AP U.S. History Syllabus
Instructors:
Alvarez – P-138…….valvarez@judsonisd.org
Noe – P-130…….lnoe@judsonisd.org
Course Overview
Advanced Placement United States History is a rigorous, college level course intended to develop the higher level thinking skills
required in an undergraduate history class. The course is designed to further student comprehension of the history of the United
States- from its beginning to the present.
One of the main goals of the course is to develop an understanding of the key themes in early and modern American history (such as
American diversity, American identity, culture, demographic changes, economic transformations, environment, globalization, politics
and citizenship, reform, religion, slavery and its legacy, and war and diplomacy) and how those themes are interconnected.
It is also the goal of the course to develop an ability to analyze and accurately interpret historical evidence through the use of primary
and secondary sources as well as to develop an ability to apply that understanding of historical evidence in writing and other forms of
communication.
The historical content, the ability to apply evidence, and the writing skills developed throughout the course are utilized by students in
the College Board AP U.S. History Exam at the end of the year.
This course is fast-paced and requires a large amount of reading and a great deal of commitment.
Text:
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 12th Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 2002.
Additional Readings (Primary Source Excerpts):
Kennedy, David M. and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Spirit Volumes I and II. 10th Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 2002.
Additional Readings (Secondary Source Excerpts):
Couvares, Francis G., Martha Saxton, Gerald N. Grob, and George Athan Billias. Interpretations of American History. Eighth
Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Lindaman, Dana and Kyle Ward. History Lessons How Textbooks from Around the World Portray U.S. History. New York: The New
Press.
Excerpts from other texts, articles, and primary source documents will be given to students by the teacher during the year.
Grading:
Major Grades (Tests, Essays, Research Projects, etc.) ………………..
Minor Grades (Daily Quizzes, Homework, Assignments, etc.) …………….
 Multiple choice tests will be given at the end of each unit; they will be cumulative (i.e., information from previous units
will be on all tests – about 15%) and inclusive (i.e., it will include information from the textbook and outside readings –
about 15%). There will be 2 to 3 tests per six weeks and these will be modeled after the AP Exam.
 Essays will be counted as a test grade and will be modeled after the AP Exam. There will be a minimum of 2 essays per six
weeks (e.g., one DBQ and one FRQ).
 Reading Quizzes will be given after every other chapter, these will be short answer ‘vocabulary term’ quizzes; students will
need to identify the “what” and “why” of each vocabulary term.
 All tests and quizzes will be timed and completed in class.
Calendars:
 Distributed each semester
 Posted on teacher websites
 All reading assignments are listed on the calendar
 Students are responsible for all assignments, quizzes, tests, and projects listed on the calendar, even if they are absent.
Homework:
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READ! READ! READ! Read all assigned chapters and outside readings when they are due! Your ability to keep up with
the material and readings will help facilitate class discussions and learning.
All assignments listed on the calendar or given in class are due on the assigned date regardless of absences.
If a student is absent on the day homework is assigned, the student is responsible for obtaining the assignment the day they
return to school. The assignment will be due the following class.
Accountability and Independent Learning:
You are responsible for reading and studying the textbook The American Pageant (as well as ALL other readings). There will be a
daily calendar located on the teacher websites at the beginning of each semester (and you will be given a hard copy of the calendar)
to assist you in this process; you also have been given a consumable copy of the Student Guidebook to accompany the text, you are
encouraged to complete this as we go through the textbook. While some of the textbook will be discussed in detail through our class
discussions, seminars, and debates, some of it will be covered through independent learning.
Attendance and Tardiness:
 The pace of this course is accelerated and missing class might cause problems. If you do have to miss, check your calendar
for assignments. All assignments should be completed in a timely fashion and in accordance with JISD policy.
 Quizzes, tests, and timed activities/assignments begin promptly at the beginning of class.
 If a student is tardy to class, they will NOT be given additional time for completion of the assessment/assignment.
 If a student has an excused tardy to class, they will be allowed the following options:
1. Take the quiz, test, etc. and receive NO additional time.
2. Make up the quiz, test, etc. at a specified time during tutoring hours.
Retakes:
 School policy allows students who do not demonstrate mastery of content the first time (90% or higher) to retake tests. The
policy in APUSH is as follows:
o Students are required to complete a “ticket” created by the teacher to review the concepts covered on the test.
o The “ticket” must be completed and turned in to receive the new version of the test.
o All retakes must be done during tutoring hours.
 School policy allows students “a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a class assignment or examination for which
they received a failing grade.” The policy in APUSH is as follows:
o JISD policy – the student has 10 school days from the date the failing grade was entered in the electronic grade
book to make up or redo the assignment.
o All make up/redo work must be completed during tutoring hours.
o If the failing grade is for a quiz, follow the guidelines outlined for tests listed above.
Notebooks:
 3-ring binder (at least 1 ½”)
 3 sections in the binder: Chapter Notes; Class Notes; Hand-outs
Taking Notes:
 Taking notes is a required and independent activity for this course – these are to be done at home and over the chapters in
the textbook.
 Notes are due and will be checked on days the readings are due as listed on the semester calendar.
 Each student will be required to take vocabulary style notes. For each chapter, the student must have at least 20 vocabulary
terms in their notes.
 Chapter reading quizzes will cover vocabulary terms from the notes.
 This will count as a minor grade.
Class Discussions:
 When we cover a chapter in class, we discuss it as a class. There will be no lecture on what you were supposed to have read
for that day. Therefore, it is imperative that you keep up with the chapter readings.
 Rules and guidelines for class discussions will be given out and explained prior to the first class discussion.
 Opportunities to earn “discussion points” (which are added to test grades – up to five points) will be given.
Extra Credit:
 Opportunities for extra credit are rarely given, if at all. Therefore, students are encouraged to complete the regular
assignments.
First Semester Course Outline:
Unit 1: Early History through the New Nation – 3 Weeks
Topics:
 New World Beginnings
 The Duel for North America
 English America: New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies
 The Road to Revolution
 Colonial Society
 The Revolutionary War
Unit 1 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 1 – 8
 The American Spirit v. 1: Chapter 1 – B1: “Hernan Cortes Conquers Mexico”
Chapter 1 – B2: “Aztec Chroniclers Describe the Spanish Conquest of Mexico”
Chapter 2 – C1 and C2: “Religious Strife in Maryland”
Chapter 4 – A5: “An Unruly Servant is Punished”
Chapter 5 – B1: “George Whitefield Fascinates Franklin”
Chapter 6 – B1: “Franklin Characterizes General Edward Braddock”
Chapter 7 – C4: “Two Views of the British Empire” (political cartoons)
 Interpretations of American History: The Puritans: Orthodoxy or Diversity?
 Jacques Cartier: First Contact with the Indians, 1534
 John Smith’s Differing Accounts of Being Captured
 Excerpts from England’s Treasure by Foreign Trade by Thomas Mun, 1664
 City Upon a Hill by John Winthrop
 Ben Franklin’s Advice on Taking a Mistress
 On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phyllis Wheatley
Unit 1 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Research Essay: Social, Political, and Economic Comparison/Contrast of the Colonial Regions
 Test: Multiple Choice
 DBQ: The Great Awakening and Its Impact
Unit 2: Building the New Nation – 3 Weeks
Topics:
 The Articles of Confederation
 War of 1812
 The Constitution
 New Nationalism
 The Young Republic
 Marshall Court and Judicial Review
 Jeffersonian America
 The Monroe Doctrine
Unit 2 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 9 – 12
 The American Spirit v. 1: Chapter 9 – A1, A2, & A3: “The Shock of Shays’s Rebellion”
Chapter 10 – A2, A3, A4, B3, C1, C2, D1: “Hamilton Versus Jefferson”
Chapter 11 – A3: “Marshall Asserts the Supremacy of the Constitution”
Chapter 12 – A3: “Causes of the War [of 1812]” (political cartoons)
 Interpretations of American History: The Constitution: Conflict or Consensus?
 The Articles of Confederation
 The United States Constitution
 Federalist Number 10, Number 51, and Number 84
 Washington’s Farewell Address
 Excerpts from Patrick Glass’s Journal (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition)
Unit 2 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Written Explanation, Analysis, and Response to the Three Selected Federalist Papers.
 Test: Multiple Choice and FRQ Essay
Unit 3: Jacksonian America through Reforming America – 3 Weeks
Topics:
 The Rise of a Mass Democracy
 The Factory System
 Jackson’s Presidency
 The Transportation Revolution
 The Establishment of a Two-Party System
 The Ferment of Reform and Culture
 Forging the National Economy
Unit 3 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 13 – 15
 The American Spirit v. 1: Chapter 13 – D4: “Andrew Jackson Denounces Nullification”
Chapter 13 – E2: “A Boston Journal Attacks Jackson”
Chapter 14 – A2: “The Abuse of Female Workers” by Charles Dickens
Chapter 15 – B2: “Dorothea Dix Succors the Insane”
 Interpretations of American History: Jacksonian Democracy: How Democratic?
