ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
Lisa Gabbert
lgabbert@ems-isd.net
817-306-0914 x8485
A high school program of Advanced Placement United States History is predicated on the belief that there is a direct relationship between an
informed and capable citizenry and the success of our democratic republic. A meaningful Advanced Placement United States History program
prepares students to be informed, responsible citizens through the development of competencies essential for personal fulfillment and the
improvement of society and simultaneously immerses students in the rigors of collegiate expectations. The educated citizen and the scholar, when
considering matters of personal and national importance, seeks accuracy through evidence, considers a variety of viewpoints, and employs logical
processes such as reasoned judgment, informed opinion, decision making, and problem solving. These criteria for citizenship and intellectual
development provide a set of standards for Advanced Placement United States History, thus providing opportunities for students to develop and
refine these competencies.
The purpose of Advanced Placement United States History is to prepare students for the Advanced Placement United States History Examination.
This level of achievement requires abilities of independent learning, mastery of content, superior levels of processing, applications of test-taking
strategies, and highly developed skills of expression. Student achievement in Advanced Placement United States History will be the equivalent of
success in college level introductory American history courses. Advanced Placement United States History is designed to provide able, motivated
students a learning experience which integrates challenging subject matter and dynamic instruction. Approaches to learning will actively engage
students, utilize their curiosity, and employ strategies appropriate for high school instruction.
The course will emphasize a number of key themes throughout the year. These themes have been determined by the College Board as essential to
a comprehensive study of United States history. The themes will include discussions of American diversity, the development of a unique American
identity, the evolution of American culture, demographic changes over the course of America’s history, economic trends and transformation,
environmental issues, the development of political institutions and the components of citizenship, social reform movements, the role of religion in
the making of the United States and its impact tin a multicultural society, the history of slavery and its legacies in this hemisphere, war and
diplomacy and finally, the place of the United States in an increasingly global arena. The course will trace these themes throughout the year,
emphasizing 4h ways in which they are interconnected and examining the way in which each helps shape the changes over time that are so
important to understanding the United States
Upon completion of Advanced Placement United States History, students will have demonstrated achievement as knowledgeable, skilled, and
perceptive citizens. They will also have applied their abilities and efforts towards assumption of the role of historian, seeking and finding meaning
from the past.
Course Text:
Bailey, Thomas A. and Kennedy, David M. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company,
2002.
Newman, John J. and Schmalbach, John M. United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination. New York, NY:
AMSCO School Publications, 2010.
Henretta, James A.; Edwards, Rebecca; and Self, Robert O. Documents for America’s History. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.
Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
COURSE PLAN
All of the following readings should be completed by the beginning of the week during which they will be discussed. Test dates may be rearranged
so that all classes can be tested on the same day, but such changes will be announced well in advance.
Each unit also utilized discussions of and writing about related historiography: how interpretations of events have changed over time, how the
issues of one time period have had an impact on the experiences and decisions of subsequent generations, and how such reevaluations of the past
continue to shape the way historians see the world today. These discussions are woven throughout the course; however, some are explicitly
stated in the course planner.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
Unit I: 1491-1754
August 25 to September 26:
American Pageant Chapter 1: New World Beginnings, Pre-Columbian Cultures, Early Explorations, Roots of Slavery, Spanish and French
Claims, the Rise of Mercantilism
Chapter 2: The Planting of English America, The Chesapeake and Southern English Colonies, Ties with Caribbean Economies,
British Mercantilism
Chapter 3: Settling the Northern Colonies, New England and the Puritans, Religious Dissent, Colonial Politics and Conflict with British
Authority, the Middle Colonies
Chapter 4: American Life in the 17th C., Tobacco and Rice Colonies, African-American Culture, Colonial Family Life, Dissent in New England
and the Witch Trials
DBQ: Chesapeake v. New England Colonies
Timed Classroom Essay/Additional Guidance for Writing DBQ Upon Scheduling
Free Response Essay:
Compare and contrast the ways in which economic development affected politics in Massachusetts and Virginia in the period from
1607-1750.
