AP US HISTORY
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SYLLABUS
Course Description:
“ Students examine the emergence of the United States from the pre-Columbian
era through the 19thcentury. The course aims to prepare students to become active
civic-minded participants in American society. Students will analyze and evaluate
primary sources, write essays and research papers and play an active role in seminar
style discussions relating historical case studies to modern dilemmas.”
WHRHS Course Description
“The AP course seeks to apprentice students to the practice of history by explicitly
stressing the development of historical thinking skills while learning about the
past.Students best develop historical thinking skills by investigating the past in ways
that reflect the discipline of history, most particularly through the exploration and
interpretation of a rich array of primary sources and secondary texts, and through the
regular development of historical argumentation in writing. They will focus on
chronological reasoning, comparison and contextualization, crafting historical
arguments form historical evidence and historical interpretation and synthesis.”
-CollegeBoard AP Curriculum Framework
Texts and Readings:
Required:
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Taylor Alan “ American Colonies”
Fraser James W. “ By The People” Textbook- to be distributed
on Day 1 of Class The first 5 chapters of this book have been
scanned in to our website and are your summer reading.
There are also additional photocopied readings throughout the
year both primary and secondary sources- These will be listed
within the unit outline.
Suggested:
UNIT 1: Chapter 1 and 2 – Pre- Colonialization- North America before
exploration
9/4-9/30 (13 teaching days)
READINGS:- Fraser Chapter 1 and 2
Taylor Introduction and Chapter 1
Handouts : possible readings— (TBD)
Week 1
REQUIRED READINGS:
ASSIGNMENTS:
9-4
half day –
Hand out course description discuss expectations.
9-5 day 1The world before people-
How the Natives got here
How the succeeded
How they expanded
Week 2
9-8
9-9
9-10
9-11
9-12
- Drop
- Compare the Early native peoples- what made the different
- Drop
Week 3
9-19 9-20 9-22 9-23 Week 4
9-26 9-28 9-30 UNIT 2: Chapters 3 and 4 Settlements, Alliance and resistance- Creating a
British North America
10/2 – 11/25 (27 teaching days)
Week 5
10-3 10-5 10-6 10-7 -Half Day
Week 6
10-11 10-13 10-14 Week 7
10-17 10-19 -
10-20&21
10-21&25
Week 8
10-26
10-27 Week 9
10-31 11-1&2
11-4 Week 10
11-4&7
END OF FIRST MARKING PERIOD
Week 11
11-14 11-15 11-16&18
Week 12
11-21&22
11-23 half day
Week 13
11-29 11-30 12-1 Unit 3: Creating A Nation- Chapters 5,6 and 7
12/2-12/23 and 1/5-2/11 (31 teaching days)
American Revolution
Articles of Confederation
Creating the Constitution
Week 14
12-5 Louis and the Estates General
o The National Assembly
o Estates General
o Tennis Court Oath
o Storming the Bastille
o The Great Fear
o Students will have read “The Cahiers”
12-5 Link the origins of the French Revolution to the early
developments regarding politics in France
o The Declaration of the Rights of Man
o Women’s March on Versailles
o Women in the Revolution
o Equality? Role of women in the Revolution
o Constitution of 1791
o Read “The Declaration of the Rights of Man” and “The
Declaration of the Rights of Women”
12-7 Link the origins of the French Revolution to the early
developments regarding politics in France
o The Declaration of the Rights of Man
o Women’s March on Versailles
o Women in the Revolution
o Equality? Role of women in the Revolution
o Constitution of 1791
o Read “The Declaration of the Rights of Man” and “The
Declaration of the Rights of Women”
12- 9
12-12 -
Practice DBQ
Foreign and domestic Reactions to the Revolution
o Creation of a limited Monarchy
o Louis and Marie reaction
o Domestic Reaction
o Foreign Reaction (England Austria)
o Students will have read Marie Antoinette’s “Letter to her
Mother”
Week 15
12-13 -
12-15 -
