AP European History
SYLLABUS
Goals
The study of European history since 1450 introduces students to cultural, economic,
political, and social developments that played a fundamental role in shaping the world in
which we live. Without this knowledge, we could lack the content for understanding the
development of contemporary institutions, the role of continuity and change in presentday society and politics, and the evolution of current forms of artistic expression and
intellectual discourse.
In addition to providing a basic narrative of events and movements, the goals of AP
European History are to develop (a) an understanding of some of the principal themes in
modern European history, (b) an ability to analyze historical evidence and historical
interpretation, and (c) an ability to express historical understanding in writing.
Students
Admission to an Advanced Placement course should depend upon a student’s
commitment to the subject as well as such formal credentials as high aptitude scores or
outstanding grade records.
Many students lacking outstanding credential have successfully completed Advanced
Placement courses and obtained college credit or Advanced Placement through the
Advanced Placement Examination. The aim of an Advanced Placement course should be
to provide the student with a learning experience equivalent to that obtained in most
college introductory Western Civilization History courses.
All students should develop an impeccable work ethic and become responsible for his
or her success in the course. Time should be set aside daily to review course
information and prepare course material.
The Advanced Placement Course
Although there is little to be gained by rote memorization of names and dates in an
encyclopedic manner, a student must be able to draw upon a reservoir of systematic
factual knowledge in order to exercise analytic skills intelligently. Striking a balance
between teaching factual knowledge and critical analysis is a demanding but crucial task
in the design of a successful AP course in history.
Students will be assessed by a series of
 Document-Based Questions (DBQs)
A quarterly DBQ is required. (Student choice is from one of the quarter
units.)
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Analytical Essays: One thematic essay is required per unit. It may be one of
the essential content questions or based on other thematic content.
Multiple Choice questions: Each unit will be assessed by 33 MC items, five
choices each.
Group Presentation Projects: All groups will be assessed according to the criteria
rubric that is presented with the assigned projects. Projects include Art
Appreciation, Biographical Profiles, Cultural Literacy, Debate Issues
and other areas of interest deemed by the instructor.
Reading Assignments:
Reading assignments are assigned from primary and secondary sources,
handout excerpts, and various reader text and internet sources.
Each Student will turn in one Conceptual Assessment Portfolio per semester. The
“Portfolio Packet” will be received at the beginning of each semester and
due at its end. Only quality work will be accepted!
1st semester, The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason
2nd semester, Imperialism and World War I
Note: Each assignment will be accompanied by an in-depth rubric that describes
the detailed explanations of the assignment’s format and grading scale.
Note: All projects, portfolios debate issues, etc., MUST be approved by the
Instructor before any work is initiated.
Textbooks
One textbook is furnished to the students.
 Civilizations of the West (The Human Adventure) – Publisher Longman
(ISBN 0-673-99849-5)
Students can check out supplemental textbooks for additional home and classroom
support including:
 Traditional Encounters – McGraw Hill
 Various AP Review Support Books by - Barber, Eder, Pearl, etc.
 Various Source Books of Original Documents
Course Units of Study include:
1. The Transition from the Middle Ages to Renaissance
2. The Renaissance
3. The Reformation
4. The Rise of Nation States and the Age of Exploration
5. The Age of Absolute Monarchs
6. The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Reason
7. The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era
8. The Agricultural and Industrial Revolution
9. Democratic and Socialist Response
10. Unification Movements and Multi-National Empires
11. Imperialism and WW I and the Russian Revolution
12. In Between the Wars / WWII
13. The Cold War
14. Contemporary Europe
Course Outline
Unit 1: Transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance (2 Weeks)
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 8, 9, 10
Supplemental Document Excerpts: The Rights of a French Town, Gregory VII
on Papal Authority, Magna Carta, Pope Urban II - A Call to Crusaders,
A Muslim’s View of the Crusades
Themes:
 Disintegration and Invasion of the Roman Empire
 Feudal Society; the Aristocracy and Medieval Peasantry
 Urban Development and Town Life
 The Growth of the Monarchy
 The Holy Roman Empire and the Church
 The Crusades and the Diminishing Byzantine Empire
 The Iberian Peninsula and the Reconquista
 Russia and the Mongol Conquest
 The Medieval Church
 Scholarship - Law, Science, Medicine, Art, Architecture
 Famine and the Black Death
 The Hundred Years’ War
 The Demise of Church Prestige
Essential Content Questions:
 Analyze the effects of the Hundred Years’ War on early European nationalism
and the rise of monarchs.
 Analyze the effects that the loss of Church prestige had toward creating a new
sense of inquisitiveness in Europe.
 Examine how plagues, famine, war, and revolts favorably improved the condition
of the peasants.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Migration and Transformation Project: Develop short presentation
explaining one of the events below. All groups are to abide by the rubric criteria.
(a) The Invasion of the Roman Empire (b) The Crusades (c) The Spanish
Reconquista (d) The Mongol Conquest
DBQ Exercise:
Introduce DBQs / Documents
Introduce the DBQ Grading Rubric
Introduce Thematic Essays
Unit 2: The Renaissance
Readings:
Text, Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 11
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Petrarch - On Petrarch, - Castiglione Aristocratic Women, Pizan - The Case for Educating Young Ladies, Machiavelli Advice to a Renaissance Prince, Vasari - On the Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Themes:
 The Urban Setting of the Renaissance
 Secularism and Individualism
 The Advent of Humanism
 Women and the Renaissance Culture
 Machiavelli and the Culture of Power
 The Religious Based Northern Renaissance
 The Advent of the Printing Revolution
 The Fine Arts; Painting and Sculpture
 Architecture and Classical Influence
Essential Content Questions:
 Analyze the effects geography had on Italy as a major trade and banking center,
and eventually the cultural center of Europe.
 Analyze and discuss the impact of the art of the Renaissance that typifies the
values of leading thinkers of the time. Mention examples of art and artist of the
time.
 Compare and contrast the Italian and Northern Renaissance.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Art Appreciation Project: Develop a PowerPoint Presentation on one of the
categories below. All groups abide by the rubric criteria. (a) Paintings of the
Italian Renaissance (b) Paintings of the Northern Renaissance (c) Sculptured Art
(d) Renaissance Architecture
DBQ Exercise: Document Interpretation
Developing a Thesis
Citing Documents in DBQ
Unit 3: The Reformation
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 12
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Erasmus-A Bible for the People, LutherJustification by Faith, Luther-The Ninety -Five Thesis, Ignatius - On Obedience,
Maleficarum - Women and Witchcraft
Themes:
 Institutional Decay and the Late Medieval Church
 Early Reformers and Lay Piety
 The Influence of the Humanist
 Luther and the German Reformation
 The Reform Movements and Spread of Calvinism
 The Radical Reformist
 The English Reformation
 The Catholic Response
 Reaction; Jews and Nonconformist
 The Thirty Years’ War
Essential Content Questions:
 Compare and contrast the views of the leaders of the Reformation toward secular
and religious authority. Support your answer with specific examples.
 Analyze the influence of Calvinism as being radically different than the Roman
Catholic Church or Lutheranism.
 To what extent did the Protestant Reformation change society, politics, and the
economy of sixteen century Europe?
Major Assignments and Assessments: Biographical Presentation Project: Develop a
biographical profile of one of the religious leaders from one of the categories
below. Abide by the rubric criteria. (a) Early Reformers (b) Reformers of the
Catholic Counter-Reformation (c) Leaders of the Thirty Years’ War.
DBQ Exercise: Reducing Documents to Excerpts
Utilizing the 15-Minute Reading Time
Unit 4: The Rise of Nation States and the Age of Exploration
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 13, 14
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Columbus - Description of the “well formed
Indians,” Manucci - A Jesuit View of China, Mun - Trade as the Key to Wealth,
Anonymous - The Sack of Antwerp (1576)
Themes:
 Europe on the Eve of Exploration
 The Search for New Trade Routes
 Europe in Africa and Asia
 The European Conquest of America
 Technological Advances
 The European Economy: The Commercial Revolution
 Philip II and Spanish Dominance
 The Slave Trade
 The Rise of the Dutch
 The Rise of France and England as Nation States
Essential Content Questions:
 Analyze Spain’s ascendancy as the most richest and powerful nation-state during
the 16th century. Mention factors that contributed to its equally dramatic decline.
