United States History: 1865 to the Present

From the Virginia Department of Education

Skills

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

a) 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 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

USII.2 The student will use maps, globes, photographs, pictures, or tables for

a) explaining how physical features and climate influenced the movement of people westward;

b) explaining relationships among natural resources, transportation, and industrial development after 1865; and

c) locating the 50 states and the cities most significant to the development of the United States and explaining what makes those cities significant.

Reconstruction: 1865 to 1877

USII.3 The student will apply social science skills to understand the effects of Reconstruction on American life by 

a) analyzing the impact of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and how they changed the meaning of citizenship;

b) describing the impact of Reconstruction policies on the South and North; and

c) describing the legacies of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Frederick Douglass. 

Reshaping the Nation and the Emergence of Modern America: 1877 to the Early 1900s

USII.4 The student will apply social science skills to understand how life changed after the Civil War by 

a) examining the reasons for westward expansion, including its impact on American Indians;

b) explaining the reasons for the increase in immigration, growth of cities, and challenges arising from this expansion;

c) describing racial segregation, the rise of “Jim Crow,” and other constraints faced by African Americans and other groups in the post-Reconstruction South;

d) explaining the impact of new inventions, the rise of big business, the growth of industry, and the changes to life on American farms in response to industrialization; and

e) evaluating and explaining the impact of the Progressive Movement on child labor, working conditions, the rise of organized labor, women’s suffrage, and the temperance movement.

Turmoil and Change: 1890s to 1945

USII.5 The student will apply social science skills to understand the changing role of the United States from the late nineteenth century through World War I by

a) explaining the reasons for and results of the Spanish-American War;

b) describing Theodore Roosevelt’s impact on the foreign policy of the United States; and

c) evaluating and explaining the reasons for the United States’ involvement in World War I and its international leadership role at the conclusion of the war.

USII.6 The student will apply social science skills to understand the social, economic, and technological changes of the early twentieth century by

a) explaining how developments in factory and labor productivity, transportation (including the use of the automobile), communication, and rural electrification changed American life and standard of living;

b) describing the social and economic changes that took place, including prohibition and the Great Migration north and west;

c) examining art, literature, and music from the 1920s and 1930s, with emphasis on Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Georgia O’Keeffe, and the Harlem Renaissance; and

d) analyzing the causes of the Great Depression, its impact on Americans, and the major features of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

USII.7 The student will apply social science skills to understand the major causes and effects of American involvement in World War II by

a) explaining the causes and events that led to American involvement in the war, including the attack on Pearl Harbor;

b) locating and describing the major events and turning points of the war in Europe and the Pacific; and

c) explaining and evaluating the impact of the war on the home front.

The United States since World War II

USII.8 The student will apply social science skills to understand the economic, social, and political transformation of the United States and the world between the end of World War II and the present by

a) describing the rebuilding of Europe and Japan after World War II, the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers, and the establishment of the United Nations;

b) describing the conversion from a wartime to a peacetime economy;

c) examining the role of the United States in defending freedom during the Cold War, including the wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Cuban missile crisis, the collapse of communism in Europe, and the rise of new challenges;

d) describing the changing patterns of society, including expanded educational and economic opportunities for military veterans, women, and minorities; and

e) evaluating and explaining the impact of international trade and globalization on American life.

USII.9 The student will apply social science skills to understand the key domestic and international issues during the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries by

a) examining the impact of the Civil Rights Movement, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the changing role of women on all Americans;

b) describing the development of new technologies in communication, entertainment, and business and their impact on American life;

c) analyzing how representative citizens have influenced America scientifically, culturally, academically, and economically; and

d)evaluating and explaining American foreign policy

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