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Title Page

HSS Unit 4:

The Age of Jackson and Westward Expansion

Suggested Pacing:

15 days

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7th Grade 2020 - 2021 Year at a Glance

Opening Unit:

Our World

18 Days

Unit 1:

The Revolutionary Era

20 Days

Unit 2:

A Constitution for the United States

20 Days

Unit 3:

The Early Republic

19 Days

Unit 4:

The Age of Jackson and Westward Expansion

15 Days

Textbook Topic 1

Textbook Topic 2

Textbook Topic 3

Textbook Topic 4

Why is the study of history and the social sciences important in today’s modern world?

Analysis Skill: CST.3

6-8.RH.7

ELA: 6-8.WHST.2

ELD: ELD P2.1

When is war justified?

HSS: 8.1.2

Analysis Skill: REP.5

ELA: 6-8.WHST.2

ELD:ELD.PI.A.1

How much power should a government have?

HSS: 8.2.6

Analysis Skill: HI.2

ELA: 6-8.WHST.2

ELD:ELD.PI.A.1

How much power should the federal government have, and what should it do?

HSS: 8.3.4

Analysis Skill: CST.2

ELA: 6-8.WHST.1

ELD: ELD.PI.C.11.a

Why do people move?

HSS: 8.5.2

Analysis Skill: REP.4

ELA: 6-8.WHST.1

ELD: ELD.PI.C.11.a

Unit 5:

Society and Culture Before the Civil War

14 Days

Unit 6:

Sectionalism and Civil War

23 Days

Unit 7:

The Reconstruction Era

14 Days

Unit 8:

Industrial and Economic Growth

20 Days

Unit 9:

The Progressive Movement

18 Days

Textbook Topic 5

Textbook Topic 6

Textbook Topic 7

Textbook Topic 8

Textbook Topic 9

Why is culture important?

HSS: 8.7.2

Analysis Skill: HI.3

ELA: 6-8.WHST.2

ELD: ELD.PI.A.1

When is war justified?

HSS: 8.10.7

Analysis Skill: REP.3

ELA: 6-8.WHST.2

ELD: ELD.PI.A.1

How should we handle conflict?

HSS: 8.11.1

Analysis Skill:CST-3

ELA: 6-8.WHST.1

ELD: ELD.PI.C.11.a

How did America’s economy, industries, and population grow after the Civil War?

HSS: 8.12.5

Analysis Skill:RE.1

ELA: 6-8.WHST.2

ELD: ELD.PI.A.1

What can individuals do to affect society?

HSS:8.12.7

Analysis Skill:HI.1

ELA: 6-8.WHST.2

ELD: ELD.PI.A.1

2025-2026 Year at a Glance 8th Grade HSS

Year at a Glance

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Lesson 1: Jackson Wins the Presidency

Synopsis: More Americans get the right to vote,and Andrew Jackson becomes President.

Suggested Pacing: 2.5 Periods

Objective: Explain how changes in suffrage affected political parties and elections.

Guiding Question: How did changes in the suffrage affect political parties and elections?

Standards:

H.S.S.: 8.4.2, 8.8.1

C.C.S.S.: RI.8.1, RI.8.6, RH.8.1, RH.8.6

Objective: Compare how individual regions of the United States became both more similar and more different.

Guiding Question: How did individual regions of the United States become both more similar and more different?

Objective: Identify compromises made after the 1824 election, including the roles of Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams.

Guiding Question: What compromises were made after the 1824 election?

Objective: Describe the causes and effects of Jacksonian democracy.

Guiding Question: What were the causes and effects of Jacksonian democracy?

Lesson 2: Political Conflict and Economic Crisis

Synopsis: The period is a time of uncertainty,both for the rights of states versus the power of the federal government and for the economy.

Suggested Pacing: 3.5 Periods

Objective: Analyze how Andrew Jackson changed the country.

Guiding Question: How did Andrew Jackson change the country?

Standards:

H.S.S.: 8.4.3, 8.8.1, 8.10.3

Analysis: HI.6

Objective: Describe how Jackson and his opponents clashed over the issues of nullification and states’ rights.

Guiding Question: How did Jackson and his opponents clash over the issues of nullification and states’ rights?

Objective: Explain why Americans disagreed about the banking system.

Guiding Question: Why did Americans disagree about the banking system?

Objective: Identify how economic issues impacted the election of 1840.

Guiding Question: How did economic issues impact the election of 1840?

Scope and Sequence

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Lesson 3: Conflict with American Indians

Synopsis: American Indians live and thrive on western lands.

Suggested Pacing: 2 Periods

Objective: Analyze how Indian removal changed the country.

Guiding Question: How did Indian removal change the country?

Standards:

H.S.S.: 8.8.1, 8.8.2

C.C.S.S: RI.8.1

Objective: Explain what the frontier meant to the nation in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Guiding Question: What did the frontier mean to the nation in the first half of the nineteenth century?

Objective: Describe the cultures of the American Indians living west of the Appalachians.

Guiding Question: What were the cultures of the American Indians living west of the Appalachians like?

Objective: Explain the conflict over land occupied by Native Americans between the Appalachians and Mississippi.

Guiding Question: What was the conflict over land occupied by Native Americans between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River?

Lesson 4: Westward Movement

Synopsis: New opportunities in the west motivate people to give up everything and move west to an unknown future.

