AP US History (Palmieri)
Unit Two, Semester One: Revolutionary America and the New Nation, 1763-1820
Britain attempted to exert more political and economic control over the colonists in the aftermath of the French and Indian War,
but the colonies resisted these attempts at increased British control and began a path towards revolution. We will explore the war
for independence, how the former colonists reacted to independence and how they formed a new government and Constitution.
The new nation took shape as early legislative, judicial, and executive decisions formed precedents for the future of the nation.
The emergence of rival political parties, territorial expansion, and conflict - between European nations and the new United States
and between European-American settlers and Native Americans - also marked this period in the nation’s history.
EACH NIGHT TEXTBOOK READING IS ASSIGNED, IN ADDITION TO THE ASSIGNED QUESTIONS AND VOCAB,
YOU MUST ALSO HAVE ONE QUESTION WRITTEN THAT THE READING HAS MADE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT.
Thursday, September 10, British Reforms, p. 132 -138
1. How did English policy in the colonies change as a result of the French and Indian War?
2. What was the Stamp Act. What actions did the colonists take against the Stamp Act?
Vocab: virtual representation, Sugar Act, vice-admiralty courts
Friday, September 11, Protest, p. 138 – 148
3. What were arguments used in Parliament to argue for repeal of the Stamp Act? What was the Declaratory Act?
4. Summarize the debate over the legality of the Townshend Duties. What was the impact of the American actions against the
Townshend Act and how did the British respond to American protests?
5. Which groups supported the Patriot movement and why? Which groups opposed them and why?
Vocab: Sons of Liberty, John Dickinson, committees of correspondence, Townshend Acts, Boston Massacre
Monday, September 14, Towards Rebellion, p. 148-160
6. What were the Coercive Acts and why did they anger colonists?
7. What did the Continental Congress demand?
8. Who were Loyalists and how did they feel about the conflict in the colonies?
9. Describe military events in Massachusetts from April 1775 to July 1776
Vocab: Boston Tea Party, Coercive/Intolerable Acts, Quebec Act, First Continental Congress, Concord and Lexington,
Second Continental Congress, Bunker Hill
Document 5-10, An Account of the Boston Tea Party (1773) Read the document. Answer the follow-up question in
the book that you find most interesting. Write a question for which you are curious about your classmate’s insights.
Tuesday, September 15, The War for Independence, p. 162-175
10. What was the importance of the Battle of Saratoga?
11. What was the material and financial situation for the colonial army like from 1776 to 1778?
12. Discuss George Washington’s role in the war as well as his skills and talents.
Vocab: Trenton and Princeton, Valley Forge, Baron von Steuben, Marquis de Lafayette, Yorktown
Wednesday, September 16, The New Nation, p. 175-183
13. What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
14. Why did Shays’ Rebellion occur and what were its results?
Vocab: Abigail Adams, republicanism, Articles of Confederation, Shays’s Rebellion, Northwest Ordinances of 1787
Document 6-12, Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom (1786) Outline CAPP (Context, Audience, Purpose, and
Point-of-View) for the document.
Thursday, September 17, The Constitution, p. 183-192
15. Make a chart comparing major ideas in the Virginia and New Jersey Plans.
16. What was the Great Compromise? What was the 3/5 Compromise?
17. Make a chart for Federalist arguments for and anti-Federalist arguments against the Constitution of 1787.
Vocab: Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan, The Federalist, Federalists, J. Madison, A. Hamilton, Anti-Federalists
Friday, September 18: FLEX DAY
Monday, September 21: Debating Early American Governmental Structure, p 194-199
18. Outline the elements of Hamilton’s economic plan. Summarize the arguments for and against his plan.
19. What was Jefferson’s agrarian vision of the US
Vocab: Henry Knox, national debt, tariffs
Tuesday, September 22: The Rise of the First Political Parties, p 199-204
20. What were the Naturalization Act, Alien Act and Sedition Act and what was the significance of each?
21. What were the causes and effects of the Whiskey Rebellion?
22. What were Madison and Jefferson’s intentions and motivation when they wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions?
Vocab: Federalists, Republicans, states’ rights, Jay’s Treaty, XYZ Affair
Document 7-4, The Sedition Act (1798) Read the document. Answer the follow-up question in
the book that you find most interesting. Write a question for which you are curious about your classmate’s insights.
Wednesday, September 23: Jefferson and the West, p 204-213
23. What was the significance of the Treaty of Greenville and how did it display trends in US relations with Native Americans?
24. Summarize the information the agricultural economy. What groups were migrating into the new southern
territories and northwestern territories? How was agriculture changing?
25. What was the Louisiana Purchase, how was it acquired, what importance did it hold, and how was it explored?
Vocab: Greenville Treaty, Battle of Fallen Timbers, Aaron Burr, Lewis and Clark, Barbary Pirates, Pinckney Treaty, Sacagawea
Thursday, September 24: The War of 1812 and Tecumseh, p 214-220
26. What issues exacerbated U.S. tensions with Britain and France?
27. What consequences did the Hartford Convention have on New England and the Federalists?
Vocab: Chesapeake incident, Embargo Act of 1807, Tecumseh, Tippecanoe, War Hawks, Treaty of Ghent
Friday, September 25: FLEX DAY
Monday/Tuesday, September 28/29 (MINI EXDAYS): Demise of the Federalists and the Rise of the Marshall Court, p 220-224
28. How did John Marshall mold a Federalist interpretation of law? Summarize the issues and significance of the following
important Supreme Court cases: Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Gibbons v. Ogden, Fletcher v. Peck, and
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
Document (handout) War of 1812 primary sources and prepare for War of 1812 discussion
Wednesday, September 30: Commerce and Culture in the Early Republic, p 227-239
29. Take a least a page of notes on important ideas and concepts in the reading and in the handout. You can identify some
key terms but also focus on main ideas that are discussed in the reading.
Vocab: Panic of 1819, suffrage, Sentimentalism, compassionate marriage, Republican Motherhood, Noah Webster, Wash. Irving
Thursday, October 1: Slavery and the Missouri Crisis, p 239-245
30. What was the Cotton Gin, who invented it, and what was its significance (refer back to p. 199)?
31. How was the attitude towards slavery changing in the North and the South? How was slavery itself changing in this period?
32. What were the issues involved in the Missouri Compromise? What were all the things decided in the Compromise?
Vocab: manumission, Missouri Compromise
Document 8-7, Original Intent and Slavery (1819) Read the document. Answer the follow-up question in the book
that you find most interesting. Write a question for which you are curious about your classmate’s insights.
Friday, October 2: The Second Great Awakening, p 246-256
33. What was the Second Great Awakening and how did it affect American society?
34. How were women’s religious roles changing?
Vocab: Second Great Awakening, Burned-Over District
Monday, October 5: Unit Two Review
Tuesday, October 6 UNIT TWO TEST In addition to your daily questions, the following ideas will help you to review Unit Two:
Effects of the French and Indian War
The development of a sense of unity among the colonists
Different arguments from the American and British perspectives for what caused the war
The arguments put forth by such men as Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson to justify revolution
The extent to which the Revolution was a radical or a conservative change
Analysis of why the Americans won the Revolution
Economic and social changes brought forth by the Revolution
The challenges faced by the new nation
The reasons the first factions and political parties emerged in the new nation
Ways in which slavery challenged the new nation