NY Social Studies Standards (Grade 7)

Early United States industrialization affected different parts of the country in different ways. Regional economic differences and values, as well as different conceptions of the Constitution, laid the basis for tensions between states’ rights advocates and supporters of a strong federal government. Students will examine regional economic differences as they related to industrialization.

As the nation expanded geographically, the question of slavery in new territories and states led to increased sectional tensions. Attempts at compromise ended in failure. Students will examine attempts at resolving conflicts over whether new territories would permit slavery, including the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Students will examine growing sectional tensions, including the decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) and the founding of the Republican Party.

Perspectives on the causes of the Civil War varied based on geographic region, but the election of a Republican president was one of the immediate causes for the secession of the Southern states. Students will examine both long- and short-term causes of the Civil War. Students will identify which states seceded to form the Confederate States of America and will explore the reasons presented for secession. Students will also identify the states that remained in the Union. Students will examine the role of New York State in the Civil War, including its contributions to the war effort and the controversy over the draft.

The course and outcome of the Civil War were influenced by strategic leaders from both the North and South, decisive battles, and military strategy and technology that utilized the region's geography. Students will compare the advantages and disadvantages of the North and the South at the outset of the Civil War. Students will examine the goals and content of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Students will examine how the use of various technologies affected the conduct and outcome of the Civil War. Students will examine the enlistment of freed slaves and how this helped to change the course of the Civil War. Students will examine the topography and geographic conditions at Gettysburg and Antietam, and analyze the military strategies employed by the North and the South at Gettysburg or Antietam.

The Civil War affected human lives, physical infrastructure, economic capacity, and governance of the United States. Students will examine the roles of women, civilians, and free African Americans during the Civil War. Students will examine the aftermath of the war in terms of destruction, effect on population, and economic capacity by comparing effects of the war on New York State and Georgia. Students will explain how events of the Civil War led to the establishment of federal supremacy.

Conflicts between France and Great Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries in North America altered the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain. Students will locate battles fought between France and Great Britain during the 17th and 18th centuries, and how this led to the importance of British troops in the area of New York. Students will examine how Native Americans attempted to maintain a diplomatic balance between themselves and the French and the English settlers. Students will examine the changing economic relationship between the colonies and Great Britain, including mercantilism and the practice of salutary neglect. Students will identify the issues stemming from the Zenger Trial that affected the development of individual rights in colonial America.

Stemming from the French and Indian War, the British government enacted and attempted to enforce new political and economic policies in the colonies. These policies triggered varied colonial responses, including protests and dissent. Students will investigate the Albany Congress and the Albany Plan of Union as a plan for colonial unification. Students will examine actions taken by the British, including the Proclamation of 1763, the Quartering Act, the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, and the Coercive Acts, and colonial responses to those actions. Students will compare British and colonial patriot portrayals of the Boston Massacre, using historical evidence. Students will compare the proportions of loyalists and patriots in different regions of the New York colony. Students will examine the events at Lexington and Concord as the triggering events for the Revolutionary War.

Influenced by Enlightenment ideas and their rights as Englishmen, American colonial leaders outlined their grievances against British policies and actions in the Declaration of Independence. Students will examine the influence Enlightenment ideas such as natural rights and social contract and ideas expressed in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense had on colonial leaders in their debates on independence. Students will examine the Declaration of Independence and the arguments for independence stated within it.

The outcome of the American Revolution was influenced by military strategies, geographic considerations, the involvement of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and other Native American groups in the war, and aid from other nations. The Treaty of Paris (1783) established the terms of peace. Students will explore the different military strategies used by the Americans and their allies, including various Native American groups, during the American Revolution. Students will examine the strategic importance of the New York colony. Students will examine the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga in terms of its effects on American and British morale and on European views on American prospects for victory in the Revolution. Students will examine the terms of the Treaty of Paris, determine what boundary was set for the United States, and illustrate this on a map.

Social, economic, and scientific improvements helped European nations launch an Age of Exploration. Students will explain the significance of the technological developments and scientific understandings that improved European exploration such as the caravel, magnetic compass, astrolabe, and Mercator projection. Students will examine the voyage of Columbus, leading to the Columbian Exchange and the voyages of other explorers such as Champlain, Hudson, and Verrazano.

Different European groups had varied interactions and relationships with the Native American societies they encountered. Native American societies suffered from loss of life due to disease and conflict and loss of land due to encroachment of European settlers and differing conceptions of property and land ownership. Students will compare and contrast British interactions with southern New England Algonquians, Dutch and French interactions with the Algonquians and Iroquoians, and Spanish interactions with Muscogee. Students will investigate other Native American societies found in their locality and their interactions with European groups. Students will examine the major reasons why Native American societies declined in population and lost land to the Europeans.

European nations established colonies in North America for economic, religious, and political reasons. Differences in climate, physical features, access to water, and sources of labor contributed to the development of different economies in the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies. Students will investigate the reasons for colonization and the role of geography in the development of each colonial region. Students will examine the economic, social, and political characteristics of each colonial region.

In New York, the Dutch established settlements along the Hudson River and the French established settlements in the Champlain Valley. Dutch contributions to American society were long-lasting. Students will compare and contrast the early Dutch settlements with French settlements and with those in the subsequent British colony of New York in terms of political, economic, and social characteristics, including an examination of the patroon system. Students will examine the changing status and role of African Americans under the Dutch and English colonial systems. Student will examine Dutch contributions to American society, including acceptance of a diverse population, a degree of religious toleration and right to petition. Students will examine Dutch relations with Native Americans.

