California Academic Content Standards History/Social ... · AND GEOGRAPHY: MAKING A NEW NATION ... UNITED STATES HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY: ... (e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, climate)

CaliforniaAcademic Content

Standards

History/Social Science4-8

Fourth Grade Sixth Grade

History/Social Science Standards 4-8 Page 2

Fifth GradenotesCALIFORNIA: A CHANGINGSTATE

Students learn the story of theirhome state, unique in Americanhistory in terms of its vast andvaried geography, its many waves ofimmigration beginning with pre-Columbian societies, its continuousdiversity, economic energy, andrapid growth. In addition to thespecific treatment of milestones inCalifornia history, students examinethe state in the context of the rest ofthe nation, with an emphasis on theU.S. Constitution and the relation-ship between state and federalgovernment.

UNITED STATES HISTORYAND GEOGRAPHY: MAKINGA NEW NATION

Students in grade five study thedevelopment of the nation up to1850 with an emphasis on thepopulation: who was already here,when and from where othersarrived, and why people came.Students learn about the colonialgovernment founded on Judeo-Christian principles, the ideals ofthe Enlightenment, and the Englishtraditions of self-government. Theyrecognize that ours is a nation thathas a constitution that derives itspower from the people, that hasgone through a revolution, that oncesanctioned slavery, that experiencedconflict over land with the originalinhabitants, and that experienced awestward movement that took itspeople across the continent. Study-ing the cause, course and conse-quences of the early explorationsthrough the War for Independenceand western expansion is central tostudents’ fundamental understand-ing of how the principles of theAmerican republic form the basis ofa pluralistic society in whichindividual rights are secured.

WORLD HISTORY ANDGEOGRAPHY:ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Students in grade six expand theirunderstanding of history by studyingthe people and events that ushered inthe dawn of the major western andnon-western ancient civilizations.Geography is of special significance inthe development of the human story.Continued emphasis is placed on theeveryday lives, problems and accom-plishments of people, their role indeveloping social, economic andpolitical structures, as well as inestablishing and spreading ideas thathelped transform the world forever.Students develop higher levels ofcritical thinking by considering whycivilizations developed where andwhen they did, why they becamedominant and why they declined.Students analyze the interactionsamong the various cultures, emphasiz-ing their enduring contributions andthe link, despite time, between thecontemporary and ancient worlds.

Seventh Grade Eighth Grade


notesWORLD HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY:MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN TIMES

Students in grade seven study the social, cultural,and technological changes that occurred in Europe,Africa, and Asia from 500-1789 AD. After review-ing the ancient world and the ways in whicharchaeologists and historians uncover the past,students study the history and geography of greatcivilizations that were developing concurrentlythroughout the world during medieval and earlymodern times. They examine the growing economicinteraction among civilizations as well as theexchange of ideas, beliefs, technologies andcommodities. They learn about the resulting growthof Enlightenment philosophy and the new examina-tion of the concepts of reason and authority, thenatural rights of human beings and the divine rightof kings, experimentalism in science and the dogmaof belief. Finally, students assess the political forceslet loose by the Enlightenment, particularly the riseof democratic ideas, and they learn about thecontinuing influence of these ideas in the worldtoday.

UNITED STATES HISTORY ANDGEOGRAPHY: GROWTH AND CONFLICT

Students in grade eight study the ideas, issues andevents from the framing of the Constitution up toWorld War I, with an emphasis on America’s rolein the war. After reviewing the development ofAmerica’s democratic institutions founded in theJudeo-Christian heritage and English parliamen-tary traditions, particularly the shaping of theConstitution, students trace the development ofAmerican politics, society, culture and economyand relate them to the emergence of majorregional differences. They learn about the chal-lenges facing the new nation, with an emphasis onthe causes, course and consequences of the CivilWar. They make connections between the rise ofindustrialization and contemporary social andeconomic conditions.



Fifth Gradenotes

4.1 Students demonstrate anunderstanding of the physical andhuman geographic features thatdefine places and regions inCalifornia by:

1. explaining and using thecoordinate grid system of latitudeand longitude to determine absolutelocations of places in California andon Earth

2. distinguishing between thetwo poles; the equator and the primemeridian; the tropics; and thehemispheres using coordinates toplot locations

3. identifying the state capitaland describing the basic regions ofCalifornia, including how their characteristics and physicalenvironment affect human activity(e.g., water, landforms, vegetation,climate)

4. identifying the location ofand explaining the reasons for thegrowth of towns in relation to thePacific Ocean, rivers, valleys, andmountain passes

5.1 Students describe the majorpre-Columbian settlementsincluding the cliff dwellersand pueblo people of thedesert Southwest, the Ameri-can Indians of the PacificNorthwest, the nomadicnations of the Great Plains,and the woodland peoples eastof the Mississippi River interms of:

1. how geography and climateinfluenced the way variousnations lived and adjusted tothe natural environment,including the locations ofvillages, the distinct structuresthat were built, and how food,clothing, tools, and utensilswere obtained.

