Study guide: History and Communities Today
Recognize Native continuity, migration and historical evidence.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- Native peoples are not one culture or only a past chapter. Distinct nations have different languages, governments, histories and relationships with places. Native communities live today and have adapted through change. A historical object cannot represent every Native person or explain a whole nation’s present life.
- Migration means moving from one place to another. Settlement concerns making a home in a place. A push factor makes an original place difficult to remain in; a pull factor makes a destination appealing. Real migrations often have several causes, and not every move is voluntary.
- Historians use different evidence. An artifact is an object made or used by people. A building can reveal construction and use. A written record uses text, while an oral account is spoken. Every source has a creator and a context; one kind is not automatically complete or unbiased.
- Several major U.S. events occurred in a sequence: independence was declared in 1776; the Constitution was drafted in 1787; the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865; the Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1964. Later protections addressed inequalities that earlier founding documents had not eliminated.
Useful vocabulary
- Diversity
- differences among Native nations and communities
- Continuity
- Native communities and identities continuing into the present
- Migration
- movement from one place to another
- Settlement
- establishing a home or community in a place
- Artifact
- a physical object made or used by people
- Building
- a structure that can be studied for historical use
- Declaration in 1776
- the announcement of independence from Britain
- Constitution in 1787
- the document drafted to establish the federal government’s framework
Watch your reasoning
- Mixing up Diversity and Continuity. Re-read what each note says before choosing.
- Adding a detail that is not on the card. Point to the words that help explain your answer.
A worked review example
Worked example: The card says: “Two named Native nations have different languages.” That matches Diversity. Diversity is differences among Native nations and communities. Compare the note for Change: Change is a community adapting or experiencing developments over time. That is a different clue.
Make a practice plan
- Read or listen to the notes in the four lessons. An adult can read aloud.
- Try each lesson’s main question and three practice questions. Say, draw or write what helped you choose.
- Use the review cards, then try the changed card in any lesson you want to practice again.
- Complete the four-box task. Then try the separate subject-test cards.