Alabama Social Studies SS24.4.12a
The Standard
- SS24.4.12
- Explain how the growth of the United States from 1812 to 1860 changed economic and social life in Alabama.
Identify different trades and occupations of Alabamians in the period from 1812 to 1860.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students name work people did in Alabama from 1812 to 1860, such as farming, blacksmithing, carpentry, selling goods, and river transport. They describe the tasks and recognize that enslaved people were forced to work in fields, homes, and skilled trades.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can tell what a blacksmith made, what a carpenter built, and what a riverboat crew carried. They can explain that enslaved workers could not freely choose or leave their work.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think nearly everyone worked on a cotton farm and overlook shops and riverboats. Others describe enslaved people's forced labor as work they chose.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Name three kinds of work done in Alabama between 1812 and 1860, give one task for each, and explain why enslaved labor was not a chosen job.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs picture cards of a hoe, saw, forge, and riverboat; have them match each to a worker and describe the work.
Write “paid blacksmith” and “enslaved blacksmith” on the board; ask who controlled each worker’s time and pay.
Play occupation charades with hammering iron, sawing wood, steering a riverboat, and selling goods; classmates name each kind of work.
Compare a photo of a modern Alabama port with a drawing of a 1800s riverboat; list goods each could carry.
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Related Standards
- SS24.4.16a
Describe how industry, trade, farming, and the rise of Populism changed Alabama after the Civil War and shaped its economy and communities in the late 1800s.
- SS24.5.1b
Describe the emergence of new forms of economic activity in Alabama at the turn of the twentieth century, including the iron, steel, textile, and timber industr...
- SS24.4.12
Explain how the growth of the United States from 1812 to 1860 changed economic and social life in Alabama.
- SS24.4.14a
Identify Alabama’s economic and military contributions to the Civil War, including weapons manufacturing, soldiers, and the use of and resistance to conscripted...
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