AP US History
2014 – 2015
Summer Packet
Student Name:____________________________________________________
Instructor: Mrs. Nicole Dean
Due: Friday, August 29, 2014
This course has college-level expectations. There will be significant emphasis on
individual motivation and responsibility. Independent reading and research is
mandatory for success. If you expect to pass, expect to put forth a high level of
effort. The expectation put on the student is extremely high in this course – if this
is not something you are willing to work towards, please reconsider taking this
class. As an introduction, it is required that you complete this summer packet to
ensure a foundation of understanding come August.
AP US History 2014 – 2015
Mrs. Dean
Summer Identifications List
1. Mercantilism
2. Indentured Servants
3. Triangular Trade
4. Salutary Neglect
5. Electoral College
6. Ratification
7. Free Trade
8. Chesapeake
9. Great Plains
10. Appalachians
11. Strict Construction
12. Loose Construction
13. Nullification
14. Tariff
15. Embargo
16. Manifest Destiny
17. Manumission
18. Abolition
19. Nativism
20. Sectionalism
21. Popular Sovereignty
22. The Enlightenment
23. Imperialism
24. Suffrage
25. Migration
Create a chart like the one below, and fill in the information for each term.
Identification
Definition
Connections
Locate and Label the Following:
Geographic Features
Great Plains
Appalachians
Mississippi River
Ohio River
Louisiana Territory
Spanish Florida
Regions of British
Colonies
(Northern, Middle
Atlantic, Southern)
Political/Social Features
New France
New Spain
Triangular Trade
Routes
Jamestown
Pueblo Indians
Iroquois
Aztecs
Mayans
Primary Resource Packet
Jonathan Edwards, from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741)
. . . This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. That world of misery, that lake of
burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of
God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of;
there is nothing between you and hell but the air; 'tis only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but don't see the hand of God in it, but look
at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for
your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no
more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure
towards hell; and, if God should let you go, you would immediately sink, and swiftly descend and plunge into the
bottomless gulf; and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your
righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would
have to stop a falling rock. . . .
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, mochas one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire,
abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked. His wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of
nothing else button be cast into the fire. He is of purer eyes than to bear you in his sight; you are ten thousand times
as abominable in his eyes as the most hateful, venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more
than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince, and yet 'tis nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire
every moment. . . .
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in!'Tis a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of fire
and of wrath that you are held over in the hand of that God whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against
you as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of Divine wrath flashing
about it, and ready every moment to singe it and burn it asunder. . . .
It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all
eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite, horrible, misery. . . .
How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this
is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober
and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh! that you would consider it, whether you be young or old!
Study Questions
1. What methods does Edwards use to persuade his listeners to rely upon God for
salvation? What is the tone of this sermon?
2. Identify and explain Edwards’ vision of God and his attitude toward man.
The Mayflower Compact (1620)
We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God
of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc. Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and
advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the
Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another,
Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and
furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws,
Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the
general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have
hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord
King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.
Study Questions
1. What are the ultimate goals of the signers of the Mayflower Compact, and how do they
provide for the achievement of these goals?
Olaudah Equiano, from The Interesting Narrative (1789)
At last, when the ship we were in had got in all her cargo, they made ready with many fearful noises, and we were
all put under deck, so that we could not see how they managed the vessel. But this disappointment was the least of
my sorrow. The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to
remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the
whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat
of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself,
almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a
variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to
the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the
galling of the chains, now become insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often
fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene
of horror almost inconceivable. Happily perhaps for myself I was soon reduced so low here that it was thought
necessary to keep me almost always on deck; and from my extreme youth I was not put in fetters. In this situation I
expected every hour to share the fate of my companions, some of whom were almost daily brought upon deck at the
point of death, which I began to hope would soon put an end to my miseries. Often did I think many of the
inhabitants of the deep much more happy than myself; I envied them the freedom they enjoyed, and as often wished
I could change my condition for theirs. Every circumstance I met with served only to render my state more painful,
and heighten my apprehensions, and my opinion of the cruelty of the whites. One day they had taken a number of
fishes; and when they had killed and satisfied themselves with as many as they thought fit, to our astonishment who
were on the deck, rather than give any of them to us to eat, as we expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the
sea again, although we begged and prayed for some as well we cold, but in vain; and some of my countrymen, being
pressed by hunger, took an opportunity, when they thought no one saw them, of trying to get a little privately; but
they were discovered, and the attempt procured them some very severe floggings.
