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U.S. History – Exit Level Study Guide 11th Grade Edited by Hans G. Friedel

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Important Themes in American History American Diversity | The diversity of the American people and the relationships among different groups. The roles of race, class, ethnicity, and gender in the history of the United States. American Identity | Views of the American national character and ideas about American exceptionalism. Recognizing regional differences within the context of what it means to be an American. Culture | Diverse individual and collective expressions through literature, art, philosophy, music, theater, and film throughout U.S. history. Popular culture and the dimensions of cultural conflict within American society. Demographic Changes | Changes in birth, marriage, and death rates; life expectancy and family patterns; population size and density. The economic, social, and political effects of immigration, internal migration, and migration networks. Economic Transformations | Changes in trade, commerce, and technology across time. The effects of capitalist development, labor and unions, and consumerism. Environment | Ideas about the consumption and conservation of natural resources. The impact of population growth, industrialization, pollution, and urban and suburban expansion. Globalization | Engagement with the rest of the world from the fifteenth century to the present: colonialism, mercantilism, global hegemony, development of markets, imperialism, cultural exchange. Politics and Citizenship | Colonial and revolutionary legacies, American political traditions, growth of democracy, and the development of the modern state. Defining citizenship; struggles for civil rights. Reform | Diverse movements focusing on a broad range of issues, including antislavery, education, labor, temperance, women’s rights, civil rights, gay rights, war, public health, and government. Religion | The variety of religious beliefs and practices in America from prehistory to the twenty-first century; influence of religion on politics, economics, and society. Slavery and Its Legacies in North America | Systems of slave labor and other forms of unfree labor (e.g., indentured servitude, contract labor) in Native American societies, the Atlantic World, and the American South and West. The economics of slavery and its racial dimensions. Patterns of resistance and the long-term economic, political, and social effects of slavery. War and Diplomacy | Armed conflict from the precolonial period to the twenty-first century; impact of war on American foreign policy and on politics, economy, and society. (Source: Lincoln Nebraska Public Schools, 2012) 2

How Historians Study the Past What Historians Do | History is more than just studying what happened in the past. When you study a historical event, you also study a society’s culture, religion, politics, and economics. Historians look for causes and effects that help to explain how and why events happened. They try to see the past through the eyes of the people who lived it. When they study the past, historians ask themselves questions. The answers to the questions help historians draw conclusions about the past. For example, historians ask questions such as how societies are similar and different. They also ask how leaders governed societies.

HISTORICAL THEMES AND BIG IDEAS (Ask yourself the following) Geography | Is your town or city near a lake, an ocean, or mountains? What is the weather like? How do the landscape and the weather affect the way you live? Culture | Have you ever met someone from another place—another country, another state, or another city? In what ways did that person act differently from you? In what ways did he or she act like you? Economics | Are you always able to buy all the things you want? How do you decide what to buy when you don’t have enough money for everything? Government | In your school, what would happen if every student could come to class at whatever time he or she wanted? Leave class whenever he or she wanted? Talk out loud anytime, even during tests? Belief Systems | When you were growing up, how did you learn what were the right and wrong ways of behaving? What people or groups taught you those things? Science & Technology | Think about a time when you wanted to share important news with a friend or relative who lived in another city or state. How did you share your news with them?

HISTORIAN’S TOOLS Primary Source | Something written or created by a person who witnessed a historical event Secondary Source | Something written after a historical event by a person who did not witness the event Oral History | All the unwritten verbal accounts of events Historians use evidence from primary, secondary, and oral sources to answer their questions. They have to choose what information is most important and trustworthy as evidence. Historical evidence is not always simple. Sometimes what historians thought to be true turns out to be false. Sometimes historians come to different conclusions using the same evidence. 3

HOW TO RECOGNIZE BIAS Bias | Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. Signs of Bias | Bias has tell-tale signs. Several of the common forms of bias include: A strong point of view that may or may not include criticism of other perspectives. Information can be easily distorted or made to show only one perspective. For example, this blog from a 2007 incident at a wedding in Gaza: 

"Hamas kills innocent Palestinians because they were singing."

