AP United States History
Mr. Cournoyer
There is a three year history requirement for graduation in our high
school. This includes World History and U.S. History I (1600 to
1877) and U.S. History II (1877 to the present).
At the junior level students may opt for the Advanced Placement U.S. History course in
place of the U.S. History II course. The prerequisite is the successful completion of the
honors’ level US History I course or the recommendation of the student’s history teacher.
Course Overview
The course begins with a review of the U.S. History I material. Emphasis is on critical
reading and thinking, understanding change over time, and developing analytical skills.
By December the AP program has moved into the actual content of the regular junior
program, beginning with the post Civil War Industrial Revolution. Class activities are
based on reading and note-taking of the student text (American Pageant), a wide selection
of other readings, essential questions for focus, and a continual frame of reference for the
themes necessary to understand American History. This year long course meets every
other day for a 90 minute block.
Summer Work: Students will be given summer work prior to the class starting in
September.
- Readings on Montezuma and other early historical figures
- Reading several chapters from Amsco textbook with multiple choice
questions
- Several essay questions to be completed and brought in the first day of class.
Shortened Timeframe
- September – December 1500s – 1860
o AP material and instruction (mechanics) What is a DBQ?
- December - Civil War and Reconstruction
- January - May 1877 – Present
Objectives:
Students will:
 Master a broad body of historical knowledge
 Demonstrate an understanding of the chronology of American History
 Use historical data to support an argument
 Interpret and apply data from original documents
 Effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect and
compare and contrast
 Work effectively with others in small and large group settings to solve
historical problems
 Prepare for the AP U.S. History Exam given in May
Texts:
Bailey, Thomas. American Spirit. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1984.
Kennedy, David M, Cohen, Lizabeth, Bailey, Thomas A. The American Pageant. AP
Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006
Newman, John J., Schmalbach, John M. U.S. History, Preparing for the AP Exam.
New York: Amsco School Publications, Inc. 2004.
Wheeler, William Bruce, Becker, Susan D. Discovering the American Past, A Look at
the Evidence. 4th edition, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Instructional Materials:
Benedict, James and Ludlum, Daniel S. Advanced Placement United States Government, Policy and Politics. Rocky River, Ohio: The Center for Learning,
2001.
Epstein, Mark. Fast Track to a 5, Preparing for the AP U.S. History Examination.
Boston: McDougall Littell, 12th and 13th edition.
Henry, Michael. AP Advantage: Threads of History. Saddle Brook, New Jersey: The
People’s Publishing Group, 2006.
Brown University’s Choices for the 21st Century Education Program. Providence:
Brown University, 2006. (selected lessons)
Leach, Roberta, Caliguire, Augustine. Advanced Placement U.S. History, Volumes I and
II, Rocky River, Ohio: The Center for Learning, 1999.
Rothschild, Eric. Teacher’s Guide to the AP Course in United States History.
New York: Education Testing Service, 2002.
Spoehr, Luther and Fraker, Alan. Advanced Placement U.S. History Examination,
Teaching and Learning with the Document Based Question. New York:
Educational Testing Service, 1995.
Practice Multiple Choice Tests
The above books provide a wide variety of activities/assignments for the AP U.S. History
program. They are used in several different methods: homework assignments, research
assignments, class activities or the basis for a class discussion. For example, a homework
assignment on the philosophy of the industrialists will be used in conjunction with text
reading and primary source readings from The American Pageant and The American
Spirit for a class discussion.
Assessments
The techniques and skills necessary for successful essay writing will be introduced,
practiced and developed in the first quarter. Throughout the year there will be essay and
multiple choice tests at the end of approximately every two units. Using this approach
will allow the students to plan their reading and re-reading of material covering a broad
period of time. This encourages looking at the concept of “change over time” in the
course. Students will be able to practice writing two essays at a time in an effort to
eliminate writing fatigue. Students will be presented with a choice of two or three essays
for each topic per essay test. This is similar to the actual test students will take in May.
Multiple choice tests will be timed and will consist of either 25 or 50 questions per test.
In addition, students will complete a book review and a brief paper each semester.
