US History

This two semester course picks up after 8th grade history, which focused on focused on significant events and changes including Colonization, Revolution, Constitution and foundations of government, Westward Expansion, The Age of Jackson, The Civil War, and Reconstruction. Now we focus on significant events in the period following Reconstruction, including, but not limited to the developments leading to the United States becoming a world power, the Gilded Age and Labor Movement, immigration, the Jim Crow Era, World War I, the Roaring 20’s,Women’s Rights Movement, and the Great Depression. In the Spring we continue on to World War 2, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Digital Age, the War on Terror, and our lives today. We explore major achievements and injustices in our history and the ways war,geography, ideologies, and economics have shaped our lives. Our present will be illuminated by our past. This course seeks to place your life in the context of the major events of the last 150 years and to broaden your horizons. We will work together to improve our reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills while doing college-preparatory research. Skills include using maps, timelines, primary sources, and charts to gain an understanding of this part of American history. The understandings you gain in this course will be vital to understanding the societies of which you are a part. They also prepare you for success in US Government your senior year. Your skills as a civically engaged citizen will continue to be honed. Credit in this course is required for graduation.