AP United States History Syllabus
Course Description:
This class will examine the growth of the United States of America from its colonial beginnings up to the present day. Themes discussed in class include American diversity, the development of American identity and culture, demographic changes over time, growth of the American economy, development of American government and the growth of democracy, reform movements and U.S. actions on the world stage. This class will prepare students for the AP Exam in May and will fulfill the US History requirement for graduation.
Course Objectives:
Students will be able to do the following by the end of this class:
1) Demonstrate mastery of a broad body of historical knowledge
2) Use historical evidence to defend and support basic arguments and positions
3) Demonstrate an effective use of analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect relationships, etc.
4) Interpret and draw conclusions from various pieces of historical data including original documents, cartoons, graphs, etc.
Textbook:
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Bailey. The American Pageant. 13th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. 2006
Unit Information
Unit 1: Settlement of the American Colonies
Themes: Impact of geography on the economic, social and political development of the Colonies
Content: Evaluate reasons for exploration and colonization; compare/contrast political, social and economic development of the New England, Middle and Southern colonies; examine conflict between European settlers and Native American cultures; analyze democratic features of colonial governments.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 1-4
Map Activity/Quiz
Unit Exam
New England and Chesapeake DBQ
Unit 2: The Road to Revolution
Themes: The changing relationship between Great Britain and the Colonies
Content: Analyze changing relationship between Great Britain and the Colonies (salutary neglect, mercantilism, etc.); analyze arguments for independence; compare Colonial and British strengths and weaknesses in the Revolution; evaluate impact of the Revolution.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 5-8
Postcards from the Past Assignment
Unit Exam
FRQ – Political Parties (1790-1840)
Unit 3: The New Nation
Theme: Development of American Government and Democracy
Content: Evaluate government created by the Articles of Confederation; compare/contrast arguments of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists; evaluate the effectiveness of US early foreign policy; Hamilton’s Financial Plan; analyze the development of the first political parties; Jeffersonian Democracy; Marshall Court; War of 1812.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 9-12
Unit Exam
DBQ - Articles of Confederation
Unit 4: Nationalism and Sectionalism
Themes: post-war nationalism, sectionalism, growth of democracy, reform
Content: Era of Good Feelings; compare/contrast political, social and economic growth of the Northeast, West and South; Monroe Doctrine; evaluate impact of Jackson’s presidency (Nullification Crisis, Native American Policy, Bank Veto); Antebellum reform movements
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 13-15
Reformers Research Essay
Unit Exam
Era of Good Feelings DBQ
FRQ – Second Great Awakening and Reform Movements
Unit 5: Drifting Towards Disunion
Themes: Sectionalism, geographic and economic expansion, causes of the Civil War
Content: Missouri Compromise; Manifest Destiny; Texas Annexation; Mexican War; Compromise of 1850; Slavery and abolition; popular sovereignty; Kansas Nebraska Act; Dred Scott.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 16-19
Unit Exam
Antebellum Compromise DBQ
Unit 6: The Civil War and Reconstruction
Themes: secession and war, Reconstruction, Constitutional change
Content: Analyze causes and results of the Civil War (slavery, states’ rights); compare/contrast advantages and disadvantages of the North and South; compare/contrast Presidential v. Congressional Reconstruction plans; Johnson’s impeachment; evaluate success of Reconstruction.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 20-22
Unit Exam
FRQ – Political and Economic Impact of the Civil War (1865-1900)
Unit 7: The Gilded Age
Themes: change and growth of U.S. economy
Content: Rise of Industry; laissez-faire; Social Darwinism; Captains of Industry v. Robber Barons; evaluate the success of early labor movement (leaders, methods, successes and failures); Urbanization.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 23-25
Unit Exam
Organized Labor DBQ
19th Century Inventions
Unit 8: The Frontier
Themes: US expansion, treatment of Native Americans, plight of the farmer
Content: Settlement of the West; analyze treatment of Native Americans (Dawes Act, Reservation System); plight of the farmer; evaluate the success of the Populists (William Jennings Bryan, gold standard v. bimetallism).
