8th Grade: UNITED STATES HISTORY I - PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS

"United States History for grade 8 covers events and issues from the Age of Exploration through Reconstruction and the western movement, emphasizing the 18th and 19th centuries. Topics covered will include, but are not limited to exploration, colonization, the Revolutionary War, constitutional issues, nation building, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the western movement.
Standards 1 and 2 should be integrated throughout the course rather than taught independently. The remaining standards can be taught either chronologically or thematically. Although the emphasis of this course is on the 18th and 19th centuries, additional content may be covered as time permits."

Source: USOE Social Studies Curriculum

How to Use this UB-TAH Page

Some suggestions (Library of Congress)

Disclaimer: Educational Material/Non-Commercial.

Standard 1: Students will interpret the role of geography in shaping United States history.

• United States Physiographic Map
• United States Physiographic Map (smaller)
• United States Admission of States and Territorial Acquisition
• United States Map

Standard 2: Students will investigate the relationship between events of different time periods

• The New York Time
• Time
• The Salt Lake Tribune

Standard 3: Students will understand the changes caused by European exploration in the Americas.

• Ferdinand and Isabella Privileges and prerogatives granted to Columbus
• Christopher Columbus letter to the King and Queen of Spain (Undated, probably 1494)
• King Ferdinand Letter to the Taino/Arawak Indians around 1500
• Pope Alexander VI The Papal bull Inter Caetera May 4, 1493
• Pictures Primary Sources: The Native American Experience (Prof. Troy Johnson)
• Pictures Primary Sources: Library of Congress Collection
• UB-TAH U.S. History Picture Collection

Standard 4: Students will analyze European colonization and settlement of North
America.

• The Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
• Coronado's Report to Viceroy Mendoza, Sent from Cibola, August 3, 1540
• Samuel de Champlain Voyages (1604)
• Instructions for the Virginia Colony (1606)
• The Mayflower Compact (November 1620)
• Black Hawk Surrender Speech. 1832 (with an Introduction)
• The Pueblo Revolt of 1860
• Governor Glen, The Role of the Indians in the Rivalry Between France, Spain, and England, 1761
• Pictures Primary Sources: The Native American Experience (Prof. Troy Johnson)
• Pictures Primary Sources: Library of Congress Collection
• UB-TAH U.S. History Picture Collection
• The North American Indian by Edward Curtis
• American Indians Collection

Standard 5: Students will understand the significance of the American Revolution in the development of the United States.

• Captain Thomas Preston's Account of the Boston Massacre, (13 march 1770)
• Anonymous Account of the Boston Massacre
• First Continental Congress - October 1774
• John Adams, Novanglus, February 6, 1775
• Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of taking up Arms, July 6, 1775
• Thomas Paine Common Sense (1776)
• Pictures Primary Sources: George Washington (The History Place.com)
• Pictures Primary Sources: Library of Congress Collection
• Pictures Primary Sources: Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
• UB-TAH U.S. History Picture Collection
• The North American Indian by Edward Curtis

Standard 6: Students will understand the structure and function of the United States government established by the Constitution.

• Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
• Constitution of the United States, 1787
• The Federalists Papers
• The Antifederalist Papers
• Pictures Primary Sources: Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
• Pictures Primary Sources: Library of Congress Collection
• UB-TAH U.S. History Picture Collection
• State Government Websites
• Utah State Government
• Utah State Cities Local Government
• U.S. Federal Government
• Executive Branch of the Federal Government
  "The executive branch of the government is responsible for enforcing the laws of the land. The president, vice president, department heads (cabinet members), and heads of independent agencies carry out this mission."
• Judicial Branch of the Federal Government
  "Courts decide arguments about the meaning of laws and how they are applied. They also decide if laws violate the Constitution—this is known as judicial review, and it is how federal courts provide checks and balances on the legislative and executive branches."The Role of Congress" by The Center of congress at Indiana University
• Legislative Branch of the Federal Government
  "Article I of the Constitution establishes the legislative or law making branch of government. It has a two-branch Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—and agencies that support Congress."
  The Role of Congress by The Center of Congress at Indiana University
• U.S. Senate: How the Congress Make Laws
• U.S. House of Representatives: How the Congress Make Laws
• Tribal Government
• American Indian Nations Sovereignty
• U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
• Understanding Representative Democracy (The Center of Congress at Indiana University)
• Minority Civic Participation (The Center of Congress at Indiana University)

Standard 7: Students will explore the territorial growth of the United States before the Civil War.

• Mountain Men Collection
• The Louisiana Purchase, 1803
• The Monroe Doctrine, 1823
• Indian Removal, Extract from Andrew Jackson's Seventh Annual Message to Congress, December 7, 1835
• Manifest Destiny, John L. O’Sullivan, 1839
• Declaration of the People of Texas, November 7, 1835
• The Texas Declaration of Independence (March 2, 1836)
• The Oregon Treaty, June 15, 1846
• Homestead Act, May 20, 1862
• The American Indian as Participant in the Civil War by Annie H. Abel
• Pictures Primary Sources: Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
• Pictures Primary Sources: Library of Congress Collection
• UB-TAH U.S. History Picture Collection

Standard 8: Students will examine the expansion of the political system and social rights before the Civil War.

• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Manifesto, American Anti-Slavery Society – 1833
• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848
• William Swain Letter, Written from "The Diggings" in California, January 6, 1850
• The Pacific Railway Act, July 1, 1862
• Pictures Primary Sources: Library of Congress Collection
• Pictures Primary Sources: The Civil War (The History Place.com)
• Pictures Primary Sources: Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
• UB-TAH U.S. History Picture Collection

Standard 9: Students will understand the significance of the Civil War Era to the United States.

• Abraham Lincoln, The Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
• The Civil Rights Act of 1866, Civil Rights Act 14 Stat. 27-30, April 9, 1866
• Civil Rights Act of 1875, An Act to Protect All Citizens in Their Civil and Legal Rights.
• Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Address
• Pictures Primary Sources: Library of Congress Collection
• Pictures Primary Sources: The Civil War (The History Place.com)
• Pictures Primary Sources: Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
• UB-TAH U.S. History Picture Collection

Standard 10: Students will understand the development of the American West following the Civil War.

• Ranch Life and The Hunting-Trail by Theodore Roosevelt
• Navajo Treaty of 1868
• The Battle of Little Bighorn, An Eyewitness Account by the Lakota Chief Red Horse
• Lakota Accounts of the Massacre at Wounded Knee
• The Pursue of Chief Joseph by Charles E. Scott Wood
• Chief Joseph Speaks, Selected Statements and Speeches by the Nez Percé Chief
• Treaty Regulating Immigration from China, November 17, 1880
• Pictures Primary Sources: The Native American Experience (Prof. Troy Johnson)
• Pictures Primary Sources: Library of Congress Collection
• Pictures Primary Sources: Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

Disclaimer: Educational Material/Non-Commercial.

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E-Mail: Antonio Arce, Project Coordinator
Phone: (435) 722-1736

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