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Course Description
Advanced Placement U.S. History is a
full-year college course which covers the period from the first European
explorations of the
Americas
to the present. It provides students with a learning experience equivalent
to that obtained in most two-semester college introductory U.S. History
courses. It is designed to help students acquire the analytical skills and
factual knowledge needed to deal critically with a wide range of historical
problems. Students will also learn to assess historical materials – their
relevance to a given issue, their reliability and their importance – and to
weight the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship.
The course will help the student to develop the skills necessary to arrive at
conclusions on the basis of informed judgment and to present reasons and
evidence clearly and persuasively in essay form. At the conclusion of the
course, students will have the opportunity to take the A.P. Exam in U.S.
History for possible college credit.
Textbooks / Supplemental
Readings
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and
Thomas Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. 12
th ed.
Boston,
Mass.
: Houghton Mifflin Co. 2002.
Grading
A student’s grade will consist of two
aspects. Assessments will count as 70%. Each exam will come at the end of a
unit. They will consist of identifications and an essay. A list of twenty
to thirty names, events, documents, and terms will be provided to the student
one week before an exam. The identifications on the exam, usually ten to
twenty terms, will come from that list. A proper identification will contain
information about whom or what the identification is about and why it is
historically significant. Essays will be either free response or a document
based question. The topic of the essay will be included with the list of
identifications.
Reading assessments will also fall into
this catagory. Each reading assessment will cover outside reading and will be
administered in AP style multiple choice questions.
All other assignments will count as 30%
of a student’s grade. Document analysis, timelines, research, and projects
that are to be completed by the student independently will fall into this
category. Class participation, consisting of discussion, debates, and
questioning will also be counted as daily work.
Course Objectives
Listed below are the units which will be
covered in the school year. Students will be required to complete the
assigned readings in the time period allotted to them. Quizzes and tests will
be posted at least one week before the event occurs. Arrangements will be
made so that all A.P. History classes will test on the same day. If a change
in dates should need to be made, the teacher reserves the right to make that
change but with advanced notice to the students.
Each unit will consist of class
discussion, outside reading, writings, and assessments. In each unit we will
be exploring the events and people who have made the
United States
what it is today. Our focus will be on people and events that have been
interpreted to change
America
over time. How have these people and events influenced the way future
generations act and react to certain situations? Such discussions will be
held every class day unless an exam, quiz, or other activity is scheduled.
Unit I
- The American Colonial Era
Broad Themes –
American diversity,
Environment, Politics and citizenship, Slavery & its legacy in
North America, War &
diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text - American Pageant:
Chapter 2, The Planting of English
America
,
Chapter 3, Settling the Northern
Colonies,
Chapter 4, American Life in the 17th
Century,
Chapter 5, Colonial Society on the Eve
of Revolution
Unit Description –
Early settlements, Settlers and Native Americans, Life in the tobacco region,
Role of religion, Unsatisfied colonists, Introduction of slavery and
indentured servants, Social structure
Unit II -
The Revolutionary Era
Broad Themes –
American diversity,
Environment, Politics and citizenship, Slavery & its legacy in
North America, War &
diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text - American Pageant:
Chapter 6, The Duel for
North America,
Chapter 7, The Road to Revolution,
Chapter 8,
America
Secedes from the Empire
Unit Description –
Anglo-French rivalries, Native American uprisings, British Acts and colonial
