Alabama Social Studies SS24.US1.6a
The Standard
- SS24.US1.6
- Evaluate the influence of American social and political reform on the emergence of a national identity from the early to mid-nineteenth century.
Describe the changes in political culture during the Age of Reform, including the concept of Jacksonian democracy.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how expanded voting for white men changed campaigns and party politics. They describe Jackson's claim to represent the common man while women and most Black and Native people could not vote. They connect abolition and women's rights petitions to growing public activism.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain why parties used rallies and newspapers to reach more voters. They can describe how government jobs rewarded party supporters and explain why expanded voting did not mean equal voting rights.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think Jackson expanded voting to everyone, rather than mainly white men. They may confuse the spoils system with giving away land instead of government jobs. They may mistake reform petitions for ballots.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Name two ways elections changed during Jackson's era. Explain one limit on who benefited from expanded voting.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups voter cards and an excerpt of New York's 1821 voting rules; have them sort eligible voters and mark unequal property requirements.
Ask: Did wider voting rights make the 1830s democratic for everyone? Use one voting rule and one reform petition.
Play a card match: pair campaign rallies, party newspapers, patronage, and petitions with 1830s examples, then explain one match.
Compare an 1830s campaign poster with a current campaign ad; circle appeals to voters in both and note one difference.
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Related Standards
- SS24.US1.16
Describe the transformation of American society and politics during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- SS24.US1.20b
Describe the political reforms passed during the Progressive Era.
- SS24.US1.16a
Analyze how the growing awareness of economic and political corruption during the Gilded Age led to reform efforts on both state and national levels.
- SS24.US1.6
Evaluate the influence of American social and political reform on the emergence of a national identity from the early to mid-nineteenth century.
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