AP European History
Syllabus 2011-2012
Course Bibliography
Textbook
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization 5 th Ed., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2003Perry, Marvin, Joseph R.
Peden, Theodore H. Von Laue, Sources of the Western Tradition, Vol 1 and 2, 4 th ed., New York: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1999
Campbell, Miles W., Niles R. Holt, William T. Walker, ed. AP European History. New Jersey: Research and
Education Associates, 2007 Please buy this for use in the class.
Primary and Secondary Course Readings
Barber, Nathan AP European History Lawrenceville, NJ: Thomson Learning, 2001
Caliguire, Augustine, Roberta Leach, Jon Buckley, ed. Advanced Placement European History I and II New
York: The Center for Learning, 1988, 1991
Eder, James M. Ed. Barron’s AP European History. New York: Barron’s Education Services, Inc. 2003
Levy, Joan U., Norman Levy, Richard Weisburg, ed. AP European History New York: MacMillan Resource Co,
1997
McComb, David, ed. World History vol 1, 2 nd ed., Guilford, CT: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.,
Sherman, Dennis Western Civilization: Sources Images, and Interpretations, vol 1 and 2, 5 th Ed., New
York: McGraw Hill Co, 2000
1990
Strickland, Carol and John Boswell, The Annotated Mona Lisa Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel, 1992
*** In addition, the internet will be used to access many primary and secondary sources.
***
An understanding of the way people have lived and of the ways events and ideas have shaped our lives is important for an understanding of the world of today. Through a narrative of events and movements, AP
European History will enable the student to understand the development of contemporary institutions, the role of continuity and change in present-day society and politics, and the evolution of current forms of artistic expression and intellectual discourse. In addition, the students will develop an (a) understanding of some of the principle themes in modern European history, (b) an ability to analyze historical evidence and historical interpretations, and (c) an ability to express historical understanding in writing. The course is intended for qualified students who wish to complete a class in high school that is commensurate to a college introductory course in European History. It is a semester-long survey of European history from the Renaissance to the present and requires solid reading and writing skills, along with a willingness to devote considerable time to homework and study in order to succeed. You need to plan to devote an hour or more every night. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking skills, essay writing, interpretation of original documents, and historiography. In addition, students will develop an ability to understand and analyze maps, pictorial and graphic evidences, and statistics. As students, you will continually develop your writing skills through regular short essays, essay exams, and maintain a notebook of all class materials. The volume of material involved is extensive and you can

expect to do a lot of reading not only in the text , but also from outside sources and research both in the library and through the internet.
AP European History is challenging and stimulating and, compared with other high school courses involves a considerable amount of time and effort. There will be a focus on strengthening skills in taking objective exams, in addition to writing clear and compelling essays and doing research and analysis of historical data. Therefore, regular study, frequent practice in writing, historical analysis, class discussions/debates/seminars, and study/review/and test-taking strategies are major elements of the course.
Requirements
Notebook – three-ring, loose-leaf, college-rule paper
Notecards – 4x6

An AP European History Study Guide as a supplement: Barrons, Princeton, REA, Cliffs

The Annotated Mona Lisa

Video night attendance and discussion – once every month on a movie that covers the period under discussion.

Students limit themselves to one other AP course when taking this course on the block schedule. A heavy workload in other courses cannot excuse missing or late assignments.
st
Week 1-2
Introduction /Middle Ages/Renaissance/Humanism
READINGS:
Spielvogel, CH 11-12
REA, Ch 2-3
Powell, “Prelude to the Modern World”
St. Anselm, “Proof of the Existence of God”
Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologica”
Machiavelli, The Prince, “Machiavellian Politics”
Erasmus, The Enchiridion : “The Christian Humanist”
Petrarch, Reading; Ghiberti, Reading; Leonardo, Reading
Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, excerpts
Haskins, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century, excerpts
Map work
Notecards, Multiple Choice Tests (AP-style), essay, group work, discussions, quizzes
Art research
The Reformation and Religious/ Wars/ Exploration/17 th Century
READINGS:
Spielvogel, Ch 13-14, part of 15
Martin Luther, “Here I Stand”
Erik Ericson, “Young Man Luther”
John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, “Calvinism”
Henry VIII, “Act for the Exoneration from Exactions Paid…”
C olumbus, “Letter to Lord Raphael Sanchez, March 14, 1493”
“The Twelve Articles” and Martin Luther’s Reply: Peasant Revolt
Witch Craze, “The Hammer of Witches”, “A Confession of Witchcraft Explained”
Albuquerque
Louis XIV, Memoirs, “I Was King, and Born to Be One”
Saint Simon, Memoirs, “A Critique of Louis XIV”