2. the varied customs and folkloretraditions

3. the varied economies andsystems of government

6.1 Students describe what is knownthrough archaeological studies of theearly physical and cultural develop-ment of mankind from the Pale-olithic Era to the agriculturalrevolution, in terms of:

1. the hunter-gatherer societiesand their characteristics, including thedevelopment of tools and the use offire

2. the location of humancommunities that populated the majorregions of the world and how humansadapted to a variety of environments

3. the climatic changes andhuman modifications of the physicalenvironment that gave rise to thedomestication of plants and animalsand the increase in the sources ofclothing and shelter



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7.1 Students analyze the causes and effects of thevast expansion and ultimate disintegration of theRoman Empire, in terms of:

1. the early strengths and lasting contributionsof Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship;rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture,engineering and philosophy; preservation andtransmission of Christianity) and its ultimateinternal weaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomousmilitary powers within the empire, undermining ofcitizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery,lack of education and distribution of news)

2. the geographic borders of the empire at itsheight and the factors that threatened its territorialcohesion

3. the establishment by Constantine of thenew capital in Constantinople and the developmentof the Byzantine Empire with an emphasis on theconsequences of the development of two distinctviews on church-state relations

7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political,economic, religious, and social structures of civiliza-tions of Islam in the middle ages, in terms of:

1. the physical features and climate of theArabian peninsula, its relationship to surroundingbodies of land and water and the relationshipbetween nomadic and sedentary ways of life

2. the origins of Islam and the life andteachings of Muhammed , including Islamictachings on the connection with Judaism andChristianity

8.1 Students understand the major eventspreceding the founding of the nation and relatetheir significance to the development ofAmerican constitutional democracy, in termsof:

1. the relationship between the moral andpolitical ideas of the Great Awakening and thedevelopment of revolutionary fervor

2. the philosophy of government expressedin the Declaration of Independence with anemphasis on government as a means of securingindividual rights (e.g., key phrases such as “...allMen are created equal, that they are endowed bytheir Creator with certain unalienable Rights”)

3. the significance of the AmericanRevolution as it affected other nations especiallyFrance

4. its blend of civic republicanism,classical liberal principles, and English parlia-mentary traditions

8.2 Students analyze the political principlesunderlying the U.S. Constitution and comparethe enumerated and implied powers of thefederal government, in terms of:

1. the significance of the Magna Carta, theEnglish Bill of Rights, and the MayflowerCompact

2. the Articles of Confederation and theConstitution, and the success of each in imple-menting the ideals of the Declaration of Indepen-dence



Fifth Gradenotes

5. using maps, charts andpictures to describe how communi-ties in California vary in land use,vegetation, wildlife, climate,population density, architecture,services, and transportation

4.2 Students describe the social,political, cultural, economic life andinteractions among the people ofCalifornia from the pre-Columbiansocieties to the Spanish mission andMexican rancho periods, in terms of:

1. the major nations ofCalifornia Indians, their geographicdistribution, economic activities,legends, and religious beliefs; andhow they depended upon, adapted toand modified the physical environ-ment by cultivation of land and searesources

2. the early land and searoutes to, and European settlementsin, California with a focus on theexploration of the North Pacific,noting the physical barriers ofmountains, deserts, ocean currents,and wind patterns (e.g., CaptainCook, Valdez, Vitus Bering, JuanCabrillo)

5.2 Students trace the routes anddescribe the early explorations of theAmericas, in terms of:

1. the entrepreneurialcharacteristics of early explorers(e.g., biographies of Columbus,Coronado) and the technologicaldevelopments that made sea explo-ration by latitude and longitudepossible (e.g., compass, sextant,astrolabe, seaworthy ships, chro-nometers, gunpowder)

2. the aims, obstacles, andaccomplishments of the explorers,sponsors, and leaders of key Euro-pean expeditions, and the reasonsEuropeans chose to explore andcolonize the world (e.g., the Protes-tant Reformation, the SpanishReconquista)

3. the routes of the major landexplorers of the United States; thedistances traveled by early explorers;and the Atlantic trade routes thatlinked Africa, the West Indies, theBritish colonies, and Europe

4. land claimed by Spain,France, England, Portugal, theNetherlands, Sweden, and Russia onmaps of North and South America

6.2 Students analyze the geographic,political, economic, religious, andsocial structures of the early civiliza-tions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, andKush, in terms of:

1. the location and descriptionof the river systems, and physicalsettings that supported permanentsettlement and early civilizations 2. the development of agricul-tural techniques that permitted theproduction of economic surplus andthe emergence of cities as centers ofculture and power

3. the relationship betweenreligion and the social and politicalorder in Mesopotamia and Egypt

4. the significance ofHammurabi’s Code

5. Egyptian art and architecture

6. the location and descriptionof the role of Egyptian trade in theeastern Mediterranean and Nile valley

7. the significance of the livesof Queen Hatsheput and Ramses theGreat

8. the location of the Kushcivilization and its political, commer-cial and cultural relations with Egypt



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3. the significance of the Qur’an and theSunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs,practice and law, and their influence in Muslims’daily life

4. the expansion of Muslim rule throughmilitary conquests and treaties, emphasizing thecultural blending within Muslim civilization and thespread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabiclanguage

5. the growth of cities and the trade routescreated among Asia, Africa and Europe, and theproducts and inventions that traveled along theseroutes (e.g., spices, textiles, paper, steel, new crops)and the role of merchants in Arab society

6. the intellectual exchanges among Muslimscholars of Eurasia and Africa and the contributionsMuslim scholars made to later civilizations in theareas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy,medicine, art, and literature

7.3 Students analyze the geographic, political,economic, religious, and social structures of thecivilizations of China in the middle ages in termsof:

1. the reunification of China under the TangDynasty and reasons for the spread of Buddhism inTang China, Korea, and Japan

2. agricultural, technological, and commercialdevelopments during the Tang and Sung periods

3. the major debates that occurred duringthe development of the Constitution and theirultimate resolutions on areas such as shared poweramong institutions, divided state-federal power,slavery, and the rights of individuals and states(later addressed by the addition of the Bill ofRights) and the status of American Indian nationsunder the commerce clause

4. the political philosophy underpinning theU.S. Constitution as specified in The Federalist(authored by James Madison, AlexanderHamilton, and John Jay) and the role of suchleaders as James Madison, George Washington,Roger Sherman, Gouverneur Morris, and JamesWilson in the writing and ratification of theConstitution

