APAmerican History

B. Williams

Rm. 3D

Phone: 929-3513

E-mail: bswilliams@caddo.k12.la.us

Education: BA- LSUS

MA - Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX

+30 - University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Certification: Secondary Social and General Science ("Highly Qualified" in both)

My planning period is 6th hour. To access grades on Teacher Web enter student name {Last Name, First Name(all capital letters)} and student ID without the initial zero.

 

           This course is designed at the college level to provide the student with the factual knowledge, analytical skills, and writing techniques necessary to understand and evaluate the economic, political, cultural and demographic events and trends in American History.

The themes examined within this course include American diversity; development of an American identity; demographic changes; economic trends; cultural development; environmental issues and concerns; political institutions; political, economic, and social reforms; the impact of religion on American politics and society; the history and legacy of race-based slavery; war and diplomacy; and the place of the U. S. in the 21st Century world.  We will follow these themes throughout the course using them as the framework for our understanding of U.S. history.  The topics to be studied within this framework range from the earliest known North American societies to present-day America and include pre-Columbian societies and their interaction with European explorers and settlers, the colonial and Revolutionary War periods, the transformation of America during its early developmental years, territorial expansion, the Jeffersonian era, the Jacksonian era, sectionalism, The Civil War and Reconstruction, 19th Century reform, migration and immigration, industrialization and its societal effects, Populism, Progressivism, World Wars I and II, the 1920s, the Depression and New Deal, the Cold War at home and abroad, and post-Cold War America.

            This course will fulfill the American history high school graduation requirement and will prepare students for the AP Exam given in May.  Classes will be structured around lectures.  Additional activities will include quizzes on previous lectures and assigned readings, document-based questions (DBQ’s) and free-response essays, discussion days, and unit and semester tests.  Some essay and DBQ assignments will be done in class while others will be done at home and discussed in class.  Reading assignments should be completed by the beginning of the week in which they will be discussed.

 

 

Course Materials:

 

Primary Textbook:

 

Kennedy, David M., Cohen, Lizabeth, and Bailey, Thomas A.  The American Pageant:  A

           History of the Republic.  12th Ed.  New York:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002.

 

Secondary Textbook:

 

Hofstadter, Richard.  The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It. 

           Foreword by Christopher Lasch.  New York:  Vintage Books, 1976.

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Readings:

Packets of handouts will be provided to students.  Some of the additional resources used to provide handouts are listed below and will be referred to throughout the calendar in abbreviated form.

 

Allen, Frederick Lewis. Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920’s. New York: 

           Harper & Row, 1959.

 

Boller, Paul F., Jr. and Story, Ronald, Eds. A More Perfect Union: Documents in U.S.

           History, Volume II:  Since 1865. Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984.

 

Cavanah, Frances. We came to America . Philadelphia:  Macrae Smith Company, 1954.

 

Collingwood, R. G.  The Idea of History.  New York:  Oxford University Press, 1982.

 

Davidson, James West and Lytle, Mark Hamilton. After the Fact:  The Art of Historical

           Detection. New York:  Alfred A. Knopf, 1982.

 

Fine, Sidney and Brown, Gerald S., Eds. The American Past-Conflicting Interpretations

           Of the Great Issues. 3rd Ed. Toronto: The Macmillan Company, 1970.

 

Hellman, Lillian. Scoundrel Time. New York: Bantam Books, 1976.

 

Our Documents:  100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives. Foreword by

           Michael Beschloss.  New York:  Oxford University Press, 2003.

 

Riis, Jacob A. How the Other Half Lives . New York:  Hill and Wang, 1957.

 

Terkel, Studs. Hard Times:  An Oral History of the Great Depression. New York:

            Washington Square Press, 1970.

 

 

Grading will be as follows:

 

Quizzes – 10 points each

Unit Tests – 100 points each

Discussion and essay participation – 50 points each

Grade averages will be calculated on a cumulative point basis. 

The semester exams will count as 10% of the semester grade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Calendar

 

 

Unit One:  Historiography

            Readings : 

Handout -

Collingwood, pp. 249-313.

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

What history is, how history is written, reasons for differing viewpoints, primary v. secondary sources, types of primary sources.

 

           Activity:

Discussion Day.  How might one use various types of documentary evidence?

 

 

 

Unit Two: Pre-Columbian History to 1763

            Readings :

American Pageant, Chs. 1-6.

