Alabama Social Studies SS24.4.11a
The Standard
- SS24.4.11
- Describe events and factors that led to the United States' expansion prior to the Civil War, including conflicts, technological developments, trails, and the Gold Rush of 1849.
Locate states admitted to the United States between 1812 and 1860 and categorize these states as either “free” or “slave” states.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify the states that joined the United States from 1812 through 1860. They find each state on a map and label it free or slave when it joined.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given an admission-year list and a blank map, students can locate and label all 16 states. They can identify Maine as free and Missouri as slave.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may draw a straight line across the map and label Missouri free because it lies north of the line. They may think “free” meant equal rights for everyone, rather than a state where slavery was prohibited.
How to Assess It
- Give students a blank map with Maine, Missouri, Texas, and California outlined. Ask them to name each state and mark whether it was free or slave when it joined.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a blank map, an admission-year list, and a historical map key; have them color and label the qualifying states.
Ask, “Where are Maine and Missouri, and which was free and which was slave when each joined?”
Play a card game: show a state from the admission list, then have partners point to it and name its historical category.
Compare an 1860 state map with a current road map; find Texas and California, then discuss why the historical labels belong only on the older map.
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Related Standards
- SS24.US1.8a
Analyze the domestic slave trade/forced migration, labor, and variations in the practice of slavery in different areas of the United States.
- SS24.US1.11
Analyze how government policies and events related to slavery led to increased sectionalism throughout the United States prior to the Civil War.
- SS24.US1.4
Assess how the American Revolution and its rhetoric affected the status of slavery in the newly formed United States.
- SS24.4.17b
Locate states admitted to and territories acquired by the United States between 1865 and 1900, and describe how these additional territories were acquired.
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