5. the significance of Jefferson’s Statute forReligious Freedom as a forerunner of the FirstAmendment, and the origins, purpose anddiffering views of the founding fathers on theissue of the separation of church and state

6. the powers of government enumerated inthe Constitution and the fundamental libertiesensured by the Bill of Rights

7. the principles of federalism, dualsovereignty, separation of powers, checks andbalances, the nature and purpose of majority rule,and how the American idea of constitutionalismpreserves individual rights



Fifth Gradenotes

3. the Spanish explorationand colonization of California,including the relationships amongsoldiers, missionaries and Indians(e.g., biographies of Juan Crespi,Junipero Serra, Gaspar de Portola)

4. the mapping, geographicbasis of, and economic factors inthe placement and function of theSpanish missions; how the missionsystem expanded the influence ofSpain and Catholicism throughoutNew Spain and Latin America

5. the daily lives of thepeople, native and non-native, whooccupied the presidios, missions,ranchos, and pueblos

6. the role of theFranciscans in the change ofCalifornia from a hunter-gatherereconomy to an agriculturaleconomy

7. the effects of the MexicanWar for Independence on AltaCalifornia, including the territorialboundaries of North America

8. the period of Mexicanrule and its attributes, includingland grants, secularization of themissions and the rise of the ranchoeconomy

5.3 Students describe the coopera-tion and conflict that existedamong the Indians and between theIndian nations and the new settlers,in terms of:

1. the competition among theEnglish, French, Spanish, Dutch,and Indian Nations for control ofNorth America

2. the cooperation that existedbetween the colonists and Indiansduring the 1600s and 1700s (e.g., thefur trade, military alliances, treaties,agriculture, cultural interchanges)

3. the conflicts before theRevolutionary War (e.g., the Pequotand King Philip’s Wars in NewEngland, the Powhatan Wars inVirginia, the French and Indian War)

4. the role of broken treatiesand massacres and the factors thatled to the Indians’ defeat, includingthe resistance of Indian nations toencroachments and assimilation(e.g., the story of the Trail of Tears )

5. the internecine Indianconflicts, including the competingclaims for control (e.g., actions of theIroquois, Huron, Sioux/Lakota(Sioux)

9. the evolution of language andits written forms

6.3 Students analyze the geographic,political, economic, religious, andsocial structures of the early civiliza-tions of the Ancient Hebrews, interms of:

1. the origins and significanceof Judaism as the first monotheisticreligion based on the concept of oneGod who sets down moral laws forhumanity

2. the sources of the ethicalteachings and central beliefs ofJudaism (the Hebrew Bible, theCommentaries): belief in God, obser-vance of law, practice of concepts ofrighteousness and justice, and impor-tance of study; how the ideas of theHebrew traditions are reflected in themoral and ethical traditions of Westerncivilization

3. how Abraham, Moses,Naomi, Ruth, David, and Johanan benZaccai influenced the development ofthe Jewish religion

4. the location of the settlementsand movements of Hebrew peoples,including the Exodus, the movement toand from Egypt, and the significanceof the Exodus experience to the Jewishpeople and other people in history



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3. the influences of Confucianism and changesin Confucian thought during the Sung and Mongolperiods

4. the importance of both overland trade andmaritime expeditions between China and othercivilizations in the Mongol Ascendancy and MingDynasty

5. the historic influence of such discoveries astea, the manufacture of paper, wood block printing,the compass, and gunpowder

6. the development of the imperial state andthe scholar-official class

7.4 Students analyze the geographic, political,economic, religious, and social structures of theSub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali inMedieval Africa, in terms of:

1. the Niger River and the vegetation zones offorest, savannah and desert and the relationship ofthese features to the trade in gold, salt, food, andslaves; the growth of the Ghana and Mali empires

2. the importance of family, labor specializa-tion, and regional commerce in the development ofstates and cities in West Africa

3. the role of the trans-Saharan caravan tradein the changing religious and cultural characteristicsof West Africa, and the influence of Islamic beliefs,ethics and law

8.3 Students understand the foundation of theAmerican political system and the ways inwhich citizens participate in it, in terms of:

1. the principles and concepts codified inthe state constitutions between 1777 and 1781 thatcreate the context out of which American politicalinstitutions and ideas developed

2. how the ordinances of 1785 and 1787privatized national resources and transferredfederally owned lands into private holdings,townships and states

3. the advantages of a “common market”among the states as foreseen and protected by theConstitution’s clauses on interstate commerce,common coinage, and full-faith and credit

4. the conflicts between Thomas Jeffersonand Alexander Hamilton that resulted in theemergence of two political parties (e.g., view offoreign policy, Alien and Sedition acts, economicpolicy, National Bank, funding and assumption ofthe revolutionary debt)

5. the significance of domestic resistancemovements and ways in which the central govern-ment responded to such movements (e.g., Shays’Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion)

6. the basic law-making process and howthe design of the U.S. Constitution providesnumerous opportunities for citizens to participatein the political process and to monitor andinfluence government (e.g., function of elections,political parties, interest groups)



Fifth Gradenotes

4.3 Students explain the economic,social, and political life of Califor-nia from the establishment of theBear Flag Republic through theMexican-American War, the GoldRush and California statehood, interms of:

1. the location of Mexicansettlements in California and othersettlements including Ft. Ross andSutter’s Fort

2. comparisons of how andwhy people traveled to Californiaand the routes they traveled (e.g.,biographies and legends of JamesBeckwourth, Jedediah Smith, JohnC. Fremont, Juan Cabrillo)

3. the effect of the Gold Rushon settlements, daily life, politics,and the physical environment (e.g.,biographies of John Sutter, MarianoGuadalupe Vallejo, PhoebeApperson Hearst)