           Handouts:

Bradford, William. “Of Plymouth Plantation.” http://auroraweb.com/

           america/early_american_lit/william_bradford.htm

Edwards, Jonathan. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” http://www.

           auroraweb.com/america/early_american_lit/jonathan_edwards.htm

“Medieval Sourcebook:  Christopher Columbus:  Extracts from Journal.” http://

           www.fordham.edu/halsall/souce/columbus1.html

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

Native American societies, European contact through exploration and settlement, Spanish and French empires, British colonization, introduction of race-based slavery, beginnings of the plantation system, religious influence in the colonies, colonial rebellions.

 

           Activities:

Free-Response Essay.  Topic:  Were the Native Americans, referred to by some as “noble savages,” either noble or savage?

Discussion Day.  What was the role of religion in the founding and day-to-day life of the British colonies?

 

 

 

 

 

Unit Three:  Revolution to Republic

            Readings :

American Pageant, Chs. 7-9.

           Handouts –

Crevecoeur, “What Is An American?” http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/

           crevecour2.html

Our Documents, “The Lee Resolution,” “Declaration of Independence,” “Articles of

           Confederation,” “ Northwest Ordinance,” “Federalist Papers, No. 10 & No. 51.”

Paine, Thomas. “The American Crisis.” http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/

           paine/p1.htm

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

The Enlightenment, The Great Awakening, colonial governments and British imperial policies, the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, ratification.

 

           Activity:

DBQ (take home).  “The Revolution was effected before the war commenced.  The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people…. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.”  Explain this statement made by John Adams and, using the documents provided, determine its truthfulness.  Support your answer with citations from the documents.

 

 

 

Unit Four:  Building the New Nation

           Readings:

American Pageant, Chs.10-12.

Hofstadter, “Thomas Jefferson:  The Aristocrat as Democrat.”

           Handouts –

Our Documents, “President George Washington’s First Inaugural Speech,” “President

           George Washington’s Farewell Address,” “Alien and Sedition Acts,” “ Jefferson’s

           Secret Message to Congress Regarding the Lewis and Clark Expedition,”

           “Marbury v. Madison,” “McCulloch v. Maryland,” “ Missouri Compromise,”

           “ Monroe Doctrine,” “Gibbons v. Ogden.”

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

The Washington administration, the beginning of political parties, women’s roles, the Second Great Awakening, the Jefferson administration, expansion into the trans-Appalachia region, the War of 1812, changes in transportation, early industrialization, immigration, Southern class structure.

 

           Activity:

Free-Response Essay.  Describe the growth of national power in the new republic.  Which branch of government gained the most power during this time?

Unit Five:  The Jacksonian Era

Readings:

American Pageant, Chs. 13-15.

Hofstadter, “Andrew Jackson and the Rise of Liberal Capitalism.”

           Handouts –

Our Documents,“President Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress ‘On Indian

           Removal’.”

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

The second party system, the Jackson administration, Jackson’s opponents, Indian removal, the bank war, tariff debates, states’ rights, social and utopian reforms.

 

           Activity:

Free-Response Essay.  Compare and contrast Jefferson’s plan to deal with the Indians with Jackson’s plan.  Are there similar assumptions?  Plans of action?

 

 

 

Unit Six:  Expansion and Sectionalism

            Readings :

American Pageant, Chs. 16-19.

Hofstadter, “John C. Calhoun:  The Marx of the Master Class.”

           Handouts –

Our Documents, “Compromise of 1850,” “Kansas-Nebraska Act.”

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

Manifest Destiny, westward migration, land acquisitions, the Mexican War, arguments on slavery, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

 

           Activity:

DBQ (take home).  Defend or refute the following statement:  The Mexican-American War was an imperialist endeavor.

 

 

 

Unit Seven:  Civil War and Reconstruction

            Readings :

American Pageant, Chs. 20-22.

Hofstadter, “Abraham Lincoln and the Self-Made Myth.”

           Handouts -

Fine and Brown, “Segregation in the South:  Did Rigid Segregation Patterns Emerge

            During Reconstruction or in the 1890’s?”

Our Documents, “Scott v. Sanford,” “Homestead Act,” “ Morrill Act,” “Emancipation

            Proclamation,” “Gettysburg Address,” “President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural

            Address.”

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

Secession; the Lincoln administration; the causes, course and consequences of the Civil War; emancipation; Presidential and Congressional Reconstruction; the Compromise of 1877; sharecropping; segregation.

 

           Activity:

Discussion Day.  Which plan of Reconstruction do you think was “the best?”  Why?  Were there other alternative plans possible?  How would you have conducted Reconstruction?