 Describe the process of exploration, discovery, and colonization during the 1400s
and 1500s among the European Atlantic states.
 Analyze the motives for colonization of the Americas by the Spanish, English and
French.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Exploration Project: Develop a short PowerPoint presentation on one
of the categories below. Abide by the rubric criteria. (a) Technological
Advances (b) Mercantilism and Triangular Trade (c) The Slave Trade
DBQ Exercise: Students chose from units periods listed below and write first quarter
DBQ.
The Renaissance
Reformation
Age of Exploration
Unit 5: The Age of Absolutes and the Contrasting European Society
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 14, 15,
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Bossuet - On the Nature of Majesty,
Pososhkov - Law and Justice under Peter the Great, Locke - The Right to Alter
Government, Comenius - Who Should Be Educated?
Themes:
 France Under Louis XIV
 The Wars of Louis XIV
 Peter the Great and Westernization
 The Rise of Austria and Prussia
 England and the Triumph of Parliamentary Government
 European Social Society
 Family and Marriage and the Status of Women
 Literacy and Education
 Poverty, Crime, and Social Conditions
Essential Content Questions:
 Analyze the development of absolutism in France.
 Assess the rise of absolutism in England.
 Compare and contrast the development of absolutism in Russia and Prussia
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Cultural Literacy Project: Develop an informative presentation on one
of the early modern European social topics listed below. Abide by rubric
criteria. (a) Literacy and Education (b) Crime and Poverty (c) Food and
Medical Care (d) popular pastimes and culture
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyze Documents
Avoiding “Laundry Listing” Documents
Unit 6: The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Reason
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 17, 18, 19
Supplemental Documents Excerpts: Bruno - On the Infinity of the Universe,
Pascal - On Humankind’s Place in the Universe, Bacon - The Scientific Method,
Hobbes - On the Institution of the Common Wealth, Rousseau - On the Social
Contract, Frederick the Great - On the Enlightened Despot
Themes:
 From Ancient Science to the Copernican Universe
 On the Shoulders of Giants - The Newtonian Synthesis and the Scientific Method
 Inductive Bacon and Deductive Descartes - The Philosophies of Reasoning
 Other Scientific Advances
 The Contrasting States of Nature of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
 Deism - the Religion of Reason
 The French Philosophes - Voltaire and Rousseau
 The Enlightened Despots
 Enlightened Windfall - Jewish Emancipation, the Abolitionist Movement, and the
Rights of Women
Essential Content Questions:
 Compare the relationship between the Newtonian Revolution and the
Enlightenment.
 Compare and contrast the states of nature as perceived by Hobbes, Locke and
Rousseau.
 Discuss how Deism is a logical “offshoot’ of the Enlightenment as opposed to an
alternative to Protestantism or Catholicism.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Debate Project: Prepare for a classroom debate. Students will draw to be
on one side or the other debating the below issues. Abide by classroom debate
rubric. (a) The Best of all Possible Worlds vs. Cultivate Ones Own Garden,
Inductive Reasoning vs. Inductive Reasoning, Man is born Good vs. Man is Born
Bad, vs. Man is born Good but is Corrupted by Society
Conceptual Assessment Portfolio Project: Can be substituted for the Debate
DBQ Exercises:
Summary Readings
Analyze Documents
Using Quotes in DBQs
Unit 7: The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 20
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Humbert - Eyewitness Account of the fall of
the Bastille, Robespierre - On the Principles of Revolutionary Government,
Gourges - Declaration of the Right of Women, Napoleon - On Napoleon,
Burke - Reflections on the Revolution in France
Themes:
 Crisis and the Old Regime in France
 The Revolution of 1789
 The Bourgeoisie in Power - Church and State Reorganization
 The Impact of the Revolution in Europe
 The Radical Revolution and the Reign of Terror
 The Thermidorian Reaction
 Women and the French Revolution
 The Napoleonic Era
 The Bourbon Restoration
 The Congress of Vienna
 The Age of Metternich
 Liberalism and the French Revolution of 1830
 The Liberalistic and Nationalistic Revolutions of 1848
Essential Content Questions
 Analyze how the Third Estate “became something.”
