Advanced Placement United States History

Mrs. Butler

jcbutler@fcs.k12.al.us

http://sites.google.com/site/mrsbutlersushistorypage/

 

 

The Advanced Placement United States History course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge to deal critically with the problems and challenges of American history; historical writing skills and the interpretation of historical documents will also be stressed.  Solid reading and writing skills, along with a willingness to devote considerable time to homework and study are necessary to succeed.  Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay writing, and interpretation of original documents.  The state course of study divides the study of U.S. history into two years of the students’ high school career.  In the AP course, students study U.S. History from 1877 to the present and review U.S. History Beginnings – 1877 in preparation for the AP exam in May. (Friday, May 7, 2010)

 

As set forth by the College Board, topics of study include development of the West, the rise of industrialists, urban society, Populism, the Progressive Movement, Imperialism, World War I, the Jazz Age, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, and the post-Cold War Era.  Topics of review include life and thought in colonial America, revolutionary America, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy, nineteenth century reform movements, Manifest Destiny, the Civil War, and Reconstruction and the New South.  In addition to these topics, major themes will be emphasized including American diversity, the development of an American identity, cultural issues, demographic changes in American history, economic transformations, environmental issues, the effects of globalization, the development of political institutions, and various social reforms.

 

Course Text and Readings:

 

Main Text:

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey.  The American Pageant:  A

History of the Republic Advanced Placement.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

 

Supplemental Texts:

Hoffman, Elizabeth Cobbs and Jon Gjerde, eds.  Major Problems in American History. 

Boston:  Houghton Mifflin, 2002. (primary sources, documents, and

secondary sources)

 

Kennedy, David M. and Thomas A. Bailey, eds.  The American Spirit:  United States

History as Seen by Contemporaries.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.

(primary sources)

 

Madaras, Larry and James M. SoRelle, eds.  Taking Sides:  Clashing Views on

Controversial Issues in American History.  Guilford, Connecticut:  The Dushkin Publishing Group, 1993.  (essays providing differing interpretations of historical events)

 

Newman, John J. and John M. Schmalbach.  United States History:  Preparing for the

Advanced Placement Examination.  New York: Amsco School Publications, Inc., 1998. (review text; also contains sample multiple choice questions, documents for interpretation, and practice essay questions)

 

Piehl, Mel.  The American Pageant:  Guidebook: A Manual for Students.  Boston: 

Houghton Mifflin, 2006.  (workbook to accompany main text)

 

Other various handouts may be given throughout the course.

 

 

Supplemental Resources:

The following websites provide additional support materials for this AP U.S. History course.  Students may visit these websites for additional research or to gain a further understanding of a particular theme or concept.

 

“American History AP Quizzes.”  2008.

http://www.historyteacher.net/USQuizMainPage.htm. 

 

“Course-Notes.org.”  2008.  http://www.course-notes.org/us_history/.  (outlines,

vocabulary, practice quizzes, etc.)

 

Houghton Mifflin, 2007.  United States Resource Center Web Links.

http://college.hmco.com/history/us/resources/students/primary/index.html.

 

Houghton Mifflin, 2007.  The American Pageant Web Links.

http://college.hmco.com/history/us/bailey/american_pageant/11e/students/weblinks/index.html.

 

“From Revolution to Reconstruction . . . and What Happened in Between,”  2006. 

http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/.

 

 

 

Student Evaluation:

Students are given a variety of assessments, including tests, essays, projects, daily assignments, and homework assignments.  Student averages will be comprised of the following:

 

                        Tests & Essays            60%

                        Daily/Homework        20%

                        Projects                       20%

 

Any essay or Document-Based Question should be written in blue or black ink and will be graded on the following criteria:  the development of the thesis and it’s application to the question, level of analysis, inclusion of specific factual information, use of documents (if applicable), and organization.

 

At various points throughout the year, students will have optional novel assignments.  Students must complete two novel assignments (one per semester) for test grades during the year. 

 

Workbook assignments will be checked two days prior to each test.  The workbook grade will be a daily/homework grade.

 

In addition to assignments detailed within this syllabus, students will also complete CAT assignments (Commonly Appearing Terms) at regular intervals.  CAT assignments will be due every second Tuesday of the month.  CAT assignments will be daily/homework grades.