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 26
Unit Exam
Populism DBQ
Unit 9: The Progressive Era
Themes: Reform, Growth of Democracy
Content: Evaluate success of the Progressives in meeting their goals (political reform, women’s suffrage, muckrakers, temperance); Presidential Power v. Congressional Power; T. Roosevelt’s Square Deal; W. Wilson’s New Freedom; compare/contrast Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 28-29
Muckraker Article and Political Cartoon
Unit Exam
Progressive Era DBQ
Unit 10: American Foreign Policy (1898-1920)
Themes: U.S. on the world stage – changes in American foreign policy
Content: Analyze arguments for/against American Imperialism; causes/results of the Spanish-American War; Roosevelt Corollary; Panama Canal; Dollar Diplomacy; Moral Diplomacy; neutrality; causes/results of WWI; Fourteen Points; arguments for/against joining League of Nations.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 27 & 30
Unit Exam
FRQ –Spanish American War as a Turning Point in American Foreign Policy
Unit 11: The Roaring Twenties
Themes: Isolationism, Anti-Immigration, Changes in American Culture
Content: Return to Normalcy; Red Scare (Palmer Raids, Sacco and Vanzetti, KKK); Immigration Quotas; analyze changes in 1920s culture (radio, jazz, consumerism, impact of the automobile, Scopes Trial); Harlem Renaissance.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 31
Unit Exam
1920s DBQ
Unit 12: The Great Depression and New Deal
Themes: Changes in US economy, changing role of government and the economy
Content: Analyze causes of the Great Depression (overproduction/under-consumption, overuse of credit, buying on margin, Stock Market Crash); life in the US during the Depression; compare contrast Trickle Down v. Pump Priming; evaluate success of FDR’s New Deal policies; FDR and the Supreme Court
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 32-33
Unit Exam
New Deal DBQ
Unit 13: World War II
Themes: U.S. on the world stage, impact of war on the home front
Content: Analyze changing US foreign policy in the 1930’s (isolationism/neutrality); analyze causes/results of US involvement in WWII; Pearl Harbor; life on the Home Front; Japanese Internment Camps; Decision to drop the Atomic Bomb.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 34-35
Unit Exam
FRQ – Home Front Experiences during WWII
Dropping the Bomb DBQ
Unit 14: The Cold War
Themes: America as a world power, Cold War tensions
Content: Analyze origins of the Cold War; NATO and Warsaw Pact; evaluate success of Containment in Europe and Asia (Marshall Plan, Truman Doctrine, Red China, Korean War); Cold War at home (Red Scare, McCarthyism, HUAC).
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 36
Unit Exam
Cold War DBQ
Unit 15: America in the 1950s and 1960s
Themes: Changes in American culture, Civil Rights, growth of democracy
Content: Examine changes in 1950s and 1960s culture (Baby Boom, suburbia, television, Rock and Roll, counterculture); evaluate success of the Civil Rights Movement (SCLC, CORE, SNCC, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Black Panthers, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965); War on Poverty; evaluate success of Johnson’s Great Society; minorities struggle for equality (Women’s Lib, Native Americans, Latinos); evaluate impact of the Warren Court.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 37-38
Unit Exam
Civil Rights Essay (Choose ONE)
FRQ African-American Civil Rights (1890-1920s & 1950s-1960s)
FRQ Women’s Rights (1840s-1860s & 1960s-1980s)
Unit 16: Vietnam and Watergate
Themes: US on the world stage
Content: Analyze causes/results of American involvement in Vietnam (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Tet Offensive, student protests, Vietnamization, Paris Peace Accords); War Powers Act (presidential power v. congressional power); Watergate scandal/Nixon’s resignation; 1970s economy; Carter (Camp David Accords, Iran Hostage Crisis)
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 39
Unit Exam
Vietnam DBQ
Unit 17: The 1980s and Beyond
Content: Reganomics; Iran-Contra; end of the Cold War; Bush and Gulf War; Clinton administration; Impeachment; Election of 2000; war on Terror; Election of 2008
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 40-42
Unit Exam
Final Project
This class will examine the growth of the United States of America from its colonial beginnings up to the present day. Themes discussed in class include American diversity, the development of American identity and culture, demographic changes over time, growth of the American economy, development of American government and the growth of democracy, reform movements and U.S. actions on the world stage. This class will prepare students for the AP Exam in May and will fulfill the US History requirement for graduation.