 Compare and contrast the stages of the French Revolution.
 “Napoleon’s successes in battle awakened the nationalistic forces that defeated
him.” Assess the validity of this statement.
 Analyze and discuss the extent to which European rulers attempted to suppress
nationalism and liberalism between 1815 and 1848.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Biographical Presentation Project: Develop a biographical profile of one of the
major players of the French Revolution listed below. Abide by the rubric criteria.
(a) Abbe Sieyes, (b) Marquis de Lafayette, (c) Georges Danton, (d) Jean Paul
Marat, (e) Charlotte Corday, (f) Jacques-Louis David, (g) Arthur Wellesley,
(h) Olympe de Gouges
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyze Documents
Adding Historical Information to DBQ Essays
Unit 8: The Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 21, 22
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Malthus - On Population, Hebergam
Testimony to Parliament on Child Labor, Ned Ludd’s Office - Luddism,
Henry Ford - On the Blessings of the Assembly Line
Themes:
 Population, Energy, and Technology
 Commerce and the Capitalistic Society
 The Agriculture Revolution
 Britain’s Industrial Transformation
 The Population Explosion
 The Spread of the Industrial Revolution
 The Second Industrial Revolution
 The New Social Order
 The Romantic Movement Responds to the Age
Essential Content Questions:
 Analyze the impact that the discovery of Western trade routes contributed to the
on coming Industrial Revolution.
 Examine the economic and social changes that led to the population explosion in
Europe before 1800.
 “It is no accident that the Industrial Revolution occurred in late 18th century
England.” Assess the validity of this statement.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Presentation Project: Develop a PowerPoint presentation on one of the
topics below. Abide by the rubric criteria. (a) Major contributors to the
Agricultural Revolution, (b) The Textile Industry, (c) Mechanization,
(d) Transportation and Communication
DBQ Exercise: Students choose from periods listed below and write
second quarter DBQ.
Age of Absolutes
Scientific Revolution and Age of Reason
French Revolution and Napoleonic Era
The Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions
Unit 9: Democratic, Socialist, and Cultural Response to the Era
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 21, 24, 26
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Mill - On Liberty, Engels - The Conditions of
the Working Class in England, Proudhon - What is Property?,
Kroptkin - Anarchism, Marx - The Communist Manifesto
Themes:
 The Classical Economist and Utilitarianism
 The Utopian Socialist and Anarchism
 The Socialist Response to the Industrial Revolution
 Women in Society
 The Growing Ideologies of Liberalism and Nationalism
 Science, Society, and the Darwinist Revolution
 Culture and Crisis in the Age of Science
 A New Era in the Arts
Essential Content Questions:
 Explain how Marx’s theories offered both a reason for, and a solution to, mass
poverty in the industrialized world.
 Describe and compare the origins and proposals of the utopian socialist, the
Marxist, the anarchist, and the revisionist during the 19th century.
 Using specific examples, contrast the ideologies in liberalism, conservatism, and
nationalism during the 19th century.
Major Assignments and Assessments: Group Debate Project: Choose from the list
below. Each group will develop and present an affirmative and negative position
based on the historical culture of the time. Abide by the rubric criteria.