 

 

General Policies and Procedures:

1.  Respect others ideas and property.
2. No food or drinks in the classroom.
3. Tardiness is rude and disrespectful, to the teacher and to other students.  After the third tardy, parents will be notified.  After the fourth tardy, an office referral will be made.  Tardies will be cumulative per semester.
4. Make-up work is the student’s responsibility.  Any work previously assigned that is due during an excused absence is due immediately upon the student’s return.  Students will have one week to make up tests and work assigned during an absence.  Any work not completed within a week will earn a “0.”  Students should schedule make up work with the teacher and report at the assigned time.  Make up tests will be given on Wednesdays during the lunch periods.  Failure to report for a scheduled make up test will result in a “0.” 
5. All work is to be completed independently, unless otherwise specified.  Any work plagiarized and/or copied will result in a “0,” parental notification, and an office referral.
6. Aim for perfect attendance – success is directly linked with attendance.  We are learning and working every day – be there!
7. Be prepared – complete all readings, homework, and bring all materials to class.
8. All work is due on the assigned date.  No late assignment will be accepted.
9. Each week, a trivia question will be posted on the “American Trivia” bulletin board.  Students may submit answers until Thursday.  On Friday, the correct answer will be discussed, and students answering correctly will earn 3 bonus points on the most recent test.

 

 

 

Semester Exams:

At the end of the first semester, all students will take a semester final exam.  There will be at least a two day review period, as mandated by school board policy.  This exam will be comprehensive and will consist of multiple choice and essay sections.  The semester final exam will count 20% of the semester average.  (The first and second nine weeks’ average will count 40% each.)  At the end of the second semester, students may take the AP Exam.  As set forth by school board policy, any student taking the AP Exam is exempt from the final exam.  Any student not taking the AP Exam will be subject to school board rules governing exemptions (90+ average for the semester and eight or less absences for the semester) and may be required to take the final exam, which will be comprehensive and will consist of multiple choice and essay sections (modeled on the AP Exam).  The final exam will make up 20% of the second semester average.  The third and fourth nine weeks’ averages will count 40% each.  If the student is exempt, the third and fourth nine weeks’ averages will count 50% each in determining the second semester average.  The first and second semester averages count 50% each in determining the final course average.

 

 

Course Outline

 

 

Unit 1:  The Gilded Age

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapters 23 – 27
• Spirit, Chapters 23 – 27 
• Rosenberg, “Spreading the American Dream:  American Economic and Cultural Expansion, 1890-1945”  (Major Problems in American History)

 

Key Discussion Topics:

Corruption and reform in the post-Civil War era; Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction; emergence of Jim Crow; class conflict and ethnic clashes; Populism; role and effectiveness of third parties; rise of the industrialists; role of government in economic growth and regulation; labor’s response; urbanization; social, economic, and political impact of industrialization; “new” immigrants; Social Gospel; art, music, and entertainment in urban America; conquest of the Indians; mining and cattle frontiers; end of the open range; imperialism; Spanish-American War; Open Door Policy; Theodore Roosevelt’s administration

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapters 23-27           
• Project             PowerPoint on Industrialism (such as robber barons, captains of

industry, gospel of wealth)

• Taking Sides   “Were Nineteenth-Century Entrepreneurs Robber Barons?” – Read

and discuss.  Yes – John Tipple, from “Big Businessmen and a New Economy,” in H. Wayne Morgan, ed., The Gilded Age and No – Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., from “The Beginnings of ‘Big Business’ in American Industry,” Business History Review

·         Essay               In-class, open-book essay.

 

 

Unit 2:  Progressive Era

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapters 28-29
• Spirit, Chapters 28-29
• Hofstadter, “The Status of Revolution and Progressive Leaders”  (Major Problems in American History)

 

Key Discussion Topics:

Progressivism; muckrakers; women’s suffrage; Prohibition; the “social justice” movement; “trust-busting”; consumer protection; political corruption and reforms; business and labor problems; conservation; Progressive presidents – Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson; “dollar-diplomacy”; “Square Deal”; “New Freedom”; Progressivism abroad

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapters 28-29
• DBQ               Document interpretation will begin in class.  In class

document-based essay question will be completed on day 2.

• Opt. Novel      Read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.  (I have copies for you).  Write

a thoughtful, reflective, well-argued and documented essay on the immigrant experience in the United States between Reconstruction and the First World War. What difficulties did immigrants face in the United States? How did their social and economic lives change? Did they find a promised land of milk and honey? How did their experiences differ from those who already lived in the country

• Opt. Novel      Read Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward 2000-1887.  Write a

thoughtful, reflective, well-argued and documented essay discussing the labor problems of the late 19^th century and how these problems have been solved (how labor is organized, employment selected, competition eliminated), other social problems (not dealing with labor) that Bellamy’s vision of the future solved, and  the role of women in Bellamy’s utopian future (are they treated the same as men or differently?  Give examples!). Lastly, in conclusion, evaluate Bellamy’s utopian vision – could it have been implemented successfully?  Explain.

