California History-Social Science Standards NHD-CA
History Day 2014: Rights and Responsibilities in History
Topic Possibilities – Grades Six through Eight
The general topic possibilities below provide a springboard
for teacher, parent, and student thinking, and are not intended to be exhaustive.
Grade Six
Students in grade six expand their understanding of history by studying the people and events that
ushered in the dawn of the major Western and non-Western ancient civilizations. Geography is of
special significance in the development of the human story. Continued emphasis is placed on the
everyday lives, problems, and accomplishments of people, their role in developing social, economic, and
political structures, as well as in establishing and spreading ideas that helped transform the world
forever. Students develop higher levels of critical thinking by considering why civilizations developed
where and when they did, why they became dominant, and why they declined. Students analyze the
interactions among the various cultures, emphasizing their enduring contributions and the link, despite
time, between the contemporary and ancient worlds.
6.1 Students describe what is known through archaeological studies of the early physical and cultural
development of humankind from the Paleolithic era to the agricultural revolution.
6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early
civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush.
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Compare the political order in Mesopotamia and Egypt
Hammurabi’s Code
Sumerian law
Queen Hatshepsut’s reign
Rames’ II reign
6.3 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Ancient
Hebrews.
 Hebrew concepts of law and justice
6.4 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early
civilizations of Ancient Greece.
 Greek Philosophy and the Dawn of Rational Thought
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Athens: The first city state
Rights and responsibilities of Athenian citizens
Non-citizens in ancient Greece
From Tyranny and Oligarchy to Democracy
Socrates
Comparison of city states, Athens and Sparta
Alexander the Great
Political organization of the Persian Empire
Role of women in ancient Greece
6.5 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early
civilizations of India.
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Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama
Social structure of the Brahmin caste system
Jainism, nonviolent civil disobedience
Asoka, India’s Peaceful Emperor
Political structure of the Maurya Empire
6.6 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early
civilizations of China.
 Zhou Dynasty breakdown
 Confucius
 Political contributions of the Han Dynasty
6.7 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures during the
development of Rome.
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Roman Constitution
Triparite government
Civic duty
Pax Romana
Roman efforts to suppress Christianity
Roman restrictions
Changing ideas of citizenship in ancient Rome
Roman law
Social class in ancient Rome
Role of women in ancient Rome
Grade Seven
Students in grade seven study the social, cultural, and technological changes that occurred in Europe,
Africa, and Asia in the years A. D. 500Ð 1789. After reviewing the ancient world and the ways in which
archaeologists and historians uncover the past, students study the history and geography of great
civilizations that were developing concurrently throughout the world during medieval and early modern
times. They examine the growing economic interaction among civilizations as well as the exchange of
ideas, beliefs, technologies, and commodities. They learn about the resulting growth of Enlightenment
philosophy and the new examination of the concepts of reason and authority, the natural rights of
human beings and the divine right of kings, experimentalism in science, and the dogma of belief. Finally,
students assess the political forces let loose by the Enlightenment, particularly the rise of democratic
ideas, and they learn about the continuing influence of these ideas in the world today.
7.1 Students analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate disintegration of the
Roman Empire.
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Roman Law
Impact of corruption and slavery on Roman citizenship
Clovis, the Catholic King
Rise of Augustus
Justinian Plague
Aftermath of Battle of Actium
Church-state relations, Eastern Orthodox vs. Roman Catholic
7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the
civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.
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Birth of Mysticism
Impact of Qur’an and the Sunnah on Islamic law
Ottoman Turk legal code
Role of women in the Ottoman Empire
Role of slaves and conquered peoples in the Ottoman Empire
Reign of Abu Bakr
The 4 Caliphs
Death of Husayn
7.3 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the
civilizations of China in the Middle Ages.
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Fall of the Ming Dynasty
Influence of Confucianism
Development of the imperial state and the scholar-official class
China’s “Backwards” Revolution of 1433
7.4 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the subSaharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali in Medieval Africa.
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Development of states and cities in West Africa
Medieval African Kingdoms
Influence of Islamic law on West Africa
Collapse of Mali & Songhai
7.5 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the
civilizations of Medieval Japan.
