Arkansas 8th Grade Social Studies Standards

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4 Expansion and Reform 1801-1861

• 1 Students will analyze the period of expansion and reform in the United States.
  • Era4.1.8.1 Analyze multiple factors that affected territorial expansion and influenced the perspectives of people (e.g., Manifest Destiny, mining, War of 1812, Louisiana Purchase)
  • Era4.1.8.2 Analyze the development of regional tensions prior to the Civil War using a variety of primary and secondary sources (e.g., Industrial Revolution, expansion of slavery, immigration, westward movement)
  • Era4.1.8.3 Examine economic, political, and geographic causes and effects of territorial expansion
  • Era4.1.8.4 Analyze purposes, implementation, and effects of public policies (e.g., currency and banking, Indian Removal, disenfranchisement, economic growth, Manifest Destiny)
  • Era4.1.8.5 Evaluate actual and proposed laws as a means of addressing the issue of slavery prior to the Civil War (e.g., Fugitive Slave Act, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850)
  • Era4.1.8.6 Evaluate the historical significance of individuals, groups, and events

5 Civil War and Reconstruction 1850-1877

• 2 Students will analyze the American Civil War and Reconstruction and their effects on the social, economic, and political development of America.
  • Era5.2.8.1 Develop historical arguments and explanations of causes of the Civil War using a variety of sources from multiple perspectives (e.g., federal government vs. state’s rights, sectionalism, cultural differences between the North and South, abolitionism)
  • Era5.2.8.2 Explain ways economic decisions affected individuals, businesses, and society during the course of the Civil War and over time
  • Era5.2.8.3 Analyze social and economic effects of the Civil War on America
  • Era5.2.8.4 Analyze the historical significance of selected Civil War battles, events, and people
  • Era5.2.8.5 Evaluate the legacy of the Civil War on the nation
  • Era5.2.8.6 Evaluate successes and failures of Reconstruction (e.g., Reconstruction Plans, Freedman’s Bureau, Civil War Amendments, African- American economic positions, sharecropping, crop liens, public education, African- American role in government)

6 Development of the Industrial United States 1870- 1900

• 3 Students will analyze the development of the industrial United States and the economic and cultural transformation that led to modern America.
  • Era6.3.8.1 Analyze economic, geographic, and technological growth associated with the Second Industrial Revolution and its impact on American society
  • Era6.3.8.2 Examine the effects of immigration after 1870 (e.g., social patterns, national unity, cultural diversity, conflicts)
  • Era6.3.8.3 Analyze the historical significance of individuals, groups, and events
  • Era6.3.8.4 Examine government policies and laws that addressed the escalating labor conflicts and the rise of labor unions using primary and secondary sources
  • Era6.3.8.5 Analyze responses to social, economic, and political issues prior to 1900 (e.g., successes and failures of Populism, economic depressions, civil service reform, Tammany Hall, business regulations)
  • Era6.3.8.6 Evaluate federal Indian policy, westward expansion, and the resulting struggles from a variety of perspectives using multiple sources
  • Era6.3.8.7 Explain the origins and development of American expansionism (e.g., acquisition of new territories, Spanish-American War, expansionist foreign policy, Filipino insurrection)