Home | Back
to top of page | Teacher
Resources | Video
& CD-ROM | Links
Tracks: Impressions of America
and the National Social Studies Strands
| National Social Studies Strands | Time, Continuity & Change | Culture; Individual Development & Identity | People, Places & Environments; Global Connections | Production, Distribution & Consumption; Science, Technology & Society | Power, Authority & Governance; Individuals, Groups & Institutions | Civic Ideals & Practices |
| Tracks #1 Trekking Across Our Land |
-Development of diverse Native American cultures | -Migration and immigration patterns as dynamic, positive forces. | -Pre-Columbian migration of humans from Asia to North America | -Agriculture as the driving force in determining settlement patterns of Native Americans | -Settlements led to evolution of early Native American societies | -Contributions of Native Americans to modern American lifestyles |
| Tracks #2 Spain Comes to America | -European explorers sought to exploit and control North America | -The conflict between European nations in North America | -Impact of European settlers on Timucuan people of Florida | -Early Atlantic trade routes | -Spain & England battle for control of America | -The role of the soldier in European expansion. |
| Tracks #3 Early European Settlements |
-Interactions between Europeans and Powhatans | -The motivation and goals of Jamestown, VA settlers | -Selection of location for the Jamestown settlement | -Evolution of a plantation economy dependent on slavery -The economic boom of tobacco |
-How indentured servants were eventually replaced by African slaves | -Early examples of racism |
| Tracks #4 Seeds of Revolution | -How New England settlements differ from other regions | -New England Pilgrims and Puritans promote concepts of religious freedom and human equality | -Religious persecution in Europe drives ideologies of New England settlers | -Shipbuilding as an economic force in the development of
Boston, MA -Trade an important factor even in earliest settlements |
-The Boston Tea Party | -Revolutionaries organize in Faneuil Hall |
| Tracks # 5 Independence! | -The Declaration of Independence | -Loyalists views conflict with revolutionary colonists | -Taxation without representation | -Economic forces fuel revolutionary fervor | -The Continental Congress and creation of a Continental Army | -The ideals of personal liberty as presented in the Declaration of Independence |
| Tracks # 6 A New Nation |
-U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights | -The War of 1812 | -The selection of Washington D.C. as the nation's capitol | -Jefferson's passion for science and technology | -The Connecticut Compromise establishes the bicameral legislature | -Patriotism & the new Nationalism |
| National Social Studies Strands | Time, Continuity & Change | Culture; Individual Development & Identity | People, Places & Environments; Global Connections | Production, Distribution & Consumption; Science, Technology & Society | Power, Authority & Governance; Individuals, Groups & Institutions | Civic Ideals & Practices |
| Tracks # 7 Westward Ho! |
-Settlement moves westward | -Contrasting views of European settlers and Native Americans toward the land | -Mexican-American War and Louisiana Purchase | -Causes of the spread and entrenchment of slavery -The establishment of transportation routes to the west |
-The Trail of Tears and the establishment of Indian reservations | -19th Century Federal policy toward Native Americans |
| Tracks # 8 Divided & United |
-The American Civil War | -Southern values and politics are contrasted with the industrialized North | -Racial discrimination | -The role of the cotton gin on southern agricultural economy | -Abolitionism | - The modern Civil Rights movement |
| Tracks # 9 The Urbanization of America |
-The Industrial Revolution | -Increased immigration brings cultural diversity | -Shift from rural to urban societies | -Mechanization fuels the American economy -Evolution of the labor force from agricultural-based to manufacturing-based |
-Organized labor | -Pluralism and cultural diversity become key characteristics of national identity. |
| Tracks # 10 The Road to Mt. Rushmore | -Westward expansion | -Spanish influence in the West | -Devastation of native buffalo herds & other environmental damage from westward expansion | -Railroads to the west encouraged ranching, farming &
mining development -Gold Rush |
-Homestead Act | -Mt. Rushmore monument epitomizes expansionist values |
| Tracks # 11 America at War | -Manifest Destiny | -America as a world military power -WWI & WWII |
-The Great Depression | -The Atomic Age | -The New Deal | -Military patriotism |
| Tracks # 12 Changing Times and Modern Industries |
-The Cold War -20th Century industrial diversification |
-NATO -Modern Asian immigration -The break-up of the Soviet Union |
-The Marshall Plan -Modern advances toward racial and gender equality |
-The emergence of a global economy -Cold War sparks industrial and technological growth -Sustainable resources |
-Cuban Missile Crisis -Civil Rights legislation |
-The U.S. role in promoting the spread of democracy |
©1998 Agency for Instructional Technology
For permission to use this document, contact:
AIT Broadcast Services
Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402-0120
1-800-457-4509
To print this document, set printer for landscape mode.
Home | Back
to top of page | Teacher
Resources | Video
& CD-ROM | Links