United States · Common Core State Standards
11th Grade US History
A comprehensive study of the United States from colonial foundations to the contemporary era, focusing on political, social, and economic developments that shaped the American identity.

01Foundations of the American Republic
Exploring the collision of cultures in North America and the intellectual origins of American self-government.
Examine the diversity of Native American cultures and societies across North America prior to European arrival.
Investigate the motivations and consequences of early European exploration and the establishment of initial colonies.
Examine the challenges and adaptations of the first permanent English settlements, focusing on Jamestown.
Explore the religious motivations and social structures of the Puritan colonies in New England.
Investigate the origins, mechanics, and brutal impact of the transatlantic slave trade on Africa and the Americas.
Examine the distinct economic systems and labor practices that developed across the British colonies.
Explore the religious revival movement of the 1730s and 1740s and its social and political consequences.
Investigate the influence of European Enlightenment philosophers on American political thought and revolutionary ideals.
Examine the causes and consequences of the French and Indian War, focusing on its impact on British-colonial relations.
Explore the series of British acts (Stamp Act, Townshend Acts) and colonial resistance leading to revolution.
Analyze the philosophical underpinnings and political significance of the Declaration of Independence.
Examine the military strategies, major battles, and critical turning points of the American Revolutionary War.
Investigate the first governing document of the United States and its weaknesses in addressing national challenges.
Explore the debates and compromises that shaped the U.S. Constitution, including those over slavery and representation.
Examine the arguments for and against ratification of the Constitution and the role of The Federalist Papers.

02Expansion, Reform & Sectionalism
The transformation of the American landscape and the growing divide over the institution of slavery.
Analyze the challenges faced by the first president and the precedents he set for the executive branch.
Explore Alexander Hamilton's economic policies and their impact on the early republic.
Examine the emergence of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties and early foreign policy challenges.
Investigate Thomas Jefferson's presidency, including the Louisiana Purchase and its constitutional implications.
Explore landmark Supreme Court cases under Chief Justice John Marshall, focusing on Marbury v. Madison.
Examine the causes, key events, and consequences of the War of 1812, including its impact on national identity.
Investigate the period of national unity after the War of 1812 and the emerging sectional divisions.
Explore the expansion of voting rights for white men and the rise of Andrew Jackson's populist appeal.
Examine the policies of Indian Removal, the Supreme Court's role, and the forced migration of Native Americans.
Investigate the conflict between Andrew Jackson and South Carolina over tariffs and states' rights.
Explore the religious revival of the early 19th century and its connection to various social reform movements.
Examine the origins of the women's rights movement and the significance of the Seneca Falls Convention.
Investigate the early phases of the abolitionist movement, including gradual emancipation efforts.
Explore the rise of radical abolitionism, figures like William Lloyd Garrison, and the power of slave narratives.
Examine the ideology of Manifest Destiny and its role in driving American territorial expansion.

03Civil War & Reconstruction
The struggle to preserve the Union and the unfinished revolution of racial equality.
Investigate the causes and consequences of the Mexican-American War and its impact on U.S. territory.
Explore the economic transformation of the early 19th century driven by new technologies and infrastructure.
Examine the beginnings of industrialization in the United States, focusing on the Lowell System and factory labor.
Investigate the Compromise of 1850 and how its provisions, especially the Fugitive Slave Act, intensified sectional conflict.
Explore the Kansas-Nebraska Act, popular sovereignty, and the violent conflict known as 'Bleeding Kansas'.
Examine the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry as catalysts for war.
Investigate the presidential election of 1860, its results, and the subsequent secession of Southern states.
Examine the attack on Fort Sumter, the formation of the Confederacy, and initial Union and Confederate strategies.
Explore major battles like Antietam and Gettysburg and their strategic and political significance.
Investigate the Emancipation Proclamation and how it transformed the moral and strategic aims of the Civil War.
Examine the critical role of African American soldiers, such as the 54th Massachusetts, in the Union Army.
Explore the impact of the Civil War on civilians in both the North and South, and the suspension of civil liberties.
Investigate the concept of 'total war' and its application by generals like Sherman, leading to Union victory.
Examine the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson's approach to Reconstruction.
Explore the Radical Republican agenda, Congressional Reconstruction, and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

04Industrialization & the Gilded Age
The rise of big business, the labor movement, and the closing of the Western frontier.
Investigate the efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau and the rise of African American political participation during Reconstruction.
Examine the economic system of sharecropping and its role in perpetuating poverty and racial inequality.
Investigate the origins and methods of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups during Reconstruction.
Examine the Compromise of 1877 and its role in ending Reconstruction and ushering in the Jim Crow era.
Investigate the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision and its establishment of 'separate but equal'.
Explore the various methods used to disenfranchise Black voters and the widespread implementation of Jim Crow laws.
Examine the activism of Ida B. Wells and the fight against lynching in the Jim Crow South.
Investigate the technological innovations and industrial expansion that characterized the late 19th century.
Examine the business practices and legacies of industrial titans like Carnegie and Rockefeller.
Explore the ideologies that justified wealth inequality and promoted philanthropy in the Gilded Age.
Investigate the harsh working conditions in Gilded Age factories and the emergence of early labor organizations.
Examine significant labor conflicts like the Haymarket Affair, Homestead Strike, and Pullman Strike.
Explore the construction of the transcontinental railroad and its impact on westward expansion and the environment.
Investigate the final conflicts between Native Americans and the U.S. government, and assimilation policies.
Examine the rapid growth of American cities and the challenges of urban living, including tenement housing.

