Dear APUSH Students,
I would like to congratulate you on your decision to take on the incredibly challenging and rewarding
journey that is Advance Placement United States History. The process of exploring the history of the
America and preparing for the national exam is an exciting and daunting one. In this course, students
are expected to participate on a high academic level, interpret and analyze both primary and secondary
sources, make historical interpretation and be able to use historical facts to defend their views, and
present their opinions in a clear, concise and orderly fashion in both an oral and written manner. I
believe that you will find this experience a rewarding one and, based on your efforts, you will be
successful.
The first step on the APUSH path is the summer assignment. This summer assignment is designed to
prepare you for the rigors of a college level course. This is given not as a punishment or as busy work,
but rather to begin the long process of preparing for the national exam. The assignment is broken into
two parts:
Part I requires you to read the book, Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. This is a really fun and
scary book that tells the story of both the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and a serial killer who preyed on
those visiting the fair. This book is an example of how exciting history can be. It also provides a great
background for understanding the many facets of American society at the turn of the century.
Part II is a textbook reading assignment. You will read the first four chapters of The American Pageant:
A History of the Republic. Attached is a list of key terms, concepts, and historical figures to guide your
reading and note taking. On Tuesday, September 3, 2013 there will be a test based on these chapter
readings. (You will need to pickup a textbook in order to do this.)
More detailed directions for both of these assignments follow below.
Have fun this summer and I hope you enjoy working on your summer assignment. Please do not
procrastinate. This is a job that is impossible to do well if left to the last minute. If you have any
questions, please contact me at eholodnick@frankelja.org. Please note, that I do not check my email
daily during the summer months.
Take care,
Mrs. Holodnick
Assignment Details
Part I:
Read The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen and write a 500 – 750 word typed book review.
Here are some suggested questions you might answer in your paper. You are not, however, limited to
just these questions.
What is the author’s overriding thesis? How does he prove his thesis?
Does he explain why detractors from his thesis are incorrect or weak arguments? NOTE: The thesis
may not be a sentence clearly established in the opening of the book. You may have to think about this.
Discuss the author’s use of evidence to prove his thesis.
Does the author have a bias? If so, explain.
Write two thoughtful questions you would ask the author about his work. Why these
questions? What other observations/insights do you have?
Part II:
ID and Short Answer Questions
Instructions:
Identification:
Indentify, describe, and state the historical significance of the sets of words. Id’s should include the
following information: the who or what of the term, when it occurred (dates), where it occurred and why
it was significant (importance). Note: This must be hand-written unless you have accommodations on
record. (I will not accept work that is typed or illegible.)
Example: Theodore Roosevelt: 26th President of the U.S. from 1901-1909. Roosevelt is considered the
first modern president and the first of the progressive presidents known for bringing about many
reforms. He is also well known for his foreign policy.
Short Answer:
Answer each of the short-answer questions with a one paragraph, 2-3 sentence response that reflects
analysis of the question and appropriate historical evidence.
The American Pageant
Chapter 1: New World Beginnings (pg. 4-24)
Identification:
Montezuma
Hernan Cortes
Robert de La Salle
Ferdinand Magellan
Renaissance
Treaty of Tordesillas
Three sister farming
Spanish Armada
Aztecs
Pueblo Indians
Iroquois Confederacy
Encomienda
Short Answer:
1. How did Indian societies of South and North America differ from European societies at the time the
two came into contact? In what ways did Indians retain a worldview different from that of the
Europeans?
2. What role did disease and forced labor (including slavery) play in the early settlement of America?
Explain whether the view of the Spanish and Portuguese as especially harsh conquerors and exploiters
is valid or is this image just another version of the English “black legend” concerning the Spanish role in
the Americas?
4. Why was the Old World able to dominate the New World? What were the strengths and weaknesses
of the Old World? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the New World?
5. Was development of African slavery in the North American colonies inevitable? What role did the
Spanish encomienda system and British sugar colonies play in introducing slavery to the southern
colonies?
The American Pageant
Chapter 2: The Planting of English America (pg. 25-42)
Identification:
Pocahontas
Powhatan
John Rolfe
Lord Baltimore
James Oglethorpe
John Smith
Francis Drake
William Penn
Elizabeth I
George II
Nation-state
Joint-stock company
House of Burgesses
Yeoman
Law of primogeniture
Indentured servitude
Maryland Act of Toleration
Virginia Company
Act of Toleration
Santa Fe
Quebec
Jamestown
The American Pageant
Chapter 3: Settling the Northern Colonies (pg. 43-65)
Identification:
John Calvin
Anne Hutchinson
Roger Williams
John Winthrop
John Cotton
Predestination
Salutary neglect
“city upon a hill”
Protestant Reformation
Pilgrims
New England Confederation
Massachusetts Bay Company
Navigation Laws
Glorious Revolution
Dutch East India Company
Separatists
Quakers
Protestant Ethic
Mayflower Compact
Fundamental Orders
French Huguenots
Church of England
Based on your reading of Chapters 2 and 3 complete the following comparison charts.
Colonial Patterns Worksheet
Spain
Motives of
Colonization: What did
the Crown hope to
gain?
Methods: Temporary,
exploitation, settlement,
conquest, etc.
Sources of Financing:
Who paid the bills for
securing land, supplies,
labor, transportation,
etc.?
Explain.
Treatment of/relations
with Native Americans
France
England
British Colonies
Virginia
Type of Colony: Joint
stock, proprietary or
royal
Political Structure:
Who held office,
governed, participated?
How democratic was it?
Economic and Social
Structure:
Distribution of wealth,
major enterprises,
dominant social
classes, ease of social
mobility?
Religion:
What church
dominated? How
tolerant were they of
others? Relationship to
government? How
important to society?
Maryland
Carolinas
New Hampshire
Type of Colony: Joint
stock, proprietary or
royal
Political Structure:
Who held office,
governed, participated?
How democratic was it?
Economic and Social
Structure:
Distribution of wealth,
major enterprises,
dominant social
classes, ease of social
mobility?
Religion:
What church
dominated? How
tolerant were they of
others? Relationship to
government? How
important to society?
Rhode Island
New York
Pennsylvania
Type of Colony: Joint
stock, proprietary or
royal
Political Structure:
Who held office,
governed, participated?
How democratic was it?
Economic and Social
Structure:
Distribution of wealth,
major enterprises,
dominant social
classes, ease of social
mobility?
Religion:
What church
dominated? How
tolerant were they of
others? Relationship to
government? How
important to society?
New Jersey
Delaware
The American Pageant
Chapter 4: American Life in the Seventeenth Century (pg. 66-84)
Identification:
Nathaniel Bacon
William Berkeley
Headright system
Middle passage
Bacon’s Rebellion
Half-Way covenant
Short Answer:
1. Compare and contrast the economies, geography and climate, mortality rates, sex ratios, and family
relationships of New England and the southern colonies.
2. Identify the main cause of Bacon’s Rebellion: resentment felt by back-country farmers, Governor
Berkeley’s Indian policies, or the pressure of the tobacco economy? Justify your choice.
4. Describe what you think town life contributed to the life-style of New Englanders; then consider what
the consequence of the absence of towns was in the colonial south.
5. Compare and contrast the status of women in the South with that of New England.