Georgia SS8H4.a
The Standard
Explain reasons for the establishment of the University of Georgia, and for the westward movement of Georgia's capitals.
Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies · Explain significant factors that affected westward expansion in Georgia between 1789 and 1840.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain why Georgia leaders created a state university to educate citizens and prepare leaders for representative government. They connect westward settlement to the capital moves toward more central locations.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can locate Augusta, Louisville, and Milledgeville on a map and explain why government shifted west. They can distinguish UGA's 1785 charter from its later opening and explain its public purpose.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may claim capitals moved because each city failed, rather than because population and political power shifted west. They may include Atlanta in this period or confuse UGA's charter date with its opening date.
How to Assess It
- Give students a blank Georgia map and ask them to mark the westward capital sequence. Then have them write one cause for the moves and one reason UGA was established.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a Georgia map, capital cards, and settlement arrows to place Savannah, Augusta, Louisville, and Milledgeville, then label one reason for each move.
Ask students to write: Why would a new state fund a university and move its government closer to a growing western population?
Have teams sort event, cause, and effect cards about UGA's founding, westward settlement, and the changing locations of Georgia's capital.
Use a road map to compare travel times to Atlanta from three Georgia towns, then discuss why location matters for access to government.
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Printable SS8H4.a Worksheet
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Related Standards
- SS8H4.c
Explain how technological developments, including the cotton gin and railroads, had an impact on Georgia's growth.
- SS8H12
Explain the importance of developments in Georgia since the late 20th century
- SS8CG1
Describe the foundations of Georgia's government.
- SS8H4
Explain significant factors that affected westward expansion in Georgia between 1789 and 1840.
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