APUSH Syllabus
Course Overview:
This is a 45 minute course that meets every day for two semesters. This class
covers the age of exploration to present day America. This is a college level class and
students will have the opportunity to earn college credits. Solid reading and writing
skills, along with a willingness to devote considerable time to homework and study, are
necessary to succeed. Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay
writing, and interpretation of original documents.
Course Objectives:





Students will master a broad base of historical knowledge.
Students will analyze primary documents and use them to
support and argue their position.
Students will use analytical skills, critical thinking, cause
and effect, and compare and contrast.
Students will work hard to pass the AP Exam.
Students will actively participate in class.
Student Text:
Kennedy, David, Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Bailey. The American Pageant. New
York: Joughton Mifflin Company, 2015.
Loewen, James. Lies My Teacher Told Me. New York: Touchstone, 1995.
Weighting:
The make-up of your grade is a little different than my other classes, but it is also
because we concentrate on different things. Depending on content covered, weighting
may change during the 4th quarter with a greater percentage on projects.
Tests/Quizzes: 40%
Homework: 40%
Participation: 10%
Projects: 10%
Tests: Our tests will take different forms. It could include FRQ’s, DBQ’s, and multiple
choice questions. This is the format of the AP test, so this is how your tests will look.
Each test will be worth 100 points. You will have quizzes. Some will be planned and a
lot will be a surprise.
Binder: You will turn in your binder for a grade once every grading period. Binders
should be organized and neat. You need dividers that label notes, bellringers, test prep,
FRQ’s, DBQ’s, and reading quizzes.
Notes: As long as you are participating and paying attention during lecture, I will
provide you with copies of my PowerPoint notes. This is a skeleton outline and you will
need to fill in additional information. Each set of notes should be put in your binder.
You will need these to study for the test.
Writing: The expectation is college level. You are proving to me what you know and it
is not just the bare minimum. We will be constantly working on this skill throughout
the course.
Participation: Part of the reason I want to give you the outline of the notes, is so you
are paying attention and actively involved in the discussion. I want you to play a major
role in lecture and not have it be one sided. Come to class with the reading done and
ready to discuss.
Content: We have 42 chapters to get done by the beginning of May. This is going to be
a challenge for you and myself. In the end, content is on you. I will discuss major
points, but it is impossible for me to discuss everything. There will be some things on
the tests (mine and the AP test) that I did not cover, but was in your reading. Therefore
it is very important you do not skip out on the reading!
Morning Meetings and Eagle Time: Because time is limited for us, we may have to
have some meetings in the morning and Eagle Time to get things in. Not only am I
teaching you content, but I also have to teach you how to succeed with this AP test.
There will not be a set day every week, but I will let you know as soon as possible when I
know I want to have a meeting. If the meeting is a study session, it will be voluntary.
Plagiarism: Any answer that is plagiarized from a reading/source or copied from
another student will result in zero points.
Make-up Policy: Students are expected to turn in work the day they return from their
absence.
One day late- 50% of points
Two days late- 25% of points
Three days late and on- 0% of points
Curriculum Calendar
Discovering America
College Board Themes: American Diversity, American Identity,
Environment, Globalization, Religion, Slavery and it’s Legacies
Reading: Ch. 1-3 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Ch.2-3 Lies My Teacher Told Me, Taking Sides “ Was Disease
the Key Factor in the Depopulation of Native Americans in the Americas?” by Colin
Calloway and David S. Jones
Topics: Pre-Columbian Societies, American Indian Cultures, Early Exploration, Spanish
Model of Colonization, English Settlement, Introduction of Slavery, Religious Diversity
Primary Documents: Christopher Columbus “Letters to the Sovereigns of 4 March
1493”, Amerigo Vespucci “Albericus Vespucius Offers his Best Compliments to Lorenzo
Medici”, John Smith “Description of Virginia”
Assessment: Reading Quizzes, Essay on Columbus, Comparison chart- colonists vs.
natives, Center for Learning “One Society or Three?” Activity, Test
Test Prep: Basics of FRQ’s, Writing Rules
Colonial Life
College Board Themes: Slavery and it’s Legacies, Religion, Globalization,
American Diversity, American Identity, War and Diplomacy, Demographic
Changes, Economic Transformations, Culture
Reading: Ch. 4-6 Pageant
Topics: From Servitude to Slavery, African-American culture, Colonial Social Structure,
Resistance to Colonial Authority, Colonial Economics, The Great Awakening, French
Colonization, The French and Indian War
Primary Documents: Olaudah Equiano “The African Slave Trade”, Accounts from
Goodwife Jackson and Robert Browne on the Puritan church
Assessment: APPARTS on Document, Reading Quizzes, Great Awakening activity
Center for Learning “From Authority to Individualism”, Essay on French and Indian
War, Test
Test Prep: Introduce APPARTS (analyzing documents) on Democracy in New England
DBQ, Introduce the Basics of Grading FRQ’s and DBQ’s
The Road to Revolution
College Board Themes: War and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship,
American Identity
Reading: Ch. 7-8 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Taking Sides “Did the American Revolution Produce a Christian
Nation?” by Nathan O. Hatch and Jon Butler
Topics: Mercantilism, Roots of Revolution, Colonial Governments and Imperial Policy,
Military Course of the War, Peace Negotiations, Republicanism
Primary Documents: Declaration of Independence
Assessment: Center for Learning “The Path to Revolution” activity, Reading Quizzes,
Exam
The Republican Experiment
College Board Themes: Politics and Citizenship, War and Diplomacy,
Globalization, Culture, American Identity
Reading: Ch. 9-11 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Taking Sides, “Were the Founding Fathers Democratic
Reformers?” by John P. Roche and Howard Zinn
Topics: Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, Emergence of Political Parties,
Washington, Hamilton, and the National Government, Jeffersonian Republic,
Expansion
Primary Documents: Articles of Confederation, Washington’s Farewell Address,
Nicholas Biddle and Merriwether Lewis “Crossing the Great Divide”
Assessment: Federalist vs. Antifederalist Activity, Center for Learning “Writing the
Constitution” Activity, Reading Quizzes, Center for Learning “Development of Political
Parties” Activity- APPARTS, Exam
Test Prep: More DBQ Information, APPARTS
Jacksonian Democracy and Change
College Board Themes: Politics and Citizenship, American Identity, War
and Diplomacy, Reform, Demographic Changes, Economic
Transformations, Environment
Reading: Ch. 12-15 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Ch. 4 Lies My Teacher Told Me
Topics: War of 1812 and Consequences, Expansion, the American System, Expansion,
Growing Nationalism, Jacksonian Democracy, Forced Removal of Indians to the West,
Immigration and Reaction, Beginnings of Industrialization, Questioning of Federal
Authority, Westward Migration, Early U.S. Imperialism, Transportation Revolution,
Transcendentalism, Social Reform
Primary Documents: Benjamin Perley Poore and James Patron “A Disorderly
Democracy” (Jacksonian Democracy), John Ross “The Trail of Tears”, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton “Declaration of Sentiments”
Assessment: In Class DBQ- Women’s Movement, Center for Learning “Coming
Together-Nationalism Ascendant” Activity- Analyzing Political Developments, Poster on
the American System, Reading Quizzes, Political Cartoon on Immigration, Center for
Learning “The End of Homespun- The Early Industrial Revolution” Activity, Exam
Test Prep: In Class DBQ, Grading Exams
The Slave System and the Coming of the Civil War
College Board Themes: Politics and Citizenship, Slavery and it’s Legacies,
American Identity, Globalization, War and Diplomacy, Culture, Reform,
Economic Transformations
Reading: Ch. 16-19 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Ch. 5-6 Lies My Teacher Told Me, “The Lives of Slave Women”,
by Deborah Gray White
Topics: Planters, Yeomen, and Slaves, Abolitionism, Cotton Kingdom, Manifest
Destiny, War with Mexico, Popular Sovereignty, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska
Act, Emergence of Republican Party, Increasing abolitionism, Impact of Dred Scott
Case, Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Primary Documents: Frederick Law Olmsted’s Cotton Kingdom, Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, Reactions to John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry
Assessment: Poster of groups in the Antebellum Period, Reading Quiz, Center for