The Radical Stage of the Revolution
o Execution of Louis XVI
o Committee of Public Safety
o Robespierre- The Reign of Terror
o Students will have read and answered questions about
Robespierre “ On the Principles of Political Morality,
February 1794
The end of the Radical phase and the Directory
o Robespierre- The Reign of Terror
o The execution of Robespierre
o The development of the Directory
o The rise of the Corsican Crocodile
12-16 -
The Rise of Napoleon
o The path to Power
12-19 -
The Napoleonic Era
o Was Napoleon a “Man of Destiny”
o From the Coup de tat to Waterloo
Week 16
12-21 12-22
French Revolution Test
French Revolution Political Cartoons
UNIT 8: THE INDUSTRTIAL REVOLUTIONRequired Readings:
HUNT CHAPTER 17 (REVIEW PAGES 529-534) agriculture revolution
HUNT CHAPTER 21
“Song: The Distressed Seamstress”
The Life of an Industrial Worker in 19th Century England
Florence Nightingale “Rural Hygiene”
Woman Minters in the English Coal Pits
Assignments:
Students will create three slides for a class power point highlighting the
Industrial Revolution through:
Child Labor
Women’s Labor
Living Conditions
Working conditions
Literature
Government
New Technology
Religion
Political Cartoons—Students will create political cartoons depicting the
solution for the Industrial Revolution:
Thomas Malthus
Karl Marx
John Stuart Mill
David Ricardo
Adam Smith
John Wesley
Political simulation- Workers Rally- Have students represent various
political movements of the time and try and convince workers to support their group:
Utopian Socialist
Marxist socialist
Anarchist
Syndicalism
Revisionist
Etc…
Week 17
1-3
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1-5-
1-6
The dawn of a new era gets its start in agriculture
o factors that lead to the Agricultural Revolution
o results of Ag revolution
o developments of the agricultural Revolution
What factors allowed the Industrial Revolution to begin in
Great Britain
o Natural Resources
o Labor force
o 7 factors of production
o Napoleon?
o The Cottage Industry
 Read Florence Nightingale “Rural Hygiene”
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Week 18
1-9&11
From Cottage Industry to factory system
o Textiles Industry
 Read “The Distressed Seamstress”
o Development of Steam power
 Read “Women Miners in the English Coal Pits”
o The Factory System
From Cottage Industry to factory system
o Textiles Industry
 Read “The Distressed Seamstress”
o Development of Steam power
 Read “Women Miners in the English Coal Pits”
o The Factory System
1-12&13
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Week 19
1-18&19
The Social effects of the Industrial Revolution
Art of the Industrial Revolution
o The birth of “ISMs”
 Neo-Classicalism
 Romanticism
 Realism
 Impressionism
 Post-Impressionism
Literature
Living Conditions
o Read Excerpts from Dickens’ “Hard Times” and “The Life of
an Industrial worker in 19th Century England”
Social Conditions – Solutions
Utilitarian’s
Utopian’s
Malthus
Smith
Bentham
Marx
Mill
Put students into various groups and have them
develop Campaign speeches, Posters and political cartoons advocating their position.
Research will be completed totally outside of the class room .
1-20 World
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Students will present their solutions to social unrest in the Industrial
Week 20
1-24 -
Industrial Revolution Test
1-25 -
DBQ Practice Industrial Revolution
UNIT 9: THE RISE OF NATIONALISM
Required Readings:
HUNT CHAPTER 22, 23 and 24
Darwin, Charles. – “On the Origin of the Species” 1859
Kipling, “White Man Burden”
Morel, Edward. “The Black Man’s Burden
Spencer, Herbert. “Social Darwinism, 1857”
Bismarck “The Ems Telegram”
Kaiser Wilhelm “A Place in the Sun”
Chamberlain “ From the Foundations of the Nineteenth Century”
“German Attitudes”
“Anglo-Saxon Attitudes”
Treitschke “The Nature of the State of Politics”
Assignments:
Multiple Choice and Short Answer Test
Presentations of Various Philosophies and Justifications for
Imperialism.