One day, when we had a smooth sea, and a moderate wind, two of my wearied countrymen, who were chained
together (I was near them at the time), preferring death to such a life of misery, somehow made through the nettings,
and jumped into the sea: immediately another quite dejected fellow, who, on account of his illness, was suffered to
be out of irons, also followed their example; and I believe many more would soon have done the same, if they had
not been prevented by the ship’s crew, who were instantly alarmed. Those of us that were the most active were, in a
moment, put down under the deck; and there was such a noise and confusion amongst the people of the ship as I
never heard before, to stop her, and get the boat to go out after the slaves. However, two of the wretches were
drowned, but they got the other, and afterwards flogged him unmercifully, for thus attempting to prefer death to
slavery. In this manner we continued to undergo more hardships than I can now relate; hardships which are
inseparable from this accursed trade. - Many a time we were near suffocation, from the want of fresh air, which we
were often without for whole days together. This, and the stench of the necessary tubs, carried off many. During our
passage I first saw flying fishes, which surprised me very much: they used frequently to fly across the ship, and
many of them fell on the deck. I also now first saw the use of the quadrant. I had often with astonishment seen the
mariners make observations with it, and I could not think what it meant. They at last took notice of my surprise; and
one of them, willing to increase it, as well as to gratify my curiosity, made me one day look through it. The clouds
appeared to me to be land, which disappeared as they passed along. This heightened my wonder: and I was now
more persuaded than ever that I was in another world, and that every thing about me was magic. At last we came in
sight of the island of Barbadoes, at which the whites on board gave a great shout, and made many signs of joy to us.
Study Questions
1. Describe conditions aboard the ship that would have made survival difficult.
2. What is the significance of the arrival at Barbados?
John Dickinson, from Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1768)
There is [a] late act of Parliament, which seems to me to be . . . destructive to the liberty of these colonies, . . . that is
the act for granting duties on paper, glass, etc. It appears to me to be unconstitutional.
The Parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain and all its colonies.
Such an authority is essential to the relation between a mother country and its colonies and necessary for the
common good of all. He who considers these provinces as states distinct from the British Empire has very slender
notions of justice or of their interests. We are but parts of a whole; and therefore there must exist a power
somewhere to preside, and preserve the connection in due order. This power is lodged in the Parliament, and we are
as much dependent on Great Britain as a perfectly free people can be on another.
I have looked over every statute relating to these colonies, from their first settlement to this time; and I find every
one of them founded on this principle till the Stamp Act administration. All before are calculated to preserve or
promote a mutually beneficial intercourse between the several constituent parts of the Empire. And though many of
them imposed duties on trade, yet those duties were always imposed with design to restrain the commerce of one
part that was injurious to another, and thus to promote the general welfare. . . . Never did the British Parliament, till
the period abovementioned, think of imposing duties in American for the purpose of raising a revenue. . . .This I call
an innovation, and a most dangerous innovation.
That we may be legally bound to pay any general duties on these commodities, relative to the regulation of trade, is
granted. But we being obliged by her laws to take them from Great Britain, any special duties imposed on their
exportation to us only, with intention to raise a revenue from us only, are as much taxes upon us as those imposed by
the Stamp Act. . . .It is nothing but the edition of a former book with a new title page, . . . and will be attended with
the very same consequences to American liberty.
Sorry I am to learn that there are some few persons,[who] shake their heads with solemn motion, and pretend to
wonder what can be the meaning of these letters. . . .I will now tell the gentlemen. . . . The meaning of them is to
convince the people of these colonies that they are at this moment exposed to the most imminent dangers, and
persuade them immediately, vigorously, and unanimously to exert themselves, in the most firm, but most peaceable
manner for obtaining relief. The cause of liberty is a cause of too much dignity to be sullied by turbulence and
tumult. It ought to be maintained in a manner suitable to her nature. . . . I hope, my dear countrymen, that you will in
every colony be upon your guard against those who may at any time Endeavour to stir you up, under pretences of
patriotism, to any measures disrespectful to our sovereign and our mother country. Hot, rash, disorderly proceedings
injure the reputation of a people as to wisdom, valour and virtue, without procuring them the least benefit. . . .
Every government, at some time or other, falls into wrong measures. They may proceed from mistake or passion.
But every such measure does not dissolve the obligation between the governors and the governed. The mistake may
be corrected, the passion may pass over. It is the duty of the governed to endeavour to rectify the mistake and
appease the passion. They have not at first any other right than to represent their grievances and to pray for redress. .
..
Study Questions
1. Upon what principle have all statutes and laws been founded until the Stamp Act? What
“dangerous innovation” in Britain’s tax policies is identified by Dickinson?
2. What measures does Dickinson suggest to right the injustices he perceives? What kinds
of actions does he identify as counterproductive to the cause?
AP US History
Summer Reading Assignments
All AP US History Students are required to read one of the books below by August 2014.
You will be required to write THREE reflections for the book you choose. Space your
reflections out so that they are done at about one-third, two-thirds, and upon
completion of the book. For each reflection, you must use the “Thinking Like a Historian”
Inquiry Categories on the back of this page. Choose two questions to write about in
each reflection.
All reflections must be handwritten. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in an
immediate failure of this assignment.
 Rise to Rebellion, by Jeff Shaara
 Common Sense, by Thomas Paine
 Autobiography of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass
 How the Other Half Lives, by Jacob Riis
 The Souls of Black Folk, by W.E.B. DuBois
 The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
 On the Road, by Jack Kerouac
 Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
 The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan