Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH)
Summer Assignment 2015
Instructor: Janna Viergutz – viergutz@skitsap.wednet.edu
Instructor: Jim Fairweather – fairweat@skitsap.wednet.edu
Welcome to APUSH!!! Prior to this school year students will need to prepare themselves for work
comparable to college-level rigor in terms of reading, writing, and learning! To assist you with preparing
for APUSH, students will be required to do the following assignments. These assignments will be due on
the first class day and included in the homework grade for the first semester.
Directions/Assignments:
1. Purchase a three-ring binder (1.5” recommended minimum), tab dividers, and a spiral or
composition notebook.
2. Read chapters 1 and 2 from The American Pageant. Handwrite detailed outline notes for each
of the first two chapters of our textbook using the thematic learning objectives and key
concepts that are provided on pages 4A/4B and 25A/25B. You may use “Cornell” note taking or
“Outline” note taking strategies. (See attached examples) These notes will be graded for
completeness and will count as a homework grade. Be thorough! Write legibly! Your notes must
be handwritten and there needs to be one set for each chapter.
3. Unit 1 vocabulary terms. (See Attached) On a separate piece of paper or notecards, define each
of the terms. Find the definitions in your textbook (chapters 1-8). After you have defined the
terms, categorize them into the following themes: 1) Identity – formation of national and group
identity; 2) Work, Exchange, and Technology – development of American economies; 3)
Peopling – why and how people moved to the United States; 4) Political and Power – the role of
the state in society and its potential for change; 5) American in the World – the global context
in which the United States originated and developed; 6) Environment and Geography – role of
the environment, geography, and climate in constraining and shaping human actions; and 7)
Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture – roles that ideas, beliefs, social mores, and creative expression have
in shaping the United States.
4. You will be tested on this information during the first week(s) of school. The test will include
multiple choice and short answer questions.
If you have any questions over the summer about these assignments, please do not hesitate to get in
touch with one of us via email: viergutz@skitsap.wednet.edu or fairweat@skitsap.wednet.edu.
Have a great summer and see you in September.
Janna Viergutz and Jim Fairweather
APUSH Summer Vocabulary List
Directions: Using your chapters 1 8 in your textbook, define each of the following terms on a separate
piece of paper or on notecards.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
matrilinear
confederacy
middlemen
plantation
conquistador
encomienda
mestizo
nationalism
primogeniture
joint-stock companies
charter
indentured servant
toleration
predestination
elect
visible saints
heresy
seditious
autocratic
proprietary
naturalization
ethnic
headright
disfranchise
middle passage
militia
corporation
sect
tenant farmer
veto
speculation
revival
secular
domestic
autocratic
patronage
mercantilism
monopoly
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
virtual representation
duty
propaganda
inflation
mercenary
dictatorship
civilian
confiscate
envoy
blockade
privateer
graft
Sample “Outline” Note-Taking
Topic: Chapter 1: New World Beginnings
I.
Student Name
Date
APUSH
Explain how and why people moved within the Americas (before contact) and to and within the
Americas (after contact and colonization)
A. Peopling the Americas
1.
Ice Age allowed travel across the Bering land bridge as they followed herds of animals.
2.
Incans, Mayans, and Aztecs had sophisticated societies
a.
maize
b.
wheel
c.
human sacrifices
B. Earliest Americans
1.
Agriculture and hunter-gatherer societies developed
2.
Corn (maize) was the most important agricultural crop
3.
three-sister farming allowed for tribes to produce a variety of food with limited space
4.
Iroquios Confederacy developed a successful political structure that allowed for a strong
military presence.
5.
Most lived in small, scattered, and not permanent (nomadic) settlements
a.
matrilineal cultures – passed down on woman’s side
6.
Approximately 4 million people in the Americas before European exploration
Sample “Cornell” Note-Taking
Topic: Chapter 1: New World Beginnings
Important Points:
Key Concept 1.1 –
Explain how and
why people moved
within the Americas
(before contact) and
to and within the
Americas (after
contact and
colonization)
Key Concept 1.2 -
Student Name
Date
APUSH
Notes and Questions:






Migration across the Bering land bridge exposed during the last Ice Age
most likely following game.
54 million people lived in Americas before Europeans arrived
Some hunter-gatherer societies developed agriculture, and some
continued to focus on hunting, gathering, and fishing
Maize was the most important agricultural product
Small communities – scattered and not permanent
Women had some authority as they tended crops while men were
away hunting and working – development of matrilineal cultures
Important Points:
Notes and Questions:
Vocabulary:
Summary of Topic:
Encomienda
Conquistadors
Capitalism
commerce
Summary of chapter is written here