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 sophomore/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.
Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam. The Princeton Review.
AP Exam and Review Sessions
The 2014 AP test will be on Wednesday, May 14h. Review sessions for the test will commence during
the second semester at a time, frequency, and location (most likely room D116) to be determined.
Assessment
Cornell notes for each chapter.
Chapter quizzes.
Unit tests (multiple choice questions, free response essay prompt).
Thematic outlines assigned on a TBD basis. Content based upon the major themes provided by
the AP Board.
Organizational, conceptual, and comparison charts.
Fourth quarter video projects (after AP exam).
Presidential outlines to be assigned on a TBD basis. You must use the outline worksheet
(available online) and all outlines must be handwritten.
Primary source analysis. Several times a unit, you will be asked to read primary source
documents and complete and discuss comprehension questions. In lieu of specific guide
questions, a primary source worksheet may be used for analysis.
Free response essay thesis generation activities.
Political cartoon analysis.
DBQ activity (document analysis and thesis generation).
Document based questions (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:
o
o
o
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:
1. The emergence of American cultural traits and the factors that contributed to them.
2. 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.
John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity, 1630.
A Dutch Minister Describes the Iroquois, 1634.
Nathaniel Bacon's Declaration of the People, 1676.
Laws Pertaining to Slaves and Servants, Virginia 1629-1672.
Indentured Servitude in Maryland, 1666.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes assignment unit 1.
Organizational chart (Native-American cultural groups and tribes).
Organizational chart (Political, Economic, Social): New England, Middle, Southern Colonies.
Internet reading and questions on The Great Awakening.
DBQ – Puritanism and political, social, and economic development of the New England colonies.
Unit 2: Conflict and Revolution (1750 to 1786)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
1. Colonists reevaluate their relationship with Great Britain and with each other.
2. 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.
John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 1690.
James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, 1764.
Daniel Dulaney, Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing Taxes in the British Colonies, for
the Purpose of raising a Revenue, by Act of Parliament, 1765.
James Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, 1767.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776.
The Articles of Confederation, 1777.
Northwest Ordinance, 1787.
Carolyn E. Scott, Mercantilism and the American Revolution, 1997.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes c. 1 & 2.
Document analysis/thesis development exercise: DBQ, P. 191 in text .
Document analysis/thesis development exercise: French & Indian War.
Take home DBQ: American Revolution.
British policy chart: policy, content, colonial response.
Unit 3: Building a New Nation (1787 to 1840)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
1. Development of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.
2. The emergence of political parties and the factors that divided them.
3. The conflict between national power and states’ rights.
4. 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:
c. 8, 9, 10.
Madison’s Notes on Debates, May 30, 1787
George Mason, Objections to the Constitution, October 1787.
Benjamin Rush, Address to the People of the United States, January 1787.
Federalist No. 39, January 16, 1788, Publius (James Madison).
The Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798.
Thomas Jefferson, The Kentucky Resolutions, 1798.
President Monroe on Recognition of the Independent States of South America, March 11, 1822.
President Monroe's Seventh Annual Message to Congress, December 2, 1823
South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification, November 24, 1832.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Could American-Style Federalism Stabilize Iraq, October 26, 2007.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes c. 8, 9, 10.
Take home DBQ: Jeffersonian Policy.
Comparative content chart: Articles vs. Constitution.
Comparative platform chart: Federalists vs. Democratic Republican.
Statistical analysis activity: Voter participation in Presidential elections.
Organizational chart: Constitutional compromises.
DBQ exercise (article analysis and prompt development): War of 1812.
Thesis activity: War of 1812, J. Marshall & Supreme Court.
Unit 4: Pre-Civil War America (1790 to 1850)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
1. The development of sectional specialization and interdependence.
2. Reform movements and the American character.
3. 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.
Henry Clay to John Switzer, Ashland, Ohio, 1831.
Thomas R. Dew, An Essay on Slavery, 1832.
William Lloyd Garrison, On the Constitution and the Union, December 29, 1832.
John C. Calhoun, Slavery a Positive Good, 6 February 1837.
John Quincy Adams’ speech fragment on the proposed annexation of Texas, 1838.
John L. O’Sullivan, Manifest Destiny, 1839.
James Knox Polk, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1845.
Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Williamson Durley, October 3, 1845.
Henry Clay, Speech on the Mexican-American War, 1847.
James Henry Hammond, Mudsill Theory, March 4, 1858.
Abraham Lincoln, Letter to J.N. Brown, October 18, 1858.
Adam Cohen, Democracy in America, Then and Now, a Struggle Against Majority Tyranny, 2006.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes c. 11, 12, 13, 14.
Comparative chart: Slavery’s Opponents and Defenders.
Thesis activity: Reform Movement, National Unity, Manifest Destiny, Slavery and Expansion.
DBQ exercise (article analysis and prompt development): Voter participation 1815-1840, or
Territorial expansion 1800-1855.
Unit 5: Sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction (1850 to 1877)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
1. Sectionalism.
2. Slavery and causes of the Civil War.
3. Secession and war.
4. Reconstruction Issues and plans.
5. 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.
Franklin Pierce, State of the Union Address, December 31, 1855
James Buchanan, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1857.
Roger E. Taney, Dred Scott v. Sandford, March 6, 1857.
Abraham Lincoln, House divided speech, June 17, 1858.
James Buchanan, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1860.
South Carolina Secession Declaration, December 20, 1860.
Stephen F. Hale to Governor Beriah Magoffin, December 27, 1860.
Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation Calling Militia and Convening Congress, April 15, 1861.
Abraham Lincoln, Message to Congress Recommending Compensated Emancipation, March 6,
1862.
