Historical Sourcing and Evidence Evaluation

Critically analyze primary and secondary sources by evaluating author perspective, detecting bias, and corroborating conflicting historical accounts.

Analyze cause, effect, change, and continuity over time to construct and communicate evidence-based historical arguments.

Examine pre-Columbian Indigenous societies and the demographic, ecological, and economic impacts of early European exploration and the Columbian Exchange.

Analyze the regional economies, systems of labor and governance, and cultural movements that shaped the British North American colonies.

Analyze the political, economic, and philosophical causes that led the thirteen colonies to break away from British rule and declare independence.

Evaluate the major military turning points, diverse social experiences, and enduring political and global impacts of the American Revolutionary War.

Analyze the failures of the Articles of Confederation and examine how debate and compromise shaped the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.

Examine the core principles of American constitutional government, the separation of powers and federalism, and how the Constitution adapts over time.

Understand the structures, decision-making processes, and civic responsibilities across federal, state, local, and tribal governments in the United States.

Analyze complex public policy problems, evaluate competing proposals, and design evidence-based civic action plans to advocate for community solutions.

Examine how presidential precedents, early financial policies, emerging political parties, and landmark Supreme Court rulings established the institutional foundation of the United States.

Analyze the impact of territorial growth, early foreign policy doctrines, the rise of Jacksonian democracy, and the limits of executive and states' power.

Analyze the ideology of Manifest Destiny, overland migration routes, the Texas Revolution, and the geopolitical conflicts resulting in U.S. territorial acquisition from Mexico.

Examine the social, economic, and demographic impacts of the California Gold Rush and analyze how rapid western expansion exacerbated national divisions over slavery.

Examine how technological innovations, transportation networks, factory systems, and immigration transformed the American economy in the early 19th century.

Explore how the Second Great Awakening inspired grassroots reform crusades for temperance, institutional care, public education, and women's rights.

Analyze the escalating political, moral, and constitutional conflicts over slavery from the Missouri Compromise through the election of 1860 and southern secession.

Examine the resources, key military campaigns, turning points, and social impacts of the Civil War, including the Emancipation Proclamation and the service of Black soldiers.

Evaluate the political battles over Reconstruction, the constitutional amendments ending slavery and expanding citizenship, and the factors leading to the collapse of Reconstruction in 1877.

Analyze the systemic oppression of Jim Crow segregation and examine how African American leaders and communities organized, migrated, and fought for civil rights.

Analyze how product, labor, and financial markets operate and how supply, demand, and competition interact to set prices and reach equilibrium.

Examine the roles of corporations, unions, and non-profits, compare economic systems, and evaluate economic decision-making and interdependence across society.

Evaluate the mechanics of international trade, the impacts of trade barriers, and the diverse consequences of global economic policies.

Use geospatial representations to investigate human-environment interactions, assess environmental challenges, and take stances on geographic issues across scales.

Investigate how competition over natural resources, historical crises, and political decisions drive both unifying cooperation and divisive conflict across regions.