Advanced Placement U.S. History
Proposed Class and Reading Schedule
Fall Semester 2014
1
Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History is a survey of United States history from about 1500 to the
start of the 21st century. The course is designed to teach students the narrative history of the United
States, plus historical thinking skills. These skills, such as cause-and-effect analysis, interpretation
of sources, evaluation of arguments, contextualization and synthesis of information, have
applications far beyond the study of history.
The course is equivalent to a college-level course and demands of students a significant commitment
of time and effort. While the course is not intended as a test preparation class, it will equip students
to pass the College Board examination in U.S. History, which will be given Wednesday, May 8,
2015.
Many colleges and universities give entering students academic credit for success on the A.P.
exams. What is more, colleges and universities know that “High [AP] test scores are one of the best
predictors of college success,”* and they consider these scores when evaluating students’
applications for admission.
*Saul Geiser, Research fellow at U.C. Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education. Quoted in
“Is AP Too Good to Be True?” U.S. News and World Report, Sept. 19, 2005, p. 65.
Unit 1 - European Discovery and Colonization of America to 1763
Required Reading: American Pageant, 13th edition, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, pp. 4-105 (101 pages)
Unit 1 Description: In this unit we briefly survey the origins and civilizations of the earliest
Americans, then, turn our attention to the arrival of Europeans in the western hemisphere. We
examine the claims that European nations made to North America, we investigate the first
settlements they established there, and we analyze those settlements’ distinguishing characteristics
with special attention to their interaction with native populations. We explore in depth the English
colonies on the eastern seaboard and their growth, over 150 years, to 13 independent units with
different governing structures, economies, and societies based on climate, geography, preference,
and historical happenstance. We study Britain’s political and economic policies toward the
American colonies and their effects. Finally, we analyze the influence of religious convictions and
the Enlightenment worldview on the political opinions of British colonists in North America.
Tentative Schedule, 7 days
1
Block
A
Date & Day
13 Aug., Wed.
Unit
1
Lesson
Course Introduction
2
A
18 Aug., Mon.
1
3
A
20 Aug., Wed.
1
4
A
22 Aug., Fri.
1
5
A
26 Aug., Tues.
1
6
A
28 Aug., Thurs.
1
America Before Columbus; European
Expansion in America;
First English Colonies: Chesapeake vs.
New England
Restoration Colonies; Growth of
Slavery
Panel Discussion: Where Would You
Go? Governance of the Colonies
Unit 1 Review
7
A
1 Sept., Mon.
1
Unit 1 Exam and DBQ
Quiz/Test/Homework
Reading Due
pp. 4-24
Quiz, chapters 1 & 2
Quiz, chapter 3
Quiz, chapters 4 & 5
Unit Review Questions
Unit Exam, DBQ/FRQ
pp. 25-55, 7683
pp. 55-76
pp. 52-55, 84105
Advanced Placement U.S. History
Proposed Class and Reading Schedule
Fall Semester 2014
2
Unit 2 – The American Revolution, 1763 to 1783
Required Reading: American Pageant, 13th edition, Chapters 6, 7, 8, pp. 106-163 (57 pages)
Unit 2 Description: In this unit we analyze the causes and immediate consequences of the American
Revolution. Beginning with the French and Indian War—a high point in British/American
cooperation—we track the American colonists’ growing hostility toward British fiscal policy, which
ultimately led to a violent rebellion and declaration of independence. We examine the strengths and
strategies of the British and Americans in the Revolutionary War, the significant battles, and
America’s struggle to build political leadership and unity during the conflict. Finally, we investigate
the war’s effects on America’s society, economy, and foreign policy.
Tentative Schedule, 6 days
8
Block
A
Date & Day
3 Sept., Wed.
Unit
2
9
A
5 Sept., Fri.
2
Lesson
French & Indian War and its
Aftermath
The Road to Revolution
10
A
8 Sept., Mon.
10 Sept., Wed.
2
Holiday, No School
Debate on American Independence
11
A
12 Sept., Fri.
2
12
A
16 Sept., Tues.
2
13
A
18 Sept., Thurs.
2
Lexington to Saratoga; Saratoga to
Yorktown
Results of Revolution & Unit 2
Review
Unit 2 Exam & DBQ
Quiz/Test/Homework
Reading Due
pp. 106-121
Quiz, chapter 6
pp. 122-143
Quiz, chapter 7
pp. 143-151
Quiz, chapter 8
pp. 140-163
Unit Review Questions
Unit Exam, DBQ/FRQ
Unit 3 – The Early National Period, 1783 to 1824
Required Reading: American Pageant, 13th edition, Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, pp. 164-255 (91 pages)
Unit 3 Description: In this unit we begin with post-revolutionary war America and examine the
struggles of the young nation to realize a stable and enduring government that preserved individual
liberty while strengthening national unity. We analyze the domestic and foreign policy issues facing
the administrations of Presidents George Washington through James Monroe, and the country’s
social, political, and economic evolution. We end with the so-called “era of good feelings” when the
country took a temporary respite from political wrangling and entered a long period of isolationism.
