Advanced Placement United States History: Course Syllabus 

Course Overview:

This course has dual, interrelated goals: to provide the student with a college-level experience and to prepare the student for the AP Exam. An emphasis is placed on interpreting documents, mastering a significant body of factual information, and writing critical essays. This course will fulfill the United States history graduation requirement and the Georgia Common Core standards. 

Pre-twentieth century topics include life and thought in colonial America, the catalysts and ideology of the American Revolution, the development of the U.S. Constitution, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy, mid-nineteenth century reform movements, Manifest Destiny, Civil War and Reconstruction, Gilded Age, immigration,  industrialization, urban growth, and Populism. Twentieth century topics include imperialism, World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression and the New Deal, World War II, and post-war America.
 
In addition to the topics listed above, the course will emphasize a series of key themes throughout the year as determined by the College Board:

American diversity
Globalization
Environment
Reform
Interdependence
Cultural development
War and diplomacy
Demographic changes
Religion
Federalism
Economic transformation
Slavery and its legacies
Politics and citizenship
Social development

The course will trace these themes throughout the year, emphasizing the ways in which they are interconnected and examining the ways in which each helps to shape the changes over time that are so important to understanding United States history. Additionally, extensive instruction in the analysis and interpretation of primary sources as well as historical scholarship will be conducted throughout the entire course.

Textbooks: By The People (AP Edition)

Fraser, James W. By The People: A History of the United States, AP Edition. New York University, Pearson E ducation, 2015

                                                                                                                               First Semester

Time Allotment: 3 weeks (Contact and Exploration, 1491-1607 and Settlements, Alliances and Resistance, 1607- 1718

Required Reading: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 1-4

Chapter 1: “The World Before 1492 ”

Chapter 2: “First Encounters, First Conquests, 1492-1607”

Chapter 3: “Settlements, Alliances, and Resistance, 1607-1718”

Chapter 4: "Creating the Culture of British North America, 1689-1754”

 Key Themes: Cultural cooperation and conflict, Globalization, Economic Transformations, American diversity, Evolution of Democracy, Religion

 Key Topics: Exploration, Slavery, Mercantilism, Chesapeake and Southern colonies, New England and the Puritans, dissent, colonial politics, the middle colonies, the Great Awakening

 Key Skills: Vertical Team Strategies: Reading and Writing Skills

Possible Activities: Review of Cornell Note-taking system

Analysis of primary source documents: Mayflower Compact, Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Puritan Prayer, Bacon’s Declaration

Comparison chart on the major European colonial models

Comparison chart of the three colonial regions

Possible Assessments: Chapter quizzes

Multiple-choice unit test

In-class Essay: Comparison of Chesapeake and New England regional development

FRQ: Influence of religion on development of colonial society

Time Allotment: 3 weeks (A New Birth of Freedom- Creating The United States of America, 1754-1800

Required Reading: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 5-7

Chapter 5: “The Making of a Revolution, 1754-1783”

Chapter 6: “Creating A Nation, 1783-1788”

"Creating a Government: Writing the U.S. Constitution Constitution"

Chapter 7: “Practicing Democracy, 1789-1800"

Primary Source Document:  “Remember the Ladies” by Abigail Adams

Key Themes: War and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship, Economic Transformations, American Identity, Slavery

Key Topics: Consequences of the French and Indian War, Roots of revolution, Salutary Neglect, Failure of diplomacy, American Revolution, Life on the Home front, Women and Minorities in the                   war, Economic developments, Foundation of government,Hamilton’s Financial Plan, Presidential Precedents, Peaceful succession of power, Marshall Court, Two-Party System, Farewell Address, Alien and Sedition Acts, Neutrality, Economic independence, War of 1812, Era of “Good Feelings”,

Possible Activities: Analysis of primary source documents: Treaty of Paris, 1763; Treaty of Paris, 1783; Patrick Henry’s “St. John’s Episcopal Church Speech”; Declaration of Independence; Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom; Virginia Plan; New Jersey Plan; U.S. Constitution; Bill of Rights

Potential Assessments: Chapter quizzes

Multiple-choice unit test

Essays: DBQ: Impact of Revolution on slaves and women

FRQ: The Revolution as The Revolution as a radical change
2007b FRQ: Impact of the French and Indian War  
2010: Analysis of US victory in the Revolutionary War

Time Allotment: 3 weeks (Crafting a Nation, People, Land and National Identity)

Required Reading: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 8-10

Chapter 8: “Creating a New People, Expanding the Country 1801-1823”

Chapter 9: “New Industries, New Politics, 1815-1828”

Chapter 10: “Democracy in the Age of Andrew Jackson 1828-1844”

Key Themes: War and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship, Economic Transformations, American Identity, American Diversity, Slavery, Demographic Changes, Culture

Key Topics:  Expansionism, Monroe Doctrine, Sectionalism, Age of the Common Man, Native Americans, Sectionalism, Free market economy, Immigration, Nativism, Reform movements, Plantation system, Transcendentalism

Key Skills: Reading and Writing Skills

Possible  Activities: Analysis of primary source documents: Farewell Address; Alien and Sedition Acts; Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions; Marbury v.  Madison; McCulloch v. Maryland; Monroe                               Doctrine.
                             Discussion forums on key political viewpoints and events

Potential Assessments: Chapter quizzes

Multiple-choice unit test

Essays: 2002 DBQ: Impact on stability of government during the Washington, Adams and Jefferson Admin.
1994 FRQ: Impact of Domestic and Foreign Events of the 1970s
2003 FRQ: Impact of the Transportation Improvements of 1820-1840
2004 FRQ: Impact of the Revolution of 1800

                                                                                                                       First Quarter Complete.