Mock Witch Trials
Students will participate with several claims of witch craft – trial will be conducted with role play of actual women and men that were
accused in Salem and other areas of New England
Unit II: 1754-1800, September 29 to October 17
The American Revolution
Pageant Chapter 5: Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution, Immigration and Demographic Change, the Atlantic Economy, the Great
Awakening, Education and Culture, Colonial Politics
Chapter 6: The Duel for North America, Colonial Involvement in British Imperial War, Consequences of the French and Indian War, and
the Proclamation of 1763
Chapter 7: The Road to Revolution, Roots of Revolution and the Role of Mercantilism, End of Salutary Neglect, Failure of
Diplomacy, First Conflicts
Chapter 8: America Secedes from the Empire, The American Revolution, Wartime Diplomacy, Life on the Home Front, Women and the
War, the Impact of the War on the Institution of Slavery
Chapter 9: The Confederation and the Constitution, The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, the Role of the
Enlightenment, Slavery and Religion in the Political Process, Wartime Diplomacy
Chapter 10: Launching the New Ship of State, Early National Politics and Economics, Diplomacy During the French Revolution, the Making
of the Office of the Presidency
Primary Source Analysis
Documents for American History:
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
The Declaration of Independence
Varying Viewpoints Discussion:
Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations v. Peter Oliver’s Origin and Progress of the
American Rebellion
Students will analyze both writing, choose a position and defend that position through historical debate. All opinions must be supported
with historical evidence and analysis; grades are determined by student’s ability to formulate and defend arguments which is essential to
the writing process.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
Free Response Essay:
“The United States Constitution of 1787represented an economic and ideological victory for the traditional American political elite.”
Assess the validity of the statement for the period 1781-1789.
Unit Exams:
Age of Exploration to Proclamation of 1763
First Six Weeks Exam: Exploration to Independence
Exams will be multiple-choice and each will have a writing element modeling the short answer format presented on the redesigned AP
Exam.
Unit III: 1800-1848, October 20 to November 14
The New Republic Comes of Age
Chapter 11: Triumphs and Travails of Jeffersonian Democracy, the Revolution of 1800, the Marshall Court, Diplomacy of Jefferson and
Madison, the Embargo Act, Acceleration of Westward Expansion
Chapter 12: The Second War for Independence, Nationalism and Sectionalism, The War of 1812, The Era of Good Feelings, The American
System, the Diplomacy of Expansion, Forging a New National Identity
Chapter 13: The Rise of mass Democracy, Jacksonian Democracy and the Whigs, National Policy toward American Indians, the
Era of the “Common Man,” Expansion with the Texas Revolution, Slavery and Sectionalism
Varying Viewpoints Discussion:
Was the growing sectionalism within the United States fostered by greater nationalism?
Introduce argument by examining Henry Steele Commager’s Documents of American History.
Primary Source Analysis:
The Constitution of the United States of America
Federalist Paper No. 10, 51, 54
“Washington’s Farewell Address”
“Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions”
Marbury v. Madison (accompanied by recent scholarship: The Most Defining Case)
Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
Multiple Causation:
Groups will answer and debate complex questioning surrounding
1.
Republican Ideologies
2.
The Framework of the Constitution
Unit IV: 1844-1877, November 17 to December 12
America’s Sectional Divide Ruptures
Chapter 14: Forging the National Economy, the Rise of the Market Economy, Immigration and the Increase in Nativism, Women in the
Workplace, the Factory System, the Transportation Revolution, Expansion West
Chapter 15: the Ferment of Reform and Culture, The Second Great Awakening, Women’s Role in Reform Movements, Creation of a
National Culture, Advances in Education and the Sciences
Chapter 16: The South and Slavery Controversy, Cotton Culture, Southern Society and the Impact of the Plantation System, the Rise of
the Abolitionist Movements
Chapter 17: Manifest Destiny and its Legacy, Expansion under Polk, Manifest Destiny, War with Mexico
Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional Struggle, Popular Sovereignty, the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law, the Economics of
Expansion
Chapter 19: Drifting Toward Disunion, Abolition in the 1850s, Impact of Dred Scott, the financial Panic of 1857, Political Crisis in the
Election of 1860, the coming of the Civil War
Chapter 20: Girding the War, Wartime Diplomacy, Economic Changes in Both the North and South, Women and the War, Issues of Civil
Liberties in Wartime
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
Chapter 21: The Furnace of the Civil War, The Peninsula Campaign, the Anaconda, the War in the West, Sherman’s March, Appomattox,
the Emancipation Proclamation, the Legacy of War in the North and South
DBQ: Diplomacy of Jefferson v. Madison
Primary Source Analysis:
The Monroe Doctrine
The Liberator (first issue)
Seneca Falls Declarations of Sentiments
John C. Calhoun “The Slavery Question”
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Lincoln Packet: First Inaugural Address, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address
Unit Exam:
Cumulative Exam
Exams will be multiple-choice and each will have a writing element modeling the Long Essay as described in the APUSH redesign.
