Virginia Studies SOL Guide

The MarkerHistory.com Virginia Studies SOL Guide is a supplementary learning resource for students preparing to take the Virginia Studies Standards of Learning test.  We have culled through the more than two thousand five hundred (2,500) Virginia Historical Highway Markers (“Historical Markers”) and mapped relevant markers to select sections of the Virginia Studies curriculum.

The Guide was created to:

• Leverage existing Virginia Historical Marker history by aligning relevant markers to the Virginia Studies curriculum
• Create a subject road map for future Virginia Historical Markers to fill alignment gaps with the Virginia Studies curriculum
• Introduce Virginia students to Virginia Historical Markers in a relevant and meaningful way

Virginia Studies SOL Guide Coverage:

• VS.2 – Virginia: The Physical Geography and Native Peoples – The student will demonstrate knowledge of the physical geography and native peoples, past and present, of Virginia by:
  • VS.2-a locating Virginia and its bordering states on maps of the United States.
  • VS.2-c locating and identifying water features important to the early history of Virginia (Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay, James River, York River, Potomac River, Rappahannock River, and Lake Drummond and the Dismal Swamp)
  • VS.2-f describing how archaeologists have recovered new material evidence at sites including Werowocomoco and Jamestown
  • VS.2-g identifying and locating current state-recognized tribes
• VS.3 Colonization and Conflict: 1607 through the American Revolution – The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first permanent English settlement in America by:
  • VS.3-e identifying the importance of the arrival of Africans and English women to the Jamestown settlement;
  • VS.3-f describing the hardships faced by settlers at Jamestown and the changes that took place to ensure survival;
  • VS.3-g describing the interactions between the English settlers and the native peoples, including the contributions of Powhatan to the the survival of the settlers.
• VS.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of life in the Virginia colony by:
  • VS.4-a explaining the importance of agriculture and its influence on the institution of slavery;
• VS.5 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the role of Virginia in the American Revolution by:
  • VS.5-b identifying the various roles played by whites, enslaved African Americans, free African Americans, and American Indians in the Revolutionary War ere, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and James Lafayette;
  • VS.5-c identifying the importance of the Battle of Great Bridge, the ride of Jack Jouett, and the American victory at Yorktown.
• VS.6 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the role of Virginia in the establishment of the new American nation by
  • VS.6-c explaining the influence of geography on the migration of Virginians into western territories
• VS.7 Civil War and Postwar Eras – The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by:
  • VS.7-a identifying the events and differences between northern and southern states that divided Virginians and led to secession, war, and the creation of West Virginia;
  • VS.7-b describing Virginia’s role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia;
  • VS.7-c describing the roles played by whites, enslaved African Americans, free African Americans, and American Indians.
• VS.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the reconstruction of Virginia following the Civil War by:
  • VS.8-a identifying the effects of Reconstruction on life in Virginia;
  • VS.8-b identifying the effects of segregation and “Jim Crow” on life in Virginia for whites, African American, and American Indians;
  • VS.8-c describing the importance of railroads, new industries, and the growth of cities to Virginia’s economic development.
• VS.9 Virginia: 1900 to the Present – The student will demonstrate knowledge of twentieth and twenty-first-century Virginia by:
  • VS.9-b identifying the impact of Virginians, such as Woodrow Wilson and George C. Marshall, on international events;
  • VS.9-c identifying social and political events in Virginia linked to desegregation and Massive Resistance and their relationship to national history;
  • VS.9-d identifying the political, social and or economic contributions made by Maggie L. Walker; Harry F. Byrd; Oliver W. Hill; Arthur R. Ashe, Jr.; A. Linwood Holton, Jr.; and L. Douglas Wilder.