Initial ideas
American Studies 1 Curriculum map 2025
Overall theme: To what extent is collective action necessary to defeat injustice?
Units
Essential Questions
Assessments
Sources
CIvil disobedience as a theme for the class
Colonial America and its inhabitants
Week 1
What is Civil Disobedience? How does CD affect change?
What is a colony?
Who would be happy with a colonial relationship? Who wouldn’t?
Who are the groups living in these colonies?
Document Journal
A People’s History of the American Revolution by Ray Raphael
Prelude to a revolution
Class conflicts
Stamp tax
Boston Massacre
Boston Tea Party
Week 2-3
What role does Class play in colonial America?
How does perspective affect understanding?
CD - protests against British laws
Argumentative essay
“The Bloody Massacre” by Paul Revere, 1770, Boston
“The Boston Massacre” by Alonzo Chappel, 1857
“Crispus Attucks, The First Martyr of The American Revolution” by William Cooper-Nell, 1850
A People’s History of The United States, Howard Zinn
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper & Row, 1990. Print.
Voices of A People’s History of The United States, Samuel Drowne’s eyewitness testimony from the trial
Against the British soldiers
Zinn, Howard and Anthony Arnove. Voices of a People's History of the United States. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2004. Print.
Captain Thomas Preston’s testimony from http://www.history.org
War!
Declaration of Independence
Revolutionary War
Class conflicts renewed
Conscription
Victory?
Week 4-5
What is the goal of this revolution? Who wants what?
CD - Forced to join the war and Military protests within the ranks
Research essay
Zinn, Howard and Anthony Arnove. Voices of a People's History of the United States. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2004. Print.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper & Row, 1990. Print.
Post-war life
Shay’s Rebellion
Federalism
Hamilton and Jefferson
Articles of Confederation
Constitutional Convention
Compromises 3/5ths and a Bi-cameral system of government
Week 6-7
Who won the war? Who were the losers? What really changed in America?
Who runs the country? What is an oligarchy?
CD - Protests against the new oligarchy
The Bill of Rights used to stave off protests
Debate
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper & Row, 1990. Print.
Slavery
The three main ways in which people responded to slavery
Week 8-9
Slavery in the east versus slavery in the west…how were they similar/different?
How did enslaved people respond to slavery?
CD - In response to Slavery
Comparative essay
Major Problems in American History by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman and Jon Gjerde
A Documentary History of the Negro Peoplein the United States by Herbert Aptheker
Zinn, Howard and Anthony Arnove. Voices of a People's History of the United States. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2004. Print.
Final Project
Week-10
Argumentative essay explaining how Civil Disobedience is the first step as a catalyst for change.
Look at the units from the semester and find civil disobedience. Discuss how CD has been successful and unsuccessful in causing change in our society. Where do we see it today?
Standards
NYS P-12 CCS Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 11-12
1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole. 3. Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and
determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain. 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and
refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10). 6. Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning,
and evidence. 7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem. 8. Evaluate an author’s
premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information. 9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noticing
discrepancies among sources.
NYS P-12 CCS Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 11-12
1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that
logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of
both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases. d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms
and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented. 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization,
and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to
produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information. 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a
self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. 8. Gather relevant information from
multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the specific task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to
maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation. 9. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. 10. Write routinely over
extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