1-26
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The end of the Concert of Europe
Congress of Vienna
Revolutions in France, Germany and Italy
Unification of Germany
1-27 -
The end of the Concert of Europe
Congress of Vienna
Revolutions in France, Germany and Italy
Unification of Germany
Week 21
1-31 -
Unification of Europe
Complete the Unification of Germany
Unification of Italy
Creation of Austria-Hungary
Russian Nation building
2-1
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Imperialism – Philosophies and Justifications
Reading “On The Origin of the Species”, “Social Darwinism,
1857”
“The White Man’s Burden and “The Black Man’s Burden”
Imperialism Map
Imperialism in Asia and Africa
o Each student will read one of the following and present it to
the class
 The Ems telegram,
 A Place in the Sun
 From the Foundations of the Nineteenth Century
 German Attitudes
 Anglo-Saxon Attitudes
2-2
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Reaction of Imperialism
The Berlin Conference 1885
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Week 22
2-6
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2-72-8
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Readings and questions for Trietschke “ The Nature of the State
and Politics”
The Dreyfus Affair
Trials of Empire
Reaction of Imperialism
The Berlin Conference 1885
Readings and questions for Trietschke “ The Nature of the State
and Politics”
The Dreyfus Affair
Trials of Empire
DBQ PRACTICE
Nationalism Test
UNIT 10: THE GREAT WAR
1879
Required Readings:
HUNT CHAPTER 24(P 790 Road to War)
HUNT CAHPTER 25
Kennedy, Paul. “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers”
Von Clausewitz, Karl. “On War”
“The Dual alliance Between Austria-Hungary and Germany” – October
“The Zimmerman Telegram”
“The Treaty Of Brest-Litovsk”
Wilson Woodrow “Speech on the Fourteen Points January 8, 1918”
Excerpt from the Treaty of Versailles, June 28, 1919
Assignments:
Soldiers journal
Blame Game
Test – Multiple Choice and Short Answer
2-10 Issue Soldier Journal and due Date as well as Blame Game scenarios
teams and countries
Week 23
2-13 -
The Causes of World War I
Imperialism
Militarism
Nationalism
International Anarchy
The Alliance System
Etc.
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2-14 -
Week 24
2-21 -
2-22&23
Students will create a map that shows the hot spots that led to
the war.
o Read “The Dual Alliance Between Austria-Hungary and
Germany
Outbreak of War
Direct Causes of War
War Meets the Industrial Revolution
o Mustard Gas
o Machine Guns
o Hand Grenades
New ways to fight
o Trench Warfare
o Total War
o Propaganda
 Reading Kennedy Chapter 9
The Home Front
Kennedy Chapter 9
The End of the Stalemate
o New technologies of war
o US enters the War
 Readings “The Zimmerman Telegram” and “ The
Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk”
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The end of the War and an uneasy peace
Armistice
Paris Peace Conference
The Treaty of Versailles
League of Nations
o Idealism vs. Realism
o What will happen next?
 Readings Wilson’s “Speech on the Fourteen Points”
AND Excerpts from “ Treaty of Versailles, June 28,
1919”
Week 25
2-27&28
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THE BLAME GAME
2-29
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WORLD WAR I TEST
UNIT 11 RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF DICTATORS
Required Readings:
HUNT CHAPTERS 24,25, AND 26
“Manifesto of 1905”
“Abdication of Nikolai, March 5, 1917”
“Hanging Order: November 8, 1918”
Sturua, Melor. “The red coup,” Foreign Policy 85, Winter 1991/92, pp.
