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Oklahoma History Academic Standards

OKH.1 The student will describe the state’s geography and the historic foundations laid by American Indian, European, and American cultures.

OKH.1.1 Integrate visual information to identify and describe the significant physical and human features including major trails, railway lines, waterways, cities, ecological regions, natural resources, highways, and landforms.
OKH.1.2 Summarize the accomplishments of pre-contact cultures including the Spiro Mound Builders.
OKH.1.3 Compare the goals and significance of early Spanish, French, and American interactions with American Indians, including trade, the impact of disease, the arrival of the horse, and new technologies.
OKH.1.4 Compare cultural perspectives of American Indians and European Americans regarding land ownership, structure of self-government, religion, and trading practices.

OKH.2 The student will evaluate the major political and economic events that transformed the land and its people from early contact through Indian Removal and its aftermath.

OKH.2.1 Summarize and analyze the role of river transportation to early trade and mercantile settlements including Chouteau's Trading Post at Three Forks.
OKH.2.2 Describe the major trading and peacekeeping goals of early military posts including Fort Gibson.
OKH.2.3 Analyze the motivations for removal of American Indians and the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830; trace the forced removal of American Indian nations, including the impact on the tribal nations removed to present-day Oklahoma and tribal resistance to the forced relocations.
OKH.2.4 Describe the consequences of Indian Removal on intertribal relationships with western nations, such as the Osage, Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne and Arapaho.

OKH.3 The student will evaluate the major political and economic events that transformed the land and its people from the outbreak of the Civil War through allotment and land openings.

OKH.3.1 Summarize the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction Treaties on American Indian peoples, territories, and tribal sovereignty including:
  1. required enrollment of the Freedmen
  2. Second Indian Removal
  3. significance of the Massacre at the Washita
  4. reasons for the reservation system and the controversy regarding the reservation system as opposed to tribal lands
  5. establishment of the western military posts including the role of the Buffalo Soldiers
  6. construction of railroads through Indian Territory
OKH.3.2 Assess the impact of the cattle and coal mining industries on the location of railroad lines, transportation routes, and the development of communities.
OKH.3.3 Analyze the influence of the idea of Manifest Destiny on the Boomer Movement.
OKH.3.4 Compare multiple points of view to evaluate the impact of the Dawes Act (General Allotment Act) which resulted in the loss of tribal communal lands through a transfer to individual property and the redistribution of lands, including the Unassigned Lands and the Cherokee Outlet, by various means.
OKH.3.5 Explain how American Indian nations lost control over tribal identity and citizenship through congressional action, including the Indian Reorganization Act.

OKH.4 The student will analyze the formation of constitutional government in Oklahoma.

OKH.4.1 Compare the governments among the American Indian nations and the movement for the state of Sequoyah.
OKH.4.2 Describe the proposal for an All-Black state advocated by Edward McCabe.
OKH.4.3 Explain the impact of the Enabling Act on single statehood.
OKH.4.4 Describe and summarize attempts to create a state constitution joining Indian and Oklahoma Territories including the impact of the Progressive and Labor Movements resulting in statehood on November 16, 1907.
OKH.4.5 Compare Oklahoma's state government to the United States' national system of government including the branches of government, their functions, and powers.
OKH.4.6 Describe the division, function, and sharing of powers among levels of government including city, county, state and tribal.
OKH.4.7 Identify major sources of local and state revenues and the services provided including education, health and human services, transportation, courts, corrections, and public safety.
OKH.4.8 Describe state constitutional provisions including the direct primary, initiative petition, referendum, and recall.

OKH.5 The student will examine the Oklahoma’s political, social, cultural, and economic transformation during the early decades following statehood.