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This is a strong point of view about strong content: murder. Other perspectives are missing, including ones based on reports that, while Hamas apparently broke up a wedding party because several Fatah leaders were in attendance. No one was killed. (Reuters, Jerusalem Post)

Strong, even unnecessary, language and use of words. Information that includes strong sentiments often makes use of strong language or words chosen for a specific impact. For example: 

"A woman named Doris stood to ask the president [Obama] whether it was a "wise decision to add more taxes to us with the health care" package. "We are over-taxed as it is," Doris said bluntly. The response she got was simply silly, confusing liberal clap-trap. " Source: http://www.conservapedia.com/ 9 April 2010.

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The language here is likely to have different effects depending on an individual's personal bias. If you have a liberal bias, this account reads like an attack on Obama. If you have a conservative bias, this account may sound pretty reasonable. If you are neither liberal nor conservative, the snippet may come across as an argument intended to provoke a response. "Simply silly" and "liberal clap-trap" are emotionladen words chosen on purpose.

A specific or unique sense of style, presentation or content. Information with a unique perspective or slant is moderately biased. It doesn't go so far as to be prejudicial or to become propaganda, but the author's point of view is neither balanced nor objective. For example, this passage from Save the Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus: 

"How You Can Help: Participate in tree octopus awareness marches. You can demonstrate their plight during the march by having your friends dress up as tree octopuses while you attack them in a lumber jack costume."

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The idea of parading around in costumes to depict the plight of the Tree Octopus seems more light-hearted than serious. Here the content is surprising. It just could be a joke.

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Detecting Bias | As you read, pay attention to words, pictures and emotions, but don't lose sight of the big picture. Speak the words outloud. Who do you imagine would be comfortable saying these words? Someone speaking fairly? Someone with a cause to promote? If the words or reasoning sounds odd or feels uncomfortable coming from your mouth, they could be biased. Watch for words like always, never, obviously and words that 'jump out at you.' A balanced point of view gives readers options. Biased points of view tend to have only one option: the one being presented. Biased points of view may include words that seem out of place. Pay attention to images. Biased arguments are often accompanied by pictures, charts, tables, etc. that support only one conclusion. Remember, a picture may be worth a thousand words. Is the picture real? Is it taken out of context? Is the information in the chart accurate? Be on the outlook for the author's purpose. Ask: why did the author write this? What point does the author want to make? Is the author trying to persuade readers to agree with a specific point of view? Three things you can do if you suspect bias See who agrees or disagrees with the author.  Use the link: command to get a list of pages that link to the author's page  If it's a blog, check out other readers' comments Use fact-checking to see if the information is accurate, exists elsewhere on the Internet and who else uses it. Don't believe everything you see or read. If the information seems biased or surprising, be skeptical.

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The Revolutionary Era

Benjamin Franklin | Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 - April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. He invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, and a carriage odometer. He facilitated many civic organizations, including a fire department and a university. As a writer, he is known for Poor Richard's Almanac and his autobiography. He was the oldest figure of the American Revolution. Franklin also was the only person to sign the three documents that established the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the peace treaty with Britain that ended the Revolutionary War, and the Constitution. He convinced France to help the colonists during the American Revolution. He was also a member of the 2nd Continental Congress. Thomas Paine | Thomas Paine (January 29, 1737 – June 8, 1809) was an English-American political activist, author, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination. He wrote the Pamphlet “Common Sense” and argued that the colonists should separate from England. George Washington | George Washing (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and the first President of the United States. He also presided over the convention that drafted the Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution established the position of President of the United States, which Washington was the first to hold. Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801–1809). At the beginning of the American Revolution, he served in the Continental Congress, representing Virginia and then served as a wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781). Just after the war ended, from mid-1784 Jefferson served as a diplomat, stationed in Paris. In May 1785, he became the United States Minister to France.

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Causes of the American Revolution The British taxed the colonies for revenue to pay for the French and Indian War “No taxation without Representation!” – Colonists resented being taxed without having a voice in British Parliament Tax acts passed by the British included the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, and Tea Act The Boston Massacre The Intolerable Acts Declaration of Independence (1776) | It listed grievances against King George III and justified the American colonies breaking away from England. It was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they now formed a new nation - the United States of America. Unalienable Rights | Rights that cannot be taken away: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Loyalists | Americans who supported Great Britain during the revolution Patriots | Americans who favored independence from Great Britain during the revolution Boston Tea Party (1773) | The Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, took place when a group of Massachusetts Patriots known as the Sons of Liberty, protesting the monopoly on American tea importation recently granted by the British Parliament to the East India Company, seized 342 chests of tea in a midnight raid on three tea ships and threw them into Boston, Massachusetts harbor.

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The Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

The Battle of Saratoga (1777) | The turning point in the American revolution. The French entered the war as allies to the colonists. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, 9 miles (14 km) south of Saratoga, New York (September 19 and October 7, 1777). The battles conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The Battle of Yorktown (1781) | Major British defeat that effectively ended the war. General George Washington, commanding a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops, began a siege known as the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and a contingent of 9,000 British troops at Yorktown, Virginia. It was the most important battle of the Revolutionary War. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, it proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, as the surrender by Cornwallis of his army prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. Treat of Paris (1783) | The British formally recognize American independence.

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The War of 1812

War of 1812 | In the War of 1812, the United States took on the greatest naval power in the world, Great Britain, in a conflict that would have an immense impact on the young country's future. Causes of the war included British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy's impressment of American seamen and America's desire to expand its territory. The United States suffered many costly defeats at the hands of British, Canadian and Native American troops over the course of the War of 1812, including the capture and burning of the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., in August 1814. Nonetheless, American troops were able to repulse British invasions in New York, Baltimore and New Orleans, boosting national confidence and fostering a new spirit of patriotism. The ratification of the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, ended the war but left many of the most contentious questions unresolved. Nonetheless, many in the United States celebrated the War of 1812 as a "second war of independence," beginning an era of partisan agreement and national pride. It was during this conflict that Francis Scott Key, while trapped aboard a British ship, penned the lyrics to our national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner.” 9

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The United States Constitution

INFLUENCES Magna Carta (1215) | Limited the King of England’s powers; provided for a trial by jury. English Bill of Rights (1687) | Influenced the Constitution by laying down limits on the powers of the crown and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of speech in Parliament, the requirement to regular elections to Parliament and the right to petition the monarch without fear of retribution. It also outlawed cruel and unusual punishment. It reestablished the liberty of people to bear arms for their defense within the rule of law. These ideas about rights reflected those of the political thinker John Locke. Virginia House of Burgesses | The first form of representative government in the colonies. Thomas Jefferson was a member. IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS Declaration of Independence (1776) | The Bill of rights and the Constitution addressed grievances from the Declaration of independence. It also listed the unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Articles of Confederation (1781) | First form of government established bythe 13 states. The United States Constitution replaced it because it was a weak form of central government. Specific weaknesses included: No executive branch to enforce laws Congress could not collect taxes No national court system Each state only one vote in Congress, regardless of population Federalist papers (1787 – 1788) | Were a series of essays written to encourage ratification of the constitution. The authors included Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. IMPORTANT FACTS 1781 | Delegates from the 13 states drafted the United States Constitution. Ratification | Means to formally approve something. Before it could go into effect, the votes of 9 out of 13 states were needed to ratify the Constitution. Preamble to the Constitution (Introduction that states its purpose) | “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” 10

IMPORTANT IDEAS IN THE U.S. CONSTITUTION Separation of Powers | Divides the powers of government into three branches 1. Legislative Branch – Makes the laws 2. Executive Branch – Executes the laws 3. Judicial Branch – Interprets the laws Checks and Balances | Make sure no branch of the government becomes too powerful. For example, the President can veto a bill, Congress can impeach a president, and the Supreme Court can rule a law unconstitutional.

Federalism | Power is shared between the state and national government Limited Government | Power of the government is restricted by the U.S. Constitution. “No one is above the law.” Republicanism | A system where people vote for elected representatives to run the government. Popular Sovereignty | The people hold the ultimate power and are the source of the government’s legitimacy, power, and authority. “We the people”. Constitutional Republic | A republic form of government where powers are limited by law or a formal constitution, and chosen by a vote amongst at least some sections of the populace. 11

THE BILL OF RIGHTS First 10 amendments to the Constitution Protect individual rights and liberties The Bill of Rights was necessary in order for some states to ratify the Constitution 1st Amendment

| Freedom of speech, religion and press; right to assemble; right to petition

2nd Amendment

| Right to bear arms

3rd Amendment

| No quartering of troops during peace time

4th Amendment

| No unlawful search and seizure

5th Amendment

| No double jeopardy, do not have to testify against yourself

6th Amendment

| The right to a fast and public trial

7th Amendment

| Trial by jury

8th Amendment

| No cruel or unusual punishment

9th Amendment

| Rights reserved to the people

10th Amendment | Powers reserved to...