7th Grade Social Studies Curriculum Map

Quarter 2

Civil War

Objectives:

1. To understand the series of events

and resulting conditions that led to

the American Civil War

2. To understand how different experiences, beliefs, values, traditions,

and motives cause individuals and

groups to interpret historic events

and issues from different

perspectives

3. To participate in a negotiating and

compromising role-playing activity

that mirrors the attempts at political

compromise in the 1850s

Content Outline:

A. Territorial expansion and slavery

1. The secession of Texas, 1836

2. The Mexican War, 1846-1848

3. Oregon Territory

4. The westward movement and

its effects on the physical,

social, and cultural

environments

B. The emotional impact of slavery

1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin

2. John Brown’s raid on Harper’s

Ferry

3. Fugitive slave laws

C. Failure of political compromise

1. Compromise of 1850

2. Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

3. Founding of the Republican

Party, 1854-1856

4. Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

5. Lincoln-Douglas debate, 1858

6. Election of 1860

7. Firing on Fort Sumter, 1861

Content Standards Concepts/Themes Connections

Change

Geography

Diversity

Decision

Making

Change

Decision

Making

ESSENTIALQUESTIONS:

- What political, social, and economic     Weeks 1 & 2

factors caused the Civil War?

- What were the conflicting perspectives  Week 3

on slavery?

- What kind of nation did the founding     Week 4

fathers create?

- What is to be done with the institution     

of slavery?

- Must sectionalism ultimately lead to

disunion?

CLASSROOM IDEAS/ASSESSMENTS:

• Categorize the causes of the Civil War.

• Define the northern and southern perspectives on these issues.

• Map the westward movement and its

effects.

• Use primary sources to examine art, literature, and documents relevant to the

pre-Civil War period.

• Compare/Contrast the compromises and

debates in essay format.

Suggested Document: Harriet Beecher

Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

I