List of Benchmarks for United States History |
| Standard 6. | Understands the causes of the American Revolution, the ideas and interests involved in shaping the revolutionary movement, and reasons for the American victory |
| | Level II (Grade 5-6) |
| | 1. | Understands the major consequences of the Seven Years War (e.g., the English victory, the removal of the French as a power in North America, the reduced need of the colonists for the protection of the mother country) |
| | 2. | Understands the events that contributed to the outbreak of the American Revolution and the earliest armed conflict of the Revolutionary War (e.g., opponents and defenders of England’s new imperial policy, the idea of "taxation without representation," the battle at Lexington and Concord) A |
| | 3. | Understands the major ideas in the Declaration of Independence, their sources, and how they became unifying ideas of American democracy (e.g., major terms, why the document was written, what the signers risked) A |
| | 4. | Understands the major developments and chronology of the Revolutionary War and the roles of its political, military, and diplomatic leaders (e.g., George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Richard Henry Lee) A |
| | 5. | Understands perspectives of and the roles played in the American Revolution by various groups of people (e.g., men, women, white settlers, free and enslaved African-Americans, and Native Americans) |
| | 6. | Understands the United States’ relationships with European countries and the contributions of each European power to the outcome of the Revolution (e.g., relations with France, Holland and Spain; consequences of the Treaty of Paris; Ben Franklin’s negotiations with the French) |
| | Level III (Grade 7-8) |
| | 1. | Understands how political, ideological, and religious ideas joined economic interests to bring about the "shot heard round the world" (e.g., leaders of resistance to imperial policy; the English tax on the colonists to help pay for the Seven Years War; the interests and positions of different economic groups, such as northern merchants, southern rice and tobacco planters, yeoman farmers, and urban artisans) |
| | 2. | Understands contradictions between the Declaration of Independence and the institution of chattel slavery |
| | 3. | Understands the strategic elements of the Revolutionary War (e.g., how the Americans won the war against superior British resources, American and British military leaders, major military campaigns) |
| | 4. | Understands the impact of European countries and individual Europeans on the American victory (e.g., + interest, goals, and actions of France, Holland, and Spain; contributions of European individuals) |
| | 5. | Understands the terms of the Treaty of Paris and implications for U.S. relationships with Native Americans and European powers who still held interests and territory in North America |
| | 6. | Understands the creation of the Declaration of Independence (e.g., historical antecedents that contributed to the document, individuals who struggled for independence) |
| | Level IV (Grade 9-12) |
| | 1. | Understands the social, political, and religious aspects of the American Revolution (e.g., decisions leading to crisis of revolution; + efforts by Parliament and colonies to prevent revolution; ideas of different religions; economic and social differences of Loyalists, Patriots, and neutrals) |
| | 2. | Understands how the principles of the Declaration of Independence justified American independence |
| | 3. | Understands differences and similarities between the Declaration of Independence and other documents on government (e.g., the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government) |
| | 4. | Understands the major political and strategic factors that led to the American victory in the Revolutionary War (e.g., the importance of the Battle of Saratoga, the use of guerilla and conventional warfare, the importance of King’s Mountain in defining the war) |
| | 5. | Understands the social and economic impact of the Revolutionary War (e.g., problems of financing the war, wartime inflation, hoarding and profiteering; personal impact and economic hardship on families involved in the war) |
| | 6. | Understands contributions of European nations during the American Revolution and how their involvement influenced the outcome and aftermath (e.g., the assistance of France and Spain in the war, how self-interests of France and Spain differed from those of the United States after the war, the effect of American diplomatic initiatives and the contributions of the European military leaders on the outcome of the war) |
| | 7. | Understands how the Treaty of Paris influenced U.S. relations with other countries and indigenous peoples (e.g., the resulting boundary disputes with Spain; influences on economic and strategic interests of the United States, Native Americans, Spain, England, and France; the impact of the Jay Gardoqui Treaty of 1786) |
| | 8. | Understands the arguments of advocates and opponents of slavery from different regions of the country during the revolutionary period (e.g., how pro-slavery Americans justified their defense of slavery with their espousal of inalienable rights to freedom, how enslaved African Americans employed revolutionary ideals to obtain their freedom) |
| | 9. | Understands the military and diplomatic factors that helped produce the Treaty of Paris |
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A = Assessment items available |
