I’m from Oregon, and basically everyone I know including myself spent the whole 4th grade learning about the Oregon trail and essentially everyone either got to play the computer game or did a sort of D&D style playthrough of the Oregon trail as part of their curriculum.
My parents are from Virginia and they told me that they put a lot of time into studying the revolutionary war and to a lesser extent the civil war when they were around that age.
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The most region specific thing that I can think of would be the California Mission system.
Texas history was a whole year for me (I think… it was like 25 years ago) in 4th grade
In NoVA we learned about the major Civil War battles that happened in the area and visited some battlefields, and we also had field trips to places like Mount Vernon and Monticello.
When I lived in Oklahoma (I think maybe third grade?) we celebrated the Oklahoma Land Rush, which was the rapid onset of settlers making claims and establishing homesteads once the treaties granting the Oklahoma Territory to the native peoples were abolished.
In hindsight, it’s a pretty awful thing to celebrate.
We spent *a lot* of time on Spain’s colonial adventures North America. In general, but also specifically regarding Florida, the Gulf, and the Caribbean. Ponce De Leon and all that, or how at one point the Florida panhandle stretched to the banks of the Mississippi. It culminated in a field trip to St. Augustine.
Seattle area, sounds very similar to your experience. Oregon Trail was big. Westward expansion. Lewis and Clark. Northwest Indian Tribes, etc etc
We spent an inordinate amount of time on the Whitman Massacre, which I suppose is part of the Oregon Trail story. Washington was part of the Oregon Country at the time and Marcus Whitman led the first major wagon train if I remember correctly.
French and Indian War and revolutionary War, early American history, early PA history, local native americans
California Missions.
In Missouri, it was Lewis and Clark. We all had to do a dumb elementary school musical about it too.
In Indiana we learned a lot about the mound building peoples (ancient native Americans in the Ohio River Valley) which is not exclusive to Indiana but exclusive to our region.
Also learning about George Rogers Clark (brother of the Lewis and Clark Clark) and the western theater of the Revolutionary war in Indiana and Illinois.
I’m from Virginia, so basically everything up to the World Wars was all about us. Kinda boring tbh
[Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal](https://youtu.be/ep1hi6VBaWg) 😫😤! Also Ellis Island and immigration
None, I didn’t take MIchigan history because I hated Michigan growing up.
I grew up in California in the 1990s. We learned about westward expansion, the Gold Rush, and some stuff about the
Missions, but the stuff we learned about the mission system was not very detailed.
The industrial revolution and the assembly line was rammed down our throats.
That NC only rebelled because they were pressured/had to because the states around them rebelled, not because they wanted to defend slavery.
As someone who had just moved from Colorado i definitely spent a lot of that time rolling my eyes
Learned about the first English settlement at Jamestown. The first representative governing body The Virginia House of Burgesses. The British surrender at Yorktown ending the Revolutionary War. The first Thanksgiving at Berkeley Plantation in 1618 . Multiple Civil War battles including the first at Bull Run and Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox Court House.
My experience in school and when my boys were in school, state history was 4th, 8th, and 11th grade.
Same with my nieces and nephews.
Idaho: lots about westward expansion and the history of mining and sheepherding in the area. Also local tribes, Chief Joseph, and his “I will fight no more forever” statement. Plus volcanoes.
Juan Ponce de Leon was one of the first names I learned and remembered in history when I was around 7 or 8. We spent a decent amount of time covering the Spanish era of Florida, given that it was quite long and began in 1513.
Having attended elementary and Middle School in Texas and Oklahoma, I learned different state specific events and cultures in both of them.
In Texas, I learned a little about pre-revolution Texas. Of course the Texas revolution, the Republic of Texas and on to statehood. I remember learning in more detail the major specific events like the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto. Founding fathers of Texas like Sam Houston, Stephen Austin and William Travis. I learned about the historical importance of geographical features like the Brazos River.. I’m not sure if it would be taught statewide but I learned of the immense tragedy of the Galveston hurricane of 1900. I lived in Houston so Galveston is very nearby. I remember learning especially a lot about San Jacinto, but I am not sure if it is from what I learned in school or from visiting the nearby battleground.
In Oklahoma, I learned about the pre statehood days of Indian country. The land runs , as well as how the lands were acquired. I wouldn’t say a ton of time was spent on that as it’s pretty straightforward but, I learned most everything I need. How they were implemented, who the boomers were, who the Sooners were, etc. I learned significantly more of native American history then I did in Texas. And much more State specific native history. As the state has many, many tribes and was the final destination of the tragic Trail of tears. The Trail of tears was covered pretty well in detail as well as the five civilized tribes.
As far as the revolutionary war versus the civil war, I kind of remember close to equal amount of time spent. Maybe a bit more time on the revolutionary war. The state did not exist during either so we had no real part in either, other than some tribes supporting the Patriots and some supporting the Redcoats. And some tribes supporting the union and some tribes supporting the Confederacy.
They taught us all about people fighting and dying at the Alamo for freedom, but they left out the part that it was for the right to keep slaves.
Grew up in Ohio. We had to take Ohio History in 7th grade. The entire year – THE ENTIRE YEAR – was about Ohio History.
So…. we learned a lot about Ohio.
I’ll say the one thing that we seemed to spend an odd amount of time on was the ice age and the glaciers that came down across Canada, and formed the Great Lakes – in our case, Lake Erie. We also spent a lot of time learning about the Native people in the Ohio area, but that wasn’t as odd.
My elementary school curriculum was dominated by Colonial US History, Native American history, and vague discussions about westward expansion such as playing Oregon trail. But what I remember most was a 3rd grade or 4th grade geopolitical report on the state of Maryland and then a 5th grade social studies report on the history, culture, economy, and politics of Colonial life (think like CIA World Factbook level of analysis).
My 6th grade curriculum was ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia and Egypt. My 7th grade curriculum was (I think world history, but I honestly cannot remember). My 8th grade curriculum was history of slavery, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, trail of tears, and the civil war.
Gettysburg.
Gettysburg.
And Three Mile Island.
I am from Texas and we spent more time learning about Texas history than US history.
Do you remember the Alamo?
I think we spent way too much time learning about the childhood of Abe Lincoln growing up in Illinois.
Jamestown
New Amsterdam. The Roosevelt family.
I live in MA a bit near Boston…we learned about the Revolutionary War a lot.
I moved a couple times in elementary school, but all within Arizona. I spent a lot of time learning about Spanish colonialism, Native American history in Arizona (especially Navajo history, since the last place I moved to was near the Navajo Nation), and in middle school we spent a good chunk of time on the Mexican-American War, which a lot of people seem to have never heard of.
In New Jersey, I remember learning so much as a child about Native American tribes indigenous to New Jersey, mostly the Lenni-Lenape. It was an eye opening experience.
So much Revolutionary War. And field trips to Deerfield Village and Old Sturbridge Village to see how people lived in those time. (I thought they were boring )