response, Colonial political organizations, Declaration of Independence,
Revolutionary battles, The French alliance, “Peace at last”
Unit III -
Building a New Nation
Broad Themes –
American diversity, Economic
transformations, Politics & citizenship, War & diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text - American Pageant:
Chapter 9, The Confederation and the
Constitution,
Chapter 10, Launching the New Ship of
State,
Chapter 11, The Triumphs and Travails of
the
Jeffersonian
Republic
,
Chapter 12, The Second War for
Independence
and the Upsurge of Nationalism
Unit Description –
Economic woos, The Articles of Confederation and its problems, The
Constitution, The emergence of political parties, Judicial review, The
Louisiana Purchase, “The American System”, Early international policies
Unit IV -
The Jacksonian Era
Broad Themes –
American diversity, Culture,
Politics & citizenship, Reform, Religion
Assigned
Readings
/ Text - American Pageant:
Chapter 13, The Rise of Mass Democracy,
Chapter 14, Forging the National Economy,
Chapter 15, The Ferment of Reform and
Culture
Unit Description –
The “Corrupt Bargain”, Spoils system, Native American domestic policy, The
Bank War, Western expansion, Immigration, Women’s role, The Second Great
Awakening, Temperance, Emergence of American art, architecture, and literature
Unit V -
Crisis and Sectionalism in
America
Broad Themes –
Demographic change, Globalization, Politics & citizenship, Slavery & its
legacy in
North America, War &
diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text - American Pageant:
Chapter 16, The South and the Slavery
Controversy,
Chapter 17, Manifest Destiny and its
Legacy,
Chapter 18, Renewing the Sectional
Struggle,
Chapter 19, Drifting Toward Disunion
Unit Description -
“King Cotton”, Abolitionists, The Mexican War, Popular Sovereignty, Slavery’s
affect on American life, Republican Party platform,
Lincoln
’s victory and its affects
Unit VI -
The Civil War and Reconstruction
Broad Themes –
Demographic change, Globalization, Politics & citizenship, Slavery & its
legacy in
North America, War &
diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text - American Pageant:
Chapter 20, Girding for War: The North
and the South,
Chapter 21, The Furnace of Civil War,
Chapter 22, The Ordeal of Reconstruction,
Unit Description –
Civil War battles, Financing the war, Lincoln and civil liberties, Legacy of
the war, Freedmen’s Bureau, Radical Republicans, The Ku Klux Klan, the legacy
of Reconstruction
Unit VII –
The Gilded Age
Broad Themes –
American diversity, American identity, Demographic changes, Environment,
Economic transformations, Religion, Reform
Assigned
Readings
/ Text –American Pageant:
Chapter 23, Political Paralysis in the
Gilded Age,
Chapter 24, Industry Comes of Age,
Chapter 25,
America
Moves to the City,
Chapter 26, The Great West and the
Agricultural Revolution,
Unit Description –
Corruption in the post-Civil War era, Civil Service reform, Populists,
Speculation, Labor movement, Urbanization, Women in the workforce, Nativism,
Indian Wars, The People’s Party
Unit VIII –
Imperialist
America
Broad Themes –
American diversity, Globalization, Politics & citizenship, War & diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 27, The Path of Empire,
Chapter 28,
America
on the World Stage,
Unit Description –
Dispute over Venezuela, American expansion, The U.S.S. Maine, The
Spanish-American War and its outcome, Filipino insurrection, The Open Door
notes, Theodore Roosevelt, Panama Canal, Roosevelt Corollary, Roosevelt and
the Far East
Unit IX –
The Progressive Era
Broad Themes –
American diversity, Politics & citizenship, Reform
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 29, Progressivism and the
Republican Roosevelt,
Chapter 30, Wilsonian Progressivism at
Home and Abroad,
Unit Description –
Muckrakers, Politics of progressivism, Women’s suffrage, Temperance,
Roosevelt’s “square deal”, “Big stick diplomacy”, Progressive reform, Labor,
Trusts, Consumer protection, Conservation, Taft’s presidency, “Dollar
Diplomacy”, Wilson’s presidency, Wilson and Mexico, Progressive Amendments,
War in Europe and American neutrality
Free response essay on the objectives of
the Progressive Movement
Unit X –
World War I
Broad Themes –
American diversity, American Identity, Globalization, Politics & citizenship,
War & diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 31, The War to End War,
Unit Description –