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The Taiho Code
Reign of Prince Shotoku
Lord-vassal system
Kamakura Shogunate
Rise of the Samurai
7.6 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the
civilizations of Medieval Europe.
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Feudalism
1095 – The First Crusade
Conflicts between the Papacy and European monarchs
Magna Carta
Parliament
Habeas Corpus
Independent judiciary
Reconquista
St. Thomas Aquinas
Jakob Fugger
7.7 Students compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of
the Meso-American and Andean civilizations.
 Class structure and slavery within Mayan, Incan, or Aztec civilizations
 Hernan Cortes
 Alliance with Tlaxcala
 Spanish conquest of the Aztecs
 Inca mandatory public service, mita
 Spanish conquest of the Incas
 Francisco Pizarro
7.8 Students analyze the origins, accomplishments, and geographic diffusion of the Renaissance.
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Machiavelli
New concept of man (emphasis on civic duty)
Condotierri
The Fugger Dynasty
 Common Law
7.9 Students analyze the historical developments of the Reformation.
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Peasant revolt of 1524
Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther
95 Theses
Henry VIII, Act of Supremacy
John Calvin, lay control of Church
Council of Trent
Counter Reformation
Spanish Inquisition
Roman or Papal Inquisition
Saint Ignatius and the Jesuits
Missionaries and the Spread of Christianity
Golden Age between Jews and Muslims in Spain
7.10 Students analyze the historical developments of the Scientific Revolution and its lasting effect on
religious, political, and cultural institutions.
 Influence of scientific rationalism on political institutions, growth of democratic ideas
 Coexistence of science with traditional religious beliefs
7.11 Students analyze political and economic change in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and
eighteenth centuries (the Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason).
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Emergence of Modern Capitalism
Magna Carta
John Locke
Charles-Louis Montesquieu
American founding fathers
English Bill of Rights
American Declaration of Independence
French Revolution
Fall of the Bastille
The Glorious Revolution
Freemasonry
Condorcet
“Enlightened Despotism”
“Maupeou Parliaments”
George III
John Wilkes
Parliamentary reform
Edmund Burke
Regulating Act of 1773
Grade Eight
Students in grade eight study the ideas, issues, and events from the framing of the Constitution up to
World War I, with an emphasis on America's role in the war. After reviewing the development of
America's democratic institutions founded on the Judeo-Christian heritage and English parliamentary
traditions, particularly the shaping of the Constitution, students trace the development of American
politics, society, culture, and economy and relate them to the emergence of major regional differences.
They learn about the challenges facing the new nation, with an emphasis on the causes, course, and
consequences of the Civil War. They make connections between the rise of industrialization and
contemporary social and economic conditions.
8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their
significance to the development of American constitutional democracy.
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Thomas Paine and Common Sense
The Great Awakening
Virginia House of Burgesses
Declaration of Independence
Benjamin Franklin
George Washington
Shaftesbury and Hutchinson’s Moral Sense Theory: contributing ideas behind the American
Revolution
 James Madison: The idea that government reflects a contract between citizens and those who
govern them
 “All men are created equal”: The idea of individual rights
8.2 Students analyze the political principles underlying the U.S. Constitution and compare the
enumerated and implied powers of the federal government.
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Magna Carta
English Bill of Rights
Mayflower Compact
Federalist Papers
James Madison
John Jay
Alexander Hamilton
Roger Sherman
Gouvernor Morris
James Wilson
Bill of Rights
The Three-fifths Compromise
Jefferson’s Statute for Religious Freedom
Enumerating the Powers of the Federal Government
Articles of Confederation
Constitutional Debates: Reacting to significant differences regarding state and federal powers,
rights of individuals and states, and slavery
 Federalist Papers: Laying the foundation for the US Constitution
 Commerce Clause and American Indian Rights
8.3 Students understand the foundation of the American political system and the ways in which citizens
participate in it.
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State constitutions between 1777-1781
From Hamilton and Jefferson: A new party is born
Privatization of Natural Resources: Ordinances of 1785 and 1787
National Bank
Interstate Commerce and the Common Market
Alien and Sedition Acts
National Bank
Shay’s Rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion
Responsibilities of a Free Press
8.4 Students analyze the aspirations and ideals of the people of the new nation.
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Washington’s Farewell Address
Jefferson’s 1801 Inaugural Address
John Quincy Adams’s Fourth of July 1821 Address
Jackson’s opposition to a National Bank
Early Supreme Court decisions on the sanctity of contracts
8.5 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy in the early Republic.
