8th Grade U.S. History
8th Grade
Social Studies
Course Description:
Students in grade eight study the ideas, issues, and events from the framing of the Constitution up to the Civil War and Industrialization. After reviewing the development of America’s democratic institutions founded on the Judeo-Christian heritage and English parliamentary traditions, particularly the shaping of the Constitution, students trace the development of American politics, society, culture, and economy and relate them to the emergence of major regional differences. They learn about the challenges facing the new nation, with an emphasis on the causes, course, and consequences of the Civil War. They make connections between the rise of industrialization and contemporary social and economic conditions.
Semester 1
From HMH United States History
Module: The English Colonies
Module: The American Revolution
Module: Forming a Government
Module: Citizenship and the Constitution
Module: Launching the Nation
Module: War and Expansion in the Americas
Module: A New National Identity
Module: The Age of Jackson
Semester 2
Note: if the following section is blank the course is 1 semester long
Module: Westward Expansion
Module: Expansion and Conflict
Module: The North
Module: The South
Module: Slavery in the United States
Module: A Divided Nation
Module: The Civil War
Module: Reconstruction
Module: The Industrial Age
Module: Immigrants and Urban Life