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United States
History
2007 - 2008
Brief Description of
Course
"The Past is Prologue" -
Shakespeare AP U.S. History is designed as a college-level course
covering
the breadth and depth of
the history of the United States of America. The goal for students in
addition
to completion of course
requirements is to successfully complete the Advanced Placement exam in
May. American History can
be seen as a series of struggles which can form overlapping themes for
our course. Some of these
include the struggles to: subdue the land as it was ’found’, to win
independence as a new
nation in the colonial era, to forge a new government with distinct
democratic
principles and promises of
liberty for all out of disconnected former colonies, to remain one
nation
despite being divided over
slavery and related economic and cultural differences, to put the
country
back together and
assimilate a defeated population including freed slaves, to urbanize and
industrialize
a largely agricultural
nation, to assimilate new immigrants despite nativist tendencies, to
deal fairly
with native peoples, to
conquer and settle an entire undeveloped continent, to utilize the
richness of the
land to become a world
economic leader, to coexist peacefully with Western neighbors and
fulfill
’Manifest Destiny’, to
overcome isolationism and preserve democracy overseas while maintaining
independence, to face
threats to freedom overseas and deal with near economic collapse at
home, to
finally gain full civil
rights for women and minority groups, to face the threat of worldwide
communism during the ’Cold
War’ and the resulting danger of nuclear devestation, to remain a world
leader in a ’globalized’
new economy and face new threats to national security while respecting
privacy of citizens.
Guiding questions which will bridge these themes and connect them
together
across time periods
include: "American" identity. What does it mean to be ’an American’ in
different
eras and for various groups
of people? What is the role of religion in society? What is ’American
culture’? How is it being
shaped during a given time period? What economic challenges are facing
the
nation? How are minority,
native, and immigrant groups faring at any given time in American
History? Which branch of
our government is gaining or losing power at a given time and why? What
is the role of the United
States in the world? Students will use primary historical documentary
evidence to understand,
analyze and interpret these themes and questions. They will develop
their
ability to think critically
and write clearly about their increasing body of knowledge of U.S.
history.
Students will also read,
think about, and discuss a variety of scholarly materials by various
authors
from the past and present.
They will understand that scholarly historical interpretation is an
important
and ever changing and
developing field of inquiry of which they a part today. This class will
be
similar to how a
college-level course would be conducted. You will be required to take
notes, write,
study, manage your time
according to college-level expectations. It is very demanding and takes
a lot
of effort on your part
(plan on homework every night) For a typical two-week unit: Four nights
of
reading about 1/2 chapter
or approximately 15 pages per night and taking notes. Be prepared to
engage
in meaningful class
discussion and look for themes and patterns as you progress from Chapter
to
chapter. This will help
when it comes time to write exam essays. (1 hour or more per night.) Two
nights reading and
analyzing a scholarly article about some aspect of the time period we
are on. You
will be required to write a
paper (1-2 pages) about it and engage in class discussion. Your
participation
is expected and will be
part of your grade. (1-2 hours per night.) Additional time will be
required to
complete research and other
project type assignments and to study for unit test and the AP exam in
May.
1
Unit Information
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit One: (1500-1700)
Settlement/Founding/Colonial America
assigned reading: American
Pageant Chapters 2,3,4
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
Content: Geography, the
role of religion in the exploration and settlement era, types of
colonies,
empires involved in the
Americas, motives of various countries, impact on Native people,
Africans the
increase in slavery,
Jamestown, Plymouth colony, Puritanism, New England, New
Netherland-New York,
tobacco region, indentured servitude, Salem and witchcraft trials,
"French and
Indian War" (1754-63),
Southern society, economic activities-mercantilism.
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Documents: The Mayflower
Compact (1620), "A Model of Christian Charity" (1630) John Winthrop
Chart which compares and
contrasts the early colonial empires of Portugal, Spain, France, and
England. Compare/contrast
motives, economic foundations, relations with African and Native
peoples.
Account for the
similarities and differences in the various ventures.
Chart the three types of
colonial settlements (South, New England, middle) Compare and contrast
them. Focus on the motives
of the founders, key characters, economic intentions, political
structure
and development.
DBQ essay practice #1: "In
what ways did the French and Indian war alter the political, economic
and
ideological relations
between Britain and its American colonies?
Map quiz on colonial U.S.
Essay: Write a detailed
essay about the cultural, religious, and economic differences between
the
Americans and the
Europeans.