Time Allotment: 3 weeks (Manifest Destiny and Sectionalism)

Required Reading: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 11-13

Chapter 11: “Manifest Destiny: Expanding the Nation,1830-1853”

Chapter 12: “Living in a Nation of Changing Lands, Faces and Expectations, 1831-1854”

Chapter 13: “The Politics of Separation, 1850-1861”

Key Themes: Politics and Citizenship, Economic Transformations, American Identity, American Diversity, Slavery, Reform, Religion Demographic Changes, Culture, Sectionalism

Key Topics: Mexican War, Manifest Destiny, Abolitionism, Compromises, Expansionism, Sectionalism, “Positive Good” Theory, Secession, Popular Sovereignty, Dred Scott Decision, Republican Party Platform, Election of 1860, Failure of Compromise

Key Skills: Reading and Writing Skills

Possible Activities: Map of the Expansion of the United States

Expansionism and sectionalism studied through art. Primary Source Analysis: John O’ Sullivan on Manifest Destiny; James K. Polk’s diary excerpt; James K. Polk’s War Message to                    Congress; Treaty of Oregon, 1846; Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; Excerpt from Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Dred Scott v. Sanford; Kansas-Nebraska Act,Evaluation of the Republican Party                    Platform

Document analysis of primary sources:

South Carolina Exposition and Protest
Jackson’s Force Bill
Indian Removal Act
Angelina Grimke on slavery
Dorothea Dix on prison reform 

Possible Assessments: Chapter quizzes

Multiple-choice unit test                  

Essays: 1990 DBQ: Jacksonian Democrats
2002 DBQ: Reform movements of Jacksonian Democracy
2006 DBQ: American Motherhood for 1770-1860
2007b FRQ: Immigration Experiences from 1830 - 1860

Time Allotment: 3 weeks

Required Reading: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 11-15

Chapter 14: “And the War Came:The Civil War, 1861-1865”

Chapter 15: “Reconstruction, 1865-1877”

Chapter 16: “Conflict in The West, 1865-1912”

Key Themes: War and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship, Economic Transformations, American Identity, American Diversity, Slavery, Demographic Changes, Culture, Sectionalism, Reform,Wartime diplomacy, Economic changes, Impact of war on Blacks and Women, Wartime strategies, Emancipation Proclamation, The Gettysburg Address, Legacy of the war, Politics and economics of Reconstruction, Impeachment politics, War and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship, Economic Transformations, American Identity, American Diversity, Slavery, Demographic Changes, Culture, Reform

Key Skills: Reading and Writing Skills

Possible Assessments: Chapter quizzes

Multiple-choice unit test

Primary source document work: Lincoln’s First and Second Inaugural Addresses;Gettysburg Address; Emancipation Proclamation; Civil War Amendments,  Charting of Black Reconstruction programs

Essays: 1997 DBQ: Impact on expansionism on national unity

2005 DBQ: Failure of Compromise in 1860

2005 FRQ: Impact of the Mexican War on sectionalism

2010b DBQ: Impact of territorial expansion on federal government policy

Time Allotment: 3 weeks

Required Reading: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 17-19
                                            

Chapter 17: “The Gilded Age, 1876-1913”

Chapter 18: “Responses to Industrialization, Responses to Change, 1877-1914”

Chapter 19: “Progressive Movements, Progressive Politics, 1879-1917”

Key Themes: Politics and Citizenship, Nativism, Reform, Economic Transformations, American Identity, American Diversity, Demographic Changes, Culture, Environment, Globalization

Key Topics: Urbanization, Industrialization, Globalization, Reformation, Immigration, Populism, Progressivism, Conservatism, Nativism

Key Skills:Reading and Writing Skills

Possible Activities: Primary source document work: Excerpts from the “Interstate Commerce Act”; “Sherman Anti-Trust Act; Ida Tarbell’s History of the Standard Oil Company; Lincoln Steffens’ Shame of the Cities; Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle; John Spargo’s Bitter Cry of the Children; the “Pure Food and Drug Act”; the “Meat Inspection  Act”; the “Elkins Act”; the Keating-Owen Act; Muller v. Oregon

Comparison chart of Populism and Progressivism

Charting of Progressive Reforms

Comparison of the three Progressive Presidents

Possible Assessments: Chapter quizzes

Multiple-choice unit test Essays:
2000 DBQ: Role of women from 1875-1900
1987 FRQ: Role of industrial and agrarian sectors
2007 DBQ: Agricultural Revolution
2008 FRQ: Assessment of the “New South”
2009 FRQ: Assessment of the labor movement’s success
2010b FRQ: Effectiveness of Progressive Era reformers