Tentative Schedule, 7 days
14
Block
A
Date & Day
22 Sept., Mon.
Unit
3
Quiz/Test/Homework
Reading Due
pp. 164-189
Quiz, chapter 9
pp. 190-210
Quiz, chapter 10
pp. 190-210
Quiz, chapter 11
pp. 211-232
Quiz, chapter 12
pp. 233-255
3
Lesson
U.S. Under the Articles of
Confederation; An Empire of Reason
Constitutional Convention and First
Administration
Building a strong “ship of state:”
Washington & Adams
Holiday, No School
Jeffersonian Revolution and 2nd War
of American Independence
The War of 1812 and the Era of Good
Feelings
Unit 3 Review
15
A
24 Sept., Wed.
3
16
A
26 Sept., Fri.
3
z
17
A
29 Sept–3 Oct.
7 Oct., Tues.
3
18
A
9 Oct., Thurs.
3
19
A
13 Oct., Mon.
20
A
15 Oct., Wed.
3
Unit 3 Exam & DBQ
Unit Exam, DBQ/FRQ
Unit Review Questions
Advanced Placement U.S. History
Proposed Class and Reading Schedule
Fall Semester 2014
3
Unit 4 – The Age of Jackson, 1824 to 1840
Required Reading: American Pageant, 13th edition, Chapters 13, 14, 15, pp. 256-347 (91 pages)
Unit 4 Description: In this unit we trace the rise of mass democracy associated with the
administration of President Andrew Jackson. We analyze how Jackson’s forceful use of presidential
powers promoted the rights of the common man, but also polarized American politics and led to the
formation of a new party, the Whigs. We analyze the connection of the religious revival in the
1820s and 1830s with the efforts to reform American social institutions and behaviors in the same
period. We investigate the technological advances of the period, and examine their far-reaching
effects on transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and patterns of commerce. We study the
causes and effects of a new wave of European immigration to the U.S. in the 1830s and 1840s, and,
finally, we outline the growth of a uniquely American identity in art and literature during the period.
Tentative Schedule, 6 days
21
Block
A
Date & Day
17 Oct., Fri.
Unit
4
Lesson
Andrew Jackson on trial
Quiz/Test/Homework
Reading Due
pp. 256-272
22
A
21 Oct., Tues.
4
23
A
23 Oct., Thurs.
4
24
A
27 Oct., Mon.
4
25
A
29 Oct., Wed.
4
The Whig Reaction to Jackson;
Antebellum Immigration and
Nativism
Birth of a National Economy and the
Transportation Revolution
Reform Movements; Birth of a
National Art and Literature
Unit 4 review
Quiz, chapter 13
pp. 272-286,
290-297
Quiz, chapter 14
pp. 287-319
Quiz, chapter 15
pp. 320-347
26
A
31 Oct., Fri.
4
Unit 4 Exam & DBQ
Unit Exam, DBQ/FRQ
Unit Review Questions
Unit 5 – Expansion and the Rise of Sectionalism, 1840 to 1860
Required Reading: American Pageant, 13th edition, Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19, pp. 348-433 (85 pages)
Unit 5 Description: In this unit we examine America’s territorial expansion to the Pacific Ocean
and analyze its political disintegration into civil war. We investigate the differences in the
economies and societies of the northern and southern states. We trace the causes and consequences
of western expansion, including the war with Mexico and the California gold rush, and analyze how
the addition of western lands increased political sectionalism. We consider the repeated attempts to
resolve the issue of extending slavery into new territories and their ultimate failure, which led to
southern secession from the Union.
Tentative Schedule, 5 days
27
Block
A
Date & Day
4 Nov., Tues.
Unit
5
28
A
6 Nov., Thurs.
5
29
A
7 Nov., Fri.
11 Nov., Tues.
5
30
A
13 Nov., Thurs.
5
Lesson
Antebellum Southern Society,
Slavery, and Radical Abolition
Westward movement, slave
expansion, and political
fragmentation.
No School (Conferences)
Dred Scott, Harper’s Ferry, the
Election of Lincoln and Secession.
Unit 5 review
Quiz/Test/Homework
Reading Due
pp. 350-370
Quiz, chapter 16
pp. 371-408
Quiz, chapters 17 & 18
pp. 409-433
Quiz, chapter 19,
Unit Review Questions
Advanced Placement U.S. History
Proposed Class and Reading Schedule
Fall Semester 2014
31
A
17 Nov., Mon.
5
Unit 5 Exam & DBQ
4
Unit Exam, DBQ/FRQ
Unit 6 – Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860 to 1877
Required Reading: American Pageant, 12th edition, Chapters 20, 21, 22, 23 first half, pp. 434-509
(75 pages)
Unit 6 Description: In this unit we examine the effects of the American Civil War on the politics,
society, and economies of the North and the South, plus we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of
each side, their respective war strategies, and we consider the war’s most important battles. Next,
we analyze the efforts to restore the South to the Union after the war and to protect the rights of
freed slaves. We finish by reviewing the fiscal policies and scandals of the Grant administration in
specific, and the corruption of the so-called Gilded Age in general.
Tentative Schedule, 6 days
Block
Date & Day
Unit
Lesson
Quiz/Test/Homework
Reading
Due
pp. 434-452
Quiz, chapter 20
pp. 453-478
Quiz, chapter 21
pp. 479-511
pp. 502-514,
32
A
19 Nov., Wed.
6
33
A
21 Nov., Fri.
6
34
A
25 Nov., Tues
6
Mobilizing for war; The Battle of Bull
Run; 1862: The South Ascendant
1863: The Tide Turns; American
Society During the Civil War
The Reconstruction Period
35
A
27 Nov., Thurs.
6
Grant & Political Corruption.
Quiz, chapter 22&23
36
A
28 Nov., Fri
2 Dec., Tues.
6
No School, Thanksgiving
Unit 6 review
Unit Review Questions
37
A
4 Dec., Thurs.
6
Unit 6 Exam & DBQ
Unit Exam, DBQ/FRQ
38
Block
A
Date & Day
8 Dec., Mon.
39
A
10 Dec., Wed.
Retakes, Midterm Review
11-18 Dec. Thurs.Thurs.
Midterm Exams
Midterm
A&B
Unit
Lesson
Retakes, Midterm Review
Quiz/Test/Homework
AP U.S. History
Midterm
Reading Due