Learning “Westward Expansion” Activity, Center for Learning “The Mexican War”,
Exam
Test Prep: DBQ on Slavery and Sectional Attitudes
The Civil War and Reconstruction
College Board Themes: War and Diplomacy, Slavery and its Legacies,
American Identity, Economic Transformations, Demographic Changes,
Politics and Citizenship, Culture, American Diversity
Reading: Ch. 20-22 Pageant
Topics: Military strategies and foreign diplomacy, African Americans and Women’s
Role in the War, Social, Political, and Economic Effects, Emancipation Proclamation,
Southern State Governments, Consequences of War, Impact and Legacy of
Reconstruction Policies, Impeachment of Jackson, Fate of Freedmen
Primary Documents: Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, Personal
Account from Southern Women, Personal account from a Union Soldier, Analyzing
Political Cartoons from Reconstruction, White Southerners Reaction to Reconstruction
(Testimony from Rev. James Sinclair)
Assessment: Center for Learning’s “Abolition” Activity, Reading Quizzes, Center for
Learning’s “Reconstruction- Two Views” Activity, Exam
Test Prep: FRQ
Gilded Age and Industrialization
College Board Themes: Demographic Changes, American Diversity, Politics
and Citizenship, Economic Transformations, Environment, Reform
Reading: Ch. 23-25 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Ch. 7 Lies My Teacher Told Me, “Did William M. Tweed Corrupt
Post Civil War New York?” Taking Sides, American Experiences “American Assassin:
Charles J. Guiteau” by James W. Clarke
Topics: Corruption and Reform, Politics of Segregation, Era of the Robber Barons,
Labor and Unions, Politics and Corporations, Effects of Increasing Technology, Culture
in Urban America, Changing Role of Women
Primary Documents: Analyze Political Cartoons
Assessment: Reading Quizzes, Center for Learning’s “The Emergence of Industrial
America”, Center for Learning’s “The Philosophy of the Industrialists” Activity, Exam
Test Prep: DBQ on Industrialization
The Great West and American Imperialism
College Board Themes: Environment, Economic Transformations,
Demographic Changes, Culture, American Diversity, War and Diplomacy,
Politics and Citizenship, Globalization
Reading: Ch. 26-27 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Taking Sides “Did 19th Century Women of the West Fail to
Overcome the Hardships of Living on the Great Plains?”, American Experiences “The
Wizard of Oz: Parable of Populism” by Henry M. Littlefield, American Experiences “A
Road They Did Not Know” by Larry McMurty
Topics: The Frontier, Reconfiguration of Southern Agriculture, Industrialization of
Agriculture, American Imperialism and Expansion, America’s New Role
Primary Documents: Personal accounts from the West
Assessment: Reading Quizzes, Center for Learning’s “The Farmer’s Dilemma” Activity,
Exam
Test Prep: FRQ
Justice at Home and Abroad
College Board Themes: Reform, Politics and Citizenship, Economic
Transformations, American Identity, War and Diplomacy, Globalization,
American Diversity
Reading: Ch. 28-29 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Taking Sides “Did Progressives Fail?”, American Experiences
“Rose Schneiderman and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire” by Bonnie Mitelman
Topics: American Political and Economic Imperialism, the Open Door, SpanishAmerican War, Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine, Origins of Progressive Reform,
Roosevelt and Taft as Progressive Presidents
Primary Documents: Roosevelt Corollary
Assessment: Reading Quizzes, Center for Learning’s “Explaining the Spanish-American
War” Activity, Center for Learning’s “Foreign Policy for a New Age” Activity, Center for
Learning’s “Women’s Suffrage”, Exam
Test Prep: Multiple Choice Practice
World War I
College Board Themes: Politics and Citizenship, War and Diplomacy,
American Identity, Globalization, Economic Transformations, American
Diversity, Culture
Reading: Ch. 30-31 Pageant
Secondary Documents: American Experiences “The Trench Scene” by Paul Fussel
Topics: Wilson as Progressive President, War in Europe and American Neutrality, First
World War at Home and Abroad, Propaganda and Civil Liberties, Urban Migration of
Black America, Women’s Role, The Treaty of Versailles
Primary Documents: Analyze Political Cartoons, Newspaper Editorials
Assessment: Center for Learning’s “Defending Neutral Rights” Activity, Create Posters
(Homefront, Causes, Legacy, Govt. Policy, Major Battles), Reading Quizzes, Exam
Test Prep: DBQ on the Treaty of Versailles, In Class FRQ
The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression
College Board Themes: Culture, Demographic Changes, Economic
Transformations, American Diversity, American Identity, Politics and
Citizenship, Environment, Reform
Reading: Ch. 32-34 Pageant
Secondary Documents: American Experiences “Organized Crime in Urban Society:
Chicago in the 20th Century” by Mark Haller, American Experiences “The Black
Blizzards Role In” by Donald Worster
Topics: The Red Scare, Immigration, Prohibition, a Mass Consumption Society, the
Jazz Age, Economic Boom, Isolation, Republican Politics, Causes of the Great
Depression, Hoover’s Response, FDR and the New Deal, Greater Role of Federal
Government, Organized Labor, Cultural Changes
Primary Documents: FDR Fireside Chat, Personal accounts of the Depression
Assessment: Reading Quizzes, Center for Learning’s “Isolation- Fact or Revisionist
Battleground?” Activity, Center for Learning’s “Cases of the Great Depression” Activity,
New Deal Reform’s worksheet, Exam
Test Prep: DBQ on the New Deal, Multiple Choice Practice
World War II
College Board Themes: War and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship,
Culture, American Diversity, Economic Transformations
Reading: Ch. 35-36 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Taking Sides “Was it Necessary to Drop the Atomic Bomb to
End WWII?”, American Experiences “My Guns: A Memoir of the Second World War” by
Roger J. Spiller
Topics: Rise of Fascism, Attempts at Neutrality, Pearl Harbor, Declaration of War,
Combat, Diplomacy, Strategy, War Aims, Changes on the Home front, Atomic Bomb,
Role of Women and Minorities, Economic and Social Impact of War
Primary Documents: Accounts from the Holocaust , Analyze Political Cartoons
Assessment: Center for Learning’s “Pearl Harbor- Interpretations of History” Activity,
Center for Learning’s “Japanese-American Internment” Activity, Create Poster (Roots of
War, Homefront, Government Policies, War with Europe, War with Japan)
Test Prep: DBQ, Multiple Choice Practice
The Cold War
College Board Themes: War and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship,
American Identity, Globalization, Culture
Reading: Ch. 37-38 Pageant,
Secondary Documents: Ch. 8 Lies My Teacher Told Me, Taking Sides “Did Communism
Threaten America’s Internal Security After WWII?”, American Experiences “Intellect of
Television: The Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950’s” by Richard S. Tedlow
Topics: Foreign Relations after WWII, Postwar Prosperity, Civil Rights, McCarthyism,
Origins of the Cold War, Korean War, Truman and Containment, the Space Race,
Changing Gender Roles, Entering Vietnam
Primary Documents: The Truman Doctrine, The Marshall Plan,
Assessment: Center for Learning’s “McCarthyism and the Climate of Fear” Activity,
Center for Learning’s “Korean Inquiry” Activity, Reading Quizzes, Exam
Test Prep: In Class DBQ, Multiple Choice Practice, FRQ Relay
Protest and Turmoil
College Board Themes: Demographic Changes, Slavery and it’s Legacy, War
and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship, Culture, Reform, Environment,
Globalization
Reading: Ch. 39-40 Pageant
Secondary Documents: Ch. 9 Lies My Teacher Told Me, American Experiences
“Kennedy Liberalism” by David Burner and Thomas R. West
Topics: The Antiwar Movement and Counterculture, “Silent Majority”, Vietnam War,
Civil Rights, Continuation of the Cold War, the New Frontier and Great Society,
Watergate, Beginnings of Détente, Feminist Movement, Challenges to the American
Economy, Environmentalism
Primary Documents: “The Ballot of the Bullet” Malcolm X, King’s “I Have a Dream
Speech”, Friedan’s “Feminine Mystique” excerpt
Assessment: write an article on Nixon’s détente (from the point of view of a hippie,
Republican politician, Democratic politician, or MC adult)- My Lai (psychological
analysis), Reading Quizzes, Exam
Test Prep: Multiple Choice Practice, In Class FRQ, Review Session
1980’s and Beyond
College Board Themes: War and Diplomacy, Politics and Citizenship,
Culture, Globalization, Economic Transformations, Reform, Demographic
Changes, American Diversity
Reading: Ch. 41-42 Pageant
Secondary Sources: Ch. 10 Lies My Teacher Told Me, Taking Sides “Is George W. Bush
the Worst President in American History?”, American Experiences “Liberalism
Overthrown” by Matthew Dallek
Topics: Reaganomics, The New Right, End of the Cold War, War and Diplomacy in the
Middle East, Challenges of Globalization, Demographic Trends post 1980, 9/11 and the
Aftermath, Multicultural Society
Primary Documents: Analyze Political Cartoons
Assessment: Journal on 9/11, Reading Quizzes, Exam
Test Prep: FRQ Relays, In Class DBQ, Multiple Choice Practice, Review Session