History

History is taught with lectures, thematic applications of history to the present and to our own lives, corresponding videos to enhance the major areas of the curriculum, discussions, skits, critical thinking questions, group and individual projects, field trips, and relevant connections to scripture and Catholic learning objectives.  Homework is an integral part of the learning process.  Writing quality is an expectation, and writing concerns are taught and reinforced throughout the year.

By the end of the two years in U.S. History, the student is cognizant of all areas of American history to the present time.  The following is a general overview of the curriculum:

Grade 7 History 

Seventh Grade History begins with a unit on geography and ends after Reconstruction in the late 1800’s.  The course encompasses the cultures and civilizations in the Americas before Columbus, the Age of Exploration, Colonial History, the introduction of slavery in the American colonies, the American Revolution, the founding of the government with an emphasis on understanding the U.S. Constitution, the Era of Jefferson, the War of 1812, the Industrial Revolution, the Era of Jackson, Manifest Destiny, slavery and the anti-slavery movement, the sequence of events leading to the American Civil War, the War itself, and the period of Reconstruction.

Grade 8 History

The 8th grade U.S. History class is a continuation of the 7th grade curriculum, beginning in 1895, with the population expansion into the West, covering the Spanish-American War, WWI, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, WWII and the Holocaust, the Korean War, the McCarthy era, the assassination of JFK, LBJ and the Vietnam War, the Watergate affair, The Iranian hostage crisis, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the first Gulf War, Clinton’s impeachment, 911 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the book ends with the election of President Obama and the global economy.  What has happened since is the recent past, and it’s brought out through discussions of current events.