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    Unit 1: Foundations of A New Nation: Eighth Grade Social Studies: Integrated United States History

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    This unit focuses on the foundations of the United States government established in key documents like the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Students will analyze how political ideas and colonial experiences influenced these documents. They will examine debates at the Constitutional Convention around distributing political powers between federal and state governments and on issues like individual rights and slavery. The unit sets up how these founding debates continue shaping government and policies throughout American history.

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    Unit 1: Foundations of A New Nation: Eighth Grade Social Studies: Integrated United States History

    Uploaded by

    api-134134588
    101 views5 pages
    This unit focuses on the foundations of the United States government established in key documents like the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Students will analyze how political ideas and colonial experiences influenced these documents. They will examine debates at the Constitutional Convention around distributing political powers between federal and state governments and on issues like individual rights and slavery. The unit sets up how these founding debates continue shaping government and policies throughout American history.

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    This unit focuses on the foundations of the United States government established in key documents like the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Students will analyze how political ideas and colonial experiences influenced these documents. They will examine debates at the Constitutional Convention around distributing political powers between federal and state governments and on issues like individual rights and slavery. The unit sets up how these founding debates continue shaping government and policies throughout American history.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    101 views5 pages

    Unit 1: Foundations of A New Nation: Eighth Grade Social Studies: Integrated United States History

    Uploaded by

    api-134134588
    This unit focuses on the foundations of the United States government established in key documents like the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Students will analyze how political ideas and colonial experiences influenced these documents. They will examine debates at the Constitutional Convention around distributing political powers between federal and state governments and on issues like individual rights and slavery. The unit sets up how these founding debates continue shaping government and policies throughout American history.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    Eighth Grade Social Studies: Integrated United States History

    Unit 1: Foundations of a New Nation1


    Big Picture Organizer
    Overarching Question:

    How do people and conditions interact to bring about change?


    Previous Unit:

    Seventh Grade Social


    Studies

    This Unit:

    Foundations of a New Nation

    Next Unit:

    Challenges to an
    Emerging Nation

    Questions To Focus Assessment and Instruction:

    1. How are political and philosophical ideas and the experiences of the colonists and Founders
    reflected in the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, United States
    Constitution, and the Bill of Rights?
    2. How did the concept of freedom influence critical issues debated at the Constitutional
    Convention (e.g., distribution of political power, conduct of foreign affairs, rights of individuals,
    rights of states, election of the executive, and slavery)?

    1 Note: The events of the American Revolution, including battles fought, are the subject of
    the 5th grade content expectations and are not part of the 8th grade curriculum. This unit is
    intended to emphasize the political and intellectual basis of the U.S. Constitution.

    Graphic Organizer

    High School Foundations (See USHG F1.1 and F1.2)


    Identify the core ideals of American society as reflected in the documents below and
    analyze how American society moved toward or away from its core ideals
    Declaration of Independence
    the U.S. Constitution (including the Preamble)
    Bill of Rights
    Using the American Revolution and the creation and adoption of the Constitution as
    touchstones, develop an argument/narrative about the changing character of American
    political society by discussing
    the birth of republican government, including the rule of law, inalienable rights,
    equality, and limited government
    the competing views of the responsibilities of governments (federal, state, and
    local).

    Public Issues (See 6.2)

    Balance of Power:
    Distribution of power
    among central
    government, state
    governments, and the
    people.

    Liberty vs. Security:


    Competing interests of
    liberty and security

    Unit Abstract:
    This unit builds the constitutional foundation for the study of nineteenth century American history.
    Throughout the unit students analyze the evolution of political thought that resulted in the adoption
    of the Constitution. Students begin their studies by exploring what life would be like without
    government. Using ideas from the Age of Enlightenment, they apply the natural rights philosophy
    and the social contract theory to examine the purposes of government and the meaning of a
    constitutional form of government. Next, students build upon what they learned in elementary
    school and develop more sophisticated understandings of colonial ideas about government and
    how the relationship between Great Britain and her colonies changed after the French and Indian
    War.2 As students examine the mounting tensions between Great Britain and its colonies, they
    reconsider concepts such as limited government, liberty under the rule of law (republicanism), and
    representative government. Using the Declaration of Independence as a touchstone, they
    examine how ideas from the Age of Enlightenment, the colonists experiences with selfgovernment, and the changing interactions with Great Britain resulted in the colonists decision to
    declare independence. After exploring the colonists arguments in the Declaration, students learn
    how to write their own historical argument using evidence to support their assertions. Students
    then analyze the reasons for the adoption and subsequent failure of the Articles of Confederation.
    They use primary and secondary sources to examine the issues debated at the Constitutional
    Convention and analyze how and why the Framers resolved or compromised major concerns. In
    doing so, students examine the structure and functioning of the United States government under
    the Constitution through the principles of checks and balances, separation of powers, federalism,
    limited government, and popular sovereignty. By investigating the branches of government with
    particular focus on the powers, limits, structure, and function of each, students learn how the
    Constitution dramatically increased the powers of the central government in comparison to the
    Articles of Confederation. Students then examine the reasons for the inclusion of the Bill of Rights
    by exploring the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists over ratification of the
    Constitution. This unit sets the foundation for the course as students continue to explore the
    question: How have critical issues debated at the Constitutional Convention influenced
    government and policy throughout United States history?

