Public learning track
Creating a New Government: Articles of Confederation and Constitution
11 lessons
Goal
Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the significance of Shays' Rebellion, and the foundational compromises of the U.S. Constitution.
11 lessons
0 of 11 done
- The Articles of Confederation: America's First ConstitutionUp next
- Weaknesses of the Articles: Taxation, Trade, and EnforcementNot started yet
- Debt, Foreclosures, and Farmers in Post-War MassachusettsNot started yet
- Shays' Rebellion and the Call for a Stronger UnionNot started yet
- The Constitutional Convention of 1787 in PhiladelphiaNot started yet
- James Madison and the Virginia PlanNot started yet
- The Great Compromise: Balancing Large and Small StatesNot started yet
- The Three-Fifths Compromise and the Legacy of SlaveryNot started yet
- The Three Branches of Government: Separation of PowersNot started yet
- Checks and Balances in the American RepublicNot started yet
- Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist DebatesNot started yet
Standards Covered
- 5.T2.8Massachusetts Social Studies Standards · Social Studies · Grade 5 (target) · Grade 5Explain the reasons for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781, the weaknesses of the Articles as a plan for government, and the reasons for their failure.
- 5.T2.9Massachusetts Social Studies Standards · Social Studies · Grade 5 (target) · Grade 5Analyze the causes of Shays’ Rebellion of 1786-1787 and explain why it was one of the crucial events leading to the Constitutional Convention.
- 5.T2.7Massachusetts Social Studies Standards · Social Studies · Grade 5 (target) · Grade 5Compare and contrast the impact of the actions of important leaders (e.g., John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, King George III, Edmund Burke, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette) during the Revolution and the early years of the United States Republic.
- 5.T1.5Massachusetts Social Studies Standards · Social Studies · Grade 5 (target) · Grade 5Describe the origins of slavery, its legal status in all the colonies through the 18th century, and the prevalence of slave ownership, including by many of the country’s early leaders (e.g., George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Mason).
Curriculum Framework
4th Grade · Social Studies · US-MA-SS
1
10 lessons
Geography and Map Skills of North America
Apply geographic tools, spatial thinking, and regional analysis to understand North America's physical and political landscape.
2
10 lessons
Indigenous Nations and Early European Encounters
Analyze the diverse cultures of Indigenous nations and evaluate the multifaceted impacts of European contact and colonization.
3
7 lessons
Founding the Thirteen Colonies: Leaders and Settlements
Examine the establishment, key leaders, and motives behind the founding of early English settlements across North America.
4
5 lessons
Colonial Life: Regional Economies and Labor Systems
Compare the geographic environments, economic systems, and forms of labor across the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies.
5
11 lessons
Slavery, the Middle Passage, and Colonial Labor
Examine the origins, expansion, and institutionalization of slavery across the colonies, the transatlantic slave trade, and forms of Black resistance.
6
11 lessons
The Road to Revolution and the Declaration of Independence
Explain the ideological, economic, and political causes of the American Revolution and analyze the core arguments of the Declaration of Independence.
7
7 lessons
The Revolutionary War: Battles, Campaigns, and Victory
Analyze key military leadership, turning-point battles, the French alliance, and the path to victory culminating in the Treaty of Paris.
8
5 lessons
Perspectives of the American Revolution: Diverse Voices and Divided Loyalties
Examine the diverse roles, motivations, and viewpoints of Loyalists, Patriots, African Americans, Native nations, women, and British leaders during the Revolutionary War.
9
11 lessons
Creating a New Government: Articles of Confederation and Constitution
Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the significance of Shays' Rebellion, and the foundational compromises of the U.S. Constitution.
10
11 lessons
Westward Growth: The Louisiana Purchase and Corps of Discovery
Evaluate the geopolitical importance of the Louisiana Purchase and trace the scientific, geographic, and diplomatic journey of the Corps of Discovery.
11
10 lessons
The War of 1812 and American Nationalism
Analyze the causes, naval conflicts, major land battles, and nationalistic aftermath of the War of 1812.
12
8 lessons
Early American Industry and Global Commerce
Analyze New England's early industrial revolution, maritime trade networks, and the economic links between northern mills and southern slavery.
13
5 lessons
Native American Resistance and the Indian Removal Act
Examine 19th-century Indigenous resistance movements, legal battles for sovereignty, and the impact of federal Indian removal policies.
14
8 lessons
Indigenous Sovereignty: Mashpee Resistance and the Trail of Tears
Explain how Indigenous nations fought for self-government and resisted forced removal, focusing on the Mashpee Revolt in Massachusetts and the Trail of Tears in the Southeast.
15
10 lessons
Northern Abolition, Western Expansion, and the Domestic Slave Trade
Analyze the state-by-state abolition of slavery in the North, the ban on transatlantic slave importation in 1808, and the expansion of the domestic slave trade into the western states.