WARREN HILLS REGIONAL SCHOOLS: COURSE OF STUDY/CURRICULUM MAP
Teacher: O’Neill
Course: AP US History II
MONTH
CONTENT
BENCHMARK
SKILLS
Unit 1: America 6.1
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
in the World:
primary and secondary sources
World War I
Practice skills needed for successful
Unit 2: America
completion of AP US exam
in the World:
The Interwar
Assess questions of imperialism,
Period:
business considerations, political
American
rationales re: WWI
foreign policy,
1919-1941
Compare Wilson and Bush’s vision
SEPTEMBER
of US’s role in the world
Unit 3: America
in the World:
World War II
Unit 4: America
in the World:
The Beginning
of the Cold War
OCTOBER
6.1
Assess effect of isolationism in
failing to prevent US from becoming
involved in foreign wars; assess
application of neutrality; determine
whether two world wars are a) an
exercise in balance of power politics,
b) solutions to unsustainable
demographic patterns, or c) the
logical result of managed economies
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
primary and secondary sources
Practice skills needed for successful
completion of AP US exam
Assess: The transition from peace to
war was slowed by citizens’
memories of World War I.
The US’s entrance into WWII was
desirable from a geopolitical
standpoint.
The US’s decision to drop the atomic
bomb was justified. [CR1, CR, CR6]
Analyze propaganda
Evaluate:
The USSR, led by a paranoid
dictator, tried to take over the world;
the US had to defend democratic
capitalist values (Tindall 1249-1250).
Truman and the Americans were
ASSESSMENT
Quiz on WWI
DBQ workshop and writing: Treaty of
Versailles
Categorization exercise
DBQ: from 2004 AP exam, form B:
How and for what reasons did US
foreign policy change between 1920 and
1941? [CR8]
FRQ brainstorm and thesis practice:
Assess FDR’s efforts to deal with the
dangers of fascism and lead the nation
away from a policy of isolationism in the
context of TWO of the following:
Panay incident; Cash and carry;
Quarantine speech; Destroyers-for-bases
deal [CR8]
Conceptual Identification with
Annotation: choice of political cartoons
by Dr. Seuss [See Appendix B] [CR7]
Multiple choice exam
DBQ practice: from the 2000 AP exam:
How successful was organized labor in
improving the position of workers in the
period from 1875 to 1900? Analyze the
factors that contributed to the level of
success achieved. [CR8]
WARREN HILLS REGIONAL SCHOOLS: COURSE OF STUDY/CURRICULUM MAP
Teacher: O’Neill
Course: AP US History II
MONTH
CONTENT
BENCHMARK
SKILLS
imperialists with a belligerent,
activist foreign policy that attempted
to establish American hegemony.
Truman exaggerated the Soviet threat
to justify military buildup (Tindall
1249-1250).
The Soviet Union and the United
States were both to blame for the
rising tensions in the aftermath of
World War II.
Proxy wars played important roles in
the standoff between the USSR and
US. [CR1, CR3, CR6]
Identify concept of containment
Unit 5: America
in the World:
Vietnam
Unit 6: America
in the World:
The End of the
Cold War and
The Post-Cold
War World
NOVEMBER
6.1
ASSESSMENT
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
primary and secondary sources
Double-Entry Journal on …and a hard
rain fell
Practice skills needed for successful
completion of AP US exam
Categorization exercise: based on
readings by Steel, Gaddis, Kirkpatrick
[CR6]
Evaluate:
Vietnam was a proxy war in the Cold
War.
The US was unable to fulfill its
desired purpose in Vietnam.
Protest at home doomed the war
effort. [CR1, CR3, CR6]
Doing history: “Doing History
Through…”: LBJ’s decision to
escalate:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/do_
history/decisions/index.html
Critical listening and questioning:
Discussion with author John Ketwig
about Vietnam, his book, and his
thoughts on the US’s role in the
world [CR1-3]
Conceptual identification:
historiography
Multiple choice exam
Free-Response Question Exam: choice
of two questions on the Cold War [CR8]
(sources: 2004 AP exam and 2002 AP
exam)
WARREN HILLS REGIONAL SCHOOLS: COURSE OF STUDY/CURRICULUM MAP
Teacher: O’Neill
Course: AP US History II
MONTH
CONTENT
BENCHMARK
SKILLS
Unit 7: America 6.1
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
at Home: The
primary and secondary sources
Roaring ’20s
Practice skills needed for successful
Unit 8: America
completion of AP US exam
at Home: The
Great Depression
Analyze data on consumer culture
and the New
and prohibition
Deal
Assess: “The 1920s was a period of
change and reaction.”
DECEMBER
Identify causes of the Depression
Assess role of New Deal in
responding to the Depression
Interpret data on the impact of the
Depression
ASSESSMENT
Scopes Trial: DBQ:
historythinkingmatters.org (docs located
in Scopes folder in AP assignments)
Annotation: Consumer Culture [See
Appendix F] [CR2, CR4, CR7]
DBQ practice: from the 1986 AP exam:
1920s [CR8]
Social Security DBQ:
historicalthinkingmatters.org (also
available in New Deal folder under AP
Assignments)
DBQ practice: from the 1984 AP exam:
Hoover and Roosevelt: Liberal or
Conservative? OR from the 2003 AP
exam: Effectiveness of FDR’s responses
to the Great Depression [CR8]
Multiple choice exam
Unit 9: America
at Home:
Politics and
Society, 19401960
Unit 10:
America at
Home: Civil
Rights
JANUARY
6.1
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
primary and secondary sources
Practice skills needed for successful
completion of AP US exam
Assess: “During and after WWII,
women and minorities experienced
significant progress toward equality.”
Assess: “Though the nation’s
prosperity is usually said to have
increased after WWII, an economic
divide was emerging.”
FRQ round robin:
Describe THREE of the following and
analyze the ways in which each of the
three has affected the status of women in
American society since 1940: changing
economic conditions; rebirth of an
organized women’s movement;
advancements in reproductive
technology; persistence of traditional
definitions of women’s roles
“The 1950sdeserve its reputation as an
age of political, social, and cultural
conformity.” Assess the validity of the
statement.
Identify post-War social changes.
Explain the conflict between state
and federal power in the civil rights
era, and connect this conflict to
previous eras in history.
Analyze the appeal of Dwight D.
Eisenhower to voters in the 1950s.
(from the 2003 AP exam): Compare and
contrast US society in the 1920s and the
WARREN HILLS REGIONAL SCHOOLS: COURSE OF STUDY/CURRICULUM MAP
Teacher: O’Neill
Course: AP US History II
MONTH
CONTENT
BENCHMARK
SKILLS
Identify key leaders and events in the
Civil Rights movement; identify and
assess strategies of nonviolence and
militarism.
Examine and draw conclusions about
data re: Civil Rights era society
ASSESSMENT
1950s with respect to TWO of the
following: race relations; role of
women; consumerism [CR8]
Rosa Parks document analysis:
historicalthinkingmatters.org (also
available in Civil Rights folder under AP
assignments)
Cartoon analysis: political cartoons
from Herb Block on issues of civil rights
(from Herblock’s History: Political
cartoons from the crash to the
millennium”:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblo
ck/presidents.html) [CR7]
Unit 11:
America at
Home:
Rebellion and
Reaction: the
1960s and 1970s
FEBRUARY
Unit 12:
America at
Home:
Innovations and
Divisions in a
Globalizing
Society: 19702000
6.1
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
primary and secondary sources
Practice skills needed for successful
completion of AP US exam
Assess the successes of the New
Frontier and the Great Society;
identify obstacles to success.
Provide examples of reactions
against the Vietnam War and the
homogenization of society.
Explain the importance of the 1968
presidential election.
Draw conclusions about the long
term impacts of Watergate.
Examine and assess data re: women
and employment, and re: presidential
FRQ: “African-Americans in the South
during the Reconstruction period was
treated better socially and politically
than at any other time until the 1960s.”
Assess the validity of the statement.
[CR8]
Political cartoon analysis: Herb Block
on Watergate [CR7]
FRQ round-robin: In what ways did the
Great Society resemble the New Deal in
its origins, goals, and social and political
legacy? Cite specific programs and
policies in support of your arguments.
Identify THREE of the following and
analyze to what extent each of the three
accurately reflected the accomplishments
with which they were associated: the
Return to Normalcy; the Fair Deal; the
New Frontier; the Great Society.
Analyze the relative importance of
Supreme Court decisions and
congressional action during the 1950s
and 1960s in bringing about significant
change in the civil rights of AfricanAmericans.
(from 2003 AP exam, form B): Describe
and account for changes in the American
WARREN HILLS REGIONAL SCHOOLS: COURSE OF STUDY/CURRICULUM MAP
Teacher: O’Neill
Course: AP US History II
MONTH
CONTENT
BENCHMARK
SKILLS
politics.
Analyze political cartoons for
historical content, irony, analogy, use
of symbols.
Identify trends re: the economy,
medicine, the environment, and
women and minorities between 1970
and 2000. Analyze data re: these
trends.
Unit 12, con’t
6.1
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
primary and secondary sources
Practice skills needed for successful
completion of AP US exam.
Assess Reagan’s legacy in regards to
the economy, income disparity, and
the role of government.
MARCH
ASSESSMENT
presidency between 1960 and 1975, as
symbolized by Kennedy’s “Camelot,”
Johnson’s Great Society, and Nixon’s
Watergate. In your answer, address the
powers of the presidency and the role of
the media. [CR8]
FRQ: “Progress of women and
minorities toward greater civil rights
spurred a conservative backlash.”
Assess the validity of the statement.
[CR8]
Multiple choice quiz
FRQ practice: “A decade characterized
by ‘Greed is Good’ was supplanted by a
growing desire to help the poor in the
1990s.” Assess the validity of the
statement. [CR8]
Evaluate the significance of Reagan
and Bush appointees to the Supreme
Court.
Unit 14 con’t:
review for AP
US exam
6.1
Determine whether Clinton was
essentially part of the conservative
insurgency or a reaction against it.
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
primary and secondary sources
Practice skills needed for successful
completion of AP US exam
APRIL
Free-Response Questions: [CR8]
brainstorming, categorization, and
thesis-creation on a number of AP
US History exam prompts
Handout: outline of US History (to
be completed by student) [CR1-4]
Handout: major Supreme Court
cases and brief summaries [CR1]
Handout: presidential terms, with
listing of major events [CR1]
Multiple choice, taken at home, in class,
and/or in special after school sessions:
Barron’s “Model A” exam
Barron’s “Model B” exam
Released AP US History exam: 1988
Released AP US History exam: 1996
Released AP US History exam: 2001
Thematic Review Project [CR5]
WARREN HILLS REGIONAL SCHOOLS: COURSE OF STUDY/CURRICULUM MAP
Teacher: O’Neill
Course: AP US History II
MONTH
CONTENT
BENCHMARK
SKILLS
Handout: topic outline and themes in
US history [CR5]
Unit 14 con’t:
review for AP
US exam
MAY
Analyze, synthesize, evaluate
primary and secondary sources
Birth of the Modern: papers and
presentations
Practice skills needed for successful
completion of AP US exam
Special projects
on the 20th
century
Special projects
on the 20th
century, con’t
JUNE
6.1
ASSESSMENT
6.1
Research a special topic in 20th c.
history. Analyze and evaluate
primary sources. Synthesize findings
in a presentation or written
document.
Birth of the Modern: papers and
presentations