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Two: (1700-1775)
Revolutionary America, part I: secession and war
assigned reading: American
Pageant Chapters 5,6,7
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
Content: Pre revolutionary
immigration, economic activity-French and fur trading, Native people’s
loyalties, role of religion
in colonial society, French-British rivalry, war and its impact on the
colonies,
legislative acts of Britain
and consequences, Continental Congress, early battles of the
revolutionary
war
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Essay including a strong
thesis statement. Define democracy, and argue for or against: Colonial
politics HAD or HAD NOT
become democratic by 1760.
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Three: (1775-1800)
Revolutionary America, part II: revolution in Government
assigned reading: American
Pageant, Chapters 8,9,10
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
The American vision of a
republic, Declaration of Independence, the war and it’s battles, why
some
remained loyal to Britain,
Articles of Confederation (weaknesses), Northwest Ordinance, The U.S.
Constitution and battle for
ratification, Washington’s presidency, Hamilton’s economic policy, two
2
party system
emerges-differences, Bill of Rights
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Documents: Declaration of
Independence (1776), Common Sense (1776) Thomas Paine, Articles of
Confederation (1777),
Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), The Federalist #10 (1787) and #51
(1788) James Madison,
Centinel #1 (1787), "George Mason’s Objections to the Constitution"
(1787)
George Mason.
Essay: It is 1787. Imagine
yourself as an American living in a certain place of your choosing at
that
time. You can be wealthy or
poor, a servant, slave, or free person, young or old, male or female.
Write
a well constucted essay
arguing FOR or AGAINST the ratification of the U.S. Constitution based
on
the evidence and
experiences of you and your fellow colonists so far. You may use events
of the times,
writings of Americans
included in our list or others to make your point. Would sticking with
the
government of the Articles
of Confederation be preferable? Why?
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Four: (1800-1840)
Surviving as a Democracy
assigned reading: American
Pageant, chapters 11,12,13
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
Jefferson’s presidency, the
Louisianna Purchase, impressment and piracy on the seas, Napoleon in
Europe, the second
revolutionary war (or 1812), U.S. invades Canada, Madison’s leadership,
victory
over Britain, a national
identity and good feelings, Marshall Court, Monroe’s Doctrine,
Jacksonian
democracy, Indian removal,
Whigs, Texas, spoils system, issues with slavery "Tariff of
Abominations" N. v. S. near
secession
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Documents: excerpts from
"Democracy in America" (1831): Alexis de Tocqueville, "Proclaimation
Regarding Nullification"
(1832) Andrew Jackson, "Manual of Independence" (1808) Richmond
Enquirer, Berlin Decree
(1808) Napoleon, State of the Union Addresses (1804-1807), Thomas
Jefferson, State of the
Union Addresses (1829-36) Andrew Jackson
Essay: Read Jefferson’s and
Jackson’s State of the Union addresses paying attention to their
statements on Indians
(Native Peoples). Write an essay detailing similarity and differences in
the two
presidents’ Indian
policies. What historical circumstances would have led them to advocate
these
policies when they did?
Chart the differences
between North and South regarding the tariff as an economic dividing
line. List
the political players
(Calhoun, Webster, Jackson, John Quincy Adams, etc.) and some quotes
from
each. What did each side
want? How did each side view the government’s proper role?
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Five: (1790-1860)
Toward a National Culture and Economy
assigned reading: American
Pageant chapters 14,15,16
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
Westward Migration, more
immigration (Irish, Germans), Nativism vs. assimilation, women’s role in
the economy, moving toward
a national, commercial, mechanized economic structure; farming,
textiles, manufacturing,
culture and literature, religious revivalism, Mormonism, the temperance
movement, King Cotton,
plantation economy and slave life, abolitionism, reform movements, an
underclass in America: poor
whites/free blacks
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Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Additional Readings: "What
a Revival of Relgion Is" (1835) Charles Finney, "To the Public" (1831)
William Lloyd Garrison,
"Truisms" William Lloyd Garrison (1831), Temperance Address (1842)
Abraham Lincoln, Eulogy of
Henry Clay (1852) Lincoln, Fragments on Slavery (1854) Lincoln
DBQ Essay Practice #2 from
a 2002 DBQ: "Reform movements in the United States sought to expand
democratic ideals." Assess
the validity of this statement with specific reference to the years
1825-1850.