English Bill of Rights, and the Act of Settlement, 1701
Map work
Practice DBQ, TEST (MC and Essay), group work, discussions, quizzes, notecards
Week 3-4-5
Eastern Europe /Baroque Art/Review
READINGS
Spielvogel, CH 15 cont, review of 11-15
REA, Ch 4
Frederick II, “First Servant of the State”
Peter the Great, “the Duties of a Russian Tsar”
Map work
Group work and presentations, quizzes, notecards, discussions, MC questions
Art research
Scientific Revolution/Enlightenment/18 th Century
READINGS
Spielvogel, CH 16, 17, 18
REA Ch 5
Copernicus, “Man and the Universe”
DesCartes, “The Call for Rational Scepticism”
Whitehead, “The Significance of the Scientific Revolution”
Locke, “The Natural Rights of Man”
Hobbes, “The Natural Rights of Kings”
Rousseau, “The Cult of the Natural Man”, “The Social Contract”
Paine, “The Age of Reason: Deism”
Crocker, “The Age of Enlightenment”
Art research
TEST (MC, Essay or DBQ), Take home essay, notecards, quizzes, discussions, groups
Week 6-7
French Revolution and Napoleon
READINGS
Spielvogel, CH 19
REA Ch 6
Young, “France at the Outbreak of the War”
“The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”
“The Declaration of Independence”
Abbe Sieyes, “What is the Third Estate?”
“Women of the Third Estate”
Lefebre, “Multiple Causation of the French Revolution”
Napoleon, “The Nature of Napoleonic Despotism”
George Rude, “Napoleon as Preserver of the Revolution”
Bonnie G. Smith, “Women and the Napoleonic Code”
Map work
Art of the Period
DBQ, timed essay, notecards, quizzes, discussions, group work, MC questions
Week 8-9
Industrial Revolution/Congress of Vienna/Isms
READINGS
Spielvogel, CH 20-21
REA Ch 6
Marx and Engels, “The History of the Class Struggle”
“Testimony for the Factory Act of 1833”
Samuel Smiles, “Self-Help, Middle-Class Attitudes”
Flora
Map work
Tristan, “Women and the Working Class”

Week 10-11
Art of the Period
DBQ, TEST (MC and Essay), notecards, quizzes, discussions, group work
The Victorian Age, Nationalism, Unification, Socialism, Imperialism
READINGS
Spielvogel, CH 22, 23, 24
REA Ch 7
Marx, Communist Manifesto, excerpts
Proudhon, “What is Property?”
“Middle Class Youth and Sexuality”
Freud, “The Interpretation of Dreams”
Darwin, On the Origins of the Species, excerpts
Alexander II and Prince Kropotkin, “The Emancipation of the Serfs”
Bismarck, “German Nationalism”
Hobson, “Imperialism”
Treaties of Nanking, Bogue, and Tientsin”
Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”
Orwell, Shooting an Elephant”
Map work
Art of the Period
DBQ, timed essay, notecards, quizzes, discussions, group work, MC questions
Week 12-13
World War I, Russian Revolution
READINGS
Speilvogel, Ch 25
REA Ch 8
Bismarck, ‘The Dual Alliance”
Prince Bernhard von Bulow, “The Franco-Prussian Rivalry”
Enrst Junger, “The Storm of Steel”
Lenin, “What Is To Be Done?”
Wilson, “Fourteen Points”
Fisher, “Germany’s Real ‘Guilt’”
“Germany’s War Aims and the Treaty of Versailles”
Map work
Art of the Period
DBQ, TEST (MC and Essay), notecards, quizzes, discussions, group work
Week 14
20 th Century Culture/Depression/Rise of Dictatorships
READINGS
Spielvogel, CH 26-27
REA CH 8
Stalin, “On the Problems of Leninism”
Hitler, excerpts on Mein Kampf
Mussolini, “Fascism in Italy”
Fromm, The Psychological Basis of Nazism”
Arendt, “Totalitarianism as a Mass Phenomenom”
Map work
Art of the Period
Take home DBQ, MC questions, essay, notecards, quizzes, discussions, group work
Week 14-15
World War II/Cold War/Decolonization
READINGS

Spielvogel, CH 28
REA Ch 8
Chamberlain, “A Defense of Appeasement”
Churchill, “The Beginning of the Reckoning”
Hoess, “The Practice of Genocide”
Churchill, “The Iron Curtain Speech”
The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
“The Universal Declaration Rights of Human Rights”
Hammerskjold, “What the UN Is and Is Not”
B.N. Ponomaryov, “The Cold War: A Soviet Perspective”
Jens Reich, “The Berlin Wall”
Simone de Beauvoir, “The Second Sex”
Ge
Map work neral Assembly of the UN, “Declaration Against Colonization”
Art of the Period
TEST (MC and Essay), notecards, quizzes, discussions, group work
Week 16
Modern World Society/Culture
READINGS
Spielvogel, CH 29
REA Ch 9
Heilbroner, “After Communism: Causes for the Collapse”
Donia, “War in Bosnia and Ethnic Cleansing”
Hobsbawn, “The Perils of New Nationalism”
Map work
Art of the Period
DBQ, MC questions, essay, notecards, quizzes, discussions, group work
Week 17
Review/Exam
Week 18
Art/Music Project

All Multiple Choice questions are taken from study guides, previous AP tests, or are created by students as practice for the AP exam.

Students are given the chance to complete test corrections on missed MC. They must write 40-50 word explanations of why the correct answer is correct.

All Essay questions come from previous AP exams and correspond to the topic currently under discussion.

Many of the essays will be edited by peers and the teacher before the final draft is turned in for a grade.

DBQ essays are also taken from previous DBQs on the AP exams. In addition, practice DBQs will be used that guide the students in learning the DBQ process. Peer evaluation and rewrites are an on-going process. If time permits, the students will create their own DBQ.

Numerous examples of art and music from the different time periods will be explored and discussed.
The students will also research artistic styles and artists.

The class will conclude with an art history project that spans the period from 1450 to 2000. The students will discuss how the art reflects the intellectual, political, economic, and social ideas and events.