Alabama Social Studies SS24.WH.2

SS24.WH.2 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• SS24.WH.2a

  Explain how the American Revolution influenced the French Revolution.

• SS24.WH.2b

  Identify the objectives of different factions in the French Revolution.

• SS24.WH.2c

  Explain how the Reign of Terror affected the French Revolution, including Robespierre and the guillotine.

• SS24.WH.2d

  Describe the effects of the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Congress of Vienna on the geography, politics, and society of Europe.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students explain how debt, unfair taxes, and the example of American independence helped spark revolt in France. They compare what royalists, constitutional monarchists, and Jacobins wanted. They trace how the Terror, Napoleon’s rule and wars, and the Congress of Vienna changed European laws, borders, and governments.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students explain how funding the American war deepened France’s debt and how American independence inspired reformers. They distinguish a constitutional monarchist from a Jacobin and link Robespierre’s use of the guillotine to fear and backlash. They identify Napoleon’s legal reforms, border changes from his wars, and monarchies restored at Vienna.

03

Common Misconceptions

Some students say the American Revolution alone caused the French Revolution, leaving out debt and unfair taxes. Others treat all revolutionaries as one group or think the guillotine was used only on nobles. Some assume Napoleon kept his conquests after the Congress of Vienna.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: Write five sentences covering France’s debt, unfair taxes, and American ideas; two opposing faction goals; Robespierre’s guillotine; one Napoleonic legal reform; and one change after his wars and the Congress of Vienna.

1. 01

   Give pairs event cards for French aid to America, tax protests, the Terror, Napoleon’s conquests, and Vienna; have them draw cause-and-effect arrows.

2. 02

   Read a short account of Robespierre’s guillotine trials, then write: Did the Terror protect the revolution or betray its goals?

3. 03

   Play faction match: pair royalist, constitutional monarchist, and Jacobin cards with restore the king, limit the king, or establish a republic.

4. 04

   Compare a current Europe map with an 1815 Congress of Vienna map; circle where Germany and Italy are now unified countries.

• SS24.4.5

  Summarize the causes of the French and Indian War and describe how its outcomes increased tensions that led to the American Revolution.

• SS24.WH.5a

  Evaluate the influence of the Revolutions of 1848 on European politics and society.