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Six: (1841-1861)
Causes of Civil War
assigned reading: American
Pageant, chapters 17,18,19
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
Content: annexing Texas,
California Gold Rush, War with Mexico, ’Popular sovereignity’, the
fugitive
slave law, underground
railroad, expansion: central America, Asia and Perry, Gadsen Purchase,
John
Brown’s raid, Lincoln loses
then wins, Dred Scott case, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and it’s impact
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Docment Readings:
Compromise of 1850 (1850), Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), Lincoln-Douglas
Debates 1-7 (1858), Letter
to Joshua Speed (1855) Lincoln, Dred Scott v. Sanford (1854), Speech on
the Dred Scott Decision
(1857) Lincoln, Telegram Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter (1861),
excerpt from Uncle Tom’s
Cabin (1852) Harriet Beecher Stowe
Project: Assume the role of
either Stephen Douglas or Abraham Lincoln. Read their side of the
debates and prepare to
defend your side in an in-class debate over the nature of the Republic
and
slavery. Pay attention to
the references made by your speaker to the history of the U.S. up to
this point.
How does he attempt to make
points using history to his advantage?
Practice DBQ# 3: "By the
1850s the Constitution, originally framed as an instrument of national
unity,
had become a source of
sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed to the failure
of the
union it had created."
Using the documents provided and your knowledge of the period 1850-1861,
assess the validity of this
statement.
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Seven: (1861-1877)
Civil War and Reconstruction
assigned reading: American
Pageant, chapters 20,21,22
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
Lincoln’s beliefs, Europe’s
role, economic impact of c. war, blacks’ and womens’ roles, battles:
Bull
Run, Peninsula campaign,
Antietam, Gettysburg, Sherman through Georgia, the war in the west, the
Emancipation Proclaimation,
Lincoln’s assassination, the South in defeat, Reconstruction
politics/Radical
Republicans in charge, President Johnson’s policies and impeachment, the
KKK.
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Docment Readings: South
Carolina Secession Declaration
Convention of South
Carolina 1860, A Southern Christian View of Slavery
James Henry Thornwell 1861,
"Are We Whipped? Must We Give Up?"
October 30, 1862, Telegram
Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter (1861), The Negroes and the
Poor Atlanta Southern
Confederacy editorial
October 30, 1862,
Emancipation Proclamation (1863), Gettysburg Address (1863), President
Abraham
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural
Address (1865), Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the
4
Army of Northern Virginia
(1865), We Are Fighting for Independence, Not Slavery
Richmond Examiner editorial
August 2, 1864, 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of
Slavery (1865)
Chart: compare/contrast
Northern vs. Southern societies, philosphies, military capabilities, and
economies.
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Eight: (1869-1900)
Industrialization and Urbanization
assigned reading: American
Pageant, chapters 23,24,25
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
U.S. Grant’s
administration, corruption/reform, 1870s depression, Jim Crow, Populism
and Populists,
Benjamin Harrison’s
administration, the railroad era, "captains" of industry, trade
unionism, the
’gospel of wealth’, cities
and the urban movement, immigration, settlement houses, role of religion
in
cities, the evolution
controversy, literary and cultural achievements- art, music, culture of
America
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Docment Readings: U.S.
Constitution: 14th (1868) and 15th (1870)amendments, Interstate Commerce
Act (1887), Sherman
Antitrust Act (1890), Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands Resolution
(1898),
The Conservation of Races,
W.E.B. DuBois, 1897 The Problem of the South, Booker T. Washington
1900, Of the Faith of the
Fathers W.E.B. DuBois, 1903.
Essay practice: Describe
the origins, character, and consequences for the U.S. and other
countries of
the U.S.’ imperialism
during this period.
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Nine: (1865-1912)
Westward Expansion and Imperialism, Progressivism and Conservationism
assigned reading: American
Pageant, chapters 26,27,28
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
Indian wars and removal;
the frontier vanishes; agricultural consolidation and industry; nativism;
Populism, William J. Bryan
v. McKinley; U.S. Empire: Hawaii, Cuba War, Phillipines; China and
Open Door; Panama Canal;
T.R.’s policies; Progressive movement: muckrakers, women, trusts, labor,
conservationism, child
labor, prohibition- 18th amendment.
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Additional readings: Cross
of Gold, William Jennings Bryan (1896), T. Roosevelt’s Corollary to the
Monroe Doctorine (1905),
Progressive Platform of 1912, U.S. Constitution: 16th and 17th
Amendments (1913),
Keating-Owen Child Labor Act (1916), I Am Resolved, W.E.B. DuBois,
January 1912.
For discussion: What drew
people to the cities during the late 1800s- early 1900s. What new
problems
were created? How did
progressives attempt to solve them? Who were the new immigrants and how
did they change America?
What were the ’natives’’ responses to immigration?
Essay: Analyze the
successes and failures of the Progressives.
