Virginia SOL USI.9.a
The Standard
describing how slavery and its expansion was the primary cause of the cultural, economic, and constitutional issues that divided the nation and led to the secession of southern states
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain why slavery was the main cause of division before the Civil War. They connect its western expansion to cultural conflict, economic interests, constitutional disputes, and secession.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students build a clear cause-and-effect chain using events such as the Missouri Compromise, Kansas-Nebraska Act, and Lincoln’s election. They explain how each event involved slavery or its expansion.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may claim that states’ rights was separate from slavery, rather than asking which right Southern leaders sought to protect. They may also assume all Northerners opposed slavery or that one election alone caused secession.
How to Assess It
- Give students this exit prompt: “Why did Southern states secede, and how was their decision connected to slavery?” Require two specific supporting details.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Sort event cards into cultural, economic, and constitutional groups, then connect each card to slavery and secession with colored yarn.
Write a response to this prompt: “Were states’ rights or slavery the main cause of secession? Use two historical facts.”
Run a cause-and-effect relay where teams arrange event cards from arguments over western slavery to secession and defend their order.
Compare 1860 maps of cotton production, enslaved populations, and seceding states, then write two patterns students notice.
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Printable USI.9.a Worksheet
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Related Standards
- VS.7.b
describing how the institution of slavery was the cause of the Civil War, and secondary factors that contributed to the secession of the southern states
- VS.6.e
explaining the causes and events of Nat Turner’s Rebellion and how it impacted the institution of slavery
- USII.2.a
describing the impact of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the political aftermath of the Civil War
- VS.7.d
explaining major events and issues that divided Virginians and led to secession, war, and the creation of West Virginia
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