Eighth Grade U.S. History- Resources

Eighth Grade – U.S. History

8.1 Examine major aspects of the
development of the United States from
Exploration to 1754.

4. Describe how the English Bill of Rights, Mayflower Compact, and Virginia
House of Burgesses led to the English Colonial idea of self-government.

The Virginia Company (BB) Assessment

Signing of the Mayflower Compact (BB) Assessment

8.2 Evaluate the key people, factors and
events which led to the American
Revolution and the establishment of the
United States government.

1. Analyze the causes and consequences of the French and Indian War.

2. Recognize the major reasons for English taxes after the French and Indian
War and colonial responses from 1763-1774 (e.g., Proclamation of 1763,
Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre, Tea Act, Boston
Tea Party, Intolerable Acts, etc.).

3. Identify key figures in the Revolutionary Era and their influence on the
movement (e.g., George Washington, Samuel Adams, Crispus Attucks, John
Adams, John Hancock, Mercy Otis Warren, etc.).

4. Compare and contrast the decisions of the first and second Continental
Congresses.

5. Explain the historical and present-day significance of the Declaration of
Independence.

6. Examine the immediate events that led to the first shot of the Revolutionary War
(e.g., Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, etc.).

7. Examine the significance of the major battles in the Revolutionary War (e.g.,
Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Quebec, Charleston, Valley Forge,
Cowpens, etc.).

8. Evaluate the terms of the Treaty of Paris, 1783

Seven Years War (BB) Assessment

Washington Crosses the Delaware (BB) Assessment

Alexander Hamilton – Primary Source Set

8.3 Examine the development of the
Constitution of the United States of
America.

1. Describe the powers given to the Continental Congress by the Articles of
Confederation.

2. Analyze the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that led to a call for
a new constitution.

3. Identify the major compromises at the Constitutional Convention.

4. Describe the framework of the United States Constitution, including powers
of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches.

5. Describe the process of a bill becoming a law.

6. Describe the compromises between Federalists and Anti-Federalists that led
to the creation of the Bill of Rights.

The Constitution – Primary Source Set

Alexander Hamilton – Primary Source Set

Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln: Three Great Presidents (specifically, material on Washington and Jefferson)- Primary Source Set

8.4 Analyze the challenges and central ideas
involved in creating the new nation.

5. Examine the development and impact of early foreign policy decisions on
the United States (e.g., French Revolution, Neutrality Proclamation, War of
1812, etc.).

The War of 1812 (BB) Assessment

Treaty between the United States of America and the French Republic, April 30, 1803

8.5 Interpret the geographical, social, and
political causes, effects, and challenges
of westward expansion.

5. Summarize Andrew Jackson’s role in the expansion of the United States (e.g. , Jacksonian Era, “Corrupt Bargain”, Democratic Party, Bank War, Nullification
Crisis, Indian Removal, etc.).

6. Examine the motivations and consequences of the Indian Removal Act (e.g.,
Cherokee “Trail of Tears”, etc.).

The Case of the Clock (BB) Assessment

Westward Expansion: Encounters at a Cultural Crossroads – Primary Source Set

The Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition– Primary Source Set

8.6 Interpret the causes, effects, and
challenges of the Industrial Revolution.

1. Summarize the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.

2. Identify key people and their contributions to the Industrial Revolution.

3. Trace the development of transportation and communication systems
during the Industrial Revolution.

4. Compare and contrast the cultural, religious, and social impact of the
Industrial Revolution on America.

5. Assess how geography influenced the location of factories.

Photographs of Working Children (BB) Assessment

Children Working in Mines (BB) Assessment

Lewis Hine (BB) Assessment

The Industrial Revolution in the United States – Primary Source Set

8.7 Evaluate the impact of social and
political reforms on the development of
American society.

1. Examine abolitionists’ role in bringing attention to the impact of slavery on
the nation (e.g., Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher
Stowe, etc.).

3. Compare and contrast the philosophies of natural rights expressed in the
Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Sentiments (e.g., “all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights”, etc.).

4. Examine leaders of the Women’s Suffrage Movement and their goals and
strategies (e.g., Dorothea Dix, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan
B. Anthony, etc.).

John Brown’s Legacy (BB) Assessment

Declaration of Independence (BB) Assessment

Women’s Rights (BB) Assessment

The Role of Women (BB) Assessment

Women’s Suffrage – Primary Source Set

Women in the News: Air Force Women Mechanics, 1950. 1:44

Portrait of Harriet Tubman

“Shall I trust these men, and not this man?” August 5, 1865.

“Confederate camp” during the late American war, 1871.

29th Regiment from Connecticut, 1864.

8.8 Assess the social and economic conflicts
between the North and South that led to
the American Civil War.

1. Trace the origins and development of slavery in the United States.

2. Describe the impact of the Industrial Revolution in northern states.

3. Evaluate the importance of agriculture in southern states.

4. Analyze the impact of the cotton gin on all social classes.

5. Examine impact of slavery on the nation’s political, social, religious,
economic, and cultural development.

6. Identify major legislation and Supreme Court decisions that strived to both
overturn and preserve slavery resulting in sectional strife (e.g., Missouri,
Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Acts, Kansas-Nebraska
Act, Underground Railroad, Dred Scott, etc.).

African American Workers (BB) Assessment

Slave Quarters (BB) Assessment

John Brown (BB) Assessment

Defender of Slavery (BB) Assessment

Antebellum South (BB) Assessment

The Civil War: The Nation Moves Towards War, 1850-61 – Primary Source Set

Abraham Lincoln: Rise to National Prominence – Primary Source Set

Civil War Images: Depictions of African Americans in the War Effort– Primary Source Set

Civil War Music– Primary Source Set

8.9 Identify key people and evaluate the
significant events of the American Civil
War.

1. Analyze the reasons for the Civil War (e.g., slavery, states’ rights, etc.).

2. Examine key battles and plans which shaped decisions for the North and the
South (e.g., Fort Hood, First Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam, Vicksburg,
Gettysburg, Sherman March, Anaconda Plan, etc.).

Attack on Fort Sumter (BB) Assessment

Morale after Fredericksburg (BB) Assessment

Gander’s Civil War Photography (BB) Assessment

Pickett’s Charge (BB) Assessment

Civil War Soldiers’ Portraits: The Liljenquist Family Collection – Primary Source Set

Civil War Images: Depictions of African Americans in the War Effort – Primary Source Set

Civil War Music– Primary Source Set

8.10 Analyze the Reconstruction efforts in the
post-Civil War United States.

2. Analyze southern resistance to Reconstruction reforms (e.g., Black Codes,
Jim Crow Laws, Ku Klux Klan, etc.).

3. Trace the economic changes in the post- Civil War South (e.g., Lincoln’s
Plan, Wade-Davis Bill, Johnson’s Plan, Radical Reconstruction, etc.).

Post-Civil War South (BB) Assessment

Reconstruction Riots (BB) Assessment