4. the immigration andmigration to California between1850 and 1900; its diverse composi-tion, the countries of origin andtheir relative locations, and theconflicts and accords among diversegroups (e.g., the 1882 ExclusionAct)

6. the influence and achieve-ments of significant leaders of thetime (e.g., biographies of AbrahamLincoln, John Marshall, AndrewJackson, Chief Tecumseh, ChiefLogan, Chief John Ross, Sequoyah)

5.4 Students understand thepolitical, religious, social, andeconomic institutions that evolvedin the colonial era, in terms of:

1. the influence of locationand physical setting on the found-ing of the original 13 colonies, theirlocation on a map along with thelocation of the American Indiannations already inhabiting theseareas

2. the major individuals andgroups responsible for the foundingof the various colonies and thereasons for their founding (e.g.,John Smith and Virginia, RogerWilliams and Rhode Island,William Penn and Pennsylvania,Lord Baltimore and Maryland,William Bradford and Plymouth,John Winthrop and Massachusetts)

3. the religious aspects of theearliest colonies (e.g., Puritanism inMassachusetts, Anglicanism inVirginia, Catholicism in Maryland,Quakerism in Pennsylvania)

5. how the practice of the Jewishreligion was modified after the destruc-tion of the second Temple in 70 A.D.,and the dispersion of the Jewishpopulation from Jerusalem and theland of Israel

6.4 Students analyze the geographic,political, economic, religious, andsocial structures of the early civiliza-tion of Ancient Greece, in terms of:

1. the connections betweengeography and the development of city-states in the region of the Aegean Sea,including patterns of trade andcommerce among Greek city-states andwithin the wider Mediterranean region

2. the transition from tyrannyand oligarchy to early democraticforms of government and back todictatorship in ancient Greece, and thesignificance of the invention of the ideaof citizenship

3. the key differences betweenAthenian or direct democracy andrepresentative democracy (e.g., drawfrom Pericles’ Funeral Oration)



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4. the growth of Arabic as a language ofgovernment, trade, and Islamic scholarship in WestAfrica

5. the importance of written and oral traditionsin the transmission of African history and culture

7.5 Students analyze the geographic, political,economic, religious, and social structures of thecivilizations of Medieval Japan, in terms of:

1. the significance of Japan’s proximity toChina and Korea and the intellectual, linguistic,religious and philosophical influence of those coun-tries on Japan

2. the reign of Prince Shotoku of Japan and thecharacteristics of Japanese society and family life

3. the values, social customs, and traditionsprescribed by the lord-vassal system consisting ofshogun, daimyo and samurai and the lasting influenceof the warrior code in the 20th century

4. the development of distinctive forms ofJapanese Buddhism

5. the ninth and tenth century golden age ofliterature, art and drama, and its lasting effects onculture today, including Murasaki Shikibu’s Tale ofGenji

6. the development of a military spciety in thelate twelfth century and the roles of the samurai

7. the function and responsibilities of a freepress

8.4 Students analyze the aspirations and idealsof the people of the new nation, in terms of:

1. its physical landscapes and politicaldivisions and the territorial expansion of the U.S.during the terms of the first four presidents

2. the policy significance of famous speeches(e.g., George Washington’s Farewell Address,Jefferson’s Inaugural, John Q. Adams Fourth ofJuly 1821 Address)

3. the rise of capitalism and the economicproblems and conflicts that arose (e.g., Jackson’sopposition to the National Bank; early decisions ofthe U.S. Supreme Court that reinforced the sanctityof contracts and a capitalist economic system oflaw)

4. the daily lives of people, including thetraditions in art, music, and literature of earlynational America (e.g., writings by WashingtonIrving, James Fenimore Cooper)

8.5 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy in theearly Republic, in terms of:

1. the political and economic causes andconsequences of the War of 1812 and the majorbattles, leaders, and events leading to a final peace



Fifth Gradenotes

5. the lives of women whohelped build early California (e.g.,biographies of Bernarda Ruiz,Biddy Mason)

6. how California became astate and how its new governmentdiffered from those during theSpanish and Mexican periods

4.4 Students explain how Califor-nia became an agricultural andindustrial power by tracing thetransformation of the Californiaeconomy and its political andcultural development since the1850’s, in terms of:

1. the story and lastinginfluence of the Pony Express,Overland Mail Service, WesternUnion, and the building of theTranscontinental Railroad, includ-ing the contributions of the Chineseworkers to its construction

2. how the Gold Rushtransformed the economy ofCalifornia, including the type ofproducts produced and consumed,changes in towns (e.g., Sacramento,San Francisco) and economicconflicts between diverse groups ofpeople

4. the significance and leadersof the First Great Awakening thatmarked a shift in religious ideas,practices and allegiances in thecolonial period; the growth ofreligious toleration and free exercise

5. how the British colonialperiod created the basis for thedevelopment of political self-government and a free marketeconomic system, unlike Spanish andFrench colonial rule

6. the introduction of slaveryinto America, the responses of slavefamilies to their condition, theongoing struggle between proponentsand opponents of slavery, and thegradual institutionalization of slaveryin the South

7. the early democratic ideasand practices that emerged duringthe colonial period, including thesignificance of representativeassemblies and town meetings

4. the significance of Greekmythology to the everyday life ofpeople in the region and how Greekliterature continues to permeate ourliterature and language today, drawingfrom Greek mythology and epics suchas the Iliad and the Odyssey and fromAesop’s Fables

5. the founding, expansion, andpolitical organization of the PersianEmpire

6. similarities and differencesbetween life in Athens and Sparta,with emphasis on their roles in thePersian and Peloponnesian Wars

7. the rise of Alexander theGreat in the North and the spread ofGreek culture eastward and into Egypt