 Interpretations of American History: Antebellum Reform: Evolving Causes and Strategies
 Excerpt from Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress on Indian Policy, 1835
 Lucy Stone: “Disappointment Is the Lot of Women,” 1855
 The Lowell Offering, 1840
Unit 3 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Research Essay – Assess the validity of the following statement: With the election of Jackson came the rise of the common
man.
 “One-pager” Project on Assigned Reformer of the mid-1800s
 Test: Multiple Choice and FRQ Essay
Unit 4: The Path to Civil War, the 1850s – 2 Weeks
Topics:
 Dred Scott v. Sanford
 The South and the Slavery Controversy
 The Birth of the Republican Party
 Sectionalism
 Election of Lincoln
 Popular Sovereignty
 Secession
 Abolition Movement
Unit 4 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 16, 18, 19
 The American Spirit v. 1: Chapter 16 – A2: “A Former Slave Exposes Slavery” by F. Douglass
Chapter 18 – D1: “Stephen Douglas’s Popular Sovereignty Plea”
Chapter 19 – A3: “Mrs. Stowe Inflames the Southern Imagination” (cartoon)
 Interpretations of American History: Slave Culture: African or American?
 Excerpt from Theodore Parker’s The Function of Conscience, 1850
 Excerpt from John C. Calhoun’s Last Senatorial Address (speaking out against the Compromise of 1850)
 Excerpt from Frederick Douglass’s Independence Day Speech, 1850
 Excerpt from Hinton R. Helper’s The Impending Crisis of the South, 1860
 Excerpt from Chief Justice Taney’s Opinion in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
Unit 4 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Illustrated Timeline Project: “The Path to War”
 Test: Multiple Choice and FRQ Essay
Unit 5: Civil War and Reconstruction – 2 Weeks
Topics:
 Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan
 Lincoln and Civil Liberties
 Congressional Reconstruction
 Economy During the War
 Military Reconstruction
 Society During the War
 Compromise of 1877
 Politics During the War
 Legacy of Reconstruction
 Major Battles and Campaigns
 Jim Crow
 Assassination of Lincoln
Unit 5 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 20 – 22 and parts of Chapter 23
 The American Spirit v. 1: Chapter 20 – A2 & A3: “Fort Sumter Inflames the North and Inspirits the South”
Chapter 21 – A2: “Abolitionists View the War” (cartoon with poem)
Chapter 22 – B1: “Southern Blacks Ask for Help”
Chapter 23 – B4: “Booker T. Washington Portrays the Plight of Black Tenant Farmers”
 Interpretations of American History: The Civil War: Repressible or Irrepressible?
 Interpretations of American History: The Reconstruction Era: How Large Its Scope?
 Excerpts from the Constitution of the Confederate States of America
 Excerpt from Mary B. Chesnut’s Diary, 1861
 Excerpt from Clara Barton: Medical Life at the Battlefield, 1862
 Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
 The Civil Rights of Freedmen in Mississippi (Mississippi Black Code), 1865
 The Fourteenth Amendment
Unit 5 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Test: Multiple Choice
 DBQ: To what extent did Reconstruction bring freedmen the equality and freedom slavery had denied them?
Unit 6: Manifest Destiny – 2 Weeks
Topics:
 Conquest of the Native Americans
 Maine
 Mining and Cattle Frontiers
 Oregon
 Plight of the Farmers
 Texas
 Populist Party
 Polk and the Mexican War
Unit 6 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 17 & 26
 The American Spirit v. 1: Chapter 17 – B5: “A British View of the Mexican War” (cartoon)
 History Lessons: Manifest Destiny.
 Excerpts from Fredrick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis
 Excerpts from the Treaties of Velasco
 “Across the Plains” from Catherine Sager Pringle’s Oregon Trail Diary, 1844
 “The Great Nation of Futurity” by John L. O’Sullivan, 1845
 “Against the Mexican War,” Senator Thomas Corwin, 1847
 Lydia Allen Rudd, Diary of Westward Travel, 1852 (excerpts)
 “An Overland Journey” by Horace Greeley, 1860
 Excerpts from L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, 1900
 Excerpts from Various Tribal Leaders’ Speeches (Tecumseh, Black Hawk, Geronimo, Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Crazy
Horse)
Unit 6 Assessments:
 Post-Socratic Seminar Analytical Essay: The Significance of the Frontier in American History
 Group Project: Write your own Manifest Destiny Song, creating your own music or using a popular tune.
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Test: Multiple Choice and FRQ Essay
Second Semester Course Outline:
Unit 7: The Gilded Age and the Industrial Society – 2 ½ Weeks
Topics:
 Gilded Age Politics
 Union Movement
 Society and Culture at the Turn of the Century
 Civil Service Reform
 Urbanization
 Progressivism
 Railroad Boom
 “New” Immigrants
 Muckrakers
 Big Business
 Nativism
 Women’s Suffrage Movement
 Industrialization
Unit 7 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 24 – 25, and parts of Chapters 23 and 29
 The American Spirit v. 2: Chapter 24 – C1: “Andrew Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth”
Chapter 29 – E3: “Images of the Suffrage Campaign” (cartoons)
 Interpretations of American History: The Triumph of Capitalism: Efficiency or Class War?
 Interpretations of American History: The Progressive Movement: Elitist or Democratic?
 “The Life of the Street Rats” by Charles Loring Brace, 1872
 Excerpts from “The Gilded Age” by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, 1880
 “Memorial of the Chinese Six Companies to U.S. Grant, President of the United States,” 1876
 Excerpts from How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis, 1890
 Excerpts from The Shame of the Cities by Lincoln Steffens, 1904
 Excerpts from The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor, 1919
Unit 7 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Post-Socratic Seminar Analytical Essay: The Gilded Age – A Time of Progress?
 Political Cartoons of the Gilded Age Project
 Test: Multiple Choice and FRQ Essay
Unit 8: Imperialism & World War I – 3 Weeks
Topics:
 Dollar Diplomacy
 American Expansionism
 Missionary Diplomacy
 Spanish-American War
 Causes of WWI
 Open Door Policy
 Aftermath of WWI
 US in Latin America
 14 Points
 Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson
Unit 8 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 27 – 31 (only part of Chapter 29)
 The American Spirit v. 2: Chapter 27 – A1: “Joseph Pulitzer Demands Intervention”
A2: “Hearst Stages a Rescue”
Chapter 28 – B2: “Theodore Roosevelt Hopes for a Revolt”
Chapter 30 – A2: “Wilson Asks for ‘a Free Field and No Favor’”
Chapter 31 – C2: “W. Wilson versus T. Roosevelt on the 14 Points”
 Interpretations of American History: American Imperialism: Economic Expansion or Ideological Crusade?
 History Lessons: The Great War
 Rudyard Kipling’s The White Man’s Burden, 1899
 “Reasons for [the Spanish-American] War,” Anonymous 1898
 Augustine’s Theology of “Just War”
 “Boy Scouts Support the War Effort,” 1917
 Letters from the Great Migration, 1917
 Excerpts from Eugene Kennedy’s WWI Diary, 1918
 Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points
Unit 8 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Spanish-American War Evaluation Project (adapted from Duke University TIP Resources)
 Test: Multiple Choice
 DBQ: Evaluate the circumstances that led to the shift in the American position regarding entrance into World War I.
Unit 9: The Roaring 20s , The Great Depression, and The New Deal – 3 Weeks
Topics:
 Causes of the Great Depression
 Red Scare
 Dustbowl
 Prohibition
 Hoover
 Consumerism
 FDR
 Changing Society of the 20s
 New Deal Alphabet Soup
 Modernism
 Legacy of New Deal
 Boom to Bust
Unit 9 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 32 – 34
 The American Spirit v. 2: Chapter 32 – C1: “A German Observes Bootlegging”
Chapter 33 – B1: “The Plague of Plenty”
Chapter 33 – C all: “Herbert Hoover Clashes with Franklin Roosevelt”
Chapter 34 – F4: “Assessing the New Deal” (cartoons)
 Interpretations of American History: The New Deal: Revolution or Restoration?