 

 

 

Unit Eight:  The Gilded Age

               Readings:

American Pageant, Chs. 23-26.

Hofstadter, “The Spoilsmen:  An Age of Cynicism.”

           Handouts –

Boller and Story, “ Atlanta Exposition Address,” “ Niagara Movement Address,”

           “Preamble to the Constitution of the Knights of Labor,” “Triumphant

           Democracy.”

Fine and Brown, “ The American Businessman as Robber Baron:  Fact or Fiction?” pp.

           85-122.

Our Documents, “Pendleton Act,” “Interstate Commerce Act,” “Dawes Act,” “ Sherman

               Anti-Trust Act,” “ Plessy v. Ferguson .”

 “The Omaha Platform.” http://history.missouristate.edu/wrmiller/Populism/

           texts/documents/Omaha_Platform.htm

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

The transcontinental railroads, the growth of industry, the effects of industrialization on workers and on society, unionism, migration and immigration, machine politics, the Gilded Age Presidents, urbanization, Social Darwinism, Social Gospel, popular culture and entertainments, Populism.

 

           Activity:

DBQ. For decades, historians have debated whether the businessmen of the Gilded Age were “Robber Barons” or “Captains of Industry.”  Which view do you find most defensible based on the documents presented?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unit Nine:  American Foreign Policy, 1865 – 1920

            Readings :

American Pageant, Chs. 27, 28, and 31.

           Handouts -

Allen, pp. 13-29.

Boller and Story, “William McKinley, Message to Congress (1898).”

Our Documents, “Check for the Purchase of Alaska,” “ DeLome Letter,” “Platt

           Amendment,” “ Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine,”

           “Zimmerman Telegram,” “ Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War

           Against Germany,” “President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points.”

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

American imperialism, the Spanish-American War, World War I, the Treaty of Versailles.

 

           Activity:

Free-Response Essay.  The statement has been made regarding late 1800’s America that “The taste of empire is in the mouths of the people!”  Assess the validity of this statement.

 

 

 

Unit Ten:  The Progressive Era

           Readings:

American Pageant, Chs. 29-30.

Hofstadter, “Theodore Roosevelt:  The Conservative as Progressive.”

Hofstadter, “Woodrow Wilson:  The Conservative as Liberal.”

           Handouts –

Boller and Story, “The Jungle.”

Davidson and Lytle, “The Mirror with a Memory,” pp. 205-227, “USDA Government

           Inspected,” pp. 232-260.

Riis, “The Down Town Back Alleys,” pp. 21-36; “The Bend,” pp. 41-52; “Waifs of the

           City’s Slums,” pp. 141-147.

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

Origins of progressivism, levels of government affected by progressivism, the Progressive Presidents, women’s roles in progressive reform and society, the problems addressed, the settlement house movement, Muckrakers and their causes.

 

           Activity:

Free-Response Essay.  Compare the work of Progressives at the national, state, and local levels.

 

 

 

 

Unit Eleven:  The 1920’s

            Readings :

American Pageant, Chs. 32-33.

           Handouts –

Cavanah, “ America in My Blood,” pp. 7-18.

Davidson and Lytle, “Sacco and Vanzetti,” pp. 263-293.

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

Consumerism, immigration and nativism, Republican prosperity and Presidents, culture and entertainment, heroes, religious fundamentalism, Prohibition, minority struggles.

 

           Activity:

Discussion Day.  The immigrant experience.

 

 

 

Unit Twelve:  Depression and New Deal

            Readings :

American Pageant, Ch. 34.

Hofstadter, “Franklin D. Roosevelt:  The Patrician as Opportunist.”

           Handouts -

Davidson and Lytle, “Huey Generis,” pp. 296-318.

Terkel, “Louis Banks, pp. 56-60; “William Benton,” pp. 79-84; “Dorothe Bernstein,” pp.

           123-124; “Fred Thompson,” pp. 353-358; “Senator Russell Long,” pp. 364-366;

           “Gerald L. K. Smith,” pp. 368-376; “Ward James,” pp. 483-486.

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

Causes of the Depression, FDR, the New Deal agenda and agencies, New Deal critics, American life during the Depression.

 

           Activity:

DBQ.  Compare and contrast the fundamental differences between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt’s approach to the Great Depression.  Summarize the effectiveness of each approach.

 

 

 

Unit Thirteen:  World War II

            Readings :

American Pageant, Ch. 35-36.

           Handouts -

Davidson and Lytle, “The Decision to Drop the Bomb,” pp. 320-353.