63-67
Stalin, Joseph: Die, But Do Not Retreat,” Time magazine Man of the Year
1942, January 4, 1943
“Reforming Russia: In the Light of History,” The Economist, February 10,
1990, pp. 15-16
“Stalin’s Purges, 1935”
Mussolini, Benito. “What is Fascism” 1932
Goebbels, Joseph. “We Demand”
“ The 25 points of Hitler’s Nazi Party”
“Biology for the Middle School,” Nazi German Biology Textbook
Chamberlain “Peace in our Time” 1939
Munich Pact September 29, 1938
Assignments:
Test – Multiple Choice and FRQ
Essay on the inevitability of World War II
3-2
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What was the “Old Regime” of Russia like
Autocracy
Tsars
Privileged Classes v. Underprivileged classes
Compare to France Prior to French Revolution
Who were the Czars of the 19th Century and how did their policies
contribute to the Russian revolution of 1917
Crimean War 1854-1856
Tsar Alexander II and the Great reforms of 1864
Emancipation of the Serfs
The Zestro
Judicial Reforms
Army reforms
Educational Reforms
What were the causes and effects of the 1905 Russian Revolution.
Causes:
o Intelligencia
o Nihlism
o Duma
o Lack of industrialization/Middle Class
Effects:
o Russo-Japanese War 1904-05
o Political Strikes
o Bloody Sunday
o October Manifesto
o Tsar v. Duma
o Stolypin Reforms
Week 26
3-5
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3-6
Stalinism?
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3-8
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What were the Socialist groups in Russia and why did they develop.
Groups:
o Social democrats
o Social revolutionaries
o Marxists
o Mensheviks
o Bolsheviks
What were the causes and events of the 1917 Russian Revolution
World War I
Banning sale of vodka
Transportation problems
International Women’s Day
Abdication of the Czar
Lenin
What were the causes of the Civil War
Lenin’s Death
Trotsky v. Stalin
What were the differences between Marxism, Leninism, and
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Marx’s Evolutionary Communism
Lenin’s Revolutionary Communism – World Revolution
o Conspiratorial
o Dictaorial
o NEP
Stalin’s Revolutionary Communism
o Socialist Morality
o Collectivization – 5 year plans
o Purges
What was life in Soviet Union under Stalin?
Use of Propaganda
Great purges
Fascism In Italy and Spain
Mussolini and fascism in Italy
Fascism as a political force
Fransico Franco and the Spanish Civil War
The Rise of Hitler
What did the Treaty of Versailles do to Germany
What made Germany so susceptible?
3-9
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The Rise of the Nazi Party/ Use of Propaganda
How did Hitler gain power in Germany?
o Readings: Goebbels, “We Demand”
o “25 Points of Hitler’s Nazi Party”
o Biology for the Middle School Nazi Textbook
Week 27
3-12 -
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3-14
The Munich Agreement –and Appeasement
What was the agreement attempting to do? And Why?
What was the danger of the agreement?
o Readings: “Munich Pact”
o Chamberlain “Peace in our Time”
The Success of the Munich Agreement???
Austria
Sudetenland
Czechoslovakia
Invasion of Poland and the beginning of the War.
TEST RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF DICTATORS
UNIT 12 WORLD WAR II AND THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR
Required Readings:
HUNT CHAPTER 26
“Memories of the Holocaust”
Churchill Winston, “Speeches”
Assignments:
TEST MULTIPLE CHOICE AND FRQ
3-15 -
Origins of the World War II
Alliances
Appeasement
Neutrality
3-16 -
The War
What happened during the War
Home Fronts
Battles
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Peace Agreements
The Yalta Conference
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Week 28
3-20 -
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The Potsdam Conference
The Nuremberg Trials
The War
What happened during the War
Home Fronts
Battles
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Peace Agreements
The Yalta Conference
The Potsdam Conference
The Nuremberg Trials
3-21 -
The Holocaust
Origins of Anti-Semitism
Rationale for behavior
o Readings on the holocaust
3-22 -
The Holocaust
Origins of Anti-Semitism
Rationale for behavior
o Readings on the holocaust
Week 29
3-26 TEST ON WORLD WAR II AND THE HOLOCAUST
3-27-30
open days
UNIT 13 THE COLD WAR AND POST COLD WAR ERA’S
Required Readings:
HUNT 27,28, and 29
“The Last Hurrah,” US News and World Report
Kegley, Charles W. World Politics: Trend and Transformations
Churchill, Winston. “The Iron Curtain Speech”
Khrushchev, Nikita. “Report to the Communist Party Congress
Gorbachev, Mikhail. “Perestrokia” (1987)
Assignments:
TEST – MULTILE CHOICE AND FRQ
Week 30
4-10 -
When Did the Cold War Begin?