 National Origins Quota Act, 1924
 Excerpts from Margaret Sanger’s “Happiness in Marriage,” 1926
 Bartolomeo Vanzetti’s Court Statement, 1927
 FDR’s 1st Inaugural Address
 Various Accounts from Victims of the KKK, 1935
 Mrs. Henry Weddington’s Letter to President F. Roosevelt, 1938
Unit 9 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings


Policy Initiatives of the Great Depression Analysis (adapted from Duke University TIP Resources)
Test: Multiple Choice and FRQ Essay
Unit 10: World War II , The Cold War, & The 1950s – 3 Weeks
Topics:
 NATO
 Rise of Dictators
 Containment
 Neutrality
 Korean War
 Big Three
 Eisenhower
 Appeasement
 Red Scare and McCarthyism
 Expansion of Government Power
 Suburbia
 Home Front
Unit 10 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 35 – 37 and parts of Chapter 38
 The American Spirit v. 2: Chapter 35 – A1: “Two Views of Isolationism” (cartoons)
Chapter 35 – D2: “Togo Blames the United States”
Chapter 36 – D all: “Dropping the Atomic Bomb”
Chapter 37 – A all: “The New Shape of Postwar Society”
Chapter 38 – B all: “The McCarthy Hysteria”
Chapter 38 – D3: “Newton Minnow Criticizes the ‘Vast Wasteland’ of Television”
 Interpretations of American History: The Cold War and Beyond: Stability, Hegemony, Chaos?
 History Lessons: The Cold War, Korean War
 Albert Einstein’s Letter to President Roosevelt, 1939
 Charles Lindbergh’s America First Committee Radio Address, 1941
 “Why Should We March?” by A. Philip Randolph, 1942
 Executive Order 9066
 “Long Telegram” by George F. Kennan, 1946
 The Marshall Plan
 The Truman Doctrine
 Ronald Reagan’s Testimony Before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), 1947
 “Young Mother,” Ladies Home Journal, 1956
Unit 10 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 Class Debate: Truman and the Bomb (adapted from
http://www.ecfs.org/Projects/Fieldston57/since40/units/unit1/supplements/DroppingBombSim.html)
 Test: Multiple Choice
 DBQ: “The decade of the 1950s was an age of political and social conformity.”
Unit 11: Modern America – The 60s, 70s, & 80s – 3 Weeks
Topics:
 Antiwar Movement/Counterculture
 New Frontier to Great Society
 Vietnam
 Cold War Continues
 Nixon’s Challenges
 Warren Court
 New Right and Reagan Revolution
 Civil Rights Movement
 Reagonomics
 The “Other” America
 End of the Cold War
 Feminist Movement
Unit 11 Readings (to be selected and assigned by teacher):
 The American Pageant: Chapters 39 – 41 and parts of Chapter 38
 The American Spirit v. 2: Chapter 39 – E4: “Stewart Alsop Senses the End of an Era”
Chapter 40 – D5: “Nixon Accepts a Presidential Pardon”
Chapter 40 – E2: “The Case for the Equal Rights Amendment”
Chapter 41 – A1: “The Supply-Side Gospel”
Chapter 41 – B2: “A Journalist Urges Caution in Nicaragua”
Chapter 41 – B4: “Four Views on the End of the Cold War”
Chapter 41 – C1: “Newt Gingrich and Lowell Weicker Debate School Prayer”
 Interpretations of American History: The Civil Rights Movement: New Directions
 Interpretations of American History: Second Wave Feminism: How Inclusive?
 Interpretations of American History: The New Right: Rise… and Fall?
 Excerpts from the Supreme Court Decision: Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
 Excerpts from the Supreme Court Decision: Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s (SNCC) Statement of Purpose, 1960
 SNCC Memorandum, Charles Sherrod, 1961
 Excerpts from Black Power by Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton, 1967
 Civil Rights Act, 1964
 LBJ’s Gulf of Tonkin Address to Congress, 1964
 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964
 LBJ’s Address on “The War on Poverty,” 1964
 Excerpts from Inaugural Addresses of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, L. Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan
 Nixon’s Address on Vietnamization, 1969
 The “Malaise” Speech, President Carter, 1979
 President Reagan’s Inaugural Address, 1981
Unit 11 Assessments:
 Daily Quizzes on Assigned Readings
 One-pager Project: Protest Songs of the 1960s
 Research Project: Analyze the visions for the United States as reflected in the Inaugural Addresses of Truman, Eisenhower,
L. Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan. Compose and deliver nomination speeches for the greatest of these presidents.
(adapted from Duke University TIP Resources)
 Test: Multiple Choice and FRQ Essay
APRIL 20 – MAY 11: STATE EXIT-LEVEL EXAMS, REVIEW TIME, AP TEST!!!!!
Unit 12: The 90s and the New Century – PROJECTS and PRESENTATIONS!! – 3 Weeks