion and its impact on Indigenous peoples;

    • f analyzing the social and cultural changes during the period, including, but not limited to immigration and "The Age of the Common Man" (Jacksonian Era);

    • g examining the Texas Revolution and the Mexican-American War; and

    • h evaluating the cultural, economic, and political issues that divided the nation, including the role of slavery, the abolitionist movements, and tariffs, in the conflicts that led to the Civil War.

  • VUS.8 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze the development and abolition of slavery in the United States by

  • VUS.9 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze the major turning points of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras by

    • a describing major events and the roles of key leaders of the Civil War Era, including, but not limited to Abraham Lincoln, 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, but not limited to 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, enslaved and free Blacks, the common soldier, and the home front;

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

    • e describing how political, religious, and economic ideas and interests contributed to the start of the American Revolution, including, but not limited to the resistance to imperial policy, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, taxes on tea, the Coercive Acts, the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death" speech, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Second Continental Congress and the Olive Branch Petition, and Thomas Paine's Common Sense;

    • f evaluating Virginia's stance on the Fourteenth Amendment, Virginia's 1870 Constitution, and readmittance to Congress; and

    • g evaluating the role of the biracial Readjuster Party in Virginia during Reconstruction in providing funds to expand a system of public schools and expanding employment opportunities for African Americans.

Industrialization, Emergence of Modern America, and World Conflicts

  • VUS.10 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early 20th century by

    • a analyzing the effects of westward movement and the admission of new states on the Indigenous peoples and the conflicts with the U.S. government, including, but not limited to the Battle of Little Bighorn and Wounded Knee;

    • b examining and evaluating the motivations, contributions, and challenges immigrants to the United States faced before, during, and upon arrival;

    • c analyzing the transformation of the American economy from agrarian to industrial, the growth of cities and trade, the role of the railroads and communication systems, and the concentration of wealth and mass production that created goods at cheaper and faster rates, including, but not limited to industrial leaders such as Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller and the growth of American philanthropy;

    • d explaining the social and cultural impact of industrialization, including, but not limited to rapid urbanization, the effects on living and working conditions, the development of labor unions, and the emergence of more leisure time and activities;

    • e evaluating and explaining the Progressive Movement and the impact of its legislation, including, but not limited to regulations for pollution, child labor, and food safety;

    • f examining the "Byrd machine" and its dominance in Virginia government in the first half of the 20th century;

    • g analyzing the effects of prejudice, discrimination, and "Jim Crow" laws including, but not limited to the responses of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, lynching and racial terror, race riots, the suppression of voting rights in Virginia and other Southern states, Ida B. Wells-Barnett's anti-lynching crusade, the practice of eugenics, and the U.S. Supreme Court 1927 Buck v. Bell decision; and

    • h explaining the emergence of public colleges, HBCUs, and land-grant institutions in Virginia and the United States as a way to expand educational opportunities and build specific skills and knowledge in agricultural and technological advances.

  • VUS.11 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze the emerging role of the United States in world affairs during the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries by

    • a explaining changes in foreign policy of the United States toward Latin America and Asia and the growing influence of the United States, including, but not limited to the impact of the Spanish-American War;

    • b explaining the international significance of U.S. decisions and actions, including, but not limited to the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the Spanish-American War, the acquisition of Alaska and Hawaii, and the Panama Canal construction;

    • c evaluating the events, leaders, and changes that brought America out of a period of isolationism to enter WWI;

    • d evaluating the United States' involvement in World War I, including, but not limited to Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and the establishment of the League of Nations; and

    • e evaluating and explaining the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, including, but not limited to the national debate in response to the formation of the League of Nations.

  • VUS.12 The student will apply history and social science skills to understand key international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies of the 1920s and 1930s by

    • a analyzing the attacks on civil liberties, including, but not limited to the re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan, the Chicago riot of 1919, the Tulsa Race Massacre and the decimation of Black Wall Street, and the institution of redlining and resulting racial wealth gaps;

    • b analyzing the connections between the Bolshevik Revolution and the First Red Scare, anarchist bombings, and the Palmer Raids;

    • c analyzing the effects of changes in immigration to the United States including, but not limited to the Immigration Act of 1918 and the Immigration Act of 1924;

    • d examining the purposes of Marcus Garvey's "Back-to-Africa" movement, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti-Defamation League;

    • e analyzing the Roaring 20s, post-wartime effects on the American economy, how life changed as a result of innovation and inventions, and the diffusion of American popular culture;

    • f examining the changing role of women in society and in the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

    • g examining the Great Migration and its influence on the Harlem Renaissance, prompting new trends in literature, music, and art, and the work of writers, including, but not limited to Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes.