Course Objectives:
Students will be able to do the following by the end of this class:
1) Demonstrate mastery of a broad body of historical knowledge
2) Use historical evidence to defend and support basic arguments and positions
3) Demonstrate an effective use of analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect relationships, etc.
4) Interpret and draw conclusions from various pieces of historical data including original documents, cartoons, graphs, etc.
Textbook:
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Bailey. The American Pageant. 13th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. 2006
Unit Information
Unit 1: Settlement of the American Colonies
Themes: Impact of geography on the economic, social and political development of the Colonies
Content: Evaluate reasons for exploration and colonization; compare/contrast political, social and economic development of the New England, Middle and Southern colonies; examine conflict between European settlers and Native American cultures; analyze democratic features of colonial governments.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 1-4
Map Activity/Quiz
Unit Exam
New England and Chesapeake DBQ
Unit 2: The Road to Revolution
Themes: The changing relationship between Great Britain and the Colonies
Content: Analyze changing relationship between Great Britain and the Colonies (salutary neglect, mercantilism, etc.); analyze arguments for independence; compare Colonial and British strengths and weaknesses in the Revolution; evaluate impact of the Revolution.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 5-8
Postcards from the Past Assignment
Unit Exam
FRQ – Political Parties (1790-1840)
Unit 3: The New Nation
Theme: Development of American Government and Democracy
Content: Evaluate government created by the Articles of Confederation; compare/contrast arguments of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists; evaluate the effectiveness of US early foreign policy; Hamilton’s Financial Plan; analyze the development of the first political parties; Jeffersonian Democracy; Marshall Court; War of 1812.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 9-12
Unit Exam
DBQ - Articles of Confederation
Unit 4: Nationalism and Sectionalism
Themes: post-war nationalism, sectionalism, growth of democracy, reform
Content: Era of Good Feelings; compare/contrast political, social and economic growth of the Northeast, West and South; Monroe Doctrine; evaluate impact of Jackson’s presidency (Nullification Crisis, Native American Policy, Bank Veto); Antebellum reform movements
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 13-15
Reformers Research Essay
Unit Exam
Era of Good Feelings DBQ
FRQ – Second Great Awakening and Reform Movements
Unit 5: Drifting Towards Disunion
Themes: Sectionalism, geographic and economic expansion, causes of the Civil War
Content: Missouri Compromise; Manifest Destiny; Texas Annexation; Mexican War; Compromise of 1850; Slavery and abolition; popular sovereignty; Kansas Nebraska Act; Dred Scott.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 16-19
Unit Exam
Antebellum Compromise DBQ
Unit 6: The Civil War and Reconstruction
Themes: secession and war, Reconstruction, Constitutional change
Content: Analyze causes and results of the Civil War (slavery, states’ rights); compare/contrast advantages and disadvantages of the North and South; compare/contrast Presidential v. Congressional Reconstruction plans; Johnson’s impeachment; evaluate success of Reconstruction.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 20-22
Unit Exam
FRQ – Political and Economic Impact of the Civil War (1865-1900)
Unit 7: The Gilded Age
Themes: change and growth of U.S. economy
Content: Rise of Industry; laissez-faire; Social Darwinism; Captains of Industry v. Robber Barons; evaluate the success of early labor movement (leaders, methods, successes and failures); Urbanization.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 23-25
Unit Exam
Organized Labor DBQ
19th Century Inventions
Unit 8: The Frontier
Themes: US expansion, treatment of Native Americans, plight of the farmer
Content: Settlement of the West; analyze treatment of Native Americans (Dawes Act, Reservation System); plight of the farmer; evaluate the success of the Populists (William Jennings Bryan, gold standard v. bimetallism).