 

 

 

 

Unit 3:  World War I

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapter 30
• Spirit, Chapter 30

 

Key Discussion Topics:

Moral diplomacy; Neutrality 1914-1917; America joins the war; Fourteen Points; propaganda & civil liberties; the home front; Treaty of Versailles/controversy; League of Nations

 

Assignments:

• Workbook, Chapter 30
• America in World War I (Major Problems in American History) – examine documents including Wilson’s request for a declaration of war, 1917, LaFollete’s dissent, The Espionage Act, 1918, Wilson’s proposal of the Fourteen Points, “Over There,” “Remembering the Gray Crooked Fingers,” cartoons for and against the League of Nations

 

 

Unit 4:  The Roaring Twenties

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapters 31-32
• Spirit, Chapters 31-32
• Larson, “Fundamentalists vs. Modernists in the Scopes Monkey Trial” (Major Problems in American History)

 

Key Discussion Topics:

“Red Scare”; immigration legislation; Scopes Trial; Consumerism; Automobile; Jazz Age culture, music, & literature; Economic boom; Republican government; Isolation; Stock market crash, 1929; Onset of the Great Depression; Foreign Policy:  Good Neighbor Policy/Latin America, Aggression in Asia

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapters 31-32
• Crossing a Cultural Divide:  The Twenties (Major Problems in American History)

Examine documents including the governor of California condemning the “Oriental Problem,” KKK defending Americanism, Richard Wright’s memory of Jim Crow in the Twenties, Darrow’s interrogation of Bryan in the Scopes trail, “Bruce Barton Sees Jesus as an Advertising Man,” the advent of the automobile

• Film                 Iron Jawed Angels

 

 

Unit 5:  The Great Depression and the New Deal

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapter 33
• Spirit, Chapter 33

 

Key Discussion Topics:

            The origins and effects of the Great Depression; FDR and the “Hundred Days”;

relief, recovery, and reform; critics of the New deal – Long, Townsend, Coughlin;

FDR’s court-packing plan; end of the New Deal

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapter 33
• Chart               The New Deal

·         DBQ               In-class DBQ.

• Opt. Novel      John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath.  Paper topic:  Steinbeck

admired the poor migrants and believed that from their enduring qualities would grow “a new system and a new life which will be better than anything we have had before.”  Was he right?  What kinds of changes have come about because of the suffering of those migrants in the 1930s?  In our society today, what similar problems exist?  What problems in recent (or past) times have been exposed by writers as Steinbeck did in The Grapes of Wrath?

• Film                 The Grapes of Wrath

 

 

Unit 6:  World War II

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapters 34-35
• Spirit, Chapters 34-35

 

Key Discussion Topics: 

            FDR’s early foreign policies; isolation; German & Japanese aggression; neutrality

and ramifications for U.S. policy; neutrality legislation of the 1930s; Spanish Civil War; isolation and appeasement; Lend-Lease; Pearl Harbor; internment; mobilization; the home front; halting the German blitz; turning the tide in the Pacific and the decision to drop the A-bomb; wartime diplomacy; Holocaust

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapters 34-35
• Taking Sides   “Did World War II Liberate American Women?”  Read & discuss

conflicting views.  Yes – Sherna Berger Gluck, from Rosie the Riveter Revisited:  Women, the War, and Social Change and No – Elaine Tyler May, from Homeward Bound:  American Families in the Cold War Era

• Map                 Aggression in Europe
• Map                 World War II in Europe and North Africa
• Map                 The Pacific Front

 

 

Unit 7:  Cold War Beginnings and the Eisenhower Era

 

Required Readings:

• Pageant, Chapters 36-37
• Spirit, Chapters 36-37
• LaFeber, “Truman’s Hard-Line Policy”  (Major Problems in American History)
• Diggens, “A Decade to Make One Proud” (Major Problems in American History)

 

Key Discussion Topics:

            Postwar America; origins of the Cold War; United Nations; communism and

containment; Truman Doctrine; Marshall Plan; NATO; anti-communism at home; Korean War; McCarthyism; space and arms race; Brown v. Board; beginnings of the civil rights movement; election of JFK; postwar literature

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapters 36-37
• Taking Sides   “Was Dwight Eisenhower a Great President?”  Read & discuss

conflicting views.  Yes – Stephen A. Ambrose, from Eisenhower:  The President, Vol. 2 and No – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., from The Cycles of American History

• Project             The Cold War Revisited – analyze events of the Cold War from

different perspectives.  Use the assigned view and find articles, cartoons, or personal statements showing how interpretations of current events of 1946-1963 colored the thinking of one side in the Cold War toward the actions of the other.  Try to find examples from both the United States and the Soviet Union.

