US History I

Virginia Standards of Learning

Virginia Department of Education Website

Skills

USI.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical thinking, geographical analysis, economic decision making, and responsible citizenship by

1. analyzing and interpreting artifacts and primary and secondary sources to understand events in United States history; 

b) analyzing and interpreting geographic information to determine patterns and trends in United States history;

c) interpreting charts, graphs, and pictures to determine characteristics of people, places, or events in United States history;

d) using evidence to draw conclusions and make generalizations;

e) comparing and contrasting historical, cultural, and political perspectives in United States history;

f) determining relationships with multiple causes or effects in United States history; 

g) explaining connections across time and place;

h) using a decision-making model to identify the costs and benefits of a specific choice made;

i) identifying the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the ethical use of material or intellectual property; and

j) investigating and researching to develop products orally and in writing.

Geography

USI.2 The student will interpret maps, globes, photographs, pictures, or tables to

a) locate the seven continents and five oceans;

b) locate and describe major geographic regions of North America: Coastal Plain, Appalachian Mountains, Canadian Shield, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Basin and Range, and Coastal Range;

c) locate major water features and explain their importance to the early history of the United States: Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Ohio River, Columbia River, Colorado River, Rio Grande, St. Lawrence River, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico; and

d) recognize key geographic features on maps, diagrams, and/or photographs.

Exploration to Revolution: Pre-Columbian Times to the 1770s

USI.3 The student will apply social science skills to understand how early cultures developed in North America by

a) describing how archaeologists have recovered material evidence of ancient settlements, including Cactus Hill in Virginia;

b) locating where the American Indians lived, with emphasis on the Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plains (Lakota), Southwest (Pueblo), and Eastern Woodlands (Iroquois); and

c) describing how the American Indians used the resources in their environment.

USI.4 The student will apply social science skills to understand European exploration in North America and West Africa by

a) describing the motivations for, obstacles to, and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English explorations;

b) describing cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians that led to cooperation and conflict, with emphasis on the American Indian and European concept of land; and

c) identifying the location and describing the characteristics of West African societies (Ghana, Mali, and Songhai) and their interactions with traders. 

USI.5 The student will apply social science skills to understand the factors that shaped colonial America by

a) describing the religious and economic events and conditions that led to the colonization of America;

b) describing life in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies, with emphasis on how people interacted with their environment to produce goods and services; 

c) describing specialization of and interdependence among New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies;

d) describing colonial life in America from the perspectives of large landowners, farmers, artisans, merchants, women, free African Americans, indentured servants, and enslaved African Americans; and

e) explaining the political and economic relationships between the colonies and Great Britain.

Revolution and the New Nation: 1770s to the Early 1800s

USI.6 The student will apply social science skills to understand the causes and results of the American Revolution by

a) explaining the issues of dissatisfaction that led to the American Revolution;

b) describing how political ideas shaped the revolutionary movement in America and led to the Declaration of Independence;

c) describing key events and the roles of key individuals in the American Revolution, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and the Marquis de Lafayette; and

d) explaining reasons why the colonies were able to defeat Great Britain.

USI.7 The student will apply social science skills to understand the challenges faced by the new nation by

a) explaining the weaknesses and outcomes of the government established by the Articles of Confederation;

b) describing the historical development of the Constitution of the United States; and

c) describing the major accomplishments of the first five presidents of the United States.

Expansion and Reform: 1801 to 1861

USI.8 The student will apply social science skills to understand westward expansion and reform in America from 1801 to 1861 by

a) describing territorial expansion and how it affected the political map of the United States, with emphasis on the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the acquisitions of Florida, Texas, Oregon, and California;

b) explaining how geographic and economic factors influenced the westward movement of settlers;

c) explaining the impact of westward expansion on American Indians;

d) describing the impact of inventions, including the cotton gin, the reaper, the steamboat, and the steam locomotive, on life in America; and

e) explaining the main ideas of the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements.

Civil War: 1861 to 1865

USI.9 The student will apply social science skills to understand the causes, major events, and effects of the Civil War by

a) describing the cultural, economic, and constitutional issues that divided the nation;

b) explaining how the issues of states’ rights and slavery increased sectional tensions;

c) locating on a map the states that seceded from the Union and those that remained in the Union;

d) describing the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and Frederick Douglass in events leading to and during the war;

e) describing critical developments in the war, including the location of major battles; and

f) describing the effects of war from the perspectives of Union and Confederate soldiers (including African American soldiers), women, and enslaved African Americans.

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