Evaluate the contributions of free and enslaved African Americans to the Civil War, from military service in the Union Army to resistance and escape from slavery.

Assess how American Indian nations, women, and immigrant communities contributed to both Union and Confederate war efforts, and evaluate the collective impact of these diverse groups on the war's outcome.

Identify important American symbols—including the flag, Bald Eagle, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, and others—and explain what each represents about American values and history.

Evaluate the reliability of sources, combine multiple sources for a fuller understanding of history, and apply source-analysis skills to specific historical contexts and original source creation.

Evaluate when expansionary and contractionary fiscal and monetary policies are used, and explain how they work together to manage the economy.

Learners will identify authority figures in their school and community, explain how informed citizens contribute to their community, and describe why every community member's role matters.

Learners will explain how banks expand the money supply through lending, compare the roles of major financial institutions, and describe how government regulation keeps them safe and accountable.

Understand the key responsibilities of United States citizens in a democratic society

Learners will use marginal cost and marginal benefit analysis to understand how entrepreneurs decide how much to produce and how many workers to hire.

Understand how incorporation changes a business by expanding resources and reducing risks, and evaluate the costs and benefits.

Understand and use cardinal and intermediate directions to describe relative locations and navigate maps.

Learners will explain how the three branches check each other's power and identify the specific powers and responsibilities granted to each branch by the Constitution.

Learners will explain how governments address community issues and why and how citizens should participate in local and state government.

Learners will describe how informed and responsible citizens can participate in state and national government through voting, contacting officials, and public debate.

Learners will explain key civic responsibilities such as voting, jury duty, paying taxes, and military service, and compare how citizen roles differ across forms of government.

Understand how citizens and communities work together to meet shared responsibilities, practice civic virtues, and apply democratic principles in everyday life.

Describe how civic virtues and democratic principles such as equality, fairness, and respect for authority operate in state and national government settings.

Evaluate the leadership styles and strategies of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, and synthesize the overall balance of power between the Union and Confederacy.

Understand the political structures, self-governing practices, and economic systems that shaped the British colonies in the mid-18th century.

Understand the formation of the early national government to support the war, and explain why different colonists chose to support independence, remain loyal, or stay neutral.

Describe historical and contemporary examples of people who have improved their communities, including famous Americans and young people who have made a difference.

Compare the military advantages, disadvantages, leadership, resources, alliances, and motivations of Britain and the American colonists during the Revolutionary War.

Define and compare urban, rural, and suburban communities, including their buildings, transportation, jobs, and landscapes.

Analyze historic documents and compare how democratic principles and civic virtues are expressed in different countries and political systems around the world.

Learners will compare the U.S. government to other forms of government and analyze how power is distributed across different political systems.

Learners will examine the origins and purposes of constitutions, how they change, and the role of treaties, international agreements, and laws in shaping society.

Learners will analyze how constitutions, treaties, and international agreements maintain order within and among nations, and compare significant constitutional documents from around the world.

Create simple maps of familiar places using titles, compass roses, legends, symbols, and map scale, and explore different ways to represent locations.

Identify goods and services in the community and describe the roles of consumers and producers in the American economy, including how they depend on each other.

Evaluate the contributions of key individuals, groups, women, foreign allies, and spies who supported the American cause in the Revolutionary War.

Learners will compare credit unions, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations, and explain how each type of institution contributes to economic activity in a market economy.

Define culture, distinguish customs from traditions, and identify how food, music, dance, and holidays express culture in local communities.

Explore language, religion, cultural traditions, and the legal and political rights of sovereign Indigenous nations.

Define geographic regions and analyze how voluntary and forced cultural diffusion shapes societies across the Western Hemisphere.

Compare democratic systems from Ancient Athens to modern countries, evaluating global governing documents and other political systems against democracy.

Identify democratic principles and locate them within key American founding documents like the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Explain how the French alliance, the southern and naval campaigns, and guerrilla tactics combined to secure American victory and the Treaty of Paris.

Describe how diverse groups—including Native Americans, women, immigrants, scientists, and regional settlers—have contributed to shaping American history.

Analyze the unique political statuses, challenges, and choices of American Indians, women, and Black Americans during the American Revolution.

Learners will analyze the Dred Scott decision and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry as key events that pushed the nation to the brink of the Civil War.

Discuss the key military strategies utilized by both sides during the Civil War.