8. the enduring contributions ofimportant Greek figures in the arts andsciences (e.g., biographies and worksof Sappho, Hypatia, Socrates, Plato,Aristotle, Euclid, Thucydides)

6.5 Students analyze the geographic,political, economic, religious, andsocial structures of the early civiliza-tions of India, in terms of:

1. the location and descriptionof the river system and physical settingthat supported the rise of this civiliza-tion



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7.6 Students analyze the geographic, political,economic, religious, and social structures of thecivilizations of Medieval Europe, in terms of:

1. the geography of the Europe and theEurasian land mass, including its location, topogra-phy, waterways, vegetation and climate and relation-ship to ways of life in ancient Europe and during theRoman Empire

2. the spread of Christianity north of the Alpsand the role played by the early Church and bymonasteries in its diffusion after the fall of Rome

3. the development of feudalism, its operationin the medieval European economy, the way in whichit was influenced by physical geography (the role ofthe manor and the growth of towns) and how feudalrelationships provided the foundation of politicalorder

4. the conflict and cooperation between thePapacy and European monarchs (e.g., Charlemagne,Gregory VII, Emperor Henry IV)

5. the significance of developments in medievalEnglish legal and constitutional practice and theirimportance in the rise of modern democratic thoughtand representative institutions (e.g., Magna Carta,parliament, development of habeas corpus, anindependent judiciary in England)

6. the causes and course of the ReligiousCrusades and the effects on Christian, Muslim andJewish populations in Europe with emphasis on theincreasing contact with the cultures of the EasternMediterranean world

2. the changing boundaries and the principalrelationships between the United States, its neigh-bors (current Mexico and Canada) and Europe,including the influence of the Monroe Doctrine,and how those relationships influenced westwardexpansion and the Mexican American War

3. the major treaties with Indian nationsduring the administrations of the first four presi-dents and their varying outcomes

8.6 Students analyze the divergent paths of theAmerican people from 1800 to the mid-1800’sand the challenges they faced, with emphasis onthe Northeast, in terms of:

1. the influence of industrialization andtechnological developments on the region, includ-ing human modification of the landscape and howphysical geography shaped human actions (e.g.,growth of cities, deforestation, farming, mineralextraction)

2. the physical obstacles to and the economicand political factors ( e.g., Henry Clay’s AmericanSystem) in building a network of roads, canals andrailroads

3. the reasons for the wave of immigrationfrom Northern Europe to the U.S. and growth in thenumber, size, and spatial arrangements of cities(e.g., Irish immigrants and the Great Irish Famine)

4. the lives of black Americans who gainedfreedom in the North and founded schools andchurches to advance black rights and communities



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3. rapid American immigra-tion, internal migration, settlement,and the growth of towns and cities(e.g., Los Angeles)

4. the effects of the GreatDepression, the Dust Bowl, andWorld War II on California

5. the development andlocation of new industries since theturn of the century, such as aero-space, electronics, large scalecommercial agriculture and irriga-tion projects, the oil and automobileindustries, communications anddefense, and important trade linkswith the Pacific Basin

6. California’s water systemand how it evolved over time into anetwork of dams, aqueducts andreservoirs

7. the history and develop-ment of California’s public educa-tion system, including universitiesand community colleges

8. the impact of 20th centuryCalifornians on the nation’s artisticand cultural development, includingthe rise of the entertainment industry(e.g., biographies of John Steinbeck,Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, WaltDisney, Louis B Mayer, and JohnWayne)

5.5 Students explain the causes ofthe American Revolution, in termsof:

1. how political, religious, andeconomic ideas and interests broughtabout the Revolution (e.g., resistanceto imperial policy, Stamp Act,Townshend Acts, tax on tea, Coer-cive Acts) 2. the significance of the firstand second Continental Congressand the Committees of Correspon-dence

3. the people and eventsassociated with the drafting andsigning of the Declaration ofIndependence and the document’ssignificance, including the keypolitical concepts it embodies, theorigins of those concepts, and its rolein severing ties with Great Britain

4. the views, lives, and impactof key individuals during this period(e.g., biographies of King George III,Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson,George Washington, BenjaminFranklin, John Adams)

2. the significance of the Aryaninvasions

3. the major beliefs andpractices of Brahmanism in India andhow they evolved into early Hinduism

4. the social structure of thecaste system

5. the life and moral teachingsof Buddha and how Buddhism spreadin India, Ceylon, and Central Asia

6. the growth of the Mauryaempire and the political and moralachievements of the emperor Asoka

7. important aesthetic andintellectual traditions (e.g., Sanskritliterature including the BhagavadGita, medicine, metallurgy, mathemat-ics including Hindu-Arabic numeralsand the zero)

6.6 Students analyze the geographic,political, economic, religious, andsocial structures of the early civili-zations of China, in terms of:

1. the location and descriptionof the origins of Chinese civilizationin the Huang-He Valley Shang dynasty



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7. mapping the spread of the Bubonic Plaguefrom Central Asia to China, the Middle East, andEurope and its impact on global population

8. the importance of the Catholic church as apolitical, intellectual and aesthetic institution (e.g.,founding of universities, the political and spiritualrole of the clergy, creation of monastic and mendicantreligious orders, preservation of Latin language andreligious texts, St. Thomas Aquinas’ synthesis ofclassical philosophy with Christian theology and theconcept of “natural law”)

9. the history of the decline of Muslim rule inthe Iberian Peninsula that culminated in the“Reconquista” and the rise of Spanish and Portu-guese kingdoms

7.7 Students compare and contrast the geographic,political, economic, religious, and social andstructures of the Mesoamerican and Andeancivilizations, in terms of:

1. the locations, landforms and climates ofMexico, Central America and South America andtheir effects upon Mayan, Aztec, and Incan econo-mies, trade, and development of urban societies

