Advanced Placement U.S. History - Course Syllabus
Course Description
AP U.S. History is designed to provide students with the analytical
skills, factual knowledge, and writing abilities necessary for the successful
completion of the National Advanced Placement Exam. The course is the academic equivalent of a
sophmore/junior college U.S. History Review course and as a result entails
extensive reading and writing. College
credit is available upon successful completion of the AP Exam.
Summer
Reading
The American Revolution: A
History, Gordon Wood. ISBN-13: 9780812970418, ISBN:
0812970411.
A list of questions will be posted to the website that will serve as a
guide to the summer reading. These
questions will then serve as a basis for our first assessment.
Course Text
Out of Many, Faragher,
Buhle, Czitrom, Armitage, Prentice Hall.
Supplementary Readings & Preparatory materials
Primary source readings, op-eds , and select secondary source readings to be made available
on-line or distributed in class.
The Princeton Review, Cracking the AP
US History Exam.
AP Exam and Review Sessions
The 2012 AP test will be on Friday, May 11thth. Review sessions will commence three weeks
prior to the exam and will run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after
school in room 210.
Assessment
- Chapter
review questions
- Cornell
notes for each chapter
- Chapter
quizzes
- Unit
tests (multiple choice questions, free response essay prompt)
- Free
Response Dry Runs
- Mini
DBQs
- Fourth
quarter projects (after AP exam)
- Presidential
Outlines
Outlines will be assigned on a TBD
basis. We will not cover all the
presidents, but will instead focus on select presidencies. I will inform you in advance of which
presidents we will be outlining. You must
use the outline worksheet
(available online), and all outlines must be handwritten. A list of all the U.S. Presidents is available
online.
At least once a unit, you will
be asked to complete a primary source worksheet on
one of the readings for that unit.
DBQs will be assigned on TBD
basis. You will be expected to utilize
primary source reading as well as your own knowledge within the course of your
response. Your essay response should
comply with the following standards:
·
Standard five-paragraph format,
·
Utilize a thesis sentence;
·
Include references to at least one more than half of the specified
readings.
Course Outline
Unit 1: Colonial History (33,000 B.C. to 1769
A.D.)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- The
emergence of American cultural traits and the factors that contributed to
them
- Emerging
regional patterns and how they evolved
Content:
- Exploration
and colonization
- Clash
of Native-American and European Cultures
- English
America
- Origins
of Slavery
- Differentiation: New England, Middle, and Southern
Colonies
Readings:
- c.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Nathaniel Bacon's Declaration of the People,
1676
- Laws Pertaining to Slaves and Servants,
Virginia 1629-1672
- Laws on Indentured Servants
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Organizational Chart (Political, Economic,
Social): New England, Middle,
Southern Colonies
- Thematic Outline (Political, Economic,
Social): Historic Development of
Slavery in the New World
·
Free Response Dry Run: The shaping of race relations in 17th
century America was solely determined by labor issues. Assess the validity of this statement.
- Primary Source Analysis: Nathaniel Bacon's Declaration of the
People, 1676
Unit 2: Conflict and Revolution
(1750 to 1786)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- Colonists
reevaluate their relationship with Great Britain and with each other
- The
American Revolution as a conservative or a radical movement
Content:
- French
and Indian War
- Mercantilism
- Causes
of Revolution
- Revolutionary
War
- Articles
of Confederation
Readings:
- c.
6, 7
- The
Articles of Confederation
- Mercantilism
and the American Revolution
- Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing
Taxes in the British Colonies, for the Purpose of raising a Revenue, by
Act of Parliament
- Letters
from a Farmer in Pennsylvannia
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Thematic
outline (Radical vs. Conservative Political Thought): State Constitutions
- Document
Analysis/Thesis Development Exercise:
DBQ, P. 191 in text
- Primary
Source Analysis: Considerations on the Propriety of
Imposing Taxes in the British Colonies, for the Purpose of raising a
Revenue, by Act of Parliament
- British Policy Chart: policy, content, colonial response
Unit 3: Building a New Nation (1787 to 1840)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- Development
of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights
- The
emergence of political parties and the factors that divided them
- The
conflict between national power and states’ rights
- The
emergence of the “Common Man” in American Politics
Content:
- The
Constitution of the United States
- Jefferson
vs. Hamilton
- Jefferson’s
“Revolution of 1800”
- The
War of 1812
- Judicial
Nationalism
- Jackson’s
Democratic Party
Readings:
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Take
home DBQ: Jeffersonian Policy
- Comparative
Content Chart: Articles vs.
