Middle School History

6th grade Course of Study

1.) Describe the Westward Expansion and its technological, economic, and social influence on the people of the United States prior to World War I.

Examples: development of railroads, conflicts with Native Americans, location of reservations, end of frontier, Manifest Destiny
• Locating states, capitals, and important geographic features west of the Mississippi River
• Identifying major groups and individuals involved with the Westward Expansion
• Identifying groups of western settlers engaged in areas of conflict and cooperation and trading practices, including farmers, ranchers, Mormons, and Hispanics
• Analyzing the impact of closing the frontier on Native Americans
• Locating areas settled in the United States between 1877 and 1900

2.) Describe the impact of industrialization, free markets, urbanization, communication, and cultural changes in the United States prior to World War I.

• Discussing the construction of the Panama Canal
• Explaining how the United States acquired Alaska and Hawaii

 3.) Identify causes and consequences of the Spanish-American War.

• Identifying major people involved in the Spanish-American War
Examples: Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, William Gorgas
• Locating major territories that were part of the treaty ending the Spanish-American War

4.) Describe changing social conditions during the Progressive Period.

Examples: eight-hour work day, child labor laws, workmen's compensation laws
• Describing countries of origin and experiences of new immigrants to the United States
Example: Ellis Island experience
• Identifying political and social leaders of the Progressive Movement
Examples: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Robert LaFollette, Jane Addams, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, Clara Barton, Grover Cleveland
• Analyzing the impact of early civil rights movements on the lives of Americans
• Identifying cultural changes from 1900-1920 resulting from religious beliefs, industrialization, urbanization, and changes in communication and technology

5.) Identify causes of World War I and reasons for entry into the war by the United States.

• Describing the role of the United States in World War I both militarily and on the home front
• Identifying important people involved in World War I
Examples: Sergeant Alvin York, President Woodrow Wilson, Baron von Richthofen (Red Baron), Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French statesman Georges Clemenceau
• Discussing technological advances and their impact on the economy of the United States
Examples: machine gun, tank, submarine, airplane, poisonous gas, gas mask, and industrial support necessary for their manufacture
• Locating on a map or globe major countries involved in World War I and boundary changes after the war
• Explaining rejection of world leadership by the United States after World War I
Example: reaction of Congress to Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations

6.) Identify cultural and economic developments in the society of the United States from 1877 through the 1930s.

Examples: impact of Harlem Renaissance, Jazz Age, radio, movies, automobiles, flappers, household appliances, and speakeasies; Prohibition; leadership of the United States in international trade
• Discussing contributions of inventors from 1877 to World War I
Examples: George Washington Carver, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Wilbur and Orville Wright
• Describing development of the modern woman
Examples: Amelia Earhart, Zelda Fitzgerald
• Identifying notable people of the 1920s
Examples: Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Andrew Wyeth, Frederic Remington, Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, Henry Ford
• Describing results of the economic policies of the Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover Administrations
Examples: higher wages, more consumer goods, collapse of the farm economy, extension of personal credit, stock market crash

7.) Identify causes of the Great Depression.

• Describing the effect of the Great Depression on the people of the United States
Examples: closing of farms, rising unemployment, building of Hoovervilles, migration of Okies
• Locating on a map the area of the United States known as the Dust Bowl
• Describing the importance of the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States
Examples: Hundred Days, New Deal, National Recovery Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, Social Security Act, Agricultural Adjustment Act, Works Progress Administration
• Describing the impact of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on the life of Alabamians
• Locating river systems utilized by TVA

8.) List key figures, significant events, and reasons for the involvement of the United States in World War II.

Examples:
- key figures-Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Michinomiya Hirohito, Hideki Tojo;
- significant events-Battles of Normandy, Stalingrad, and Midway; Battle of the Bulge;
- reasons-Pearl Harbor, threat by Axis powers to Europe and Asia
• Locating on a map or globe countries controlled by the Axis powers from 1939-1942
• Locating on a map or globe Allied countries and key battles in World War II
• Describing the development and use of the atomic bomb
• Describing social costs associated with World War II
Examples: Holocaust, civilian and military casualties
• Explaining the importance of treaties ending World War II

9.) Identify changes in the American home front during World War II.

Examples: rationing, retooling of factories to change from production of consumer items to production of military equipment
• Describing the changing role of women in the society of the United States during World War II
Example: members of workforce, Women's Army Corps (WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and United Service Organization (USO)
• Describing the changing role of African Americans and Japanese Americans in the society of the United States during World War II
Examples: Tuskegee Airmen as a segregated military unit, separation of Japanese Americans into internment camps

 10.) Identify major social and cultural changes in the United States from 1945 to 1960.

Examples: movement to suburbs, introduction of television and rock and roll, increased birth rate during baby boom, changes in transportation due 

11.) Identify critical e11vents occurring in the United States and throughout the world from the Truman through the Johnson Administrations, including the Cold War, Berlin Airlift, Korean Conflict, space race, construction of Berlin Wall, Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam War.

• Identifying Alabama's role in the Cold War
Examples: rocket production at Redstone Arsenal, helicopter training at Fort Rucker
• Locating on a map areas of international conflict from 1945-1969

 12.) Identify components of John F. Kennedy's New Frontier and Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society.

Examples:
- New Frontier-Peace Corps, tax cuts, space program;
- Great Society-Medicare, Medicaid, War on Poverty, Job Corps, Head Start program, federal funding for education

13.) Describe the role of major civil rights leaders and significant events occurring during the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Examples:
- civil rights leaders-Rosa Parks; Martin Luther King, Jr.;
- events-Brown versus Board of Education; Montgomery bus boycott; student sit-ins; march on Washington, D.C.; Freedom Rides; Civil Rights Act of 1964; Malcolm X; voter registration efforts; Selma-to-Montgomery march

 14.) Identify cultural and economic changes throughout the United States from 1960 to the present.

Examples:
- cultural-rock and roll, antiwar protests, counter-culture, hippies, fashion, cellular telephones, rise in single-parent families;
- economic-War on Poverty, Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), inflation, budget deficits
• Describing the impact of technological and social changes on the society of the United States from 1970 to the present

 15.) Explain major political events from the Nixon Administration to the present, including the Vietnam War; Watergate; the collapse of the Soviet Union; the Gulf War; the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; and the War on Terrorism.

• Identifying important legislation created from the Nixon Administration to the present
Examples: Clean Air Act, Environmental Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, Patriot Act, Americans with Disabilities Act
• Describing the changing role of women and minorities in society from 1970 to the present
• Locating on a map sites of significant historical events occurring between 1970 and the present