Course Guide for 8th Grade Honors United States History

Course Description: 8th Grade Honors United States History (HUSH) is one year course. Students develop historical thinking skills while examining people, ideas, issues, and events in the United States from the Colonial Period through Reconstruction after the Civil War. Throughout the course, students will make connections between historical issues and current events to develop a greater understanding of the basic institutions and policies of the nation.
Textbooks:
  • Holt: United States History - Independence to 1914. 
    • Holt is our primary textbook.
    • We have copies in our classroom.
    • Students must download the textbook from Haiku - Power Learning so they have it available for homework and studying. 
  • ​History Alive! The United States through Industrialism.
    • We have copies in our classroom.​
    • Online  Login to Teachtci.com
Grading Policy:  Students earn points for completing assignments, participating in class, and volunteering in our community.  ​

Units of Study
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California Standards for History Social Studies for 8th Grade United States History 
  • ​8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the development of American constitutional democracy.
  • 8.2 Students analyze the political principles underlying the U.S. Constitution and compare the enumerated and implied powers of the federal government.
  • 8.3 Students understand the foundation of the American political system and the ways in which citizens participate in it.
  • 8.4 Students analyze the aspirations and ideals of the people of this new nation.
  • 8.5 Students analyze analyze U.S. foreign policy in the early Republic.
  • 8.6 Students study the divergent paths of the American people from the 1800 to the mid 1800's and the challenges they faced, with emphasis on the Northeast.
  • 8.7 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the South from the 1800 to the mid 1800's and the many challenges they faced.
  • 8.8 Students study the divergent paths of the American people in the West from the 1800 to mid 1800's and the challenges they faced.
  • 8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
  • 8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the civil War.
  • 8.11 Students analyze the character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction
  • 8.12 Students analyze the transformation of the American economy and the changing social and political conditions in the US in response to the Industrial Revolution.