Goals
- It is expected that students in elementary school will analyze events and issues in Connecticut history, geography, economics, and civics before Grade 5.
- It is expected that students in fifth grade will analyze events and issues in American history beginning with and including the first settlements in North America up to the American Revolution.
- It is expected that elementary school, middle school, and high school students will all use local and state history as a window into larger national historical themes.
- It is expected that students in elementary school, middle school, and high school will analyze a variety of viewpoints and perspectives on historical topics studied in the course of the year.
The Struggle for Freedom, Equality, and Social Justice
- Evaluate how individuals, groups, and institutions in the United States have both promoted and hindered people’s struggle for freedom, equality, and social justice.
- Analyze how the concept of the “American dream” has changed and how various groups have endeavored to reach this goal over time.
Cultural Diversity and an American National Identity
- Analyze factors that contributed to cultural diversity in the United States.
- Examine different forms of, purposes for, and impact of cultural expression in colonial America, including art, literature, and music.
- Evaluate how the media, as it existed in colonial America, influenced cultural diversity and an American national identity.
Gender Roles in Economic, Political, and Social Life
- Analyze the role of women and men in key events, such as indigenous people’s culture, early colonial settlement, and the American Revolution.
- Evaluate how the role of women and men in American society changed over time.
The Role of Connecticut in U.S. History
- Explore the history of individual Connecticut cities and towns.
- Explore how Connecticut contributed to various key events in United States history, such as cooperation and conflict between indigenous peoples and Europeans, colonial expansion, the French and Indian War, principles and ideals leading to independence from Great Britain.
- Evaluate the political, economic, and social impact of key Connecticut industries on the state and national economies
- Evaluate whether Connecticut history is representative of the larger historical context.
Economic Prosperity and Equity
- Analyze the economic causes and effects of American Revolution.
- Evaluate British and American government policies and programs designed to impact trade and income.
Indigenous Life in New England
- Explore the cultural practices of indigenous peoples in New England prior to colonization including ways of governing, gender roles, and economic systems.
- Analyze ways that cultural practices of indigenous peoples in Connecticut were similar/different than they were in surrounding regions.
- Evaluate the impact of colonization on indigenous people’s ways of life.
Europe in the 1400s and 1500s
- Explain the reasons (economic, political, social and religious) that lead people to leave Europe for the New World
- Analyze the impact of important technological innovations that allowed Europeans to travel to the Americas.
Early Settlements
- Analyze the reasons for the large number of deaths in the early settlements.
- Compare and contrast the settlements of Plymouth and Jamestown.
- Explore why the interactions with the native peoples of New England were important to the survival of the Plymouth Colony.
- Examine how the geographic features of Jamestown affected the early settlement and development of the colony.
- Explain the views that indigenous peoples had concerning land ownership and how these views were different from the views of land ownership held by Europeans.
- Evaluate the role of women in early colonial settlements.
- Analyze the earliest settlements in Connecticut and the reasons that settlers arrived in the region.
13 Colonies
- Identify how the different colonies were created (royal charter/company/split from another colony).
- Explain the different ways that various early colonies were settled.
- Compare and contrast settlements in the southern, middle, and New England colonies.