Approved June 6, 2002
HISTORICAL CHANGE: UNITED STATES
Level II
Rationale: History is written in different ways. Standard historical
interpretations emphasize the role of institutions of powerful elites. History
from the bottom up, however, offers a way of learning about the lives of peoples
who constitute the majority of our society and of studying how their lives
have changed as a result of historical developments. It also illuminates
the ways in which they have made changes in their own lives, in their communities,
and in society. Such an approach to studying the past is especially valuable
for people engaged in service and advocacy work. Developing a bottom-up view
of the American past requires both a sense of historical chronology and an
ability to see history from the standpoint of disadvantaged groups, including
an understanding of the way that social problems have taken on different forms
in different historical periods. Thus, this competency requires both the
development of an overall sense of the flow of history in the
Competency: Can read historical texts and write about important
topics in
CRITERIA:
1.
Read, comprehend, and report on broad historical narratives about the people
of the
2. Organize a timeline of important events, developments, conflicts, and decisions that characterize a particular historical topic over several periods of
3. Trace a particular historical topic over several periods of
PORTFOLIO LINKS: You are expected to use the Writing Portfolio
criteria and standards as guidelines for the written products required by
this competency. Papers written for this competency may be considered for
submission to the Writing Portfolio.
STANDARDS:
1. In meeting Criterion 1, reading comprehension should be demonstrated based on several oral or written reports/reflections on portions of broad historical narratives, as specified or approved by the evaluator.
2. For Criteria 2 and 3, students may choose among topics such as the following:
a. the European conquest of native peoples in the colonies and early states and the U.S. conquest of Mexican and Puerto Rican peoples, the events and policies involved, and the forms of resistance adopted by the affected people;
b. the evolution of free and unfree labor, the methods and forms used to create labor systems, the conditions under which people worked, the struggles they waged for greater freedom, and the ways in which laws were made and were changed;
c. the conditions of poor people in the U.S., including the “discovery of poverty” in different periods, the structural causes of poverty, the treatment of the poor by public and private institutions, the actions of the poor to escape poverty, and the changing public policies affecting the poor;
d. immigration to the British colonies and the U.S. from other lands, the economic need for immigrants, their differing and common experiences, their struggles for respect and full citizenship, and popular attitudes and laws concerning immigration;
e. the struggle for human and civil rights by oppressed peoples—the role of the oppressed in demanding and making change, and how the struggles changed laws and institutions.Topics must be approved by the evaluator.
3. The historical periods for Criteria 2 and 3 must be derived from historical literature; a minimum of three historical periods should be chosen.
4.
The timeline for Criterion 2 should, where appropriate, also include major
events affecting the overall course of
5. The essay written for Criterion 3 must be at least 10 pages in length. The essay must demonstrate: