Drawing on the Past: Reflecting the Principles of Liberty, Justice, and Equality

“Our cultural heritage as Americans is as diverse as we are, with multiple sources of vitality and pride. But our political heritage is one – the vision of a common life in liberty, justice, and equality as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (more than) two centuries ago.  

Drawing on the past is an established tradition in American political philosophy. In 1852, Frederick Douglass, despite his own history as a slave, looked to the heritage of democratic principles as an anchor for the future. As he put it:

“…I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the very ring bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny…The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes and at whatever cost.”

Likewise, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln made an eloquent connection with the Founding Era in the Gettysburg Address. In the 20th century Martin Luther King, Jr. often evoked the Declaration’s principles of equality and liberty to bolster the argument for expanded civil rights. Political theorists of the 21st century have followed the tradition, arguing that the language of the Declaration of Independence linking equality and liberty is ever more relevant as the United States population becomes increasingly diverse.

Linking Past, Present, and Future: Features of the Framework

Consistent with the fundamental principles of liberty, justice, and equality, the Framework provides, at the elementary level, a stronger foundation in history and government, adding standards that address the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the 20th century Civil Rights movement to existing standards on the American Revolution and early Republic. At the middle school level, a new civics course is placed in grade 8. It is designed to ensure that all students will have background knowledge of principles and structures of United States government and individuals’ rights and responsibilities, and serves as an introduction to the study of social studies in high school.  

Some standards have been edited or added to present recent historical scholarship and collections of online primary sources have been expanded. The standards reflect renewed attention to origins of the American Revolution and the Founding Documents as a basis for democratic government. The Civil Rights Era of the 1960s inspired a generation of historians to research the consequences of slavery, just as the feminist movement spurred new research into women’s history. In world history, archival and archaeological research has shed new light on interconnections among civilizations in Africa, Asia, and Europe before the period of European world exploration. Libraries, museums, universities, and research centers have contributed to an ever-growing collection of rich digital primary source material posted online for students and teachers to use in their own investigations.

The 2025 Framework includes new components designed to strengthen students’ skills for informed citizenship and political participation. Standards for social studies practice emphasize the skills of formulating questions, conducting research, evaluating sources, and synthesizing information. Standards for literacy in social studies set expectations for analytical reading and logical writing and speaking, skills essential to political equality and civic engagement. At the middle and high school levels, new standards for news and media literacy are designed to help students become discerning readers of digital news and opinion. 

History tells us that the preservation of equality, justice, and liberty has never been an easy proposition. Echoing the words of Frederick Douglass, our hope is that these standards and resources will help students “stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, against all foes, in all places and at whatever costs.” 

A Renewed Mission: Education for Civic Life in a Democracy 

The primary purpose of a social studies education is to prepare students to have the knowledge and skills to become thoughtful and active participants in a democratic society and a complex world. “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” is not just a historical phrase from Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” but an ideal that must be renewed and reinvigorated by each succeeding generation. The future of democracy depends on our students’ development of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that will enable them to embrace democracy’s potential, while recognizing its challenges and inherent dilemmas.

People who are prepared to continue the legacy of democracy in the United States:

• Know the fundamental ideas central to the vision of the 18th century founders, the vision that holds us together as one people of many diverse origins and cultures.

• Understand the intellectual and political tensions and compromises in the Founders’ ideas and how successive generations in the United States have worked to resolve them. 

• Know how democratic ideas have been turned into institutions and practices, and the history of the origins, growth, and struggles of democratic societies on earth, past and present.

• Understand what economic, social, cultural, religious, and international conditions have helped to shape democratic practices.

• Understand the purposes, principles, and practices of the United States government as established by the Constitution, which includes their rights and responsibilities, and how to exercise them in local, state, and national government.

• Understand that, in the United States, the Constitution has continued to be vibrant and relevant through amendments and decisions of the federal courts.

• Understand how individuals, groups, organizations, and governments have addressed obstacles to democratic principles by working within the structure set forth in the Constitution.

• Are knowledgeable about local, state, and national politics and policies, and understand the current condition of the world and how it got that way. 

• Are prepared to discuss complex and controversial issues and ideas with people of different views, learning to speak with clarity and respectfulness.

• Develop and practice habits of civic engagement and participation in democratic government. 

Guiding Principle 1 

• An effective social studies education teaches students about the legacy of democratic government. 

• Study of social studies prepares students to understand their rights and responsibilities as informed residents and citizens of a democratic society and to appreciate the shared values of this country.  To become informed citizens, students need to acquire knowledge and experience of 

• the principles and philosophy of government in the founding documents of the United States, 

• the structure and purposes of democratic government in the United States at the national, state, and local level,

• the structure and purposes of types of government other than democracy,

• how the concepts of liberty, equality, justice, and human and civil rights shape the United States, 

• the achievements of democratic government and the challenges to maintaining it,

• ways to act as a citizen to influence government within the democratic system,

• the importance of respectful public discourse and dissent in a democracy. 

Guiding Principle 2 

• An effective social studies education incorporates diverse perspectives and acknowledges that perceptions of events are affected by those perspectives. 

• The traditional motto of the United States is “e pluribus unum” – out of many, one. A social studies education that does justice to the remarkable diversity of our country must tell the histories of individuals and groups, and honor a plurality of life stories while acknowledging our ongoing struggle to achieve a more perfect union. Students should develop their abilities to listen with understanding and learn from people who are different from themselves. Doing so is the only pathway to creating sustainable, equitable solutions for society’s challenges. However, the purpose of education in American society has always been to foster a sense of our collective culture, which is more important than ever in these divisive times. Encouraging a spirit of unity also builds empathy among students, as they begin to recognize kinship with other people and an understanding that they are part of a larger society, even though that society is a diverse one. Nevertheless, there are things that we all share with one another, from rights to traditions. These considerations—unity and diversity—must be carefully balanced in a well-constructed social studies program. Teaching how the concepts of freedom, equality, the rule of law, and human rights have influenced the United States and world history necessarily involves discussions of difference. Effective instruction challenges students to value their own heritage while embracing our common ideals and shared experiences as they develop their own rigorous thinking about accounts of events. Effective instruction celebrates the progress the United States has made in embracing diversity, while at the same time encouraging honest and informed academic discussions about prejudice, racism, and bigotry in the past and present. 

Guiding Principle 3 

• Every student deserves to study social studies every year, from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

• Like learning to read, write, or perform well in any other subject, learning social studies takes time. An effective social studies education is given adequate time in the school day to build knowledge and skills of increasing complexity. In pre-kindergarten students learn about how cooperation builds community in the classroom, and how all kinds of families and individuals contribute to society. The elementary grade Content Standards are designed to introduce students to the drama of the past, its geographical settings, the habits of good citizenship, and everyday economics, a great deal of which can be integrated with English language arts and literacy, the arts, mathematics, and science. Middle school standards are written to deepen students’ capacity to think logically and conduct research. At the high school level, where students should take at least four full-year courses in United States and world history, the standards require interpretation and synthesis of complex ideas about individuals, groups, events, and institutions.

Guiding Principle 4 

• An effective social studies education teaches students to think historically.

• Taken together, the standards in this Framework present a broad scope of time and place, from human beginnings to the present, with the intent of helping students understand that their lives are connected to the long sweep of history.  Beginning with the third grade study of New Hampshire history, students become acquainted with the concepts of chronology, cause-and-effect relationships, and the role chance plays in historical events. In middle and high school, students learn that complex events have both intended and unintended consequences. By examining primary and secondary sources, students develop an appreciation for the importance of historical context and point of view. They learn that participants in historical events can often hold vastly different ideas about how those events unfolded. For example, what the Spanish considered a “conquest” of a new world in the Americas was seen rather differently by those whose lands were being invaded by foreigners. Students also learn that the work of historical investigation is never static because new evidence – a fresh archaeological find, a lost manuscript or photograph found in an archive – can inspire new connections and interpretations. Because historians of different generations can have different perceptions, it is important that readings include a variety of opinions and historical interpretations.

Guiding Principle 5 

• An effective social studies is inherently cross-curricular, social studies integrates with and enhances other disciplines.

• Integrating social studies into the other subjects, with the input of trained social studies teachers, offers opportunities not only to educate in this important subject area but also to improve the quality of education in the other core subject areas. Social studies, or the study of people and societies, provides the context for all other subject areas, making them meaningful and relevant to our world today. Social studies allow students to see the importance of each subject area reflected in our history, our government, our economy, and in our ability as a society to make decisions and solve problems. Social studies is the glue that holds all other disciplines together.

Guiding Principle 6 

• An effective social studies education builds students’ capacities for research, reasoning, making logical arguments, and thinking for themselves. 

• In an effective social studies education, students engage in inquiry, reading, research, discussion, writing, and making presentations – these activities are the heart of this Framework’s Standards for Social Studies Practice and link the history/social science disciplines to English language arts and literacy. In the course of applying these practices, students learn how to evaluate texts for bias intended to influence their opinions, and about the patterns of thought and reasoning of historians, geographers, political scientists, and economists. They learn to raise and refine questions and organize arguments and explanations by using structures such as comparison and contrast, cause and effect, or problem and solution. They learn to apply different forms of analysis, including contextually rich reading, visual analysis, spatial/geographical analysis, or quantitative reasoning. 

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Guiding Principle 7 

• An effective social studies education improves reading comprehension by increasing students’ content knowledge.

• A rich education in social studies involves extensive reading of challenging grade-level texts, which not only contributes to the development of basic reading skills but also introduces students to concepts and academic language that ultimately improve reading comprehension. Researcher Daniel Willingham contends that “teaching content is teaching reading.” Content knowledge improves reading comprehension because it enables a student to make connections about events and ideas across texts. The Content Standards in this framework are organized to provide a coherent progression of knowledge about history, geography, civics, and economics to support students’ capacity to read with understanding in the elementary and middle grades. This foundational knowledge, in turn, prepares students to read texts that address topics of increasing complexity at the high school and college level. 

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Guiding Principle 8 

• An effective social studies education incorporates the study of current events and news/media literacy

• When teaching social studies, teachers have a unique responsibility to help students consider events – including current events – in a broad historical, geographical, social, or economic context. The Framework’s News/Media Literacy standards for grade 8 and high school are designed to help students take a critical stance toward what they read, hear, and view in newspapers and on websites, television, and social media. Applying these standards, students learn to evaluate information, question and verify its source, distinguish fact from inference, and reasoned judgment supported by evidence from varying degrees of bias.

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Guiding Principle 9 

• An effective social studies education employs dynamic instructional practices that teach students to form their own conclusions.

• History and social science teachers have a long history of teaching students in dynamic ways. As social studies touches on almost every aspect of our lives, opportunities abound for educators to incorporate vibrant teaching techniques that challenge and engage students while helping them see the relevance of their academic pursuits to the world around them. Such techniques, which include inquiry-based instruction and co-curriculars, foster student engagement, or the idea that students are interested, active learners in their own education. Student engagement is a critical component of every student’s education, and social studies, more than any other core subject, potentially offers the greatest opportunities for student engagement through a variety of strategies. These include making learning relevant to students’ lives, connecting classroom instruction to students’ interests, emphasizing group work and the sharing of student work, promoting not just student-centered instruction but also student-directed instruction, building instruction around the process of discovery and inquiry, encouraging students to learn how to ask good questions, sparking students’ curiosity, and using mixed media to enrich instruction. Student engagement offers the best chance for long-term student learning.

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Guiding Principle 10 

• An effective social studies education helps students become fully functioning adults in a modern, self-governing society.

• The discipline of social studies is uniquely equipped to offer students ongoing, academically relevant opportunities to practice the skills that will allow them to navigate complex challenges, exercise self-control, interact with those around them in productive and responsible ways, and learn to overcome personal setbacks.Teachers support the development of these skills by:

• helping students understand how their own unique experiences and ideas influence their perceptions of and feelings about history and current situations (self-awareness); 

• encouraging students’ own power to take thoughtful action (self-management); 

• increasing students’ understanding of others’ fundamental needs and human and civil rights (social awareness); 

• increasing students’ capacity to participate in dialogue across differences and to take on the perspectives of others whose experience and position in the world differs from their own (dialogue and perspective-taking); 

• encouraging students to collaborate respectfully with diverse peers (relationship skills); 

• providing opportunities for students to define and make informed choices when participating in democratic practices (responsible decision making); and

• creating opportunities for students to work together on projects that aim to promote a public good beyond the classroom, in the school, or in the larger community (civic action).