UNITED STATES HISTORY
SS35
COURSE SYLLABUS
Teacher: Mr. Kuss
Phone: 480-472-8158/kekuss@mpsaz.org
Contact Time: I am available by appointment. Please call.
Textbook:
American Anthem, Ayers, Holt Rinehart Winston, 2007
AT NO TIME!!!
Cell Phones, Hats, Electronic Devices, Gang Wear, MP3 Players, I Pods, CD Players, Sagging
Pants, Swearing, Food, or other items labeled in your student passport!
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The United States History course is a two-semester class that offers a general survey of
American History since the 15th century. An emphasis is placed on interpreting primary and
secondary documents, mastering a significant body of factual information, and writing
critical essays. Topics include life and thought in colonial America, revolutionary ideology,
constitutional development, Jefferson and Jacksonian democracy, nineteenth-century
reform movements, and Manifest Destiny. Other topics include the Civil War and
Reconstruction, immigration, industrialism, Populism, Progressivism, World War I, the Jazz
Age, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the post-Cold War
era, and the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Extensive reading,
writing, and study skills useful in college will be emphasized. The class concludes with a
district level exam, prepared by Mesa Public Schools. This course will fulfill the United
States history graduation requirement. The course is designed to provide a comprehensive
overview of U. S. History and to provide students with analytical skills and factual
knowledge to deal critically with the problems and materials in United States history.
Students should learn to assess historical materials, their relevance to a given interpretive
problem, their reliability and their importance, while weighing the evidence and
interpretations presented in historical scholarship.
COURSE THEMES
In addition to topics listed above, the course will emphasize a series of key themes
throughout the year. These themes have been determined as essential to a comprehensive
study of United States history. The themes will include discussions of American diversity,
the evolution of American culture, demographic changes over the course of America’s
history, economic trends and transformations, 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 in 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 the ways in which they are interconnected and
examining the ways in which each helps to shape the changes over time that are so
important to understanding United States history
HOMEWORK
This course requires daily classwork. Students planning to excel in the class spend a
minimum of five-seven hours per week studying. It is up to the student to learn the
material. There will be quizzes each week on the week’s chapter reading. The bonus to the
student is that they can plan their own study time to more easily match their schedule. All
assignments are given in advance to allow students to organize their time. Every effort will
be made to strictly adhere to the syllabus.
GRADING
It is advised that students NOT THROW ANYTHING AWAY. Inadequate and poor planning
on the student’s part does not constitute an emergency on my part. In short, if you see you
are behind and NEED an “A”, plan better and study harder.
20% Final Exam
40% Classwork/Homework (homework less than 10%)
40% Test
GRADING SCALE
90% - 100% = A
80% - 89.9% = B
70% - 79.9% = C
60% - 69.9% = D
< 59.9% = F
ASSIGNMENTS AND MAKE-UP WORK & TESTS
All assignments must be completed on time and turned in on the date listed. It is your responsibility to
see me immediately. Any late work will receive a 50% reduction. Test are to be made up within one
day’s time of absence . Being ill or away before the test does not excuse you from taking the test
when scheduled. Only verifiable reasons for missing an exam will be accepted (i.e., field trip, all-day
illness phoned in by parent, etc.) Under those circumstances a make-up test will be allowed. Make-up
tests will not be from the same prompt as the one given on the testing day. Extenuating circumstances
will be handled on an individual basis.
READING QUIZ
May appear at anytime to insure textbook is being read!
CONFERENCES/NEED HELP
If you are having problems, it is your duty and responsibility to come and see me. I am
generally available during lunch and 7th Hour Prep in room 603P.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
There will be strict adherence to RMHS attendance and ID card policies.
EDITORIAL COMMENTS, ETC.
 We are all supposed to behave as adults, so we should respect the views expressed
by everyone. As this is a history class, there may come a time when opinions are
presented. One must be mindful of how one presents one’s views in class. Being a
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college level class, college level primary source material will be presented; you will
need to handle it in an adult manner. Childish behavior will NOT be tolerated.
NO WHINING.
Remember, I don’t give you grades, YOU EARN THEM.
Take good Cornell Notes!!!!!!
COURSE WRITING and READING OUTLINE
1.) Social and cultural developments, and reforms.
2.) Political developments of the unit to include institutions, policy, and diplomatic
relations.
3.) Economic trends, policy and impact.
READINGS
Each week a minimum of 2 primary sources and/or secondary sources will be assigned in
addition to each week’s textbook reading. You the student must read each of the assigned
textbook readings prior to that week to ensure constant and meaningful classroom
discussions. Each week also utilizes 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.
Beginnings of America
European Colonies in America
Colonial Life
The Revolutionary Era
Creating a New Government
Forming a New Republic
From Nationalism to Sectionalism
Expansion Leads to Conflict
The Nation Splits Apart
The Civil War
Reconstruction
SEMESTER BREAK
The American West
The Second Industrial Revolution and the Turn of the 20th Century
The Progressives
Entering the World Stage
World War I
From War to Peace
The Roaring Twenties
The Great Depression
World War II Erupts
World War II
The Cold War
Post War America
New Frontier, The Great Society, Civil Rights
Sixties and Vietnam
Modern America
Final Review $ Final Exam