Unit V: 1865-1898, December 15 to January 30
Transformation of the United States
Chapter 22: The Ordeal of Reconstruction, the Politics and Economics of Reconstruction, Experiences of Freedmen, the Rise of the
Bourbon South and the Fate of Reconstruction, Impeachment Politics and the Balance of Power
Chapter 23: Political Power in the Gilded Age, the Rise of Big Businesses and the Role of Business in Politics, Class and Ethnic Conflict, the
Rise of Jim Crow Laws
Chapter 24: Industry Comes of Age, Era of the Robber Barons, the Lives of the Working Class and the Growth of Unionism, Government
and Politics of Regulation, the United States in the World Economy.
Chapter 25: America Moves to the City, Urbanization, New Waves of Immigration, Renewed Instances of Nativism, Cultural Life in Urban
America, the “New Woman,” African­American Push for Expanded Civil Rights
Chapter 26: The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution, the Close of the Frontier and Its Impact, Industrialization of Agriculture and
Political Dissent Among Farmers
Chapter 27: Empire and Expansion, American Expansion Overseas, a New Age of Imperialism, the Spanish-American War, the Open Door
Policy, America on the World Stage
Chapter 28: Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt, Progressive Reform and the Trusts, Demographics of Urbanization and the
Resulting Political Impact, “Dollar Diplomacy” and Environmental Issues
Varying Viewpoints Discussion:
Examine the debates between radicals such as Thaddeus Stevens and moderates like Lyman Trumball. Introduce by analyzing debates
published in the Congressional Globe. Students will role play and defend their assigned perspective.
Primary Source Analysis:
Populist v. Progressivism – Diverging Perspectives Analysis – Students will discuss and debate the efficacy of the Progressive Movement
Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas
Andrew Carnegie, Wealth
Samuel Gompers, “Letter o Labor in Industrial Society”
Booker T. Washington, “Atlanta Exposition Address”
Free Response Essay:
Explain why and how the role of the federal government changed as a result of the Civil War with respect to TWO of the following during
the period 1860-1877:
Race Relations
Economic Development Westward
Expansion
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
Semester Exams:
Multiple Choice & Four Short Answer Questions
January 16-18
Unit VI: 1890-1945, February 2 to March 6
America at Home and Abroad
Chapter 29: Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad, the New Freedom Versus the New Nationalism, Progressive Economic
Reform, Diplomacy of Neutrality
Chapter 30: The War to End All Wars, War in Europe and War on the Homefront, Propaganda and Civil Liberties, the Politics Behind the
Making of the Treaty of Versailles and its Rejection by the U.S. Senate
Chapter 31: American Life in the Roaring Twenties, the “Red Scare,” and Immigration Issues, a Mass­Consumption Economy, the Jazz Age,
and the Harlem Renaissance, Traditionalism v. Modernism
Chapter 32: The Politics of Boom and Bust, Isolationism in the 1920s, Foreign Debt and Diplomacy, the Coming of the Great
Depression
Chapter 33: The Great Depression and the New Deal, FDR and “recovery, relief, reform,” Demographic Changes Associated with the
Depression, Cultural Changes in the 1930s, the Supreme Court and the Balance of Political Power in Government
Chapter 34: FDR and the Shadow of War, Attempts at Neutrality and Isolation, Diplomacy and Economics of the Pre-War Years, the Move
to War Following Pearl Harbor’
Chapter 35: America in World War II, The War in Europe and in the Far East, the Home Front, Changes for Women and
Minorities During the War, the Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and its Consequences
Varying Perspectives Discussion:
Is isolationism justified? William E. Borah’s, “Speech on the League of Nations” and Richard Hofstdter’s, Great Issues in American History
each examine the American foreign policy of isolationism. Have students research and discuss the validity of this stance in American
history; arguments must be supported with historical evidence and analysis.
