CTECS Modern U.S. History Curriculum

Unit 1:

Reconstruction and the Gilded Age

Unit Goals

Guiding Questions

- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the key events, themes, and developments in modern U.S. history from 1870-1900.
- Students will analyze primary and secondary sources to interpret historical events and draw connections between them.
- Students will critically evaluate the impact of major social, political, economic, and cultural changes in modern U.S. history during the Reconstruction Era and Gilded Age.
- Students will compare and contrast different historical perspectives on significant events, movements, and figures.
- Students will effectively synthesize information gathered from multiple sources to support their historical interpretations and arguments.
- Students will communicate their historical understanding and analysis effectively through oral presentations, written essays, and/or multimedia projects.
- Students will engage in respectful and constructive discussions with peers, sharing and defending their interpretations of historical events and themes.
- Students will reflect on the ways in which historical events have shaped contemporary issues and debates in American society.

Is the United States a just society and how has the concept of justice evolved over time?
How have conceptions of liberty, equality, and justice changed over time?
What strategies did people use to fight racism?
What strategies do people use today? What works best?
How does understanding the Lost Cause and the rise of Jim Crow affect your opinion about the Confederate monuments debate?
How does the controversy over Confederate monuments today illustrate ongoing disagreements about race and history?

Standards Alignment (2023, CT State Standards)

His.16.US.a. Analyze the competing goals for moderate and radical Reconstruction using evidence from multiple relevant historical sources (e.g., 14th and 15th Amendment, Dred Scott Decision).

Civ.5.US.a. Evaluate the effectiveness of state and federal government in upholding the Reconstruction Amendments (e.g., Black Codes, Enforcement Acts, Jim Crow laws).

Civ.13.US.a. Evaluate intended and unintended outcomes of Reconstruction plans and policies in terms of rebuilding a shared national identity (e.g., Compromise of 1877, Freedmen’s Bureau, Reconstruction Amendments, Reconstruction Treaties).

Civ.14.US.a. Analyze the historical context of racism, racial terrorism, and challenges to reconciliation between the United States and the former Confederacy.

His.4.US.a. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of individuals and groups regarding social, economic, and political issues of the Gilded Age (e.g., environmentalism, immigration, labor, nativism, urbanization, western expansion).

His.12.US.a. Develop questions about the rise of and reactions to immigration in the late 19th century.

Eco.12.US.a. Evaluate the impact of laissez-faire economic policies regarding labor conditions and corporate decision making.

His.10.US.a. Describe how individual and group perspectives about gender in the Gilded Age are documented in historical records while noting possible limitations (e.g., journals, letters, newspaper articles, pamphlets).