Special Collections
District List: NYC Core Curriculum 8th - Social Studies
Description: The New York City Core Curriculum program aims to provide a high-quality curricula to NYC students through a seamless instructional program across grades and subjects. This list has been curated by #NYCDOE for 8th Grade Social Studies materials.
- Table View
- List View
Possibilities and Problems in America's New Urban Centers
by Suzanne J. MurdicoDiscusses the problems faced in the cities during the Industrial Revoultion, including over-crowding, poor working conditions, and low wages.
Oil, Steel, and Railroads
by Jesse JarnowExamines the history of business in the United States during the 1800s, discussing the growth of railroads, and the innovations in the oil and steel industries.
Prosecuting Trusts
by Bernadette BrexelBig business in the mid-1800s worked to eliminate competition by purchasing smaller businesses or undercutting their prices. They created trusts, or groups of businesses under one giant merging corporation, affecting both small businesses and farmers. As this book effectively addresses, there were calls for business reform by the 1890s. Laws like the Sherman Antitrust Act sought to redress the problems of big business, but it was through the efforts of President Theodore Roosevelt that the federal government went after these trusts; those actions earned Roosevelt the reputation as a trust buster.
Moving North
by Monica HalpernAfter the Civil War, the South went through a period of rebuilding, termed Recon-struction, but because many white people in the South were not ready to accept African Americans as equals, unfair laws were passed which restricted the rights of blacks. These Black Codes and Jim Crow laws left African Americans adrift in a segregated world.
Life was better in the North in many ways for African Americans. The 1920s brought jobs and money—until The Great Depression hit. The Depression left many homeless and jobless. Many blacks left the cities seeking jobs wherever they could find them. Despite the hard times that followed, living in the North continued to bring a renewed sense of freedom to many African Americans.
The Federal Reserve Act
by Melanie Ann ApelThe American banking system after the Civil War was not centralized but rather functioned independently in different geographical areas. Policies were not coordinated to insure that the money supply was sufficient to keep governments and businesses running properly. Through the efforts of the progressives, the Federal Reserve Act was passed to devise and implement a plan to stave off problems in currency, policies, and the money supply.
Political Reforms
by Katherine WingateAmerica's industrial revolution revealed the close ties between big business and the government that allowed a select few to gain power and riches over those struggling to make a living. The progressives believed the only way to empower disenfranchised individuals was to reform the political process. Here Wingate describes the initiatives taken by the progressives to force local and state legislatures to allow more political power to the people rather than government and business.
Bright Ideas
by Ann RossiImagine that you couldn't turn on a light by flipping a switch, had no telephone on which to call your friends, and that there were no traffic lights on the roads! Seem impossible? Well it wasn't-none of these things existed before the Age of Invention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Bright Ideas tells the story of these and other miraculous inventions that have shaped the world we know today. Learn how inventive minds work and how they overcame obstacles on the path to their great achievements.
Read about the building of a brighter America-one that learned how to make a telephone call from coast to coast and took to the road in Henry Ford's cars built on the first assembly lines. Even flying in the air became attainable! This age and the inventors who contributed to it paved the way for the future of America and revolutionized the way this country works, produces, and lives.
Bright Ideas illuminates this exciting period in time for all its readers and may inspire even greater inventions or future inventors. Like the others in the series, ,Bright Ideas is illustrated with period photographs, paintings, and drawings. Also included are a glossary and an index.
A Historical Atlas Of The Industrial Age And The Growth Of America's Cities
by Sherri LibermanHere is an exquisite portrait of America and its people during the Industrial Revolution. Important events are discussed, including late developments in the American West, the abuse of power by big business, the changes in social attitudes, and the emergence of workers rights and a middle class.
Using maps and primary source images, the easy-to-understand text focuses on the principal activists of the Progressive movement and the reforms that were made between 1900 and 1920.