Possible Assessments: Chapter quizzes

Multiple-choice unit test

Essays: 2003 FRQ: Impact of the Civil War

2006 FRQ: Role of the government following the Civil War

2009b DBQ: Impact of African Americans on the Civil War

                                                                                                            2nd Quarter Complete          End of 1st Semester

Time Allotment: 3 weeks

Required Reading: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 20-22

Chapter 20: “Foreign Policy and War in a Progressive Era, 1890--1919”

Chapter 21: “A Unique, Prosperous, and Discontented Time, 1919-1929”

Chapter 22: “Living in Hard Times, 1929-1939”

Key Themes: War and Diplomacy, Globalization, American Identity, Economic Transformations, Demographic Changes, Culture

Key Topics: Overseas expansion, Spanish-American War, Foreign Policy, America on the World Stage, World War I in Europe and on the Home front, Propaganda and civil liberties in WWI, Treaty of Versailles, Isolationism, League of Nations, The Red Scare, Immigration, Economic growth of the 1920’s, the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance, Traditionalism versus modernism, Isolationism and foreign debt of the 1920’s, Diplomacy in the 1920’s and 1930’s, The Great Depression and the New Deal, Cultural changes of the 1930’s

Key Skills: Reading and Writing Skills

Possible Activities:  Analysis of primary source documents: “Teller Amendment”; “Platt Amendment”; Wilson’s War Message to Congress; Fourteen Points; “Dollar Diplomacy”; Treaty of Versailles -  Negotiating the Treaty of Versailles, Radio interviews of famous people of the 1920s, Analysis of primary source documents: Washington Disarmament Conference; National Origins Act; Immigration Restriction Act; Examination of “What is Normalcy?”,  Chart of New Deal Programs

Possible Assessments:  Chapter quizzes
Multiple-choice unit test
Essays: 1986 DBQ: Changing attitudes of the 1920s
2003 DBQ: Success of Progressive reforms
2003 FRQ:  FDR and the New Deal
2008b FRQ: Spanish-American War as a turning point in US foreign policy

Time Allotment: 3 Weeks

Required Reading: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 23-25

Chapter 23: “Living In A World at War, 1939-1945”

Chapter 24: “The World the War Created,1945-1952”

Chapter 25: “Complacency and Change, 1952-1965”

Chapter 26: "Lives Changed, 1961-1968”                            

Key Themes: Politics and citizenship, Economic Transformations, Environment, Culture, Demographic Changes, American Identity, War and Diplomacy, Globalization  

Key Topics: Economic Transformation, Environment, Culture, American Identity, American Diversity, Nativism, Politics and Citizenship, Demographic Changes  

Key Skills: Reading and Writing Skills

Possible Assessments:  
Chapter quizzes
Multiple-choice unit test
Essays: 1987 FRQ: Impact of World War II on blacks and women
2002 FRQ: Comparison of 1st and 2nd World Wars
2004 FRQ: Foreign policy changes from 1920-1941

Time Allotment:  3 Weeks

Required Readings: By The People (AP Edition): Chapters 27-30

Chapter 27: “Rights, Reactions andLimits, 1968-1980”

Chapter 28: “The Reagan Revolution, 1980-1989”

Chapter 29: "ANew World Order, 1989-2001"

Chapter 30: "Entering a New Time, 2001-Present"

Key Themes: Environment, War and diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship, American Identity, American Diversity, Culture, Nativism, Reform, Economic Transformations, Globalization, Evolution of Democracy, Demographic changes

Key Topics:  Post-war economic prosperity, the baby boom, Communism and containment, diplomacy and the Marshall Plan, McCarthyism and the Red Scare, Korea and Vietnam, the United States as a World Power, the Civil  Rights movement, the Space Race, Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society, post WWII immigration and demographic changes, Conservatism, economic stagnation, environmental issues, feminism and the women’s movement, Affirmative Action, Reaganomics, globalization, war and diplomacy in the Middle East, Post WWII politics, post-9/11 America

Key Skills: Reading and Writing skills

Possible Activities: Analysis of primary source documents: Crimea Conference; Yalta Conference; Quotes by Harry S. Truman, George Kennan, Winston Churchill, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan; Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique; Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”; “War on Poverty Speech”, Civil Rights Act of 1964; Voting Rights Act of 1965; 24th Amendment; Black Panther Party Platform                                 

Possible Assessments:  Chapter quizzes

Multiple-choice unit test

Essays: 2003 FRQ: Compare the 1920s and 1950s societies

2004 FRQ: Determine success of containment

2005 FRQ: 20th century women

2008 DBQ: Vietnam War

2010 FRQ: Population shifts from 1945-1

                                                                                                                         End of 3rd Quarter

AP EXAM REVIEW

EOC Review

Required Readings: By The People (AP Edition)

Examine the following strands of United States History:

·Economics

·Expansion

·Immigration

·Diplomacy

·Political Parties

·Evolution of Democracy

·Reform

·Women

·African-Americans

 Assessment: Mock AP Exam – April