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Ten: (1912-1932)
Neutrality, World War, Prosperity, Depression
assigned reading: American
Pageant, chapters 29,30,31,32
5
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
President Wilson: trusts,
tariffs, Latin American policy; America remains neutral on war in
Europe,
U.S. expedition to fight in
Europe, civil liberties in wartime, blacks, women, labor on the
homefront,
U.S. fighting tips the
balance, League of Nations, Versailles Treaty, rejection of the League;
Red
Scare, Scopes ’trial’,
consumerism, Jazz Age: 1920s’ booming economy, radio, movies,
restricting
immigration, Republican
return, isolationism, Harding’s scandals, Coolidge Administration,
Hoover,
the crash of 1929,
beginning of Great Depression, Good Neighbor policy in Latin America.
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Additional readings and
documents: Catholicism Contra Mundum, (1916), The Zimmerman Note to
the German Minister to
Mexico, January 19, 1917, The Senate and the League of Nations, (1919),
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
(1918), U.S. Constitution: Nineteenth Amendment (1920), Mass Effects in
Modern Life, Winston
Churchill (1925), Destiny of America speech
Calvin Coolidge 1923,
Rugged Individualism, Herbert Hoover (1928), Commonwealth Club Address:
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1932).
For discussion: Compare and
contrast the views of Wilson, Churchill, Coolidge, Hoover, and FDR on
economics and foreign
policy during this era of history. Whom do you find most convincing and
why?
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Eleven: (1933-1945)
New Deal, World War Two
assigned reading: American
Pageant chapters 33,34,35
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
FDR: Domestic Policy: 100
days and Congress, New Deal opponents left and right, the National
Recovery Administration,
agricultural policy, the TVA, the Social Security Act, labor’s New Deal,
the
Supreme Court controversy,
assessment of the New Deal, foreign affairs and WWII: neutrality acts,
Lend Lease, Spanish Civil
War, isolationism, appeasement, German and Japan on the move, the
Attack on Pearl Harbor by
Japan, 12/7/1941, U.S. shocked into action, the arsenal of democracy,
effect of war on Mexican
Americans, women, African Americans, the War in Europe, the Pacific, N.
Africa; D-Day in Normandy,
German surrender, Japanese refusal, atomic bombing of Japan, Japanese
surrender.
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Documents and Additional
readings: State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover (1931); National
Industrial Recovery Act
(1933), FDR’s Radio Address Unveiling the Second New Deal (1936),
Fireside Chat on the New
Deal Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933); Neutrality and War, Charles
Lindbergh,
(1939); What Our Foreign
Policy Should Be, Alfred M. Landon, (1941); My Views on Foreign Policy:
We Ought to Stay Out of the
War, Joseph P. Kennedy, Ambassador to Great Britain (1941); The
Crisis: We Should Not Again
Sacrifice Our Sons, Herbert Hoover (1941); FDR’s ’Four Freedoms’
address (1941); Lend-Lease
Act (1941); Executive Order 8802 Prohibiting Discrimination in the
Defense Industries (1941);
Executive Order 9906: Relocation of the Japanese; Roosevelt’s December
8, 1941 Address to
Congress; Surrender of Germany (1945); Notes of the Manhattan Project
(1945);
Surrender of Japan (1945).
Discussion: 1. What seeds
were sewn in the U.S. during the war that would portend dramatic shifts
in
societal norms in the
coming postwar era? How did the necessities of war change the prospects
for
blacks, women, youth,
Japanese Americans, laborers, hispanics, and other groups down the road?
2. Were the isolationists
doomed from the start? What was their case prior to 12/7/41 and could
U.S.
involvement been avoided?
3. How did Truman’s
decision to use the a-bomb immediately change the world?
DBQ practice: How did the
goals of U.S. foreign policy change in the years 1930-1941? For what
6
reasons did these goals
change?
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Twelve: (1945-1968)
Postwar prosperity, civil rights, Cold War, the 1960s
assigned reading: American
Pageant, chapters 36,37,38
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
The onset of the Cold War,
prosperity in the U.S., the baby boom years, suburbia, the United
Nations’
role in the postwar world,
the communist threat and containment policy, the Truman Doctrine, NATO,
the Marshall Plan, the
Korean War, Eisenhower as President, McCarthyism, Brown v. Board of
Education/desegregation,
beginnings of the c.r. movement, the space race, the arms race, the
postwar
Great Migration of African
Americans, Kennedy’s spirit, U.S. in Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis,
civil rights struggle, the
’Great Society’ and LBJ, Vietnam conflict worsens, culture of the
1960s/youth.
