Sovereignty — Social Studies definition
Defined in 5 courses:
- Political authority and self-government; claims and limits must be examined in a specific relationship. (U.S. & New York History: Indigenous Nations to Reconstruction)
- A political community’s authority to govern itself. (United States History & Government: Colonial Foundations to the Early 21st Century)
- Authority to govern within a stated political relationship. (Global History & Geography II: c. 1750 to the Early 21st Century)
- Political authority and self-government; different claims can overlap and be contested. (United States History & Government: Colonial Foundations to the Early 21st Century)
- The authority claimed or exercised by a political community or government. (United States History & Government: Colonial Foundations to the Early 21st Century)
Where it is taught
- Indian Removal: Sovereignty, Resistance & Enforcement — Expansion, Slavery & Reform, U.S. & New York History: Indigenous Nations to Reconstruction, Grade 7
- Western Expansion, Indigenous Nations & Land Policy — Reconstruction, Land & Historical Inquiry, U.S. History: Reconstruction to the Early 21st Century, Grade 8
- The World Around 1750: States, Trade & Labor — The World Around 1750 & Atlantic Revolutions, Global History & Geography II: c. 1750 to the Early 21st Century, Grade 10
- Indigenous Nations, Colonial Regions & Historical Evidence — Colonial Foundations & Constitutional Government, United States History & Government: Colonial Foundations to the Early 21st Century, Grade 11
- Colonial Resistance, Revolution & the Limits of Independence — Colonial Foundations & Constitutional Government, United States History & Government: Colonial Foundations to the Early 21st Century, Grade 11
- Western Land, Indigenous Nations & Agrarian Change — Industry, Migration & Gilded Age Politics, United States History & Government: Colonial Foundations to the Early 21st Century, Grade 11
In use
Indigenous sovereignty means a nation’s authority to govern itself.
Western Expansion, Indigenous Nations & Land Policy
The Revolution changed sovereignty and encouraged debate over rights, but it did not immediately abolish slavery or create universal voting.
Colonial Resistance, Revolution & the Limits of Independence
Indigenous nations maintained sovereignty claims, communities, and adaptation; neither a frontier label nor a settlement count establishes disappearance.
Western Land, Indigenous Nations & Agrarian Change