Constitution
- Comparative
Platform Chart: Federalists vs.
Democratic Republican
- Organizational
Chart: Constitutional compromises
- DBQ
exercise (article selection and prompt development): War of 1812
Unit 4: Pre-Civil War America
(1790 to 1850)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- The
development of sectional specialization and interdependence
- Reform
movements and the American character
- Geographical
and economic expansion
Content:
- The
South and Slavery
- The
First Industrial Revolution
- Urban
America and Social Reform
- The
Politics of Expansion
- Manifest
Destiny
Readings:
- c.
11, 12, 13, 14
- Confronting Our
Past: Was Slavery the Engine of
Economic Growth?
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Presidential
outline: James K. Polk
·
Free response dry run: Discuss the impact of territorial expansion on
national unity between 1800 and 1850
Unit 5: Sectionalism, Civil War,
and Reconstruction (1850 to 1877)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- Sectionalism
- Slavery
and causes of the Civil War
- Secession
and war
- Reconstruction
Issues and plans
- The
struggle for equality
Content:
- The
politics of Slavery: 1850-1860
- Civil
War: Strategies and Course
- Presidential
vs. Congressional Reconstruction
- Economic
development and the New South
- Redeemers
- Liberal
Republicans
- Compromise
of 1877
Readings:
- c.
15, 16, 17
- Party
Platforms: Election of 1860
·
Johnson's Trial: 2 Bitter Months for a
Still-Torn Nation
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- DBQ: Slavery and the Civil War
- Presidential
outline: U.S. Grant
- Reconstruction
policy activity: Ex-confederates
(citizenship, voting status, political office), state requirements for
return to Union, role of Union Army
- Thesis
Development Activity: The politics
of Slavery: 1850-1860
Unit 6: Business and Labor, Urban
America, and the Progressive Movement (1860 to 1917)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- Native
American Policy
- Political
alignment and corruption in the Gilded Age
- Role
of government in economic growth, regulation, and reform
- Social,
economic, and political impact of Industrialization
- Immigration
and Urbanization
Content:
- Settlement
of the West
- Rise
of Industry & Organized Labor
- Immigration
and Urbanization
- The
Gilded Age
- Populism
and Progressivism
Readings:
- c.
18, 19, 20 (581-597), 21
- Is
Manufacturing Going the Way of Agriculture?
·
The Ghost of John D. Rockefeller
Major Assignments and Assessments:
·
Free response dry run: Analyze the impact of three of the following
on the American
industrial worker between 1865 and 1900.
o
Government
actions
o
Immigration
o
Labor Unions
o
Technological
changes
- Presidential outline: Grover Cleveland
- DBQ
exercise (article selection and thesis development): Women in Society
- Political
Cartoon analysis
Unit 7: America Comes of Age (1890 – 1920)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- The
changing role of the U.S. in world affairs – from isolationism to world
power
- The
debate over Imperialism
- U.S.
motives in World War I and post-war agreements
Content:
- Reasons
for new interests in world affairs
- Spanish-American
War (Cuba and the Philippines)
- Open
Door Policy & Roosevelt’s “Big Stick Diplomacy”
- Wilson’s
Moral Foreign Policy and the Mexican Revolution
- U.S.
motives in WW
- WWI
at home
- Senate
rejection of the Treaty of Versailles
Readings:
- c.
20 (597-606), 22
- Monroe
Doctrine
- Open
Door Notes
- Roosevelt
Corollary
·
President Woodrow Wilson's
War Message
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Presidential outline: Woodrow Wilson
- Primary Source Analysis: Open Door Notes
Unit 8: Prosperity and Depression
(1920 to 1940)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- Cultural
conflicts: native vs. foreign,
rural vs. urban
- Revolution
in manners and morals
- The
role of government in society and the economy
- Political
realignment
- Human
suffering and response to the Great Depression
Content:
- The
Red Scare and Antiforeignism
- Welfare
Capitalism and the Associative State
- Andrew
Mellon’s Trickle-Down Economics
- The
Roaring Twenties
- Isolationism
- Dust
Bowl and Demographic shifts
- The
Great Depression
- Keynesian
Economics
- FDR
and the New Deal
Readings:
- c.
