The following standards have been taken from the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McRel) standards.

Students will understand:

• The contribution of African slaves to economic development in the Americas (e.g., contributions of rice cultivation and cattle-raising in South Carolina) and the transmission of African cultural heritage (e.g., through religious practices, dances, and work songs)


• How slavery influenced economic and social elements of southern society (e.g., how slavery hindered the emergence of capitalist institutions and values, the influence of slavery on the development of the middle class, the influence of slave revolts on the lives of slaves and freed slaves)


• Characteristics of economic development during the 19^th century (e.g., patterns of economic development in different regions of the country during the first half of the 19^th century; how early 19^th-century court cases promoted the market revolution; the causes and results of economic depressions of 1819, 1837, and 1857)