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Additional
readings/documents: Primary sources: the Marshall Plan (1947), The
Truman Doctrine
(1948), the U.S. recognizes
Israel (1948), Armistice for S. Korea (1953), Brown vs. the Board of
Education (1954), Senate
Resolution Censuring Jospeh McCarthy (1954), Eisenhower’s Farewell
Address (1961), Kennedy’s
Inaugural Address (1961), Civil Rights Act (1964), Tonkin Gulf
Resolution (1964), Voting
Rights Act (1965)
Other sources: The Power of
Non-violence Martin Luther King, Jr. (1957), The Kitchen Debate
(Nixon-Khrushchev, 1959),
Letter From Birmingham City Jail Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963), I Have
a Dream Speech, Martin
Luther King, Jr. (1963), Record of Meeting During the Cuban Missile
Crisis
(1962), Great Society
Speech, Lyndon B. Johnson (1964)
For discussion: 1. Compare
the Great Society and the New Deal in their origins, goals, and
legacies.
2. Analyze the chnages that
occurred during the 1960s in the goals, strategies, and support of the
African American civil
rights movement.
3. How and why did U.S.
foreign policy take a different direction following the Second World War
compared with after the
First World War?
DBQ practice question #4:
What were the Cold War fears of the American people in the aftermath of
the Second World War? How
successfully did the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
address these fears?
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit Thirteen: (1968- )
Recent Times: Vietnam through the end of the Cold War, ’peace dividend’
90s
and a Globalized Economy
assigned reading: American
Pageant, chapters 39,40,41
Content and/or Skills
Taught:
The 1970s and economic
stagnation, Nixon’s turn in Vietnam, the end of the U.S. involvement,
Nixon
and China, Nixon’s big
victory in 1972, Middle Eastern oil crisis, Watergate and resignation of
Nixon,
Ford’s pardon of Nixon,
feminist movement, affirmative action policies, Carter 1976, the Iranian
Hostage Crisis, Reagan’s
election 1980, tax cuts, divided government, Gorbachev and the end of
the
Cold War, Iran-Contra,
Conservatism the ’new Right’, George H.W. Bush’s election, Iraq invades
Kuwait- the Persian Gulf
War 1991, Clinton years- prosperity and foreign policy under Clinton,
impeachment, 2000 election
controversy, September 11, 2001, War in Iraq.
7
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
Additional Readings: First
Inaugural Address Jimmy Carter (1977), Human Rights and Foreign
Policy, Jimmy Carter
(1977), Crisis of Confidence Speech Jimmy Carter (1979) "Evil Empire"
Speech
Ronald Reagan (1983),
Address to the Nation on National Security Ronald Reagan (1983), Speech
on
the Challenger Disaster
Ronald Reagan (1986), Speech at Brandenburg Gate Ronald Reagan (1987),
DBQ practice question #5:
Describe THREE of the following and analyze the ways in which each of
the three has affected the
status of women in American society since 1940:
1. changing economic
conditions
2. the rebirth of an
organized women’s movement
3. advances in reproductive
technology
4. the persistence of
traditional definitions of women’s roles
For discussion: Using their
speeches and comparing their record of actions taken as President,
discuss
the approaches of Carter
and Reagan to the varied challenges facing the U.S. What were the
substantive differences
that can now be seen in these recent chief executives? How did each
contribute
or detract from the
prestige of the office and Americans’ confidence in government in
general in the
post-Watergate era? Why was
Carter elected in 1976? Why was he defeated and Reagan chosen
overwhelmingly in 1980?
What do the results of the elections of 1980, 1992, 1994, 2000, and 2006
tell
us about the future
direction of the country? Can you make any predictions for 2008 based on
these
results? Where does history
tell us we’re heading next?
Multiple Choice and essay
Unit Test
Textbooks
Title:The American
Pageant: A History of the Republic
Publisher: Mcdougal
Littell/Houghton Mifflin
Published Date: 28
February, 2005
Author: David M.
Kennedy
Second Author:
Lizabeth Cohen
Description:
Primary textbook.
Title:Our Documents:
100 Milestone Documents from the Na
Publisher: Oxford
University Press, USA
Published Date: 04
April, 2006
Author: The National
Archives
Second Author:
Michael Beschloss
Description:
Primary Source documents to
be read and discussed in class.
8
Websites
URL:http://www.ourdocuments.gov
Description:
Companion website to
document reader.
URL:www.teachingamericanhistory.org
Description:
The online source for other
primary source documents used in class.
URL:www.loc.gov
Description:
Library of Congress’
website includes a trove of documents of all kinds.
URL:http://www.civilwar.si.edu/collections.html
Description:
Smithsonian Institution’s
collection of Civil War materials includes pictures and documents on
many
aspects of the war.
URL:http://www.bartleby.com/251/
Description:
Source for many writings
and speeches, including the Lincoln/Douglas debates
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