STANDARD USII.2a The student will use maps, globes, photographs, pictures, or tables for a) explaining how physical features and climate influenced the movement of people westward; Essential Understandings Essential Knowledge During the nineteenth century, people’s perceptions and use of the Great Plains changed. Technological advances allowed people to live in more challenging environments. Physical features and climate of the Great Plains Flatlands that rise gradually from east to west Land eroded by wind and water Low rainfall Frequent dust storms Because of new technologies, people saw the Great Plains not as a “treeless wasteland” but as a vast area to be settled. Inventions Barbed wire Steel plows Windmills Railroads Adaptations Dry farming Sod houses Beef cattle Wheat farming
STANDARD USII.4b The student will apply social science skills to understand how life changed after the Civil War by b) explaining the reasons for the increase in immigration, growth of cities, and challenges arising from this expansion; Essential Understandings Essential Knowledge Population changes, growth of cities, and new inventions produced interaction and often conflict between different cultural groups. Social and technological changes presented challenges in urban areas. Reasons for the increase in immigration Hope for better opportunities Desire for religious freedom Escape from oppressive governments Desire for adventure Reasons why cities grew and developed Specialized industries, including steel (Pittsburgh) and meatpacking (Chicago) Immigration to America from other countries Movement of Americans from rural to urban areas for job opportunities Rapid industrialization and urbanization led to overcrowded immigrant neighborhoods and tenements. Efforts to solve immigration problems Settlement houses such as Hull House, founded by Jane Addams Political machines (e.g., Boss Tweed) that gained power by attending to the needs of new immigrants (e.g., jobs, housing) Discrimination against immigrants Chinese Irish Jewish Italian Polish Challenges faced by cities Tenements and ghettos Political corruption (political machines)
STANDARD USII.4c The student will apply social science skills to understand how life changed after the Civil War by c) describing racial segregation, the rise of “Jim Crow,” and other constraints faced by African Americans and other groups in the South; Essential Understandings Essential Knowledge Discrimination against African Americans and minority groups continued after Reconstruction. “Jim Crow” laws institutionalized a system of legal segregation. African Americans differed in their responses to discrimination and “Jim Crow.” Racial segregation Based upon race Directed primarily against African Americans, but other groups also were kept segregated Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) provided an absolute 10-year moratorium (halt) on Chinese labor immigration American Indians were not considered citizens until 1924 “Jim Crow” laws Passed to discriminate against African Americans Made discrimination practices legal in many communities and states Were characterized by unequal opportunities in housing, work, education, and government Upheld by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson African American responses Booker T. Washington: Believed equality could be achieved through vocational education; accepted social segregation W.E.B. DuBois: Believed in full political, civil, and social rights for African Americans and founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) along with Ida B. Wells-Barnett