Suggested Pacing: 2 Periods

Objective: Explain what the frontier meant to the nation in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Guiding Question: What did the frontier mean to the nation in the first half of the nineteenth century?

Standards:

H.S.S.: 8.5.2, 8.6.2, 8.8.2, 8.8.3

Objective: Describe how the Westward movement changed family life.

Guiding Question: How did the Westward movement change family life?

Objective: Discuss how geography affected life in the West.

Guiding Question: How did geography affect life in the west?

Objective: List the steps Americans took to improve their roads.

Guiding Question: What steps did Americans take to improve their roads?

Scope and Sequence

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Lesson 5: Settling Oregon Country

Synopsis: Lewis and Clark’s expedition sparks a desire to move to Oregon Country.

Suggested Pacing: 3 Periods

Objective: Explain what the frontier meant to the nation in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Guiding Question: What did the frontier mean to the nation in the first half of the nineteenth century?

Standards:

H.S.S.: 8.5.2, 8.8.2, 8.8.3

Analysis: REP-3

Objective: Describe the challenges presented by the Oregon Trail.

Guiding Question: What challenges did the Oregon Trail present?

Objective: Summarize how mountain men helped explore the Far West

Guiding Question: How did mountain men help settle the Far West?

Objective: Discuss the role played by missionaries in Oregon.

Guiding Question: What role did missionaries play in Oregon?

Lesson 6: New Spain and Independence for Texas

Synopsis: The United States acquires a vast territory once ruled by Mexico, and changes begin.

Suggested Pacing: 2 Periods

Objective: Describe the causes and consequences of Texas independence.

Guiding Question: What were the causes and consequences of Texas independence?

Standards:

H.S.S.: 8.5.2, 8.6.2, 8.8.2, 8.8.5, 8.8.6

Objective: Explain how Mexican and American settlements affected the development of the Southwest.

Guiding Question: How did Mexican and American settlements affect the development of the Southwest?

Objective: Describe what life was like for the Spanish and American Indians who lived in California and New Mexico.

Guiding Question: What was life like for the Spanish and American Indians who lived in California and New Mexico?

Objective: Identify the challenges faced by the Lone Star Republic.

Guiding Question: What challenges did the Lone Star Republic face?

Scope and Sequence

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Lesson 5: Manifest Destiny in California and the Southwest

Synopsis: A belief in Manifest Destiny—the right to claim the land all the way to the Pacific—draws settlers to California and the Southwest.

Suggested Pacing: 2 Periods

Objective: Describe how Manifest Destiny contributed to American expansion.

Guiding Question: How did Manifest Destiny contribute to American expansion?

Standards:

H.S.S.: 8.5.2, 8.8.2, 8.8.4, 8.8.6

Objective: Identify the causes and consequences of the Mexican-American War.

Guiding Question: What were the causes and consequences of the Mexican-American War?

Objective: Describe how Utah and California grew.

Guiding Question: How did Utah and California grow?

Objective: Explain how the gold rush and migration affected life in California.

Guiding Question: How did the gold rush and migration affect life in California?

Scope and Sequence

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Standards and Concept Questions:

Unit 4 Overview-Topic: The Age of Jackson and Westward Expansion

Essential Question: What motivated people to move west in the 1800s?

  • In the early 1800s, nearly all Americans lived east of the Appalachian Mountains. What led people to leave their homes and risk moving to the untamed West?

Synopsis: Go back to the early 1800s and the Age of Jackson and Westward Expansion. Why? Because it was during this time that Americans moved west, expanding the nation's borders-and forcing American Indians to leave their lands.

Content Standard: 8.5.2 -Know the changing boundaries of the United States and describe the relationships the country had with its neighbors (current Mexico and Canada) and Europe, including the influence of the Monroe Doctrine, and how those relationships influenced westward expansion and the Mexican-American War

Analysis Standard: REP.4 Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them.

ELA Standard: 6-8 WHST.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

ELD Standard: ELD.PI.C.11.a

Textbook Connections: Topic 4: The Age of Jackson and Westward Expansion pgs. 247-311

Analysis Standard: pg 292

SEL Connections:

What does independence and freedom mean to you?

  • Classroom Circle/ Family Circles
  • Small Group Discussions
  • Writing Prompts
  • Warm Up Question
  • Exit Tickets

Geography:

  • Regional Differences
  • Manifest Destiny
  • Trails to the West

Economics:

  • National Bank
  • Tariffs and Trade
  • Second Bank of the U.S.
  • Panic of 1837

Civics/Government:

  • Monroe Doctrine
  • Elections of 1824 and 1828
  • Jacksonian Democracy
  • Indian Removal Act
  • Mexican American War

Culture:

  • Alexis de Tocqueville

Unit Overview

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Week Fourteen

Week Fifteen

Week Sixteen

Essential Question

What motivated people to move west in the 1800s?

Lesson Topics

Explore how the presidencies of James Monroe and John Quincy Adams had lasting effects on the United States.

Explore the effects Andrew Jackson’s policies had on democracy, economy and sociology in the mid 1800s.

Explore the causes and effects of Manifest Destiny.

Lesson Resources

Culminating Artifact/ Additional Resources

mea

  • Jackson Argumentative Essay

Unit 4/

Topic 4

Sequence

Unit Sequence