Our Documents, “The Four Freedoms: President Franklin Roosevelt’s Annual Message

               To Congress,” “Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against

            Japan.”

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

The rise of fascism in Europe ; causes, course, and consequences of World War II; American entry and contributions to the war; wartime conferences; American mobilization and economic conversion; civil liberties.

 

           Activity:

DBQ.  On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor.  It was the worst single defeat ever suffered by the U. S. Navy.  Using the documents provided and your knowledge of the history of that time, evaluate how this event could have happened and who was primarily responsible for it – the U.S. officials in Washington, D.C. or the local commanders at Pearl Harbor.

 

 

 

Unit Fourteen:  The Cold War

            Readings :

American Pageant, Ch. 37.

           Handouts –

Boller and Story, “ The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” “Dulles, a Statement of Policy,”

           “McCarthy, Lincoln Day Address.”

Hellman, pp. 35-56.

Our Documents, “Truman Doctrine,” “Marshall Plan.”

 

               Major Discussion Topics:

Origins of the Cold War, containment, Korea, Vietnam, Berlin, the Red Scare.

 

           Activity:

DBQ.  Using the documents provided discuss the post-WWI and post-WWII American reactions to the Soviets at home and abroad.  Explain the similarities and the differences.

 

 

 

Unit Fifteen:  The Eisenhower Years

            Readings :

American Pageant, Ch. 38.

Handouts –

Our Documents, “Brown v Board of Education,” “President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address.”

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

The modern civil rights movement, affluence in America, conformity, cultural rebels, new developments in science, technology and medicine.

 

           Activity:

Free-Response Essay.  Analyze why Eisenhower was so appealing to the American voter.

 

Unit Sixteen:  The 1960’s

            Readings :

American Pageant, Ch. 39.

           Handouts –

Boller and Story, “ Position Paper of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.”

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”                    

           http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/letter.html

Our Documents, “President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address,” “Civil Rights Act of

           1964,” “ Tonkin Gulf Resolution,” “Voting Rights Act of 1965.”

“The Port Huron Statement.” http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/

           huron.html

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

JFK, LBJ, Vietnam, civil rights, student activism.

 

           Activity:

Discussion Day.  Discuss the effectiveness of the activism of the 1960’s.  Did the various protest groups reach their goals?  Why or why not?

 

 

 

Unit Seventeen:  The 1970’s

            Readings :

American Pageant, Ch. 40.

           Handouts –

Boller and Story, “Announcement of the Embargo of Oil.”

Davidson and Lytle, “Instant Watergate,” pp. 356-385.

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

Watergate, Vietnam, the energy crises, the Reagan Revolution.

 

           Activity:

Free-Response Essay.  Compare the Watergate scandal to other Presidential scandals in American history.  In what significant way(s) did Watergate differ from all of the others?

 

 

 

Unit Eighteen:  1980 – 2000

            Readings :

American Pageant, Ch. 41.

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

End of the Cold War, demographic changes, changes in biotechnology, communications, and computers and how those changes have affected our society.

 

 

           Activity:

Free-Response Essay.  The biotech industry, the communications industry, and the computer industry have all seen major advancement in the last two decades.  Which of these three industries will have the greatest long-term effects on American society and why?

 

 

 

Unit Nineteen:  21st Century Issues

            Readings :

American Pageant, Ch. 42.

 

           Major Discussion Topics:

Domestic and global terrorism, environmental concerns, multicultural politics, global economics.

 

           Activity:

Discussion Day.  What is the single biggest problem facing us today?  What can be done to help solve that problem?

 

 

 

Unit Twenty:  AP Review

               Sources:

Faragher, John Mack; Buhle, Mari Jo: Czitrom, Daniel; and Armitage, Susan H., Eds. 

Out of Many: A History of the American People, AP Edition. 5th Ed. AP Test Prep Series, AP U. S. History. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:  Pearson Education, Inc., 2007.

 

Feldmeth, Gregory; Piggrem, Gary: McDuffie, Jerome: and Woodworth, Steven E., Eds.

AP United States History, 7th Ed. Piscataway, New Jersey:  Research & Education Association, 2006.

 

Major Discussion Topics:

Steps in answering the DBQ, organizing the Free-Response Essay, review of factual knowledge.

 

           Activities:

Review tests from sources cited above.

Discussion of review tests.

Discussion of writing techniques.

 

 

 

After completion of Unit 20, the class will concentrate on preparation for required semester exam.