Over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, slavery grew in the colonies. Enslaved Africans utilized a variety of strategies to both survive and resist their conditions. Students will describe the conditions of the Middle Passage. Students will explain why and where slavery grew over time in the United States and students will examine the living conditions of slaves, including those in New York State. Students will investigate different methods enslaved Africans used to survive and resist their conditions, including slave revolts in New York State. Within the context of New York State history, students will distinguish between indentured servitude and slavery.

Throughout the American Revolution, the colonies struggled to address their differing social, political, and economic interests and to establish unity. The Articles of Confederation created a form of government that loosely united the states, but allowed states to maintain a large degree of sovereignty.

The lack of a strong central government under the Articles of Confederation presented numerous challenges. A convention was held to revise the Articles, the result of which was the Constitution. The Constitution established a democratic republic with a stronger central government. Students will investigate the successes and failures of the Articles of Confederation, determine why many felt a new plan of government was needed, and explain how the United States Constitution attempted to address the weaknesses of the Articles. Students will examine the New York State Constitution, its main ideas and provisions, and its influence on the formation of the United States Constitution.

Advocates for and against a strong central government were divided on issues of States rights, role/limits of federal power, and guarantees of individual freedoms. Compromises were needed between the states in order to ratify the Constitution. Students will examine from multiple perspectives arguments regarding the balance of power between the federal and state governments, the power of government, and the rights of individuals. Students will examine how key issues were resolved during the Constitutional Convention, including: state representation in Congress (Great Compromise or bicameral legislature); the balance of power between the federal and state governments (establishment of the system of federalism); the prevention of parts of government becoming too powerful (the establishment of the three branches); the counting of the enslaved African American community for purposes of congressional representation and taxation (the Three-Fifths Compromise). Students will examine the role of New York State residents Alexander Hamilton and John Jay as leading advocates for the new Constitution.

Geography and climate influenced the migration and cultural development of Native Americans. Native Americans in North America settled into different regions and developed distinct cultures. Students will examine theories of human settlement of the Americas. Students will compare and contrast different Native American culture groups of North America, with a focus on the influence geographic factors had on their development. Students will examine various groups of Native Americans located within what became New York State and the influence geographic factors had on their development.

The Second Great Awakening, which had a strong showing in New York State, inspired reform movements. Students will investigate examples of early 19th-century reform movements, such as education, prisons, temperance, and mental health care, and examine the circumstances that led to the need for reform.

Enslaved African Americans resisted slavery in various ways in the 19th century. The abolitionist movement also worked to raise awareness of and generate resistance to the institution of slavery. Students will examine ways in which enslaved Africans organized and resisted their conditions. Students will explore the efforts of William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman to abolish slavery. Students will examine the effects of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the public perception of slavery. Students will investigate New York State and its role in the abolition movement, including the locations of Underground Railroad stations. Students will examine the seizure of the ship, La Amistad, carrying enslaved Africans, off the coast of Long Island and the resulting Supreme Court decision in United States v. The Amistad (1841).

Women joined the movements for abolition and temperance and organized to advocate for women’s property rights, fair wages, education, and political equality. Students will examine the efforts of women to acquire more rights. These women include Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Susan B. Anthony. Students will explain the significance of the Seneca Falls Convention and the Declaration of Sentiments.

The Anti-Rent movement in New York State was an attempt by tenant farmers to protest the landownership system. Students will trace the Anti-Rent movement in New York State.

The Constitution outlined a federalist system of government that shares powers between the federal, state, and local governments. Students will identify powers granted to the federal government and examine the language used to grant powers to the states.

The Constitution established three branches of government as well as a system of checks and balances that guides the relationship between the branches. Individual rights of citizens are addressed in the Bill of Rights. Students will compare and contrast the powers granted to Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court by the Constitution. Students will examine how checks and balances work by tracing how a bill becomes a law. Students will identify the individual rights of citizens that are protected by the Bill of Rights.

While the Constitution provides a formal process for change through amendments, the Constitution can respond to change in other ways. The New York State Constitution changed over time, with changes in the early 19th century that made it more democratic. Students will examine the process for amending the constitution. Students will examine the evolution of the unwritten constitution, such as Washington’s creation of the presidential cabinet and the development of political parties. Students will examine the changes to the New York State Constitution and how they were made during the 19th century.

Foreign and domestic disputes tested the strength of the Constitution, particularly the separation of powers, the system of checks and balances, and the issue of States rights. The United States sought to implement isolationism while protecting the Western Hemisphere from European interference. Students will examine events of the early nation including Hamilton’s economic plan, the Louisiana Purchase, the Supreme Court decision in Marbury v. Madison, and the War of 1812 in terms of testing the strength of the Constitution. Students will examine the Monroe Doctrine and its effects on foreign policy.

Some Native Americans who aligned with the British during the American Revolution lost land and were forced to move.

Conflict and compromise with foreign nations occurred regarding the physical expansion of the United States during the 19th century. American values and beliefs, such as Manifest Destiny and the need for resources, increased westward expansion and settlement. Students will compare and evaluate the ways in which Florida, Texas, and territories from the Mexican Cession were acquired by the United States.

Westward expansion provided opportunities for some groups while harming others. Students will examine the Erie Canal as a gateway to westward expansion that resulted in economic growth for New York State, economic opportunities for Irish immigrants working on its construction, and its use by religious groups, such as the Mormons, to move westward. Students will examine the growth of suffrage for white men during Andrew Jackson’s administration. Students will examine the conditions faced on the Trail of Tears by the Cherokee and the effect that the removal had on their people and culture. Students will examine examples of Native American resistance to western encroachment, including the Seminole Wars and Cherokee judicial efforts. Students will examine the ways westward movement affected the lives of women and African Americans. Students will examine the policies of New York State toward Native Americans at this time, and its efforts to take tribal lands, particularly those of the Oneidas, and exercise jurisdiction over those communities.