German submarines, Zimmerman telegraph, Propaganda, The home front, The War
Industries Board, The draft, American Expeditionary Force, John J. Pershing,
Peace talks in Paris, Wilson’s Fourteen Points, League of Nations, The
Senate’s rejection of the Treaty of Versailles
Unit XI –
The Roaring Twenties
Broad Themes –
American diversity, American Identity, Demographic changes, Economic
transformation,
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 32, American Life in the Roaring
Twenties,
Chapter 33, The Politics of Boom and
Bust,
Unit Description –
The Red Scare, Immigration restrictions, Organized crime, Consumerism, Scopes
Trial, The Automobile, Harlem Renaissance, Changing role of women, Religion
fundamentalism, Latin American relations, Failing economic practices
Unit XII –
The Great Depression and the New Deal
Broad Themes –
Demographic changes, Economic transformation, Reform
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 34, The Great Depression and the
New Deal
Unit Description –
Causes of the Depression, Bonus Army, Soup kitchens and bread lines,
Shantytowns, The Hundred Days Congress, New Deal programs, Organized labor,
Critics of the New Deal, The Second New Deal, The Supreme Court examines the
New Deal
Unit XIII –
America
and WWII
Broad Themes –
Globalization, War & diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 35, Franklin D. Roosevelt and
the Shadow of War,
Chapter 36,
America
in World War II,
Unit Description –
German and Japanese aggression, Holocaust, American Neutrality, Pearl Harbor,
Japanese-American Internment, Women and the war, Socio-economic impact of the
war, WWII battles, The atomic bomb
Unit XIV –
The Cold War
Broad Themes –
American Identity, Culture, Globalization, Politics & citizenship,
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 37, The Cold War Begins,
Unit Description –
Postwar prosperity, Suburbs, Baby boom, Truman’s presidency, Yalta Conference,
Origins of the Cold War, Iron Curtain, World Bank, United Nations,
Containment, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO, Anti-communism, Alger Hiss,
McCarthyism, Korean War
Unit XV –
The 1950’s
Broad Themes –
American diversity, Culture, Economic changes, Globalization
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 38, The Eisenhower Era,
Unit Description –
Eisenhower’s presidency, Race relations, Explosion of science and technology,
Consumerism, Changing economic roles for men and women, Television,
Rock-n-Roll, Teenage mentality
Unit XVI –
The Turbulent Sixties
Broad Themes –
American diversity, Environment, Economic transformation, Globalization,
Politics & citizenship, Reform, War & diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 39, The Stormy Sixties,
Unit Description –
Kennedy’s presidency, Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Civil Rights
Movement, Kennedy’s assassination, John’s “Great Society”, Vietnam, The home
front, Nixon’s presidency, The counterculture, Music, Women’s Rights Movement,
Andy Warhol
Unit XVII –
The 1970’s
Broad Themes –
American diversity, Environment, Economic transformation, Globalization,
Politics & citizenship, Reform, War & diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text – American Pageant:
Chapter 40, The Stalemated Seventies,
Unit Description –
End of postwar economic boom, Nixon and Vietnam, China, Nixon’s domestic
policies, Watergate Scandal, Oil, Nixon resigns, Ford’s presidency, Carter’s
presidency, Panama, The Middle East, Energy crisis, Inflation, Iranian hostage
crisis, Religious revivalism, The New Right, Environmental concerns
Unit XVIII –
The Conservative Age
Broad Themes -
American diversity, Environment, Economic transformation, Globalization,
Politics & citizenship, Reform, War & diplomacy
Assigned
Readings
/ Text –American Pageant:
Chapter 41, The Resurgence of
Conservatism,
Chapter 42, The American People Face a
New Century,
Unit Description –
Tax cuts, Budget battles, Mikhail Gorbachev, Iran-Contra scandal, Reaganomics,
Education, Intercity concerns, health care, Bush’s presidency, The end of the
Cold War, The Persian Gulf War, Clinton’s presidency, Clinton’s impeachment,
The election of 2000, George W. Bush’s presidency, Science and technology, The
perils of globalization
Review Timeline
April 28, 2008 – May 1,
2008 Review
May 2, 2008
Final Exam
May 9, 2008 (subject to
change) A.P. U.S. History Exam
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