2. the roles of people in each society, includingclass structures, family life, warfare, religious beliefsand practices, and slavery 3. how and where each empire arose and howthe Aztec and Inca empires were defeated by theSpanish

4. the artistic and oral traditions and architec-ture in the three civilizations

5. the development of American publiceducation from its earliest roots, including the roleof religious and private schools, Horace Mann’scampaign for free public education and its assimi-lating role in American culture

6. the women’s suffrage movement (e.g.,biographies, writings, and speeches of ElizabethCady Stanton, Margaret Fuller, Lucretia Mott,Susan B. Anthony)

7. common themes in American art as wellas Transcendentalism and individualism (e.g.,writings about and by Emerson, Thoreau,Melville, Alcott, Hawthorne, Longfellow)

8.7 Students analyze the divergent paths of theAmerican people from 1800 to the mid-1800sand the challenges they faced, with emphasis onthe South, in terms of:

1. the development of the agrarian economyin the South, the location of the cotton producingstates and the role of cotton and the cotton gin

2. the origins and development of theinstitution of slavery; its effects on black Ameri-cans and on the region’s political, social, religious,economic, and cultural development; and thevarious attempted strategies to both overturn andpreserve it (e.g., biographies of Nat Turner,Denmark Vesey)

3. the different characteristics of whiteSouthern society and how the physical environ-ment influenced events and conditions prior to theCivil War



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5.6 Students understand thecourse and consequences of theAmerican Revolution, in terms of:

1. identifying and mappingthe major military battles, cam-paigns and turning points of theRevolutionary War, the roles of theAmerican and British leaders, andthe Indian leader alliances on bothsides

2. the contributions of Franceand other nations and individuals tothe outcome of the Revolution (e.g.,Benjamin Franklin’s negotiationswith the French, the French navy,the Treaty of Paris, The Nether-lands, Russia, Marquis de Lafayette,Kosciuszko, Baron von Steuben,)

3. the different roles womenplayed during the Revolution (e.g.,Abigail Adams, Martha Washing-ton, Molly Pitcher, Phillis Wheatley,Mercy Otis Warren)

4. the personal impact andeconomic hardship on families,problems of financing the war,wartime inflation, and laws againsthoarding and profiteering

2. the geographical features ofChina that made governance andmovement of ideas and goods difficultand served to isolate that country fromthe rest of the world

3. the life of Confucius and thefundamental teachings of Confucian-ism and Taoism

4. the political and culturalproblems prevalent in the time ofConfucius and how he sought to solvethem

5. the policies and achieve-ments of the emperor Shi Huangdi inunifying northern China under theQin dynasty

6. the political contributions ofthe Han dynasty to the development ofthe imperial bureaucratic state and theexpansion of the empire

7. the significance of the trans-Eurasian “silk roads” in the period ofthe Han and Roman empires and theirlocations

8. the diffusion of Buddhismnorthward to China during the Handynasty

4.5 Students understand thestructure, functions, and powers ofthe United States local, state andfederal governments as describedin the U.S. Constitution, in termsof:

1. what the U.S. Constitutionis and why it is important (i.e., awritten document that defines thestructure and purpose of the U.S.government; describes the sharedpowers of federal, state, and localgovernments)

2. the purpose of the stateconstitution, its key principles, andits relationship to the U.S. Constitu-tion (with an emphasis onCalifornia’s Constitution)

3. the similarities (e.g.,written documents, rule of law,consent of the governed, threeseparate branches) and differences(e.g., scope of jurisdiction, limits ongovernment powers, use of military)among federal, state, and localgovernments



notes

5. the Mesoamerican achievements in as-tronomy and mathematics, including the develop-ment of the calendar and the Mesoamerican knowl-edge of seasonal changes to the civilizations’agricultural systems

7.8 Students analyze the origins, accomplishmentsand geographic diffusion of the Renaissance, interms of:

1. the way in which the revival of classicallearning and the arts affected a new interest in“humanism” (i.e., a balance between the intellect andreligious faith)

2. the importance of Florence in the earlystages of the Renaissance and the growth of indepen-dent trading cities (e.g., Venice) with emphasis ontheir importance in the spread of Renaissance ideas 3. the effects of re-opening of the ancient “SilkRoad” between Europe and China, including MarcoPolo’s travels and the location of his routes

4. the growth and effect of ways of disseminat-ing information (e.g., the ability to manufacturepaper, translation of the Bible into the vernacular,printing)

5. advances in literature, the arts, science,mathematics, cartography, engineering, and theunderstanding of human anatomy and astronomy(e.g. biographies of Dante, da Vinci, Michelangelo,Guttenburg, Shakespeare)

4. the lives and opportunities of free-blacks in the North as compared with free-blacks inthe South

8.8 Students analyze the divergent paths of theAmerican people from 1800 to the mid-1800’sand the challenges they faced, with emphasis onthe West, in terms of:

1. the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828,the importance of Jacksonian democracy and hisactions as president (e.g., spoils system, veto ofNational bank, policy of Indian removal, oppositionto Supreme Court)

2. the purpose, challenges and economicincentives associated with westward expansionincluding the concept of Manifest Destiny (e.g.,Lewis and Clark expedition, accounts of theremoval of Indians and the Cherokees’ “Trail ofTears,” settlement of the Great Plains) and theterritorial acquisitions that spanned numerousdecades

3. the role of pioneer women and the newstatus that western women achieved (e.g., biogra-phies, journals, diaries and other original docu-ments on Laura Ingalls Wilder, Annie Bidwell,slave women gaining freedom in the West, Wyo-ming granting suffrage to women in 1869)

4. the role of the great rivers and the struggleover water rights



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5. how state constitutionsestablished after 1776 embodied theideals of the American Revolutionand helped serve as models for theU.S. Constitution

