Common Planner
K–12 Standards

US History I

Other Massachusetts History and Social Science sets

Origins of the Revolution and the ConstitutionUSI.1.0

  • 1

    Analyze the economic, intellectual, and cultural forces that contributed to the American Revolution.USI.1.1

  • 2

    Explain the reasons for the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American component of the global Seven Years’ War between Great Britain and France (1756–1763), and analyze how the war affected colonists and Native PeoplesUSI.1.2

  • 3

    Explain Britain’s policies in the North American colonies (e.g., the Proclamation of 1763, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townsend Duties, the Tea Act, and the Intolerable Acts) and compare the perspectives of the British Parliament, British colonists, and Native Peoples in North America on these policies.USI.1.3

  • 4

    Describe Patriots’ responses to increased British taxation (e.g., the slogan, “no taxation without representation,” the actions of the Stamp Act Congress, the Sons of Liberty, the Boston Tea Party, the Suffolk Resolves) and the role of Massachusetts peopleUSI.1.4

  • 5

    Explain the main argument of the Declaration of Independence, the rationale for seeking independence, and its key ideas on equality, liberty, natural rights, and the rule of law.USI.1.5

  • 6

    Describe the key battles of the Revolution (e.g., Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, Trenton, Saratoga, Yorktown); the winter encampment at Valley Forge; and key leaders and participants of the Continental ArmyUSI.1.6

  • 7

    Explain the reasons for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 and evaluate the weaknesses of the Articles as a plan for government, the reasons for their failure and how events such as Shays’ Rebellion of 1786-1787 led to the Constitutional ConventionUSI.1.7

  • 8

    Describe the Constitutional Convention, the roles of specific individuals (e.g. Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington, Roger Sherman, Edmund Randolph), and the conflicts and compromisesUSI.1.8

Democratization and expansionUSI.2.0

  • 1

    Evaluate the major policies and political developments of the presidencies of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, and their implications for the expansion of Federal power and foreign policyUSI.2.1

  • 2

    Evaluate the presidency of Andrew Jackson, including the spoils system, the National Bank veto, and the policy of Indian removal, and the Nullification Crisis.USI.2.2

  • 3

    Analyze the causes and long and short term consequences of America’s westward expansion from 1800 to 1854 USI.2.3

Economic growth in the North, South, and WestUSI.3.0

  • 1

    Explain the importance of the Transportation Revolution of the 19th century (e.g., the introduction of steamboats, canals, roads, bridges, turnpikes, and railroad networks; the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad and its stimulus to east/west trade, the growth of Midwestern towns and cities, and the strengthening of a market economy).USI.3.1

  • 2

    Analyze the effects of industrial growth throughout antebellum America, and in New England, the growth of the textile and machinery industries and maritime commerce.USI.3.2

  • 3

    Describe the role of slavery in the economies of the industrialized North and the agricultural South, explain reasons for the rapid growth of slavery in southern states, the Caribbean islands, and South America after 1800, and analyze how banks, insurance companies, and other institutions profited directly or indirectly from the slave trade and slave labor.USI.3.3

  • 4

    Research primary sources such as antebellum newspapers, slave narratives, accounts of slave auctions, and the Fugitive Slave Act, to analyze one of the following aspects of slave life and resistance (e.g., the Stono Rebellion of 1739, the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804, the rebellion of Denmark Vesey of 1822, the rebellion of Nat Turner in 1831; the role of the Underground Railroad; the development of ideas of racial superiority; the African American Colonization Society movement to deport and resettle freed African Americans in a colony in West Africa).USI.3.4

Frequently asked questions

What grade levels do these standards cover?
Grade 10
Where can I read the official document?
United States History I Content Standards

Keep exploring

Keep exploring History and Social Science standards

Sibling grade bands, other subjects in this jurisdiction, and the same subject across other states.

History and Social Science in other jurisdictions

History and Social Science