Unit Information
Unit Name
Pre-Columbian Societies and Transatlantic Encounters to 1690
Content
Early Inhabitants of the Americas
European exploration and contact with Indian empires
Spanish, French and English colonization and empires
Major Assignments and /or Assessments
Reading for review – Amsco Review Text, Chapter 1
Unit Name
American Colonies -1600 to 1754 – two weeks
Content and/or skills taught:
Values of the American Nation
Geography, economics and cultural aspects of the 13 colonies
Philosophical foundations of America
Democracy as a continual process
British colonial policy
A New American Society
Developing parts of an AP essay – practice writing
How to approach a DBQ
Major assignments and / or assessments:
Primary Source Readings
Amsco Review Text, Chapters1, 2, and 3
Amsco Review Text – various assignments on writing in an AP class
Discovering the American Past, either Chapter 2 “The Threat of Anne
Hutchinson” or Chapter 3, “Rhythms of Colonial Society”
Essays, Multiple Choice tests
Unit Name
Revolution and the Constitution, 1750-1790, two weeks
Content and/or skills taught:
Slavery
Declaration of Independence
Chart on key battles and results of
Effects of the American Revolution
Articles of Confederation
Origins of Constitutional Principles and Rights
Major assignments and/or assessments:
Amsco Review text, Chapters 4, 5, and 6
Essays and Multiple Choice tests
Unit Name
The New Republic, 1790 to 1840, 2 weeks
Content and/ or skills taught:
American foreign policy, 1789 to 1823, 1823 on
Hamilton – Jefferson debate
Development of political parties
Bank of the United States
Development of role of federal courts
Jacksonian democracy
Major assignments and/or assessments:
Amsco review text, chapters 7 and 10
Essays and Multiple Choice tests
Mini-research papers on Bank of the United States, students have a choice of
questions
Unit Name:
Nationalism and the Reform Movement, 1820 to 1860, two weeks
Content and/or skills taught:
Nationalism – the role of art, literature and architecture in developing American
culture
Reform – oral presentations on a wide variety of reformers in American life
Westward expansion – map, graphs, key events
Major assignments and/or assessments:
Amsco review text, Chapter 8 and 11
Oral presentation
Book review – social aspect of American History, 1800 to 1860
Essays and Multiple choice tests
Unit Name:
Sectionalism and the Slavery Controversy, Manifest Destiny 1820-1860, one
week
Content and /or skills taught:
Oral presentation topics:
 The peculiar institution
 Texas, Oregon and California
 Mexican War
 Popular Sovereignty
 Compromises
 Abolitionism
 Elections
(There are several questions on each topic. There are two students per question)
Major Assignments and/or assessments:
Amsco Review Text, chapters 9, 12, and 13
Primary Source Readings – The American Spirit
Bailey’s The American Pageant, (appropriate chapter for question/topic)
Each student must do a 10 minute presentation on their question.
Unit Name:
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860 to 1877, two weeks
Content and/or skills taught:
Chapter worksheets from teacher support materials on the Civil War, chapters 20
and 21.
Reconstruction, chapter 22 – note taking
Group Activity: research and presentation:
 Group one:
“Varying Viewpoints” – historians views of the
Reconstruction period
 Group two: “Radical Reconstruction” -assessment of Reconstruction
 Group three: “Black Reconstruction” - assessment of Reconstruction
The New South
Major assignments and / or assessments:
Grading of group activity
American Pageant, Chapters 20, “Girding for War: The North and the South”, 21,
“The Furnace of the Civil War”, and 22, “The Ordeal of Reconstruction”
Civil War and Reconstruction essays
Multiple Choice Tests
Midterm Assessment
The midterm exam is modeled after the AP exam in May. Students will complete
a DBQ on the last class prior to the exam period. During the two hour exam
period students will write two essays from a choice of six and complete a fifty
question multiple choice exam.
Unit Name:
Industrial Revolution, 1865 to 1900, three to four weeks
Content and / or skills taught:
Political corruption leads to reform in the Gilded Age – impact of industrialization
on politics
Conflict between business and labor
The farm crisis
Transcontinental railroad – its impact
New business forms, industrial growth and new business leaders – their impact on
social, political and economic events
Growth of unions
Social changes in this time period – growth of cities, new roles for men and
women
Old immigration versus new immigration
Settlement of the Great Plains
Conflicts with Native Americans
Farmers – their problems and solutions
Major assignments and / or assessments:
Reading, American Pageant, Chapters 23, “Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age”,
24 “Industry Comes of Age”, 25 “America Moves to the City”, and 26 “The Great
West and the Agricultural Revolution”
Conceptual Identifications: broad term, define, give example, identify
significance of
Writing assignment: conceptual identifications, 4-6 per chapter
Emergence of industrial America
Economic crisis in the post Civil War period
Labor unions – problems and goals
Essays, Multiple Choice tests
Unit Name:
American Expansionism, 1890-1917, 2 weeks
Content and / or skills taught:
Economic and political changes that led to expansion
American foreign policy: quick review 1800 to 1900 or Washington to T.
