AP United States History
Course Purpose:
Advanced Placement United States History is the equivalent of a college-level course
designed to provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary
to deal critically with problems and materials in United States history. Students learn to
assess historical materials and weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in
historical scholarship. This course develops the skills necessary to reach conclusions
based on informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and
persuasively in oral and written forms. Within a chronological framework, students
examine the people, experiences, and events which have shaped the American nation.
The program prepares students for college courses by making demands upon them
equivalent to those of full-year introductory courses. This course is also intended to
prepare students to take the AP U.S. history exam. Students in this course are expected
to take the AP U.S. History Examination.
Additional Course Requirements:
To complete the procedure of formal research and inquiry training begun in ninth grade, a
lengthy research project is required. The research project will also provide students with
the opportunity to analyze evidence and interpret historical scholarship in order prove
their thesis. Successful completion of this project is required to receive credit for the
course.
Course Texts and Readings:
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Bailey. The American Pageant.
13th ed. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006.
Kennedy, David M., and Thomas Bailey, eds. The American Spirit:
United States History as Seen by Contemporaries. 11th ed. Vol. 1. Boston, Mass.:
Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006
Kennedy, David M., and Thomas Bailey, eds. The American Spirit:
United States History as Seen by Contemporaries. 11th ed. Vol. 2. Boston, Mass.:
Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006
Various articles and handouts
Grading:
Grades will be accumulated through objective and subjective tests, quizzes, homework,
and a research paper. Tests will occur on a weekly basis. The midterm exam will have
the same format as the AP US history exam. The format of the final exam will be
announced at a later time. The research project requirements will be discussed 1st
marking period.
Course Themes:
Each of the following themes, as determined by the College Board, will be highlighted
throughout Units 1-6 to aid students in their examination of people, experiences, and
events which have shaped the American nation.
American Diversity
American Identity
Culture
Demographic Changes
Economic Transformations
Environment
Globalization
Politics and Citizenship
Reform
At the end of the course students will be expected to write about these themes in further
detail on their final examination.
Course Outline:
Unit 1: Founding the New Nation c.33, 000 B.C.-A.D. 1783 (5 Weeks)
Readings: (All assigned readings should be read by Monday of the week that the chapter
will be discussed. Schedule to be handed out on the first day of school)
Chapters 1-8 from American Pageant
Various primary sources from Chapter 1-8 of The American Spirit
Lecture: Historiography-Consensus vs. Conflict
Films: Scenes from Last of the Mohicans
Content: (early 16th Century-1783)
The age of discovery
The development of the American colonies
The struggle between Britain and France over the New World
The causes of the American Revolution
The American Revolution
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Summer Assignment
1.
Students will choose a book relating to American history, from a
prepared list, to read and to complete a written book review.
2.
Students will read the Chapters 1-3 of the American Pageant
Students will take notes and complete the Identifications for
these chapters. Students should be prepared for a test on these
three chapters the first week of school.
Workbook-Chapters 1-8 of the American Pageant Guidebook (Specific sections to be
determined)
“Varying Viewpoints” from American Pageant and the American Pageant Instructor’s
Resource Guide- Students will read and answer questions on issues of historical
interpretation and disagreement.
“Europeanizing America or Americanizing Europe?”
Thomas J. Wertenbaker, The Founding of American Civilization (1938)/
Gary Nash, Red, White, and Black: The People of Early America (1974).
“Colonial America: Communities of Conflict or Consensus?”
Richard Bushman, From Puritan to Yankee (1967)/
Gary Nash, The Urban Crucible (1979).
“Whose Revolution”
Research Paper- Students will begin the research process for the 12-15 page paper that
will be due during the 4th marking period. After students spend three days in the library
they will be required to turn in a preliminary thesis.
Tests- Chapter tests will occur on a weekly basis. Students will receive a test schedule on
the first day of school. A Unit test will occur at the completion of Chapters 1-8.
DBQs: The Transformation of Colonial Virginia, 1606-1700
English-Indian Relations, 1600-1700
Unit 2: Building the New Nation 1776-1860 (7 Weeks)
Readings: (All assigned readings should be read by Monday of the week that the chapter
will be discussed. Schedule to be handed out on the first day of school)
Chapters 9-15 of American Pageant
Various primary sources from Chapters 9-19 of the American Spirit
Content: (1776-1860)
The Articles of Confederation
The framing of the Constitution
Jeffersonians
Hamiltonians
Marshall Supreme Court
The War of 1812
Era of Good Feelings
The development of national and sectional economies
The age of reform: Jacksonian Democracy
Monroe Doctrine
Territorial Expansion
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Workbook-Chapters 9-15 of the American Pageant Guidebook (Specific sections to be
determined)
“Varying Viewpoints” from American Pageant and the American Pageant Instructor’s
Resource Guide- Students will read and answer questions on issues of historical
interpretation and disagreement.
“The Constitution: Revolutionary or Counterrevolutionary?”
Charles Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution (1913)/
Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic (1969).
“What was the Jacksonian Democracy?”
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Age of Jackson (1945)/
Lee Benson, The Concept of Jacksonian Democracy: New York a Test
Case (1961).
“Reform: Who? What? How? And Why?”
David Donald, Lincoln Reconsidered (1956)/
Nancy Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood: “Women’s Sphere” in New England,
1780-1835 (1977).
Research Paper- Working Bibliography due (Date TBA)
Tests- Chapter tests will occur on a weekly basis. Students will receive a test schedule on
the first day of school. A Unit test will occur at the completion of Chapters 9-15.
DBQs: Thomas Jefferson and the Philosophical Consistency, 1790-1809
The Changing Place of Women, 1815-1860
Unit 3: Testing the New Nation 1820-1877 (6 Weeks)
Readings: (All assigned readings should be read by Monday of the week that the chapter
will be discussed. Schedule to be handed out on the first day of school)
Chapters 16-22 from the American Pageant
Various primary sources from the American Spirit
Films: Scenes from Glory
Content: (1820-1877)
Manifest Destiny
Slavery
Sectionalism
The road to war
The American Civil War
Reconstruction
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Workbook-Chapters 16-22 of the American Pageant Guidebook (Specific sections to be
determined)
“Varying Viewpoints” from American Pageant and the American Pageant Instructor’s
Resource Guide- Students will read and answer questions on issues of historical
interpretation and disagreement.
“What was the True Nature of Slavery?”
Stanley Elkins, Slavery (1959)/ Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll (1972).
“The Civil War: Repressible or Irrepressible”
Charles and Mary Beard, The Rise of American Civilization (1927)/
David M. Potter, The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861 (1976)/
Michael Holt, Forging a Majority: The Formation of the Republic Party in
Pittsburgh, 1848-1860 (1969).
“What were the Consequences of the Civil War?”
T. Harry Williams, Lincoln and His Generals (1952)/
Allan Nevins, The War for the Union (1971)/
Thomas C. Cochran, “Did the Civil War Retard Industrialization?” Mississippi
Valley Historical Review (1961)/
James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (1988).
“How Radical Was Reconstruction?”
William A. Dunning, Reconstruction: Political and Economic (1907)/
Kenneth Stampp, The Era of Reconstruction (1965).
Tests- Chapter tests will occur on a weekly basis. Students will receive a test schedule on
the first day of school. A Unit test will occur at the completion of Chapters 16-22.
DBQs: Slavery and Sectional Attitudes, 1830-1860
Abraham Lincoln and the Struggle for Union and Emancipation, 1861-1865
Unit 4: Forging and Industrial Society 1869-1909 (5 Weeks)
Readings: (All assigned readings should be read by Monday of the week that the chapter
will be discussed. Schedule to be handed out on the first day of school)
Chapters 23-27 from the American Pageant
Various primary sources from the American Spirit
Films: A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama
Content: (1869-1909)
Post-Civil War economic and social developments
The agricultural revolution
The Granger movement
The rise and decline of the Populists
Territorial Expansion
Creating a Global Empire
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Workbook-Chapters 23-27 of the American Pageant Guidebook (Specific sections to be
determined)
“Varying Viewpoints” from American Pageant and the American Pageant Instructor’s
Resource Guide- Students will read and answer questions on issues of historical
interpretation and disagreement.
“The Populists: Radicals or Reactionists?”
Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform (1955)/
Lawrence Goodwyn, Democratic Promise: The Populist Movement in America
(1976).
“Industrialization: Boon or Blight?”
Mathew Josephson, The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 18611901 (1934)/
Herbert Gutman, Work, Culture, and Society in Industrializing American (1976).