    2 The French and Indian War is more commonly referenced in the academic world as the Seven
    Years War.

    Focus Questions
    1. How are political and philosophical ideas and the experiences of the colonists and Founders
    reflected in the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, United States
    Constitution, and the Bill of Rights?
    2. How did the concept of freedom influence critical issues debated at the Constitutional
    Convention (e.g., distribution of political power, conduct of foreign affairs, rights of
    individuals, rights of states, election of the executive, and slavery)?
    Content Expectations
    8 U3.3.7:Using important documents (e.g., Mayflower Compact, Common Sense, Declaration of
    Independence, Northwest Ordinance, Federalists Papers), describe the historical and
    philosophical origins of constitutional government in the United States using the
    ideas of social compact3, limited government, natural rights, right of revolution,
    separation of powers, bicameralism, republicanism, and popular participation in
    government.
    8 - F1.1:Describe the ideas, experiences, and interactions that influenced the colonists decisions
    to declare independence by analyzing
    colonial ideas about government (e.g., limited government, republicanism,
    protecting individual rights and promoting the common good, representative
    government, natural rights)
    experiences with self-government (e.g., House of Burgesses and town meetings)
    changing interactions with the royal government of Great Britain after the French
    and Indian War.
    8 - F1.2:

    8 - F1.3:

    Using the Declaration of Independence, including the grievances at the end of the
    document, describe the role this document played in expressing
    colonists views of government
    their reasons for separating from Great Britain.
    Describe the consequences of the American Revolution by analyzing the
    birth of an independent republican government
    creation of Articles of Confederation
    changing views on freedom and equality
    and concerns over distribution of power within [and between] governments,
    between government and the governed, and among people. 4

    8 U3.3.1:Explain the reasons for the adoption and subsequent failure of the Articles of
    Confederation (e.g., why its drafters created a weak central government, challenges
    the nation faced under the Articles, Shays Rebellion, disputes over western land).
    3 This expectation uses the phrase social compact. This unit uses the term social contract as
    interchangeable with social compact since many sources refer to it as a contract rather than
    compact.
    4 Since much of the early history of the republic centers around the distribution of power between
    central and state governments, this document includes that idea in the expectation.

    8 U3.3.2:

    Identify [the major] economic and political questions facing the nation during the
    period of the Articles of Confederation and the opening of the Constitutional
    Convention.

    8 U3.3.3:

    Describe the major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention including


    distribution of political power, conduct of foreign affairs, rights of individuals, rights of
    states, election of the executive, and slavery.5

    8 U3.3.4:Explain how the new constitution resolved (or compromised) the major issues including
    sharing, separating, and checking of power among federal government institutions,
    dual sovereignty (state-federal power) 6, rights of individuals, the Electoral College 7,
    the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the Great Compromise.
    8 U3.3.5:Analyze the debates over the ratification of the Constitution from the perspectives of
    Federalists and Anti-Federalists and describe how the states ratified the Constitution.
    8 U3.3.6:

    Explain how the Bill of Rights reflected the concept of limited government, protections
    of basic freedoms, and the fear of many Americans of a strong central government.

    Key Concepts
    Articles of Confederation
    Declaration of Independence
    distribution of power
    federalism
    Federalists/Anti-Federalists
    individual rights
    limited government
    philosophical and historical origins of the Constitution
    popular sovereignty
    primary and secondary sources
    right of revolution
    rule of law
    U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights

    5 The phrase as a regional and federal issue has been removed from the expectation for the
    purposes of historical accuracy and clarity.
    6 Although it is often described as dual sovereignty, it is really popular sovereignty with powers
    distributed to different governments and branches of government.
    7 In this instance, the reference to the Electoral College represents the concept of limits on
    democracy.

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