Primary Source Analysis:
William Jennings Bryan, “Cross of Gold” Speech
Alfred T. Mahan, The United States Looking Outward
Theodore Roosevelt “Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine” and “The New Nationalism” Woodrow
Wilson, The Old Order Changeth
Woodrow Wilson Packet: “War Message to Congress” and “Fourteen Points”
Herbert Hoover, “Rugged Individualism”
Franklin Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address”
DBQ: Progressive Movement’s Ability to Bring National Change
Unit Exam:
Exams will be multiple-choice and each will have a writing element modeling the short answer questions presented by the APUSH
redesign.
Unit VII: 1945-1980, March 19 to April 3
America as an International Force
Chapter 36: The Cold War Begins, Postwar Prosperity and the Baby Boom, Communism and Containment, Diplomacy and the
Marshall Plan, the Korean War, and the Red Scare, the United States as a World Power
Chapter 37: The Eisenhower Era, Consumer Culture in the 1950s, the Civil Rights Revolution, McCarthyism, Cold War Expansion, the
Space Race, Postwar Literature and Culture
Chapter 38: The Stormy Sixties, The Cold War Continues, Expansion of the War in Vietnam, the Civil Rights Revolution and Evolution,
Johnson and the Great Society, Immigration and Demographic Changes.
Chapter 39: The Stalemated Seventies, Rise of Conservatism, Economic Stagnation, Crisis Over Presidential Power,
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
Environmental Issues, Feminism and the Women’s Movement, Civil Rights and Affirmative Action, Foreign Policy and the Issue of Oil
Multiple Causation:
Franklin D. Roosevelt Discussion: Wartime Diplomacy and the “Choice” – Debating the Past Primary
Sources included for preparation: The Quarantine Speech and Four Freedoms Speech Primary Source
Primary Source Analysis:
George Kennan, Sources of Soviet Conduct
William Faulkner, Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Prize
John Kennedy, Inaugural Address
Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail and “I Have a Dream” speech
Lyndon B. Johnson, “The Great Society” speech
Six Degrees of Separation:
From Containment to “Tear Down This Wall”
Using notes and primary sources, students construct a time line of the Civil Rights Movement
from Reconstruction to the 1970s and annotate key turning points in the movement.
Unit Exam
Exams will be multiple-choice and each will have a writing element modeling the short answer questions presented by the APUSH
redesign.
Unit VIII: 1980-Present, April 6 to
April 17
Toward the Present
Chapter 40: The Resurgence of Conservatism, Reagan and the “New Right,” the End of the Cold War, Reagonomics, Politics and the
Supreme Court, Globalization, War and Diplomacy in the Middle East
Chapter 41: America Confronts the Post-Cold War Era, The Clinton Era, Post-Cold War Politics and Foreign Policy, the
Contested Election of 2000, the Attack on the World Trade Center and America Post 9/11
Chapter 42: The American People Face a New Century, Demographic Changes, Changes in the Family, Immigration and Related Issues, a
Multicultural Society, the High-Tech Economy, America in a Global Context
Primary Source Analysis:
Media Revolution Packet: Lyndon B Johnson, “The Power of the Media” and Edward R. Murrow, “Television and Politics” Roe v. Wade
Ronald Reagan, Inaugural Address 1981/1985
George W. Bush, Washington National Cathedral Prayer Service, September 2001
George W. Bush, Joint Session of Congress, September 2001 Rudy
Giuliani, Farewell Address, 2001
Practice AP Exam – Complete Mock Exam for Students
Review Boot Camp:
1. Colonial America to American Revolution
Discuss DBQ: Did American Revolution fundamentally change American Society?
2.
Confederation to Civil War
Multiple Choice Focus
Varying Viewpoints Discussion: State v. Federal Governments
3.
Reconstruction to World War I
Discuss DBQ: Effectiveness of the Progressive Era
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
4.
Depression to Present
Discuss DBQ: International and Domestic Challenges for US from 1968-1974
AP TEST MAY 8th
Grading
Assignments (30% of six weeks grade):
Students will be assigned reading from textbooks and articles. Students will read and take notes for use studying for later assessments. Since the
course covers so much material, students will have the
responsibility to prepare themselves before class with information from the text so that they can be taught the concepts and connections which
make up US History at the AP level.
Assessment (70% of six weeks grade):
Assessments include tests, projects, and writing assignments. Students will be assessed according to assignments, and rarely material may appear
on assessments which is covered in assigned reading, but not explicitly in class.