  • VUS.13 The student will apply history and social science skills to describe the effects of the Great Depression and New Deal policies on the United States by

  • VUS.14 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze the United States' involvement in World War II by

    • a comparing and contrasting totalitarianism in Imperial Japan, communist Soviet Union, fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany;

    • b analyzing the causes and events that led to America's involvement, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. response with Executive Order 9066 and the incarceration of Japanese Americans, and the Supreme Court case Korematsu v. United States;

    • c identifying the similarities and differences in the strategy, major battles, and impacts of key leaders of the Axis and Allied Powers;

    • d evaluating and explaining the contributions of heroic military units including, but not limited to segregated, minority units, women, and the role of Virginia units in the America war effort;

    • e describing major battles of World War II, including Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as battles in Holland, Italy, and North Africa;

    • f analyzing the Holocaust, beginning with the history and role of antisemitism in the persecution of Jews, the persecutions of other targeted groups, challenges related to the immigration of Jews, Hitler's "Final Solution," liberation, post-war trials, post-war immigration to the United States, and the creation of the modern state of Israel;

    • g explaining American military intelligence and technology, including island hopping, the Manhattan Project, and the bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and

    • h describing the significance of America's role in the Allied victory, the Marshall Plan, and the significance of the United Nations.

The United States since World War II

  • VUS.15 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze the United States' foreign policy during the Cold War era by

    • a explaining the origins and early development of the Cold War and how it changed American foreign policy, including, but not limited to the Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment;

    • b explaining the long-term impact of the Marshall Plan, the formation of NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the efforts of the United States to protect Western Europe;

    • c describing events and leaders of the Cold War, including the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy, and Nikita Khrushchev;

    • d analyzing the changing role of the United States in Asia, including Korea, Vietnam, and China, and the experiences of refugees from those nations; and

    • e explaining how American foreign policy pressure, economic power and defense policy, and the assertion of American values led to the end of the Cold War.

  • VUS.16 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze the causes and effects of the Civil Rights Movement by

    • a analyzing the origins of the Civil Rights Movement, the effects of segregation, and efforts to desegregate schools, transportation, and public areas;

    • b evaluating and explaining the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education decision and Virginia's response of Massive Resistance, including, but not limited to the roles of Barbara Johns, R.R. Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Thurgood Marshall, and Oliver W. Hill, Sr;

    • c evaluating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail," civil disobedience, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the "I Have a Dream" speech, and his assassination;

    • d analyzing key events, including, but not limited to the murder of Emmett Till, bus boycotts, Little Rock Central High School desegregation, Greensboro sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Birmingham demonstrations, the 1963 March on Washington, the Freedom Summer, and Selma to Montgomery Marches, with additional emphasis on events in Virginia;

    • e explaining how the tenets of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the 1963 March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 had an effect on all Americans; and

    • f analyzing the effect of the Black Power Movement.

  • VUS.17 The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze political and social conditions in the United States during the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century by

    • a assessing the development of and changes in domestic policies due to Supreme Court decisions and acts of Congress, including, but not limited to Brown v. Board of Education, the Federal Highway Act of 1956, the American Indian Movement (AIM), the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Marriage Equality Act, Obergefell v. Hodges, Gideon v. Wainwright, Miranda v. Arizona, and Roe v. Wade leading to Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization;

    • b analyzing key events and conditions that have given rise to terrorism as an attack on democracy and the United States' role in defending democracy, including, but not limited to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, attacks on U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001;

    • c explaining social movements, including but not limited to the Vietnam War and the rise of the anti-war movement, Woodstock, the rise of the conservative movement and the election of Ronald Reagan, Women's Movement, Gay Rights Movement, Pro-life Movement, and an increased domestic focus on HIV/AIDS, the rise of antisemitism and hate crimes, and domestic terrorism;

    • d connecting the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement to the election of Barack Obama; and

    • e explaining scientific and technological changes and evaluating their impact on American culture, including media.