Roosevelt
Political cartoons – interpreting political cartoons on foreign policy
Geography of American expansion
Major assignments and / or assessments:
American Pageant, Chapter 27, “Empire and Expansion”, reading and note-taking
Discovering the American Past, Ch. 4, “Justifying American Imperialism”
Primary source readings, The American Spirit, with discussion questions
DBQ on expansionism
Unit Name:
The Progressive Era, 1897 – 1917, one week
Content and / or skills taught:
Political and economic issues that lead to reform movement
Origins of the Progressive Reform movement: municipal, state and national
(identifying relevant facts, stating relationships, evaluating information)
Three Progressive Presidents – (evaluating information)
Social Issues – women, Black Americans, Prohibition (supporting information,
significance of)
Major Assignments and /or assessments:
American Pageant, Chapters 28 and 29, “Progressivism and the Republican
Roosevelt” and “Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad”, with note-taking
(includes a separate assignment on three Progressive Presidents – personality and
professional traits of the presidents)
Primary source readings ( The American Spirit)
Chart on local, state, and federal reforms/new laws with class discussion on
significance of reforms
Essays on expansion and Progressive Era (6 choices, 2 required)
Unit Name:
WWI, 1914-1919, one week
Content and / or skills taught:
Europe, 1870 to 1914
American goes to war: problems with neutrality, fighting the war
Wilson and the Fourteen Points
Propaganda and civil liberties
The treaty and the fight at home with the Senate
Major assignments and / or assessments:
American Pageant, Chapter 30, “The War to End War”
Primary source readings – discussion questions (American Spirit)
DBQ on Treaty of Versailles
Take home essays
Unit name:
The Roaring Twenties, one week
Content and / or skills taught:
Note-taking and essay preparation: Red Scare, Republican politics, post war
disillusionment, life in the twenties.
Major Assignments and / or assessments:
American Pageant, Chapter 31 and 32, “American Life in the Roaring Twenties”
and “The Politics of Boom and Bust” note-taking on two topics for essays (three
Republican presidents and political/social events)
Primary Source readings with questions to answer (American Spirit)
Fast Track to a Five, Chapter 15, two essays
Class activity and discussion on American foreign policy, 1919 to 1932
Multiple choice test, 1914 to 1919
DBQ on the Twenties
Unit Name:
Great Depression and New Deal, 1932-1939
Content and / or skills taught:
Background causes of the Great Depression
FDR and his New Deal
Changing role of federal government
Criticism of the New Deal
Assessing the New Deal
Major assignments and / or assessments:
American Pageant, Chapter 33, “The Great Depression and the New Deal”
Discovering the American Past, Chapter 7 “Documenting the Depression: FSA
Photographers and Rural Poverty”
Primary Source readings (American Spirit)
DBQ – Hoover v. FDR
Unit Name:
World War II, 1933 to 1945, 2 weeks
Theme – war and diplomacy,
American identity, globalization
Content and / or skills taught:
Totalitarianism, comparisons of fascism, Nazism, communism
FDR’s foreign policy
Role of appeasement, FDR’s challenges to it
Atlantic Charter and changing isolationist policies
Three theaters of war
US preparation – for war abroad and life at home
WW II conferences
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Major assignments and / or assessments:
American Pageant, Chapters 34 and 34, “FDR and the Shadow of War” and
“America in WW II”
Discovering the American Past, chapter 8 “Presidential Leadership, Public
Opinion, and the Coming of World War II: The USS Greer Incident”
Reading on Totalitarianism
War conferences
Multiple choice test, essays
Unit Name:
The Civil Rights Movement, 1950 – 1970, one and a half weeks
Content and / or skills taught:
Civil rights movement: 1865 to 1950 – introductory lecture
Key leaders, goals, activities: non-violence v. black power
Eyes on the Prize video with note-taking
Major Assignments and / or assessments:
American Pageant, Various chapter sections (Chapters 37, 38, 39)
Primary source readings
Discovering the American Past, Chapter 9, “Separate but Equal?”
Round table discussion of major figures in civil rights movement
Essays – take-home
(Please note – by this time the students are about to take their AP exam. We still
have six weeks left in our school year).
Unit Name:
Post war world: The Cold War, 1945 – 1990
Content and / or skills taught:
Conflicting US and Soviet objectives lead to the Cold War
Containment policy and changing American policy – brinkmanship, flexible
response and détente
Red Scare
Korean Conflict
Vietnam War – background, goals, results
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Major Assignments and / or assessments:
American Pageant, Chapter 36 and 37 “The Cold War Begins” and “The
Eisenhower Era”
Parts of chapters 38, 39 and 40, “The Stormy Sixties”, “The Stalemated
Seventies”, and “The Resurgence of Conservativism”
Conceptual Identifications: 14 broad terms
Truman Doctrine: events purpose and results
Varying Viewpoints: Who was to blame for the Cold War?
Korean War – McArthur Inquiry
Vietnam
Unit Name
Post War World, 1945-1990, Domestic Issues 3 weeks
Content / skills taught
Changes in American life: baby boom, economic growth, extension of New Deal
Post war presidents: Truman to Reagan and their domestic programs
Social concerns – extension of the civil rights movement to other groups in the
United States
Demographic changes: immigration after 1965, Sunbelt migration, and the
graying of America
Major Assignments
Fast Track to a Five, Chapter 19
American Pageant, Reading sections of Chapters 37, 38, 39 and 40
Final essay selections