OKH.5.1 Examine the policies of the United States and their effects on American Indian identity, culture, economy, tribal government and sovereignty including:
  1. passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
  2. effects of the federal policy of assimilation including Indian boarding schools (1880s–1940s)
  3. authority to select tribal leaders as opposed to appointment by the federal government
  4. exploitation of American Indian resources, lands, trust accounts, head rights, and guardianship as required by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
OKH.5.2 Examine multiple points of view regarding the evolution of race relations in Oklahoma, including:
  1. growth of all-black towns (1865–1920)
  2. passage of Senate Bill 1 establishing Jim Crow Laws
  3. rise of the Ku Klux Klan
  4. emergence of "Black Wall Street" in the Greenwood District
  5. causes of the Tulsa Race Riot and its continued social and economic impact
  6. the role labels play in understanding historic events, for example “riot” versus “massacre”.
OKH.5.3 Analyze how various segments of Oklahoma society including agriculture, mining, and state politics were influenced by the organized labor and socialist movements.
OKH.5.4 Examine how the economic cycles of boom and bust of the oil industry affected major sectors of employment, mining, and the subsequent development of communities, as well as the role of entrepreneurs, including J. J. McAlester, Frank Phillips, E. W. Marland and Robert S. Kerr, and the designation of Tulsa as the "Oil Capital of the World."
OKH.5.5 Evaluate the impact of the boom and bust cycle of Oklahoma's agricultural production due to mechanization and the needs of World War I, including its effect as a precursor of the Great Depression
OKH.5.6 Analyze William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray's response to the conditions created by the Great Depression.
OKH.5.7 Describe the impact of environmental conditions and human mismanagement of resources resulting in the Dust Bowl and the migration of the "Okies," the national perceptions of Oklahomans, and the New Deal policies regarding conservation of natural resources.
OKH.5.8 Describe the contributions of Oklahomans including African-American jazz musicians, the political and social commentaries of Will Rogers and Woody Guthrie's, Wiley Post's aviation milestones, and the artwork of the Kiowa Six.
OKH.5.9 Summarize and analyze the impact of mobilization for World War II including the establishment of military bases, prisoner of war installations, and the contributions of Oklahomans to the war effort including the American Indian code talkers and the 45th Infantry Division.

OKH.6 The student will investigate how post-war social, political, and economic events continued to transform the state of Oklahoma from the 1950s through the present.

OKH.6.1 Evaluate the progress of race relations and actions of civil disobedience in the state including:
  1. judicial interpretation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment which ultimately resulted in the desegregation of public facilities and public schools and universities
  2. landmark Supreme Court cases of Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma (1948) and McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board of Regents for Higher Education (1950)
  3. lunch counter sit-ins organized by Clara Luper and the NAACP
  4. leadership of Governor Gary in the peaceful integration of the public common and higher education systems
OKH.6.2 Analyze the impact of economic growth in various sectors including:
  1. impact of rural to urban migration
  2. development of wind, water, and timber resources
  3. continuing role of agriculture
  4. emergence of tourism as an industry
  5. development of the aerospace and aviation industry including the FAA and the influence of weather research on national disaster preparedness
  6. oil and gas boom and bust, including the discovery of new fossil fuel resources
  7. improvement of the state's transportation infrastructures, such as the interstate highway system and the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.
OKH.6.3 Describe the artistic contributions of Oklahomans in the fields of music, art, literature, theater, and dance such as Ralph Ellison and the Five Indian Ballerinas.
OKH.6.4 Summarize the impact of individual Oklahomans' leadership on state and national politics including political realignment.
OKH.6.5 Analyze the evolving relationship between state and tribal governments impacting tribal self determination and control over American Indian lands and resources including issues of jurisdiction, taxation and gaming
OKH.6.6 Examine the migrations of major cultural and ethnic groups, including Asians, African Americans, American Indians, and Latinos to the state of Oklahoma and their impact on the social and economic transformation of the modern state of Oklahoma.
OKH.6.7 Analyze the causes and effects of the domestic terrorist attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City including the responses of Oklahomans to the act, concept of the "Oklahoma Standard" and the creation of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.
OKH.6.8 Describe the changing perceptions, both internal and external, of the state and its citizens, as reflected in The Grapes of Wrath, the musical Oklahoma!, Route 66, and the professional basketball team the Oklahoma City Thunder.