• Film                 Eyes on the Prize                    

 

 

Unit 8:  The Stormy Sixties

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapter 38
• Spirit, Chapter 38

 

Key Discussion Topics:

            “New Frontier”; JFK & the Cold War; Vietnam; Cuban Missile Crisis; civil

rights; JFK’s assassination; LBJ & the “Great Society”; counterculture; election of Nixon

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapter 38
• Map                 War in Southeast Asia
• Chart               The New Frontier and Great Society

 

 

Unit 9:  The Stalemated Seventies

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapter 39
• Spirit, Chapter 39
• McNamara, Blight, and Brigham, “Cold War Blinders and the Tragedy of Vietnam”  (Major Problems in American History)

 

Key Discussion Topics:

Stagflation; Nixon & Vietnam; détente; Arab oil embargo & energy crisis; the start of affirmative action; Nixon’s “southern strategy”; election of 1972; Watergate; Ford; gains and losses for feminists; Carter; economic & energy crisis; Iran Hostage Crisis

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapter 39

·         Essay               In-class essay. 

• Activity           Points of Conflict – the Focus of History – review the conflicts

listed on the handout and identify the main characters and the conflict, time, issues, and impact.

 

 

Unit 10:  Conservatism

           

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapter 40
• Spirit, Chapter 40

 

Key Discussion Topics:

“New Right”; Reagan’s election, 1980; Reaganomics; Reagan and the Cold War;

Iran-Contra scandal; conservatism and the courts; election of Bush, 1988; end of the Cold War; Persian Gulf War; Bush’s domestic policy

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapter 40
• Map                 The Middle East
• Activity           The Power of the Printed Word – review the impact of critical

books, pamphlets, and documents in the evolution of American society.  Identify the main idea and significance of the books, pamphlets, or documents on the provided list.

 

 

Unit 11:  Post-Cold War Era

 

Required Reading:

• Pageant, Chapters 41-42
• Spirit, Chapters 41-42

 

Key Discussion Topics:

            Clinton’s administration; post-Cold War foreign policy; controversy and the 2000

election; George W. Bush; 9/11; War in Iraq; high-tech economy; widening inequality; feminism; changing American family; immigration and assimilation; multiculturalism

 

Assignments:

• Workbook       Chapters 41-42
• Activity           A Legacy of Reform – review progress toward equality in

American society through a look at six key reform movements:  abolition, twentieth-century Civil Rights movement, Women’s rights movement, labor reform, education, and steps toward political democracy

• Activity           Turning Points in American History – for each given date, identify

a major turning point in American History, comment on its significance, and list at least three contemporaneous movements, trends, or activities in literature, science, art, or economics. (contemporaneous = within five years of the event)

 

 

Unit 12:  Review Beginnings – 1877

 

*Approximately 3 weeks prior to the AP Exam the class will review material that was covered in the 10^th grade U.S. History course as set forth by the state course of study.

The two main parts of the review are essays and a mock multiple choice exam.  Two essays/charts should be completed each night to be graded and discussed the day following the due date.  Each chart will count as a test grade.  The mock multiple choice exam will be given approximately one week prior to the AP U.S. History exam and will count as four test grades.

 

Required Reading:

• U.S. History Review Book Chapters 1-15 (approximately 25 pages per night)

 

Key Discussion Topics:

Colonial America; French and Indian War; political thought in Revolutionary America; Revolutionary War; strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation; Shays’ Rebellion; Constitution; Federalism vs. Anti-federalism; the New Nation; Hamilton vs. Jefferson; the rise of political parties; foreign affairs; Jefferson; Madison; War of 1812; nationalism vs. sectionalism; the rise of the two-party system; early Industrial Revolution; mass democracy; expansion; transportation; slavery; Jackson; Bank War; Mexican War; Civil War; Reconstruction; topics studied this year will also be reviewed – these topics have been  previously stated in the syllabus

           

Assignments:  TBA