6. the significance of landpolicies developed under the Conti-nental Congress (e.g., sale of westernlands, the Northwest Ordinance of1787) and their impact on AmericanIndian land

7. how the ideals of theDeclaration of Independencechanged the way people viewedslavery

5. 7 Students relate the narrative ofthe people and events associatedwith the development of the U.S.Constitution and analyze itssignificance as the foundation ofthe American republic, in terms of:

1. the shortcomings set forthby the Articles of Confederation’scritics

2. the significance of the newConstitution of 1787, including thestruggles over its ratification and thereasons for the addition of the Bill ofRights

6.7 Students analyze the geographic,political, economic, religious, andsocial structures in the developmentof Rome, in terms of:

1. the location and rise of theRoman Republic, including suchimportant mythical and historicalfigures as Aeneas, Romulus andRemus, Cincinnatus, Julius Caesar,and Cicero

2. the character of the govern-ment of the Roman Republic and itssignificance (e.g., written constitutionand tripartite government, checks andbalances, civic duty)

3. the location of and thepolitical and geographic reasons forthe growth of Roman territories andexpansion of the empire, includinghow the Roman empire fosteredeconomic growth through the use ofcurrency and trade routes

4. the influence of Julius Caesarand Augustus in Rome’s transitionfrom republic to empire

5. the migration of Jews aroundthe Mediterranean region and theeffects of their conflict with theRomans, including the Romans’restrictions on their right to live inJerusalem

4. the structure and functionof state governments, including theroles and responsibilities of theirelected officials

1. the components of California’sgovernance structure (i.e.,cities and towns, Indianrancherias and reservations,counties, school districts)



notes

7.9 Students analyze the historical developments ofthe Reformation, in terms of:

1. the causes for the internal turmoil andweakening of the Catholic church (e.g., tax policies,selling of indulgences)

2. the theological, political, and economic ideasof the major figures during the Reformation (e.g.,Erasmus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, WilliamTindale)

3. the influence of new practices of church self-government among Protestants on the development ofdemocratic practices and ideas of federalism

4. the location and identification of Europeanregions that remained Catholic and those that becameProtestant and how the division affected the distribu-tion of religions in the New World

5. how the Counter-Reformation revitalized theCatholic church and the forces that propelled themovement (e.g., St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits,the Council of Trent)

6. the institution and impact of missionaries onChristianity and the diffusion of Christianity fromEurope to other parts of the world in the medieval andearly modern periods, including their location on aworld map

5. Mexican settlements (i.e., their loca-tions, cultural traditions, attitudes toward slavery,land-grant system, the economies they estab-lished)

6. the Texas War for Independence and theMexican-American War (i.e., territorial settle-ments, the aftermath of the wars and the effect onthe lives of Americans, including Mexican-Americans today)

8.9 Students analyze the early and steadyattempts to abolish slavery and realize theideals of the Declaration of Independence, interms of:

1. the leaders of the movement (e.g.,biographies and other literature on John QuincyAdams and his proposed constitutional amend-ment, John Brown and the armed resistance,Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad,Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Weld, WilliamLloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass)

2. how early state constitutions abolishedslavery

3. the role of the Northwest Ordinance ineducation and in banning slavery in new statesnorth of the Ohio River

4. the slavery issue as raised by theannexation of Texas and the effect of Californiacoming into the union as a free state as part of theCompromise of 1850



Fifth Gradenotes

3. the fundamental principlesof American constitutional democ-racy including how the governmentderives its power from the peopleand the primacy of individual liberty

4. how the Constitution isdesigned to secure our liberty byboth empowering and limitingcentral government; the powersgranted to the citizens, Congress,the President, the Supreme Court,those reserved to the states 5. the meaning of the Ameri-can creed that calls on citizens tosafeguard the liberty of individualAmericans within a unified nation,to respect the rule of law, and topreserve the Constitution

6. the songs that expressAmerican ideals (e.g., knowAmerica the Beautiful, The StarSpangled Banner)

6. the origins of Christianity inthe Jewish Messianic prophecies, thelife and teachings of Jesus of Nazarethas described in the New Testament, andthe contribution of St. Paul the Apostleto the definition and spread of Chris-tian beliefs (e.g., belief in the Trinity,resurrection, salvation)

7. the circumstances that led tothe spread of Christianity in Europeand other Roman territories

8. the legacies of Roman art andarchitecture, technology and science,literature, language, and law



notes

5. the significance of the States’ RightsDoctrine, Missouri Compromise (1820), WilmotProviso (1846), the Compromise of 1850, theKansas-Nebraska Act (1854), the Dred Scott case(1857), and the Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858),and Henry Clay’s role in the Missouri Compro-mise and the Compromise of 1850 6. the lives of free blacks and the laws thatcurbed their freedom and economic opportunity

8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, keyevents and complex consequences of the CivilWar, in terms of:

1. the conflicting interpretations of state andfederal authority as emphasized in the speechesand writings of statesman such as Daniel Websterand John C. Calhoun

2. the boundaries constituting “the North”and “the South”, the geographical differencesbetween the two regions, and the differencesbetween agrarians and industrialists

3. the constitutional issues posed by thedoctrine of nullification and secession and theearliest origins of that doctrine

4. Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and hissignificant writings and speeches and theirrelationship to the Declaration of Independencesuch as his “House Divided” speech (1858), theGettysburg Address (1863), the EmancipationProclamation (1863), his inaugural addresses(1861 and 1865)

7. the “Golden Age” of cooperation betweenJews and Muslims in Medieval Spain which pro-moted creativity in art, literature and science,including how it was terminated by the religiouspersecution of individuals and groups (e.g., theSpanish Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews andMuslims from Spain in 1492)

