Social Studies
Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.
- Elie Wiesel
Why do we call it "Social Studies"?
This class is not just about "history"; it's about studying society. We'll study how and why American (and North Carolinian) society has evolved over time in relation to geography, civics and government, economics, culture and history. The point is to ask deep questions about why our society functions the way it does: not only what has happened, but why it happened and why it's relevant to our lives today.
What Will We Study This Year?
8th Grade Social Studies is all about the development of the United States and North Carolina. We'll continuously shift our focus back and forth between a broad-view of U.S. history and a closer, contextualized look at particular moments in N.C. history. Our course will begin with a study of the geography of the U.S. and N.C., then proceed chronologically from the colonization of the continent all the way through the Cold-War Era.
Units of Study
Unit 1 - Geography
Unit 2 - Natives and Newcomers (prehistory - 1715)
Unit 3 - Colonial America (1607 - 1765)
Unit 4 - American Revolution (1765 - 1783)
Unit 5 - Foundations of American Government (1783 - 1787)
Unit 6 - Expansion of an Empire (1804 - 1848)
Unit 7 - Civil War (1820 - 1865)
Unit 8 - Reconstruction (1865 - 1876)
Unit 9 - Industry and the Progressive Era (1890 - 1920)
Unit 10 - World War I (1914 - 1918)
Unit 11 - Boom and Bust (1914 - 1935)
Unit 12 - World War II (1939 - 1945)
Unit 13 - Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War (1950 - 1975)