discuss possible dates
o Prior to the end of the war
o Discuss possible dates
 1918 – US refuses to recognize the soviet Union.
 1945- The Death of FDR





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4-11 -
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4-13 -
Week 31
4-16 -
1945- A-bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1946- Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech
1948- Berlin Crisis
1949 – Communism takes hold in China
1961 – Construction of the Berlin Wall
Why did it begin
Idelogical Theory
2 Big super Powers
Psychological Theory
When Did the Cold War Begin?
discuss possible dates
o Prior to the end of the war
o Discuss possible dates
 1918 – US refuses to recognize the soviet Union.
 1945- The Death of FDR
 1945- A-bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
 1946- Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech
 1948- Berlin Crisis
 1949 – Communism takes hold in China
 1961 – Construction of the Berlin Wall
Why did it begin
Idelogical Theory
2 Big super Powers
Psychological Theory
What impact did the Cold War have on Europe
Left a power vacuum – Marshall Plan v. Soviet Aid
Western Democracies
Eastern Communist States
The Soviet Bloc
Creation of Security Organizations
Creation of Counter Organizations
Creation of the EEC
What impact did the Cold War have on Europe
Left a power vacuum – Marshall Plan v. Soviet Aid
Western Democracies
Eastern Communist States
The Soviet Bloc
Creation of Security Organizations
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Creation of Counter Organizations
Creation of the EEC
4-17 What were the Foreign Policies of the US and USSR during the Cold
War? And how did these policies impact Europe?
Berlin Blockade
Korean War
Domino Theory
Containment Policy
George Kennan
Nuclear Arms Race
Space race
4-18 What were the Foreign Policies of the US and USSR during the Cold
War? And how did these policies impact Europe?
Berlin Wall
U-2
Cuban Missile Crisis
Détente
Vietnam
Afghanistan
4-20 -
What were the events leading up to the end of the Cold War?
1963- Romania
Brezhnev
1968- Czechoslovakia
1980- Solidarity- Poland
Economic Multipolarity
Japan and West Germany
Gorbachev
Perestroika and Glasnost
Sino-Soviet Split
Week 31
4-23 -
What were the events leading up to the end of the Cold War?
Japan and West Germany
Gorbachev
Perestroika and Glasnost
1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall
Velvet revolution
The Disintegration of the Soviet Union
4-24 -
Why Did The Cold War End?
Ideological Explanation – Implosion Theory
Idiosyncratic Theory – Personality Theory
Systematic Theories – Strategic Overstretch
4-26 -
What was the legacy of the Cold War
Super Powers withdrew from their spheres of Influence
Enormous spread of Democracy
Refurbishing culture and economies of Eastern European
States
New Countries enter the international arena
Greater use of the UN
Nuclear Legacy
Security Problems – Soviet Scientists
New Game of Nuclear Proliferation
4/27 What has been the economic and political evolution of a unified
Europe since the Cold War?
EEC to EU
Maastricht Treaty
The introduction of the Euro
Expansion of the EU
Possible political unification
Advanced Placement Review
4/30 What has the reunification of Germany meant for Germans and for
Europe as a whole
Positive effects
Negative effects
Advanced Placement Review
5-2
How are ethnic and nationalist sentiments affecting the stability of
Eastern Europe?
