8th Grade Social Studies Unit 2

Big Idea:

People of the American Revolution tended to justify their actions based on ideals and principles.

Student Expectations:

Priority TEKS

8.15(C) [Readiness] identify colonial grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence and explain how those grievances were addressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and

8.4(A) [Readiness] analyze causes of the American Revolution, including the Proclamation of 1763, the Intolerable Acts, the Stamp Act, mercantilism, lack of representation in Parliament, and British economic policies following the French and Indian War;

8.4(B) [Supporting] explain the roles played by significant individuals during the American Revolution, including Abigail Adams, John Adams, Wentworth Cheswell, Samuel Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, James Armistead, Benjamin Franklin, Bernardo de Gálvez, Crispus Attucks, King George III, Haym Salomon, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Paine, and George Washington;

8.4(C) [Readiness] explain the issues surrounding important events of the American Revolution, including declaring independence; writing the Articles of Confederation; fighting the battles of Lexington, Concord, Saratoga, and Yorktown; enduring the winter at Valley Forge; and signing the Treaty of Paris of 1783;

Focus TEKS

8.1(A) [Readiness] identify the major eras and events in U.S. history through 1877, including colonization, revolution, drafting of the Declaration of Independence, creation and ratification of the Constitution, religious revivals such as the Second Great Awakening, early republic, the Age of Jackson, westward expansion, reform movements, sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction, and describe their causes and effects;

8.1(C) [Supporting] explain the significance of the following dates: 1607, founding of Jamestown; 1620, arrival of the Pilgrims and signing of the Mayflower Compact; 1776, adoption of the Declaration of Independence; 1787, writing of the U.S. Constitution; 1803, Louisiana Purchase; and 1861-1865, Civil War.

8.2(A) [Readiness] identify reasons for European exploration and colonization of North America;

8.11(A) [Readiness] analyze how physical characteristics of the environment influenced population distribution, settlement patterns, and economic activities in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries;

8.11(C) [Supporting] describe how different immigrant groups interacted with the environment in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

8.12(A) [Supporting] identify economic differences among different regions of the United States;

8.12(B) [Readiness] explain reasons for the development of the plantation system, the transatlantic slave trade, and the spread of slavery;

8.19(A) [Readiness] define and give examples of unalienable rights;

8.20(A) [Supporting] explain the role of significant individuals such as Thomas Hooker, Charles de Montesquieu, John Locke, William Blackstone, and William Penn in the development of self-government in colonial America;

8.20(C) [Supporting] analyze reasons for and the impact of selected examples of civil disobedience in U.S. history such as the Boston Tea Party and Henry David Thoreau's refusal to pay a tax.

8.21(B) [Supporting] describe the importance of free speech and press in a constitutional republic; and

8.22(B) [Supporting] describe the contributions of significant political, social, and military leaders of the United States such as Frederick Douglass, John Paul Jones, James Monroe, Stonewall Jackson, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

8.23(E) identify the political, social, and economic contributions of women to American society.

8.25(A) trace the development of religious freedom in the United States;

8.25(B) describe religious motivation for immigration and influence on social movements, including the impact of the first and second Great Awakenings; and

Ongoing TEKS

8.1(B) [Supporting] apply absolute and relative chronology through the sequencing of significant individuals, events, and time periods; and

8.10(A) [Supporting] locate places and regions of importance in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries;

8.10(B) [Readiness] compare places and regions of the United States in terms of physical and human characteristics;

8.23(D) [Supporting] analyze the contributions of people from various racial, ethnic, and religious groups to our national identity.

8.29(A) differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such as computer software, databases, media and news services, biographies, interviews, and artifacts to acquire information about the United States;

8.29(B) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions;

8.29(C) organize and interpret information from outlines, reports, databases, and visuals, including graphs, charts, timelines, and maps;

8.29(G) evaluate the validity of a source based on language, corroboration with other sources, and information about the author;

8.30(B) use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, and proper citation of sources;

8.30(C) transfer information from one medium to another, including written to visual and statistical to written or visual, using computer software as appropriate; and

8.30(D) create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information.

8.31(A) use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of a solution.

Student Learning Targets:

• I will identify events that caused the American Revolution and explain the both Parliaments and the Colonist response to those events.
• I will explain the role that certain key figures played in the American Revolution.
• I will outline the effects of the major battles of the American Revolution and their impact on both the colonies and England.
• I will identify the ideas that influenced the American Declaration of Independence.

Essential Questions:

• Was the American Revolution avoidable?
• How can different individuals impact an entire war?
• How did different battles of Bunker Hill, Saratoga, the winter of Valley Forge, and the Battle of Yorktown affect the outcome of the war?
• How did Thomas Jefferson take the ideas of John Locke and make them his own?

Extra Information:

Adopted Textbook: Texas US History: Early Colonial - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

District Grading Policy

Texas Gateway Online Resource Center