05Progressivism, World War I & the 1920s
The era of reform, global conflict, and the tension between tradition and modernity.
Investigate the patterns of 'New Immigration' from Southern and Eastern Europe and the rise of nativist sentiment.
Examine the role of political machines like Tammany Hall in urban governance and their impact on immigrants.
Explore the origins, demands, and impact of the Populist Party as an agrarian protest movement.
Investigate William Jennings Bryan's 'Cross of Gold' speech and the significance of the 1896 presidential election.
Examine the causes and consequences of the Spanish-American War and the emergence of American imperialism.
Investigate the Philippine-American War and the arguments of the Anti-Imperialist League.
Explore the Open Door Policy and its significance in shaping American foreign policy in Asia.
Examine the role of investigative journalists (muckrakers) in exposing social and political problems.
Explore Progressive efforts to improve urban conditions, public health, and social welfare.
Investigate Progressive efforts to democratize government through initiatives, referendums, and recalls.
Examine the strategies and key figures in the long struggle for women's right to vote.
Explore Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive presidency, including his approach to trusts and conservation.
Investigate Woodrow Wilson's Progressive policies and the challenges of maintaining neutrality in World War I.
Examine the mobilization of the American home front during WWI and the suppression of civil liberties.
Explore Woodrow Wilson's vision for peace, the Treaty of Versailles, and the debate over the League of Nations.

06Depression, New Deal & World War II
The collapse of the global economy and the struggle against totalitarianism.
Examine the economic prosperity, mass production, and consumer culture of the 1920s.
Explore the social and cultural conflicts of the 1920s, including Prohibition and the Scopes Trial.
Investigate the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and its broader nativist and anti-immigrant agenda.
Explore the explosion of African American artistic, literary, and intellectual life in the 1920s.
Examine the rise of jazz music, flappers, and other cultural innovations of the 1920s.
Investigate the massive movement of African Americans from the rural South to Northern cities and its consequences.
Explore the underlying economic weaknesses and policy failures that led to the Great Depression.
Examine the 1929 stock market crash and President Herbert Hoover's initial responses to the economic crisis.
Investigate the social and human impact of the Great Depression on ordinary Americans.
Explore Franklin D. Roosevelt's election and the initial programs of the First New Deal (Relief, Recovery, Reform).
Investigate the Second New Deal, including the Social Security Act and its long-term impact.
Examine the environmental and human disaster of the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains.
Explore the rise of fascist and totalitarian regimes in Europe and Asia, and American isolationist sentiment.
Investigate the gradual shift in U.S. foreign policy from neutrality to active support for Allied powers.
Examine the attack on Pearl Harbor and the immediate American entry into World War II.

07Cold War & Civil Rights
The era of global ideological struggle and the domestic fight for equality.
Explore the massive economic and social mobilization of the United States during World War II.
Investigate the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Examine key military campaigns in the European theater, including D-Day and the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Investigate the Holocaust, its systematic nature, and the Allied response to the genocide.
Explore the military strategy of 'island hopping' and key battles in the Pacific Theater.
Examine the development of the atomic bomb and the decision to use it on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Investigate the creation of the United Nations and the efforts to establish a new global order after WWII.
Explore the origins of the Cold War, the Truman Doctrine, and the policy of containment.
Examine the Marshall Plan for European recovery and the Berlin Airlift as key Cold War confrontations.
Investigate the fear of communism at home, the hunt for subversives, and the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Explore the Korean War as an early proxy conflict of the Cold War and its global implications.
Examine the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and its impact on school desegregation.
Investigate the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the rise of Martin Luther King Jr. and nonviolent civil disobedience.
Explore the economic prosperity, suburbanization, and social conformity of the 1950s.
Examine the emergence of youth culture and rock 'n' roll as challenges to 1950s norms.

08Modern America & Global Challenges
The Reagan revolution, the end of the Cold War, and the post-9/11 world.
Explore John F. Kennedy's presidency, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Space Race.
Investigate the escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the growing antiwar movement.
Examine the social, political, and economic consequences of the Vietnam War for the United States.
Explore the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Investigate the rise of the Black Power movement and figures like Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael.
Examine Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society programs and his 'War on Poverty'.
Explore the rise of the counterculture, student protests, and the social changes of the 1960s.
Investigate the second-wave feminist movement and its impact on women's rights and gender roles.
Examine the Watergate scandal, its constitutional implications, and President Nixon's resignation.
Explore the economic challenges of the 1970s, including stagflation and the energy crisis.
Investigate Ronald Reagan's economic policies ('Reaganomics') and the rise of the New Right.
Examine the factors leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
Explore the impact of globalization, free trade agreements, and the rise of the internet in the 1990s.
Investigate the September 11th attacks and the subsequent U.S. 'War on Terror'.
Examine the historic election of Barack Obama and the challenges of the Great Recession.