Abraham Lincoln, Final Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863.
New York Times editorial, The President’s Proclamation, January 03, 1863.
Clement Vallandigham, On the War and Its Conduct, January 14, 1863.
Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, December 8, 1863.
The Wade-Davis Manifesto, August 5, 1864.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes c. 15, 16, 17.
DBQ: Slavery and the Civil War.
Reconstruction policy chart: goals, treatment of freedman, treatment of ex-confederates,
process for readmission of states to the Union.
Thesis development activity: The politics of Slavery: 1850-1860.
Document analysis: Party platforms and the 1860 Presidential election.
Unit 6: Business and Labor, Urban America, and the Progressive Movement (1860 to 1917)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
1. Native American Policy.
2. Political alignment and corruption in the Gilded Age.
3. Role of government in economic growth, regulation, and reform.
4. Social, economic, and political impact of Industrialization.
5. 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).
Henry George, The Paradox of Capitalist Growth, 1879.
Andrew Carnegie, Wealth, June, 1889.
Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Chapter VII: The Process of
Creative Destruction, 1950.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes c. 18 & 19.
DBQ exercise (article analysis and thesis development): Women in Society or American
Agriculture 1865-1900.
Political cartoon research & analysis: industrialization, regulation of business
(railroads, trusts, anti-trust laws), unionization, urbanization, and or political
corruption during the era of 1865 through 1900.
Unit 7: America Comes of Age (1890 – 1920)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
1. The changing role of the U.S. in world affairs – from isolationism to world power.
2. The debate over Imperialism.
3. 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, 21, 22.
Populist Party Platform, July 1892.
The First Open Door Note, Sec. of State John Hay to Andrew D. White, September 6, 1899.
Rudyard Kipling, The White Man’s Burden: The United States & The Philippine Islands, 1899.
Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine, Annual Message Before Congress,
December 6, 1904.
Lincoln Steffens, Major Problems in the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, 1904.
Theodore Roosevelt, New Nationalism Speech, 1910.
William Howard Taft, Dollar Diplomacy, 1912.
Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1913.
President Wilson's War Message, April, 1917.
U.S. Espionage Act, June, 15 1917.
The U.S. Sedition Act, May 16, 1918.
Jim Robbins, Pardons Granted 88 Years After Crimes of Sedition, May 3, 2006.
Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, A book review of Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the
World, March 2, 2008.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes c. 20, 21, 22.
DBQ: The Progressive movement.
Document analysis: 14 Points.
Comparative chart: The debate over the League of Nations.
Political cartoon analysis: The American Empire.
Unit 8: Prosperity and Depression (1920 to 1940)
Timeframe: Two weeks
Themes:
1. Cultural conflicts: native vs. foreign, rural vs. urban.
2. Revolution in manners and morals.
3. The role of government in society and the economy.
4. Political realignment.
5. Human suffering and response to the Great Depression.
Content:
The Red Scare and Anti-foreignism.
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.
George William Hunter, A Civic Biology: Presented in Problems, 1914.
Mitchell Palmer, The Case Against the Reds, 1920.
Warren G. Harding, Return to Normalcy, May 14, 1920.
Raymond B. Fosdick, The League of Nations as an Instrument of Liberalism, October 1920.
BUCK v. BELL, Justice Holmes delivered the opinion of the Court, May 2, 1927.
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928.
Harry Elmer Barnes, The World War of 1914-1918, 1939.
John Maynard Keynes, An Open Letter to President Roosevelt, 1933.
Paul Krugman, Franklin Delano Obama? November, 2008.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes c. 23, 24.
DBQ and or DBQ exercise (article analysis and thesis development : FDR and the Great
Depression, U.S. policy and Immigration 1880-1925, or U.S. Foreign Policy changes between
1920-1941).
New Deal initiative activity: Content, classification, evaluation.
Document analysis: 1st Amendment, Butler Act.
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.
Neutrality Act of 1937.
Nuremberg Trials Report Appendix D: Control Council Law No. 10.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Quarantine Speech, October 5, 1937
Atlantic Charter, August 14, 1941.
Memorandum from Clark Clifford to President Truman, “American Relations with the Soviet
Union”, September 24, 1946.
Joseph McCarthy, Lincoln Day Speech (Enemies from Within), February 9, 1950.
George Kennan to Secretary of State George Marshall (the long telegram), February 22, 1946.
Henry A. Wallace to President Truman, “Achieving an Atmosphere of Mutual Trust and
Confidence: An Alternative to Cold War Containment”, 1946.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes c. 25-26.
A-bomb activity.
War crimes activity.
Class debate: Concluding the war against Japan or Anti-Communist legislation.
Document analysis: Japanese Relocation Order and NSC 68: United States Objectives and
Programs for National Security (A report to the President), April 14, 1950.
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.
Détente.
Readings:
c. 27, 28, 29.
Linda Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, 1954.
The Southern Manifesto, 1956.
President Eisenhower’s Little Rock Speech.
President Johnson's Message to Congress, August 5, 1964.
Joint Resolution of Congress, August 7, 1964.
Black Panther Party Platform and Program, 1966.
War Powers Act, November 7, 1973.
Humberto Fontova , Che Guevara’s Rendezvous With Justice, October 16, 2008.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes assignment c. 27. 28, 29.
Summative thematic outline.
DBQ: Vietnam War, Johnson’s Great Society, or Cold War 1948-1961.
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.
Unilateralism vs. multilateralism in foreign policy.
Domestic and foreign terrorism.
Readings:
c. 30 & 31.
Major assignments and Assessments:
Cornell notes assignment c. 30 & 31.
Summative thematic outline.
Summative thesis development activity.