Common Planner
K–12 Standards

United States Studies

Other West Virginia Social Studies sets

Civics

  • 1

    Evaluate the extent to which the U.S. Constitution impacts conflicts between individuals, communities and nations, liberty, equality, individual rights, and the rule of law vs. ethics (e.g., civil disobedience).SS.US.1

  • 2

    Demonstrate an understanding of the duties of citizens that are necessary to preserve United States democracy (e.g., become informed and active in a democracy, through jury duty, paying taxes, public forums (local, state, and/or federal), voting, and conscription.).SS.US.2

  • 3

    Analyze the changing perceptions of United States citizenship and evaluate responsibilities and rights of United States citizens (e.g., landownership, race, gender, and age).SS.US.3

  • 4

    Examine, select, and participate in a volunteer service or project.SS.US.4

Economics

  • 5

    Identify the role of market factors in the settlement of the United States and the development of the free enterprise system and trace economic development throughout United States History (e.g., Colonial period, Revolutionary War, Westward Expansion, Civil War, and late 19th/early 20th centuries).SS.US.5

  • 6

    Analyze the debate surrounding Alexander Hamilton’s economic policies and evaluate their effect on the formation and direction of the nation’s economy (e.g., Bank of the United States, etc.).SS.US.6

  • 7

    Differentiate economic policy in the United States during each era (e.g., Colonial period, Revolutionary, Westward Expansion, Civil War, and late 19th/early 20th centuries) through types of taxes, taxation controversies, the effects of foreign trade, and tariff policies.SS.US.7

  • 8

    Analyze the evolution of American manufacturing and its impact on skilled and unskilled labor from apprenticeship, to artisanry, to the market revolution, to the birth of the labor movement, and the Industrial Revolution. SS.US.8

  • 9

    Analyze the impact of mercantilism and triangular trade on the emergence of colonial economies (e.g., goals of mercantilism, the mother country’s interests vs. colonial interests, regional economies, agriculture vs. manufacturing, colonial products and raw materials, and transition from mercantilism to free enterprise capitalism).SS.US.9

  • 10

    Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of capitalism and compare the basic components of other economic systems (e.g., Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations).SS.US.10

Geography

  • 11

    Apply correct vocabulary and geographic tools to determine and illustrate geographic concepts (e.g., major meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude, physical features, landforms, bodies of water, climatic regions, states and their capitals, and relative and exact location).SS.US.11

  • 12

    Determine the most appropriate maps and graphics in an atlas for analyzing geographic issues regarding the growth and development of the United States (e.g., topography, movement of people, transportation routes, settlement patterns, growth of population and cities, etc.).SS.US.12

  • 13

    Evaluate how people express attachment to places and regions (e.g., by reference to essays, novels, poems, short stories, feature films, and songs).SS.US.13

  • 14

    Analyze the impact of migration on the quality of life over different historical time periods (e.g., Colonial America, westward movement, late 19th and early 20th centuries, and impact of epidemics).SS.US.14

  • 15

    Analyze the characteristics of the cultural contributions of indigenous and non- indigenous peoples to the United States.SS.US.15

  • 16

    Analyze the impact of the environment, including the location of natural resources, on immigration and settlement patterns throughout United States history.SS.US.16

  • 17

    Analyze the ways in which physical and cultural geography have influenced significant historic events and movements.SS.US.17

History

  • 18

    Analyze the impact of the European settlement of North America.SS.US.18

    1. 1

      Account for the emergence of England as a global colonial power.SS.US.18.1

    2. 2

      Compare the growth of varying colonial regions.SS.US.18.2

    3. 3

      Identify and explain European imperial rivalries over land, trade, etc.SS.US.18.3

    4. 4

      Summarize the distinct characteristics of each colonial region in the settlement and development of America, including religious, social, political, and economic differences.SS.US.18.4

  • 19

    Demonstrate an understanding of the establishment of the United States as an independent nation.SS.US.19

    1. 1

      Explain the impact of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution on the British North American colonies and the world.SS.US.19.1

    2. 2

      Explain the strengths and weaknesses of government under the Articles of Confederation (1777).SS.US.19.2

    3. 3

      Summarize events leading to the creation of the U.S. Constitution (e.g., country’s economic crisis, Shay’s Rebellion and purpose outlined in the Preamble).SS.US.19.3

    4. 4

      Explain the fundamental principles and purposes of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights (e.g., through the influences of the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, colonial charters, and the political philosophies of the Enlightenment).SS.US.19.4

    5. 5

      Trace the evolution of the American two-party political system.SS.US.19.5

    6. 6

      Compare and contrast the position of the political parties and leaders on a variety of issues (e.g., territorial expansion, political participation, individual rights, states’ rights, slavery, and social reforms).SS.US.19.6

    7. 7

      Analyze the impact of United States Supreme Court decisions (e.g., Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Worcester v. Georgia, Dred Scott v. Sandford and Plessy v. Ferguson).SS.US.19.7

  • 20

    Demonstrate an understanding of westward movement and the resulting regional conflicts that took place in America in the 19th century.SS.US.20

    1. 1

      Explain the impact and challenges of westward movement, (e.g., people’s motivations for moving west, railroad construction, and the displacement of Native Americans).SS.US.20.1

    2. 2

      Trace land acquisitions and their significance as the U. S. expanded.SS.US.20.2

    3. 3

      Analyze the influence of the Monroe Doctrine on foreign relations.SS.US.20.3

    4. 4

      Examine and evaluate the reform period prior to the United States Civil War (e.g., abolition, women’s suffrage, religious principles, etc.).SS.US.20.4

  • 21

    Demonstrate an understanding of the causes and the outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruction in America.SS.US.21

    1. 1

      Analyze the social, political, and cultural characteristics of the North, the South, and the West before and after the Civil War (e.g., the lives of free and enslaved African Americans, social reform, patriotism, nationalism, labor force, etc.).SS.US.21.1

    2. 2

      Explain how the political events and issues that divided the nation led to civil war (e.g., Compromise of 1850, Missouri Compromise, the abolitionist movement, conflicting views on states’ rights, tariffs, slavery and federal authority, emergence of the Republican Party, and election of 1860).SS.US.21.2

    3. 3

      Identify the causes of the secession and the subsequent formation of the Confederate States of America.SS.US.21.3

    4. 4

      Outline the course and outcome of the Civil War (e.g., the role of African American military units, the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the social, political, and economic impact on the South following the Civil War).SS.US.21.4

    5. 5

      Outline the major military events of the Civil War (e.g., Gettysburg, Bull Run, Vicksburg, Antietam, Sherman’s March, Appomattox).SS.US.21.5

    6. 6

      Evaluate effects of Reconstruction on the nation (e.g., the roles of the Civil War Amendments, Radical Republicans, etc.).SS.US.21.6

    7. 7

      Summarize the progress and impact made during Reconstruction by various minority groups in society.SS.US.21.7

    8. 8

      Trace societal changes in the United States brought about by the end of Reconstruction (the Freedmen’s Bureau, educational reform, political opportunity, new trends in legislation, Jim Crow laws and the rise of anti–African American groups).SS.US.21.8

  • 22

    Demonstrate an understanding of changes that took place at the end of the 19th century in the United States.SS.US.22

    1. 1

      Analyze the developments in business and industry including the emergence of new industries and the rise of corporations through monopolies and mergers (e.g., Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust, Carnegie Steel, etc.).SS.US.22.1

    2. 2

      Examine the effects of technological change on the United States (e.g., agriculture, transportation, industry, and organized labor).SS.US.22.2

    3. 3

      Analyze the various periods and movements at the end of the 19th century (e.g., the Gilded Age, the Populist movement, the Progressive Era, labor movement, continuation of the women’s suffrage movement, etc.).SS.US.22.3

    4. 4

      Identify and explain the goals and accomplishments of reformers and reform movements (e.g., women’s rights, minorities, temperance, prisons, hospitals, schools, etc.).SS.US.22.4

    5. 5

      Explain the transformation of America from an agrarian to an industrial economy, including the effects of mechanized farming and the expansion of international markets.SS.US.22.5

    6. 6

      Assess the impact of urbanization and immigration on social, economic and political aspects of society in the United States in the late 19th century (e.g., labor, agriculture, ethnic neighborhoods, African Americans, immigrants, women and children).SS.US.22.6

  • 23

    Demonstrate an understanding of global developments that influenced the United States’ emergence as a world power in the early 20th century.SS.US.23

    1. 1

      Evaluate the impact of United States foreign policy on global affairs (e.g., Open Door Policy and presidential programs of Taft, Roosevelt, and Wilson, such as Big Stick Diplomacy, Dollar Diplomacy, and Moral Diplomacy).SS.US.23.1

    2. 2

      Analyze the development of American expansionism, including the shift from isolationism to intervention and the economic and political reasons for imperialism.SS.US.23.2

    3. 3

      Assess the impact of the Spanish-American War on the United States as a world power, including locations of expansion and the changing image of the United States by the global community.SS.US.23.3

    4. 4

      Investigate the impact of technological advances and innovation in the early 20th century both in the United States and the world (e.g., telephone, automobiles, flight, transportation, weapons, and medical advances).SS.US.23.4

    5. 5

      Analyze and explain how political, social and economic factors influenced American involvement in World War I (e.g., treaties, alliances, and nationalism).SS.US.23.5

Frequently asked questions

What grade levels do these standards cover?
Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grade 12

Keep exploring

Keep exploring Social Studies standards

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