Pottsgrove High School
Course Syllabus
Course – SST3700 – Advanced Placement European History
Teacher Contact Information
Mr. Thomas Bannister
Email - tbannister@pgsd.org
Course Web Page - http://www.pgsd.org/tbannister
(610) 326-5105 ex. 6005
Course Description: This is the equivalent of a college level course for highly motivated students.
Students will develop an understanding of the political, economic, social, diplomatic, and intellectual
concepts and trends in European history. Situations in other world regions will be discussed in the
context as it pertains to European affairs. Students will interpret historical writings using written and
verbal responses, and debate these issues in class discussion. This class is designed to prepare the students
for the AP Exam in May. Emphasis will be placed on building skills necessary for success on this test.
The course covers European History from 1450 to the present.
Dual Enrollment – This course also provides the student with the opportunity to earn dual enrollment
credits. Students can apply for dual enrollment credits through Montgomery County Community College,
which rewards 3 college history credits to participating students. Details concerning this option will be
discussed in class with a representative from MCCC within the first two weeks of class.
Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes
We will spend most of our time on:
- Critical analysis of historical content- political, social, economic, diplomatic, intellectual, cultural
history and historiography
- Analyzing and interpreting primary sources- this will include documentary material, maps, graphs,
statistical tables, pictures, and art.
- Think-pair-share discussion of readings, reporting out to class
- Frequent reaction essays in response to primary and secondary sources
- AP practice tests
- DBQ practice essays
- Occasional short presentations
Course Syllabus
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Pottsgrove High School
Course Syllabus
Required Textbooks and Materials
Text: Hunt, Lynn, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara H. Rosenwein, et.al. The Making of the West: People and
Cultures 3rd Edition, 2009.
Web resources:
Making of the West companion website:
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/hunt3e/player/pages/loginhunt.aspx?uid=0
Primary and secondary sources from various readers and web resources including
http://www.historyteacher.net/APEuroCourse/APEuro_Main_Weblinks_Page.htm
Suggested Course Materials
Folder, notebook, writing utensil
Assignments & Academic Calendar
First Quarter
DBQ - Assess the validity of identifying the European Middle Ages as a “Dark Age” of
European History
Primary source readings including Pope Boniface VIII, Leonardo Bruni, Savonarola, Martin Luther,
Huldrych Zwingli, Henry VIII, Ignatius Loyola, Emperor Charles V, Duarte Barbosa, Bartolome De Las
Casas, Machiavelli, Galileo, Louis XIV, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
Text readings: Hunt chapters 13-16. Thematic Essay Lesson - The Nine Types of Historical Essay
Questions- Introduction to the types of Historical Essays and strategies for successful responses.
Introduction to the DBQ - Technical Requirements, Grading Rubrics, and Strategies for tackling the DBQ
Art slide show - Medieval Art, Italian Renaissance & Northern Renaissance, Dutch masters
Unit 1: Renaissance, Reformation, and Discovery Hunt, Chapters 13-14
Week 1: Introduction to the course, AP themes, Crises of the 14th Century
Week 2-4: Renaissance, Exploration, and Reformation
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Course Syllabus
Unit 2: Wars of Religion, Science and Secularism
Hunt Chapter 15
Week 5: French Wars of Religion, English Protestantism, Thirty Years’ War
Week 6: Secular and Scientific World Views, Natural Law, Scientific Revolution
Unit 3: State Building, Absolutism, Constitutionalism
Hunt, Chapter 16
Week 7 & 8: Louis XIV, Absolutism, English Constitutionalism, The Dutch Republic
Second Quarter
DBQ – The French Revolution
Primary source readings will include Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Colbert, Copernicus, Rene
Descartes, Francis Bacon, Voltaire, Rosseau, Olympe De Gouges, Edmund Burke, Abbe Seyes,
Robespierre, Napoleon Bonaparte, Klemens Von Metternich
Text readings: Hunt, Chapters 17-20
Art slide show: Baroque and Rococo
Unit 4: The Atlantic System & Consolidation of the European State System
Hunt, Chapter 17
Week 9: The Atlantic System & its Consequences, European State System
Unit 5: The Enlightenment
Hunt, Chapter 17&18
Week 10 & 11: Enlightenment, State-Sponsored Reform, Revolution in North America
Unit 6: The French Revolution, Napoleonic Europe, Conservative Reaction
Hunt, Chapters 19 & 20
Weeks 12 & 13: The French Revolution
Weeks 14 & 15: Napoleonic Europe, The “Restoration” of Europe, Challenges to Conservatism
Third Quarter
DBQ choices:
1. Identify and analyze the political and cultural issues in the debate over Pan-Slavism.
2. Identify and analyze the issues that motivated those who believed Captain Dreyfus
should stand convicted of treason against the French Republic.
