Oklahoma Social Studies USH.C.2.4.C
The Standard
- USH.C.2
- Analyze the social, economic, and political changes that occurred during the American Industrial Revolution, the Gilded Age, and reform movements.
- USH.C.2.4
- Analyze and compare the personalities, actions and policies of presidents during the Progressive Era.
Evaluate the significance of the 1912 presidential election, including the rise of Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party and the viability of Eugene V. Debs’ Socialist Party.
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · USH.C.2.4
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how Roosevelt’s Bull Moose campaign split the Republican vote and helped Wilson win. They use vote totals to judge Debs’s support and why his Socialist Party was not close to winning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain that Roosevelt finished ahead of Taft, while Debs won about 6% of the popular vote but no electoral votes. They can describe how each campaign affected the election, even though neither candidate won.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think Roosevelt ran as the Republican nominee or that Debs won no votes because he won no electoral votes. They may also add Roosevelt’s and Taft’s votes and assume all those voters would have backed one candidate.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Wilson won 42% of the popular vote, Roosevelt 27%, Taft 23%, and Debs 6%. What does each third-party result tell you about the 1912 election?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs build a bar graph of the 1912 popular vote: Wilson 42%, Roosevelt 27%, Taft 23%, Debs 6%.
Ask students to write two sentences: How did Roosevelt’s run affect the election, and what did Debs’s vote total show?
Label four corners Taft, Roosevelt, Debs, and Wilson; call out incumbent Republican, Bull Moose, Socialist, and winner for students to match.
Show 2024 national results with Jill Stein at about 0.5%; have students compare her vote share with Debs’s 6%.
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