11th Grade: Continuity and Change in Modern American History

1. The Beginning of American Democracy

1.1. Describe the Enlightenment and the rise of democratic ideas as the context in which the nation was founded. (HSS.11.1.1)

1.2. Analyze the ideological origins of the American Revolution and the Constitution. (HSS.11.1.2)

1.3. Understand the history of the Constitution after 1787 with emphasis on federal versus state authority and growing democratization. (HSS.11.1.3)

1.4. Examine the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction and of the industrial revolution, including demographic shifts and the emergence in the late nineteenth century of the United States as a world power. (HSS.11.1.4)

2. Rapid Changes in Culture, Economy, and Society

2.1. Describe the changing landscape, including the growth of cities linked by industry and trade, and the development of cities divided according to race, ethnicity, and class. (HSS.11.2.2)

2.2. Trace the effect of the Americanization movement. (HSS.11.2.3)

2.2.1. Entry-Level Assessment- Terms Discussion: The instructor will ask students to come up with cultural terms that may become Americanized under the movement, and list them on the board (ex. clothing, religion, family structure, etc). Once enough terms have been listed, the instructor and students will engage in a discussion on the significance of Americanization for 20th century immigrants.

2.3. Discuss corporate mergers that produced trusts and cartels and the economic and political policies of industrial leaders. (HSS.11.2.5)

2.4. Trace the economic development of the United States and its emergence as a major industrial power. (HSS.11.2.6)

2.5. Understand the effect of political programs and activities of the Progressives. (HSS.11.2.9)

3. The Rise of the US as a World Power

3.1. List the purpose and the effects of the Open Door policy. (HSS.11.4.1)

3.2. Describe the Spanish-American War and U.S. expansion in the South Pacific. (HSS.11.4.2)

3.3. Explain Theodore Roosevelt’s Big Stick diplomacy, William Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy, and Woodrow Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy. (HSS.11.4.4)

3.4. Analyze the political, economic, and social ramifications of World War I on the home front. (HSS.11.4.5)

3.5. Trace the declining role of Great Britain and the expanding role of the United States in world affairs after World War II. (HSS.11.4.6)

4. Contemporary American Society

4.1. Describe the changing roles of women in society as reflected in the entry of more women into the labor force and the changing family structure. (HSS 11.11.3)

4.2. Explain the constitutional crisis originating from the Watergate scandal. (HSS.11.11.4)

4.3. Trace the impact of, need for, and controversies associated with environmental conservation, expansion of the national park system, and the development of environmental protection laws. (HSS.11.11.5)

4.4. Analyze the persistence of poverty and how different analyses of this issue influence welfare reform, health insurance reform, and other social policies. (HSS.11.11.6)

4.5. Explain how the federal, state, and local governments have responded to demographic and social changes such as population shifts to the suburbs, racial concentrations in the cities, Frostbelt-to-Sunbelt migration, international migration, decline of family farms, increases in out-of-wedlock births, and drug abuse. (HSS.11.11.7)

5. Movements For Equality

5.1. Explain how demands of African Americans helped produce a stimulus for civil rights. (HSS.11.10.1)

5.2. Examine and analyze the key events, policies, and court cases in the evolution of civil rights. (HSS.11.10.2)

5.3. Examine the roles of civil rights advocates. (HSS.11.10.4)

5.4. Discuss the diffusion of the civil rights movement of African Americans from the churches of the rural South and the urban North, including the resistance to racial desegregation in Little Rock and Birmingham, and how the advances influenced the agendas, strategies, and effectiveness of the quests of American Indians, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans for civil rights and equal opportunities. (HSS.11.10.5)

5.5. Analyze the passage and effects of civil rights and voting rights legislation. (HSS.11.10.6)

5.6. Analyze the women’s rights movement from the era of Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the movement launched in the 1960s, including differing perspectives on the roles of women. (HSS.11.10.7)

6. The 1920s

6.1. Analyze the international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies that prompted attacks on civil liberties, including the Palmer Raids, Marcus Garvey’s “back-to-Africa” movement, the Ku Klux Klan, and immigration quotas and the responses of organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti-Defamation League to those attacks. (HSS.11.5.2)

6.2. Analyze the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and the changing role of women in society. (HSS.11.5.4)

6.3. Describe the Harlem Renaissance and new trends in literature, music, and art, with special attention to the work of writers. (HSS.11.5.5)

6.4. Trace the growth and effects of radio and movies and their role in the worldwide diffusion of popular culture. (HSS.11.5.6)

7. The Great Depression and the New Deal

7.1. Describe the monetary issues of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that gave rise to the establishment of the Federal Reserve and the weaknesses in key sectors of the economy in the late 1920s. (HSS.11.6.1)

7.2. Understand the explanations of the principal causes of the Great Depression and the steps taken by the Federal Reserve, Congress, and Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to combat the economic crisis. (HSS.11.6.2)

7.3. Discuss the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effects on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right. (HSS.11.6.3)

7.4. Analyze the effects of and the controversies arising from New Deal economic policies and the expanded role of the federal government in society and the economy since the 1930s. (HSS.11.6.4)

7.4.1. Performative Assessment- Policy Proposal: Students will be placed in groups and assigned a New Deal policy to introduce to the class in a five-minute presentation. Students will explain the policy, what it is in response to, and why it is beneficial, as well as acknowledging any counterarguments against it.

7.5. Trace the advances and retreats of organized labor, from the creation of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations to current issues of a postindustrial, multinational economy. (HSS.11.6.5)

8. America and World War II

8.1. Examine the origins of American involvement in the war, with an emphasis on the events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor. (HSS.11.7.1)

8.2. Analyze Roosevelt’s foreign policy during World War II. (HSS.11.7.4)

8.3. Discuss the constitutional issues and impact of events on the U.S. home front, including the internment of Japanese Americans (e.g., Fred Korematsu v. United States of America) and the restrictions on German and Italian resident aliens; the response of the administration to Hitler’s atrocities against Jews and other groups; the roles of women in military production; and the roles and growing political demands of African Americans. (HSS.11.7.5)

8.4. Describe major developments in aviation, weaponry, communication, and medicine and the war’s impact on the location of American industry and use of resources. (HSS.11.7.6)

8.5. Discuss the decision to drop atomic bombs and the consequences of the decision (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). (HSS.11.7.7)

9. Postwar America and Cold War Tensions

9.1. Analyze the effect of massive aid given to Western Europe under the Marshall Plan to rebuild itself after the war and the importance of a rebuilt Europe to the U.S. economy (HSS.11.7.8)

9.2. Describe the significance of Mexican immigration and its relationship to the agricultural economy, especially in California. (HSS.11.8.2)

9.3. Analyze new federal government spending on defense, welfare, interest on the national debt, and federal and state spending on education, including the California Master Plan. (HSS.11.8.4)

9.4. Describe the effects on society and the economy of technological developments since 1945. (HSS.11.8.7)

9.5. Understand the role of military alliances, including NATO and SEATO, in deterring communist aggression and maintaining security during the Cold War. (HSS.11.9.2)

9.6. Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy. (HSS.11.9.3)

9.6.1. Thematic Assessment - Metaphor Project: Students will create a thematic poster of a fictional entity that represents an integral Cold War theme (i.e. nuclear weapons, McCarthyism). Students will explain in a short essay how their creation reflects literal and thematic dimensions of the subject. This is similar to how Godzilla was created as a reflection of nuclear anxiety, and popular zombie movies as the fear of communist influence.