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Text readings: Hunt, Chapters 21-25
Primary source readings include Lord Byron, Hegel, Wordsworth, Metternich, Mazzini, Disraeli, Marx &
Engels, Bismarck, Wilhelm II, Sir Frederick Dealtry Lugard, Dostoevsky, Nietzche
Art slideshow - Romanticism, Realism & Naturalism, Impressionism & Postimpressionism, Cubism and
more.
Poetry interlude - Blake, Kipling, Wilfred Owen
Unit 7: Industrialization & Social Discontent
Hunt, Chapter 21
Weeks 16 & 17: Industrial Revolution, Social Reform, Ideologies, Revolutions of 1848
Unit 8: Nationalism, New Imperialism, & The Birth of Mass Politics
Hunt, Chapters 22 & 23
Week 18: End of the Concert of Europe, War and Nation-Building, New Social & Cultural Order
Week 19 & 20: Industry & Empire, The New Imperialism, The Birth of Mass Politics
Unit 9: Modernity, World War I & Its Aftermath
Hunt, Chapters 24 & 25
Week 21: Modernity and the Road to War
Week 22 & 23: World War I and Its Aftermath
Fourth Quarter
DBQ choices:
1. Analyze the ways in which various people viewed the causes of the terrorist campaign in Northern
Ireland between 1969 and 1999.
2. Analyze the major principles/values of fascism and describe its appeal to Europeans during the interwar years (1919-1939).
Primary Sources include Freud, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Hitler, Mussolini, Goebbels, Chamberlain,
Churchill, Truman, Sartre, Nasser, Sakharov, Gorbachev
Text Readings: Hunt, Chapters 26-29
Art show - Soviet Art, Test prep review of European art through the ages
Test Prep - Weekly review of multiple choice questions from Hunt companion website, AP Central, and
other web sources.
Unit 10: The Great Depression & World War I
Hunt, Chapter 26
Week 24 & 25: The Great Depression & the Triumph of Totalitarianism
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Week 26: World War II, Allied Victory, & Uneasy Postwar Settlement
Unit 11: The Cold War & The Remaking of Europe
Hunt, Chapter 27 & 28
Week 27 & 28: Origins of the Cold War, Decolonization, The Nuclear Threat
Week 29: Post-Industrial Society, Superpower Domination, End of the Cold War
Unit 12: New Globalism, Post-Cold War, the Present
Hunt, Chapter 29
Week 30: Collapse of the Soviet Union, Fragmentation of Europe, Global Networks
These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the teacher.
Grading Guidelines
Weighted System
Demonstrating Knowledge and Skills (Focus on Quality & Mastery NOT completion)
80% - Assessment (tests, quizzes, projects, performance)
Building Knowledge and Skills (Explicit Feedback for Learner is Required)
20%- Homework, Classwork, and Class Participation/Engagement
Grade Scale
100-93→ A→ 4
92-85→ B→ 3
84-77→ C→ 2
76-70→ D→ 1
69-60→ F→ 0
Classroom and School Policies
(make-up exams, extra credit, late work, special assignments, class attendance, classroom citizenship, etc.)
Classroom and School Policies
(make-up exams, extra credit, late work, special assignments, class attendance, classroom
citizenship, etc.)
Late Work
*Demonstrating Knowledge and Skills (Assessment)
-Students are expected to complete all learning activities designated as assessment.
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-Students who are absent for a test, quiz, performance, or project will make-up the
assessment in an interval equal to the absence.
-Students who do not complete assessments by the due date must complete them
by the deadline, which is five contact days after due date. After the deadline, a 10%
penalty applies unless there are extenuating circumstances.
*Building Knowledge and Skills (Classwork, Homework, and Participation/Engagement)
-Students will be given reasonable opportunities to complete building knowledge
and skills as defined by the teacher.
-Assignments not completed within 3 student contact days of the due date will be
converted to a zero.
-Some assignments may not apply. (i.e. classwork grade assigned when student is
absent)
Student Conduct & Discipline
You will be expected to act in accordance with societal norms and the standard classroom
environment. The school handbook and its discipline code will serve as the model for
appropriate behavior. Students are required to be in their seats when the bell rings. A climate of
mutual respect and dignity will be maintained at all times.
Academic Integrity
See handbook for definitions and consequences for cheating.
Course Syllabus
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