Advanced Placement United States History
Course Outline
Advanced Placement US History covers the history of the United States beginning with
Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age (1869-1896) and concludes with The American
People Face a New Century This material will be covered using a variety of
instructional techniques including (but not limited to) simulations, debates, map
assignments, lectures, mock trials, and student-produced projects such as newspapers and
oral presentations. This course will use a variety of strategies to engage the student in the
learning process, develop independent learning skills. In order to accomplish these goals
emphasis will be placed on understanding historical readings, using and developing
critical thinking skills, and evaluating historical evidence. Students will be expected to
complete independent primary source readings, compose a variety of writing
assignments, including essays and research projects, and discuss, debate, and present
information orally to others. Required research projects will develop the student’s
proficiency in assessing, comprehending, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and
evaluating historical evidence.
At the successful conclusion of this course, the student will be prepared to take Advanced
Placement Unites States History II. The date of the exam this year is Tuesday May 12,
2014 at 8:00 am
Course Texts
Bailey, Thomas and David M. Kennedy, The American Pageant. D.C. Heath and
Company.
Kennedy, David and Thomas Bailey. The American Spirit: Volume II. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002
American Pageant Student Guide
Dudley, William and John C. Chalberg. Opposing Viewpoints Volume II. Farmington
Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2007
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper Collins,
2003
I also strongly advise students to purchase a copy of an Advanced Placement
US History Review Book
Supplies Needed (Everyday)
Three-Ringed Binder***
Pen/Pencil
Other Needed Supplies (When Needed)
American Spirit
Guidebook
American Pageant
Each student must maintain a notebook for AP US History. The notebook must be
a three-ringed binder with a set of dividers. It needs to be organized in the
following fashion:
Section 1—Class notes (dated with heading)
Section 2—Homework/Classwork
Section 3—Quizzes
Section 4—Presidency Charts
Section 5—Worksheets and Handouts
Notebooks will be checked and evaluated at the instructor’s discretion
Evaluation Process—Throughout the length of this course you will be evaluated
periodically by the use of tests, quizzes, participation in role plays, simulations and trials,
essays, document-based questions (DBQs), class participation, and homework. You will
be informed at the time of the assignment the number of points given to the assignment.
Grades will be reported numerically for all work assigned during the designated
marking period.
1. There will be a minimum of 6 assessments given throughout the quarter
2. Grades for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd marking periods and the midterm exam are
numerical representations of earned grades with a minimum reported score
of 50.
3. The 4th marking period grade and the final exam grade are reported as
earned.
4. Each marking period counts for 22% of the final grade with the final exam
counting for 12%
5. Students who elect to take the Advanced Placement exam do not have
to take the final exam
6. Any work turned in late (essays, projects, any other graded work) will be
assessed a 10% per day deduction with a maximum of five days. Any
work turned in after five days will result in a reported grade of “0”.
7. At the conclusion of each chapter, students will be required to turn in the
following assignments:
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Discussion Questions
Essay
Presidency Charts
Supreme Court Case graphic organizer
Other work as determined by the instructor
Extra Help—I am available after school on Wednesday until 3:15 in Room 212. If you
need to see me and cannot find me check the Social Studies Workroom before leaving.
Days other than Wednesday I am usually also available just let me know ahead of time
that you will be coming. I am also available in the morning before school begins.
Make-Up Work-- It is your responsible to see me for work missed during an absence.
You will be given a calendar at the beginning of each unit with the work assigned
and the due dates—please follow that if you are absent.
Now for few rules
1. You must submit work on time. I will not accept late assignments without a
penalty
2. Each student is to do any work independently unless otherwise directed. The
submission of a paper, map exercise, examination, or quiz attests that the
writer has not received help
3. You are expected to contribute to class discussion
4. You are expected to learn how to write an analytical essay—you will be
assigned to write an essay for each chapter
5. You are expected to develop skills in interpreting maps, charts, graphs, and
various kinds of statistical data
6. Note taking—Note-taking is a vital skill. Whenever you have a reading
assignment in the American Pageant book you MUST take notes. Do not rely
on notes found on-line. These do not count as completing a reading
assignment. You MUST take your own notes.
Course Topics
Unit One
English Colonization in the New World
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Unit Two
Chapters 2 and 3
England on the eve of colonization
Jamestown Colony
Relations with Native Americans
Growth of southern colonies
The Puritan faith and its colonies
Quaker colony of Pennsylvania
The Middle Colonies
Colonial Life in the Seventeenth Century
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Life and labor in the Chesapeake Bay
Bacon’s Rebellion
African-American culture/slavery
Southern society
Salem witch trials
The Great Awakening
Education and culture
Political Patterns
Unit Three
The Road to Revolution
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Unit Four
America Secedes from the Empire
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Unit Five
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Problems of the young republic
The Bill of Rights
The first presidency
Emergence of political parties
The Jefferson presidency
The Supreme Court of John Marshall
The Louisiana Purchase
The Anglo-French War
The Second War for Independence
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Unit Eight
Changing political sentiments
Economic troubles
The Articles of Confederation
Shay’s Rebellion
Constitutional Convention
Ratifying the Constitution
Launching the New Ship of State
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Unit Seven
Early skirmishes—1775
The Declaration of Independence
The French alliance
The Peace of Paris
The Confederation and the Constitution
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Unit Six
Anglo-French colonial rivalry
The French and Indian War
Mercantilism
Taxation without representation
Gathering Clouds of war
The War of 1812
A new national identify
The Era of Good Feelings
Missouri Compromise
The Monroe Doctrine
Jacksonian Democracy
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Politics for the common people
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Unit Nine
Cultural Developments—1790-1860
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Unit Ten
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Oregon, California, and Texas
War with Mexico
The Union in Peril
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Unit Twelve
European immigration
The transportation revolution
Capitalists and workers
Religious revivals
Educational advances
Women’s roles and women’s rights
A national literature
The economy and the cotton kingdom
The plantation system
The abolitionist crusade
Manifest Destiny and its Legacy
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Unit Eleven
The “spoils system”
Webster-Hayne Debate
Nullification Crisis
The Removal of Indians
Establishment of two-party system
“Popular Sovereignty”
The Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Law
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Lincoln-Douglas debates
Republican victory
Secession
The Civil War
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The attack on Fort Sumter
Financing the war
The economic impact of the war
Bull Run
The Emancipation Proclamation
Politics of wartime
The assassination of Lincoln
The Legacy of War
Unit Thirteen
Reconstruction and its Effects
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The defeated south
Moderate and Radical Republicans
Military Reconstruction
“Black Reconstruction” and the KKK
The impeachment of Andrew Johnson
The legacy of reconstruction