Yugoslavia
Bosnia
Advanced Placement Review
5-3
How has the end of the Cold War affected the relationship between
Eastern and Western Europe?
Soviet relations with former satellites
Former Warsaw Pact nations and the European Union
Advanced Placement Review
Week 35
5/4-5/10
5/11 AP
AP Test Review
TEST
UNIT 14: POST AP TEST- RESEARCH UNIT-
Students are responsible for the completion of a major research paper in this
class, and time is provided after the AP Test, to teach the proper format for
researching and writing a Thesis Paper. Every year the topic are different, here are
some examples of what have been assigned in the past:
4th Marking Period Research Project and Final Exam
Interview
Part 1: Research Paper on the treatment of Jews in Europe
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Students will work in groups of 3 and divide themselves into the following
three assignments;
Pre-world war II (1917-1939)- Treatment of Jews
World war II era (1939-1945) – Treatment of Jews
Post- World War II (1945-1989) – Treatment of Jews
Each group will choose one of the following European Countries (no 2 groups
in the same class may do the same country)
France
Denmark
Netherlands
Poland
Germany
Austria
Italy
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Romania
Soviet Union
Belgium
-Each person is responsible for 1/3 of the final project and will be graded
individually on their part, as well as with the group on the final product.
Title Page
Thesis Statement- written by the entire group
Outline – written by the entire group
Introduction- written by the entire group
Section 1 – Pre-World War II – 4 paragraphs- intro and three
body paragraphs
Section 2 – World War II - 4 paragraphs - intro and three body
paragraphs
Section 3 – Post world War II- 4 paragraphs - intro and three
body paragraphs
Conclusion –written by the entire group.
Works Cited – use MLA format
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All works cited must include at least one of the following types
of sources:
o Scholarly Journal (i.e. The Economist)
o Primary Source
o Newspaper/magazine
o Multimedia (TV, Art, Movie/Documentary, etc. )
o Reference Book (this does not include generic
encyclopedias such as Encarta)
o All body paragraphs need to have support from your
sources in the form of citations – be ot quotations, statistics,
or paraphrases – use parenthetical citations – MLA
Part 2 – Oral History of a Holocaust Survivor - Final Exam Grade!!
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In the same groups of three students are to contact one of the
Holocaust survivors on the attached list and set up an
interview.
Each person is responsible for preparing and asking no less
than 10 questions – to be approved prior to the interview
The interviews must be either video taped or audio taped, and
a written transcript must be handed in as well.
The group will present the video or audio tape to the class for
their final exam grade.
OR
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY RESEARCH PAPER
The following topics are designed to help cover the Cold War period and the
Post-Cold War period in Europe. Each of you will be asked to choose one of the
following topics and come up with a thesis statement related to that topic. A thesis
statement is something that you need to prove. It is not a fact or a specific opinion,
but rather an issue that is debatable, and needs to have facts to help support it.
EXAMPLES:
The Cold War occurred between the years of 1945 and 1991. –
(THIS IS NOT A THESIS)
The actions of the Allied Governments during World War II and immediately
after were the major cause of the resulting Cold War –
( THIS IS AN ACCEPTABLE THESIS STATEMENT)
TOPICS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
When and why did the Cold War begin?
The Berlin Blockade and airlift
The creation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact
Creation of the Berlin Wall
The Marshall Plan
Cuban Missile Crisis
Arms race, its impact on Western Europe
Creation of the European Union
Nikitia Khruschev
Breszhnev
Josef Stalin
Glasnost and Perestrokia – Gorbachev
Relationship between Reagan and Gorbachev
Collapse of the Berlin Wall
Velvet Revolution – Czechoslovakia
End of Communism in Hungary
1968 Students revolts – Why did they occur and why did they fail?
Collapse of the Soviet Union
War in Bosnia – Milosevic
UN – Role during vs. role after Cold War
NATO redefining itself after the Cold War
Reunification of Germany – successful?
Margaret Thatcher
Disintegration of Yugoslavia