“Was the West Really Won?”
Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”
(1893)/
Richard White, The Middle Ground (1991).
“Why Did America Become a World Power?”
Julius Pratt, Expansionists of 1898 (1951)/
William Appleman Williams, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (1959).
Tests- Chapter tests will occur on a weekly basis. Students will receive a test schedule on
the first day of school. A Unit test will occur at the completion of Chapters 23-27.
DBQs: The Role of Capitalists, 1875-1900
The Farmers’ Movement, 1875-1900
Unit 5: Struggling for Justice at Home and Abroad 1901-1945 (6 Weeks)
Readings: (All assigned readings should be read by Monday of the week that the chapter
will be discussed. Schedule to be handed out on the first day of school)
Chapters 28-35 from the American Pageant
Various primary sources from the American Spirit
Films: Cinderella Man, Saving Private Ryan
Content: (1901-1945)
The progressives in power
The road to World War I and U.S. involvement
Political conservatism ascendant
The 1st Red Scare
The Harlem Renaissance
Other cultural development during the roaring twenties
The Great Depression
The New Deal
World War II and the end of U.S. neutrality
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Workbook-Chapters 28-35 of the American Pageant Guidebook (Specific sections to be
determined)
“Varying Viewpoints” from American Pageant and the American Pageant Instructor’s
Resource Guide- Students will read and answer questions on issues of historical
interpretation and disagreement.
“Who Were the Progressives?
Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform (1955)/ Gabriel Kolko, The Triumph of
Conservatism (1963)/
Robert Wiebe, The Search for Order, 1877-1920 (1967).
“Woodrow Wilson: Relist or Idealist?”
George Kennan, American Diplomacy (1950)/
Arthur Link, Wilson the Diplomatist (1957).
“How Radical Was the New Deal?”
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Age of Roosevelt: The Coming of the New Deal
(1959)/
William E. Leuchtenberg, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal (1963).
“The Atomic Bombs: Were They Justified?”
Gar Alperovtiz, Atomic Diplomacy (rev. ed., 1985)/
Martin Sherwin, A World Destroyed (1975).
Research Paper- Rough Drafts Due (Date TBA)
Tests- Chapter tests will occur on a weekly basis. Students will receive a test schedule on
the first day of school. A Unit test will occur at the completion of Chapters 28-35.
DBQs: The United States as World Power, 1895-1920
Foreign Policy, 1930-1941
Unit 6: Making Modern American 1945 to the Present (5 Weeks)
Readings: (All assigned readings should be read by Monday of the week that the chapter
will be discussed. Schedule to be handed out on the first day of school)
Chapters 36-42 from the American Pageant
Various primary sources from the American Spirit
Content: (1945-Present)
The origins of the Cold War
The intensifications of Cold War hostilities
Containment policy in Europe and Asia
The 2nd Red Scar
McCarthyism
Cold War becomes hotter
Transformation of American Culture
Civil Rights Movement
The Great Society
Resurgence of conservatism
The end of the Cold War
The challenges of the contemporary world
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Workbook-Chapters 36-42 of the American Pageant Guidebook (Specific sections to be
determined)
“Varying Viewpoints” from American Pageant and the American Pageant Instructor’s
Resource Guide- Students will read and answer questions on issues of historical
interpretation and disagreement.
“Who Was to Blame for the Cold War?”
Walter LaFeber, America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-1984 (1985)/
John Lewis Gaddis, The United Sates and the Origins of the Cold War (1972).
“The Sixties: Constructive or Destructive?”
Todd Gitlin, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage (1987)/
William O’Neil, Coming Apart (1971).
“Where Did Modern Conservatism Come From?”
Daniel Bell, ed., The Radical Right (1963)/
Kevin Phillips, Post-Conservative America (1982).
Tests- Chapter tests will occur on a weekly basis. Students will receive a test schedule on
the first day of school. Due to the AP Exam there will be no unit test for Unit 6.
DBQs: Conformity and Turbulence, 1950-1970
The Resurgence of Conservatism, 1964-2000
Unit 7: Review (1-2 Weeks)
Students will spend the remaining class periods prior to the AP Exam reviewing for the
test. This will be done through practice tests and content review sessions.
Unit 8: Hollywood and History (4 Weeks)
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Research Project- Final Copy Due (Date TBA)