7.10 Students analyze the historical developmentsof the Scientific Revolution and its lasting effect onreligious, political and cultural institutions, interms of:

1. the roots of the scientific revolution (e.g.,Greek rationalism; Jewish, Christian and Muslimscience; Renaissance humanism, new knowledgefrom global exploration)

2. the significance of the new scientifictheories (e.g., Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton)and the significance of inventions (e.g., telescope,microscope, thermometer, barometer)

3. the scientific method advanced by Baconand Descartes, the influence of new scientificrationalism on the growth of democratic ideas andthe coexistence of science with traditional religiousbeliefs



Fifth Gradenotes

5.8 Students trace the coloniza-tion, immigration and settlementpatterns of the American peoplefrom 1789 to the mid-1800’s, withemphasis on the defining role ofeconomic incentives and theeffects of the physical and politicalgeography and transportationsystems, in terms of:

1. the waves of immigrantsfrom Europe between 1789 and1850 and their modes of transporta-tion as they advanced into the Ohioand Mississippi Valley and throughthe Cumberland Gap (e.g., overlandwagons, canals, flatboats, steam-boats)

2. the states and territories in1850, their regional locations andmajor geographical features (e.g.,mountain ranges, principal rivers,dominant plant regions)

3. the explorations of thetrans-Mississippi West following theLouisiana Purchase (e.g., draw frommaps, biographies and journals ofLewis & Clark, Zebulon Pike, JohnFremont)



notes

7.11 Students analyze political and economicchange in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eigh-teenth centuries (Age of Exploration, the Enlight-enment, and the Age of Reason), in terms of:

1. the great voyages of discovery, the locationof the routes, and the influence of cartography indeveloping a new European world view

2. the exchanges of plants, animals, technol-ogy, culture, and ideas among Europe, Africa, Asia,and the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries andthe major economic and social effects on eachcontinent

3. the origins of modern capitalism, theinfluence of mercantilism and cottage industry, theelements and importance of a market economy inseventeenth-century Europe, and the changinginternational trading and marketing patterns,including their location on a world map and theinfluence of explorers and map makers

4. how the main ideas of the Enlightenmentcan be traced back to such movements as theRenaissance, the Reformation, and the ScientificRevolution and to the Greeks, Romans, and Chris-tianity 5. how democratic thought and institutionswere influenced by Enlightenment thinkers (e.g.,Locke, Montesquieu, American founders) 6. how the principles in the Magna Carta wereembodied in such documents as the English Bill ofRights and the American Declaration of Indepen-dence

5. the views and lives of leaders andsoldiers on both sides of the war, including blacksoldiers and regiments (e.g., biographies ofUlysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee)

6. critical developments in the war, includ-ing the major battles, geographical advantagesand obstacles, technological advances, and Lee’ssurrender at Appomattox

7. how the war affected combatants, withthe largest death toll of any war in Americanhistory, and the physical devastation, the effect oncivilians, and the effect on future warfare

8.11 Students analyze the character and lastingconsequences of Reconstruction, in terms of:

1. the original aims of Reconstruction andthe effects on the political and social structure ofdifferent regions

2. the push-pull factors in the movement offormer slaves to the cities in the North and to theWest, and their differing experiences in thoseregions (e.g. the experiences of Buffalo Soldiers)

3. the effects of the Freedman’s Bureau andthe restrictions on the rights and opportunities offreedman, including racial segregation and “JimCrow” laws

4. the rise and effects of the Ku Klux Klan

5. the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenthamendments to the Constitution, and theirconnection to Reconstruction



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4. experiences on the over-land trails to the West (e.g., locationof the routes, purpose of eachjourney; the influence of terrain,rivers, vegetation, and climate; lifein the territories at the end of thesetrails)

5. the continued migration ofMexican settlers into Mexicanterritories of the West and South-west

6. how and when California,Texas, Oregon and other westernlands became part of the U.S.,including the significance of theTexas War for Independence and theMexican-American War

5.9 Students know the location ofthe current 50 states and thenames of their capitals.



notes

8.12 Students analyze the transformation of theAmerican economy and the changing social andpolitical conditions in the United States inresponse to the Industrial Revolution, in termsof:

1. patterns of agricultural and industrialdevelopment as they relate to climate, naturalresource use, markets, and trade, including theirlocation on a map

2. the reasons for the development offederal Indian policy and the Plains wars withAmerican Indians and their relationship toagricultural development and industrialization

3. how states and the federal governmentencouraged business expansion through tariffs,banking, land grants, and subsidies

4. entrepreneurs, industrialists, and bankersin politics, commerce, and industry (e.g., John D.Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Leland Stanford)

5. the location and effects of urbanization,renewed immigration, and industrialization (e.g.,effects on social fabric of cities, wealth andeconomic opportunity, and the conservationmovement)

6. child labor, working conditions, laissez-faire policies toward big business and the leadersof and the rise of the labor movement, includingcollective bargaining, strikes, and protests overlabor conditions (e.g., Samuel Gompers)



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notes 7. the new sources of large-scale immigra-tion and the contribution of immigrants to thebuilding of cities and the economy; the ways inwhich new social and economic patterns encour-aged assimilation of newcomers into the main-streamamidst growing cultural diversity; and the newwave of nativism

8. the characteristics and impact ofGrangerism and Populism

9. the significant inventors and theirinventions (e.g., biographies of Thomas Edison,Alexander Graham Bell, Orville and WilburWright) and the incentives that prompted thequality of life (e.g., inventions in transportation,communication, agriculture, industry, education,medicine)

Documents

California Academic Content Standards History/Social ... · AND GEOGRAPHY: MAKING A NEW NATION ... UNITED STATES HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY: ... (e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, climate)