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The War of 1812: America’s second revolution
Manifest Destiny
Monroe Doctrine
Treaties with American Indian nations
Land “Reforms” after the Mexican-American War
Article X (Mexican Land Grant Guarantees) of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
8.6 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the
challenges they faced, with emphasis on the Northeast.
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Henry Clay’s American System: A response to cheap British imports
Industrial Revolution
Establishment of churches and schools in North by free Blacks to advance freedom
Charles Remond and the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
Horace Mann: Public education for all children
Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Margaret Fuller
Lucretia Mott
Women’s Suffrage Movement
Emma Willard: Higher education for girls
Mary Mason Lyon: Founding of Mt. Holyoke and Wheaton Colleges
Dorothea Dix: Reforms for the mentally ill
8.7 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the South from 1800 to the mid1800s and the challenges they faced.
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Gabriel Prosser’s Failed Slave Revolt in Richmond, VA
John Hughson and the New York Conspiracy of 1741
Telemaque’s (Denmark Vesey) Failed Slave Rebellion
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
The Amistad or United States v. Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad
8.8 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the West from 1800 to the mid-1800s
and the challenges they faced.
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Northwest Ordinance Revolutionizes Democracy with Education
Attempting to Ban Slavery in the Mexican Cession
Annie Bidwell: Frontier reformer
Elias Boudinot and the Treaty of New Echota
Cherokee Constitution
Andrew Jackson
Policy of Indian Removal
Opposition to Supreme Court
Trail of Tears
Wyoming suffrage to women, 1869
8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the
Declaration of Independence.
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John Quincy Adams, constitutional amendment
Abolition of slavery in early state constitutions
Northwest Ordinance
Missouri Compromise
Sojourner Truth: The abolitionist and women’s right activist who would name herself
Frederick Douglass
Champion of immediate, universal, and unconditional emancipation: David Walker
Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lives of free blacks in the North or South
Ostend Manifesto
Lincoln’s Speeches: Inaugural Addresses.
Emancipation Proclamation
John Brown
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Harriett Tubman and the Underground Railroad
8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the Civil War.
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Daniel Webster and John Calhoun’s reactions to the Compromise of 1850
The Doctrine of Nullification
Lincoln’s speeches
Jefferson Davis
8.11 Students analyze the character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction.
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Reconstruction
Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment
Freedman’s Bureau
13th Amendment: Abolishing Slavery
14th Amendment : Citizenship, Due Process, Equal Protection
15th Amendment: Right to Vote
Jim Crow
Rise of the Klu Klux Klan
Amnesty Act of 1872: Returning ex-confederates to full citizenship rights
Election of 1876 and the End of Reconstruction
Plessy v. Ferguson
General Amos Tappan Ackerman: Destroying the Ku Klux in South Carolina
8.12 Students analyze the transformation of the American economy and the changing social and political
conditions in the United States in response to the Industrial Revolution.
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John D. Rockefeller and the Second Industrial Revolution
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Mellon: Reforming the US Tax System
John Pierpont Morgan: Modernizing business management
Samuel Gompers
Child labor
Collective bargaining
Strikes and protests over working conditions
Tompkins Square Riot
Coal miners strikes of 1875
Great Railroad Strike (1877)
Fall River Massachusetts, Textile Strike (1884)
Union Pacific Railroad Strike (1884)
Cloakmakers' General Strike (1885)
McCormick Harvesting Machine Company Strike (1885)
Southwest Railroad Strike (1885)
Yonkers New York, Carpet Weavers' Strike (1885, U.S.)
Anti-Chinese Riots
Nativism: Reaction to immigration and social change
The Conservation Movement: Reacting to Urbanization
Settlement House Workers
Muckrakers
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Social Darwinism as a rationale to support child labor and unregulated business practices
Foreign Policy Reform: Monroe Doctrine
Theodore Roosevelt and the Spanish-American War
Woodrow Wilson: Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, Clayton Antitrust Act,
Federal, Farm Loan Act, and Income Tax
 League of Nations