HISTORICAL THINKING & SKILLS
Credibility of primary and secondary sources
credible = believable ● qualifications/reputation of the author agreement with other credible sources ● perspective or bias and stereotypes) ● accuracy and internal consistency circumstances of preparation
Declaration of Independence and Enlightenment ideas
natural rights - life, liberty, pursuit of happiness ● social contract - connections between Britain and colonies dissolved ● grievances against Great Britain - violations of natural rights breaks social contract
From agrarian to urban industrial society
rise of corporations and heavy industry ● shift from mostly agricultural workers to mostly factory workers ● shift from rural to urban living - overcrowding and unsanitary conditions ● mechanized farming-reduced labor need ● mechanized assembly line - efficient production led to larger factories ● innovations - telephone, phonograph, incandescent light bulb, washing machine,skyscraper,automobile, airplane
Racial intolerance, anti-Immigration and the Red Scare
● Great Migration to northern cities heightened racial tensions - race riots ● lynchings and Jim Crow continued ● revival of KKK- intolerance toward Jews, African Americans, Catholics,immigrants ● nativism - immigration quotas ● Bolshevik Revolution, post-war labor strikes, bombing of public offices - stirred fears of revolution in the U.S. ● Red Scare (1919-1920) - arrest and deportation of many aliens
Struggle for racial equality and civil rights
NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, Urban League - equal opportunities for African Americans and to end segregation ● UFW - Mexican Americans - improve conditions of migrant workers ● NCAI & AIM - improve American Indians’ reservations, protect land rights, improve education and jobs ● NOW - progress for women
Thesis and evidence to support or refute a position
● thesis - gives meaningful interpretation and significance of evidence ● evidence - artifacts, documents, eyewitness accounts, historical sites, photographs
● compare sources to refine explanations
● cite sources and use research to support or refute a thesis
Precedents established in the Northwest Ordinance
● precedents - guide for later action ● new states equal with original states - no colonization ● schools encouraged - basis for national aid for education ● rights of citizens - later in Bill of Rights ● slavery prohibited in the Northwest Territory - later part of Amendment 13 ● republican state governments - repeated in U.S. Constitution
Influence of organized labor
workers formed labor organizations - address working conditions, wages ● violence toward organized labor - Great Railroad Strike, Haymarket Riot, Homestead Strike, Pullman Strike
Technological innovation and social change
post-WW I economic boom - improved standards of living for many ● communication - radio, talking motion pictures, newspaper/magazine - popular culture and mass advertising ● transportation - Model A Ford, airplane ● mass production techniques ● changes challenged social mores ● automobiles - growth of suburbs, businesses - challenged traditional family values (freedom from parents), increased commuters- traffic congestion
Economic boom and Advances in science
post-WW II prosperity - demand for housing and automobiles- suburbs grow ● epic changes - baby boom, pop culture, consumerism, increased mobility, franchising, longer life spans ● advances in science - medicine, communication, nuclear energy, transportation - impacted American life
Multiple causation, long and short-term causes; cause, effect, sequence, and correlation
analysis of events - cause/effect, sequence and correlation of events ● e.g. Great Depression - monetary policies = short-term cause; decline in demand for American farm goods after WWI = long-term factor
Constitution addressing problems under the Articles in the 1780s
problems of Articles of Confederation - no separate executive; no separate judicial branch; stiff requirements for passing legislation and amending ● Constitution - separate executive and judicial branches; practical means of passing legislation and amending ● new government - ability to address the issues - powers to levy taxes, raise armies and regulate commerce ● federalism - distribution of powers between national and state
Migration, immigration and urbanization
American culture and growth of cities ● Great Migration - African Americans fled north to escape segregation and secure better jobs ● cities became centers of commerce, built taller buildings, acquired land ● transportation - trolleys, automobiles led to development of suburbs
Great Migration and Harlem Renaissance
● African Americans moving to northern cities - increased competition for jobs, housing, and public services ● celebration of African-American culture, art and literature - pride in African heritage, increased awareness of intolerance and problems of urban life ● Jazz- established American music genre
Migrations and Immigration
cities - predominantly black and poor, and strongly Democratic; suburbs mainly white and Republican ● jobs in high-tech- growth of Sunbelt - congressional reapportionment ● 1965 Immigration Act - allowed more individuals from Asia, Africa, Latin Am. ● increase in Spanish language media, funding for bilingual education