23, 24
- BUCK v. BELL, Superintendent of State Colony
Epileptics and Feeble Minded.
Decided May 2, 1927. Mr.
Justice HOLMES delivered the opinion of the Court.
- Excerpts from George William Hunter, A Civic
Biology: Presented in Problems (New York, 1914): pp. 193-196, 253-254, 261-263.
- 75 Years After Historic Scopes Trial,
Religious Liberty Battles Continue
- Eugenics Popularization, Eugenic Laws Against
Race Mixing, Eugenic Sterilization Laws, Eugenics Laws Restricting
Immigration
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Presidential
outline: Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Mini
DBQ: New Deal
- Comparative
Chart: Classical economics,
Keynesian economics
- New
Deal Initiative activity: Content,
classification, evaluation
Unit 9: World Crisis and Conflict (1941 to 1952)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- U.S.
foreign policy: from neutrality to
wartime leader
- Civil
liberties and civil rights during the war
- Demographic
change
- Expansion
of government power
- The
U.S. as a global power in the Atomic Age
Content:
- Causes,
Course, and Consequences of WW II
- Japanese
Internment
- Urban
migration and population shifts
- Genocide,
Holocaust, and Human Rights on a Global Scale
- The
decision to drop the Atomic Bomb
- Origins
of the Cold War
- Foreign
Policy as Dictated by the Cold War
- The
Cold War in Asia: Japan, China, and
Korea
Readings:
- c.
25, 26
- Righting an Old Wrong
- Nuremberg Trials Report Appendix D: Control
Council Law No. 10
- Leo Szilard, Interview: President Truman Did
Not Understand. U.S. News & World Report, August 15, 1960, pages 68-71.
- Charles Lindbergh
at an America First Committee meeting in New York City on April 23, 1941
- Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Quarantine"
Speech
- George Kennan, Excerpts from Telegraphic
Message from Moscow of February 22, 1946
- NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for
National Security
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Presidential
outline: Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Primary
Source Analysis: Charles
Lindbergh at an America First Committee meeting in New York City on April
23, 1941
- Primary
Source Analysis: George Kennan, Excerpts from
Telegraphic Message from Moscow of February 22, 1946 NSC 68: United States
Objectives and Programs for National Security
- A-Bomb Activity
- War Crimes Activity
Unit 10: The Post War World (1952
to 1974)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
- Continued
impact of New Deal on government’s role in society
- Struggle
for civil liberties and civil rights
- Foreign
policy as dictated by the Cold War
- Checks
and balances at work in American politics
- Generational
conflict
Content:
- The
emergence of the modern civil rights movement
- The
Affluent Society
- Conformity
and suburbia
- Red
Scare and McCarthyism
- Cold
War confrontations: Asia, Latin
America, Europe
- New
Frontier and the Great Society
- The
anti-war movement and the counterculture
- Detente
Readings:
- c.
27, 28, 29
- Martin
Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” Speech”
- Black
Panther Party Platform and Program (1966)
- The
Southern Manifesto (1956)
- President
Eisenhower’s Little Rock Speech
·
President Johnson's Message to Congress August 5, 1964
·
Joint Resolution of Congress H.J. RES 1145 August 7,
1964
·
The Truth About Urban Sprawl
·
Suburban Sprawl Costs Us All
·
War Powers Act - November 7, 1973
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Thesis development activity: Social, Political, Economic themes of
the 1950s
- DBQ:
Cold War
- Primary Source Analysis: Black Panther Party Platform and Program
(1966)
Unit 11: The Modern Era (1974 to
today)
Timeframe: Two
weeks
Themes:
- Cycles of freezes and thaws in East-West
relations
- The “Vietnam Syndrome” in post-war foreign
policy
- Human rights vs. strategic self-interest in
policy formulation
- Interrelationship of foreign policy and
economic stability
- Globalization
Content:
- Watergate
and a Crisis of National Leadership
- Changes
in the American Economy: the energy
crisis and deindustrialization
- The
Decline of Liberalism and the Resurgence of Conservatism
- The
End of the Cold War
- Persian
Gulf War
- Globalization
- Unilateralism
vs. multilateralism in foreign policy
- Domestic
and foreign terrorism
Readings:
Major assignments and Assessments:
- Thematic outline: c. 30, 31
- Presidential outline: Richard M. Nixon