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 26
Unit Exam
Populism DBQ
Unit 9: The Progressive Era
Themes: Reform, Growth of Democracy
Content: Evaluate success of the Progressives in meeting their goals (political reform, women’s suffrage, muckrakers, temperance); Presidential Power v. Congressional Power; T. Roosevelt’s Square Deal; W. Wilson’s New Freedom; compare/contrast Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 28-29
Muckraker Article and Political Cartoon
Unit Exam
Progressive Era DBQ
Unit 10: American Foreign Policy (1898-1920)
Themes: U.S. on the world stage – changes in American foreign policy
Content: Analyze arguments for/against American Imperialism; causes/results of the Spanish-American War; Roosevelt Corollary; Panama Canal; Dollar Diplomacy; Moral Diplomacy; neutrality; causes/results of WWI; Fourteen Points; arguments for/against joining League of Nations.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 27 & 30
Unit Exam
FRQ –Spanish American War as a Turning Point in American Foreign Policy
Unit 11: The Roaring Twenties
Themes: Isolationism, Anti-Immigration, Changes in American Culture
Content: Return to Normalcy; Red Scare (Palmer Raids, Sacco and Vanzetti, KKK); Immigration Quotas; analyze changes in 1920s culture (radio, jazz, consumerism, impact of the automobile, Scopes Trial); Harlem Renaissance.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 31
Unit Exam
1920s DBQ
Unit 12: The Great Depression and New Deal
Themes: Changes in US economy, changing role of government and the economy
Content: Analyze causes of the Great Depression (overproduction/under-consumption, overuse of credit, buying on margin, Stock Market Crash); life in the US during the Depression; compare contrast Trickle Down v. Pump Priming; evaluate success of FDR’s New Deal policies; FDR and the Supreme Court
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 32-33
Unit Exam
New Deal DBQ
Unit 13: World War II
Themes: U.S. on the world stage, impact of war on the home front
Content: Analyze changing US foreign policy in the 1930’s (isolationism/neutrality); analyze causes/results of US involvement in WWII; Pearl Harbor; life on the Home Front; Japanese Internment Camps; Decision to drop the Atomic Bomb.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 34-35
Unit Exam
FRQ – Home Front Experiences during WWII
Dropping the Bomb DBQ
Unit 14: The Cold War
Themes: America as a world power, Cold War tensions
Content: Analyze origins of the Cold War; NATO and Warsaw Pact; evaluate success of Containment in Europe and Asia (Marshall Plan, Truman Doctrine, Red China, Korean War); Cold War at home (Red Scare, McCarthyism, HUAC).
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 36
Unit Exam
Cold War DBQ
Unit 15: America in the 1950s and 1960s
Themes: Changes in American culture, Civil Rights, growth of democracy
Content: Examine changes in 1950s and 1960s culture (Baby Boom, suburbia, television, Rock and Roll, counterculture); evaluate success of the Civil Rights Movement (SCLC, CORE, SNCC, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Black Panthers, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965); War on Poverty; evaluate success of Johnson’s Great Society; minorities struggle for equality (Women’s Lib, Native Americans, Latinos); evaluate impact of the Warren Court.
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 37-38
Unit Exam
Civil Rights Essay (Choose ONE)
FRQ African-American Civil Rights (1890-1920s & 1950s-1960s)
FRQ Women’s Rights (1840s-1860s & 1960s-1980s)
Unit 16: Vietnam and Watergate
Themes: US on the world stage
Content: Analyze causes/results of American involvement in Vietnam (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Tet Offensive, student protests, Vietnamization, Paris Peace Accords); War Powers Act (presidential power v. congressional power); Watergate scandal/Nixon’s resignation; 1970s economy; Carter (Camp David Accords, Iran Hostage Crisis)
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapter 39
Unit Exam
Vietnam DBQ
Unit 17: The 1980s and Beyond
Content: Reganomics; Iran-Contra; end of the Cold War; Bush and Gulf War; Clinton administration; Impeachment; Election of 2000; war on Terror; Election of 2008
Reading Assignments and Assessments:
Pageant Chapters 40-42
Unit Exam
Final Project