(a) Darwin on Evolution, (b) Nietzsche on the “Death of God”
(c) Freud’s Psychoanalysis as a Science
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyze Documents
Checking Your Essay against the Rubric
Unit 10: Unification Movements and Multi-National Empires
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 23
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Mazzini - Humanity and the Nation,
Bismarck - Ems Telegram, Alexander II - On Emancipation of the Serfs,
Lincoln - Emancipation Proclamation, Herzl - On the Need for a Jewish State
Themes:
 France: From Republic to Empire
 The Crimean War
 The Unification of Italy
 Blood and Iron: The Age of Bismarck
 Austrian Hungry: The Dual Monarchy
 Russia: Reform and Reaction
 Ottoman Empire: The Sick Man of Europe
 United States: A Divided Nation
 The Jews: The Birth of Modern Zionism
Essential Content Questions:
 Compare and Contrast France’s contribution toward the unification of Italy and
Germany.
 Discuss the 19th century European events that heightened the historical birth of
modern Zionism.
 Analyze why Russia’s attempts at reform and modernization failed to materialize
by the early 20th century.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Biographical Presentation Project: Develop a biographical profile of one of the
major players of the Unification and Empire Period listed below. Abide by the
rubric criteria. (a) Mazzini, (b) Cavour, (c) Garibaldi, (d) William I ,
(e) Nicholas I, (f) Alexander II, (g) Alexander III, (h) Louis Kossuth
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyze Documents
Developing an Outline
Unit 11: Imperialism, WW I, and the Russian Revolution
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 25, 27, 28
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Hobson - Imperialism as Retrograde
Nationalism, Marx - On British Rule in India, Kipling - White Man’s Burden,
Fukuzawa - A Japanese Response to the West, Macdonald - Trench Warfare,
Lenin - The April Thesis, Wilson - Fourteen Points, Treaty of Versailles
Themes:
 The Scramble for Africa
 The Impact of Colonial Rule
 The Europeans in Asia
 China Becomes a Target
 Militarism, Nationalism, and Alliances
 The Power Keg Explodes
 Trenched on the Western Front
 A Series of Russian Conflicts
 The Peace of Victors: Justice Verses Revenge
Essential Content Questions:
 Analyze and discuss the motives of Europeans during the imperialism of the late
nineteenth century.
 Compare and contrast Old Imperialism with New Imperialism.
 Compare and contrast the Fourteen Points with the peace settlements in Paris.
 Analyze the long term cost of the Treaty of Versailles.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Conceptual Assessment Portfolio Project: Students will organize an objective
portfolio on the era according to the rubric criteria. Document interpretation and
map skills will be verbally assessed. The portfolio’s required essay must focus on
an original observer of the era. (Examples: Erich Remarque’s description of
trench warfare in All is Quiet on the Western Front, John Sargent’s use of a
soccer game in the background of the mural “Gassed.” All choices are from the
rubric choice sheet or must be approved by the teacher.
DBQ Exercise: Students choose from the units below and write teacher-furnish third
quarter DBQ.
Democratic and Socialist Response to the Era (1815 - 1848)
Unification Movements and Multinational Empires
Imperialism, World War I, and the Russian Revolution
Unit 12: In Between the Wars and World War II
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 28, 29
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Stalin - On the World’s “Irreconcilable
Camps,” Mussolini - The Fascist Spirit, Broadfoot - The Human Prospective of
the Great Depression, Hitler - On the Jews, Chamberlain - On Appeasement,
Eisenberg - The Death Camps, Nimitz - The Case Against the Bomb
Themes:
 The Totalitarian Challenge to Liberalism
 The Bolshevik Consolidation
 The Fascist in Italy
 The Great Depression
 The Nazi Seizure of Power
 Aggression and Appeasement
 World War II: The European Theater
 World War II: The Pacific Theater
 The Holocaust
 The Organizing of the United Nations
Essential Content Questions:
 Discuss the extent to which the Treaty of Versailles contributed the outbreak of
World War II.
 Compare and contrast Fascism under Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
 Contrast military technological advances between World War I and World War II.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Begin AP Test Review
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyze Documents
Developing Arguments to Support your Thesis
Unit 13: The Cold War
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 29, 30
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Churchill - The Sinews of Peace, Acheson On the Marshall Plan, Khrushchev - Stalin’s Crimes, Demands of the Hungarian
Rebels, Kennedy - “Ich Bin Ein Berliner,” Brezhnev - The Brezhnev Doctrine,
Gorbachev - Democracy and Glasnost
Themes:
 The Communization of Eastern Europe
 From the Truman Doctrine to NATO
 The End of European Empires
 Brinkmanship to Mutually Assured Destruction
 Korea, Vietnam, and the Cuban Missile Crisis
 The Middle East: The Limits of Diplomacy
 From Détente the Beginnings of Disarmament
 Gorbachev and the Breakup of the Soviet Union
Essential Content Questions:
 Compare and contrast the status of the Eastern European satellites before and in
the two decades after the death of Stalin.
 Trace the history of the Cold War from its beginnings to its thaw.
 Analyze the 1989 events that describe the fall of Communism.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Continue AP Test Review
DBQ Exercise: Students choose from the units below and write teacher-furnish
last quarter DBQ.
In Between the Wars and World War II
The Cold War
Unit 14: The Contemporary Europe and 21st Century Trends
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 30, 31
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Eco - I Do not Fear German Nationalism,
Janekovic - Ethic Cleansing in Bosnia, Beckett - Waiting for Godot, Gutierrez Liberation Theology, Beauvoir - On Women’s Sexuality
Themes:
 The Advance Toward Economic Stability
 Trends: Unity, Ethnic Nationalism, Global Capitalism
 The Postwar Mood and Existentialist Philosophy
 Religion and the Ecumenical Movement
 The Revolt of the Young
 The Rise of Consumer Culture
 Family Values in Crisis
 the New Arts and Post Modern Movement
Essential Content Questions:
 Analyze Europe’s gradual advance toward economic interdependence and the
development of a single economic community.
 Discuss how the entrance of great numbers of women into the workplace has
altered European society.
 Analyze social trends as Europe begins the twenty-first century.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Continue AP Test Review
DBQ Exercise:
Review DBQ Exercises to Prepare for AP Test
Post-AP Test…. Movie Time! After the AP Exam my students are rewarded for
their endurance for surviving the eight month push toward the test. The students
will research films they would like to view from a furnished list. Two films will be
watched in class and another will a group homework assignment. Movies include:
A Man for All Seasons, On the Banks of the Niemen, Dr. Zhivago, Schindler’s List,
The Great Escape, Enemy at the Gate, Band of Brothers, etc.
AP United States History
SYLLABUS - THOMPSON
Goals
The AP program in United States History is designed to provide students with analytic
skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials
in United States history. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced
college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year
introductory college courses. Students should learn to assess historical material – their
relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance – and to
weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. An AP United
States History course should thus develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on
the basis of and informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and
persuasively in essay format.
Students
Admission to an Advanced Placement course should depend upon a student’s
commitment to the subject as well as such formal credentials as high aptitude scores or
outstanding grade records.
Many students lacking outstanding credential have successfully completed Advanced
Placement courses and obtained college credit or Advanced Placement through the
Advanced Placement Examination. The aim of an Advanced Placement course should be
to provide the student with a learning experience equivalent to that obtained in most
college introductory United States History courses.
All students should develop an impeccable work ethic and become responsible for his
or her success in the course.
The Advanced Placement Course
Although there is little to be gained by rote memorization of names and dates in an
encyclopedic manner, a student must be able to draw upon a reservoir of systematic
factual knowledge in order to exercise analytic skills intelligently. Striking a balance
between teaching factual knowledge and critical analysis is a demanding but crucial task
in the design of a successful AP course in history.
Assessments
Students will be assessed by a series of
 Document-Based Questions (DBQs)
A quarterly DBQ is required. (Student choice is from one of the quarter
units.)
 Test will consist of a thematic essay, and / or multiple choice questions,
depending on the length and indepthness of the unit.
 Analytical Essays: One thematic essay is required per unit. It may be one of
the essential content questions or based on other thematic content.
 Multiple Choice questions: Usually 33 MC items, five choices each.
Group Presentation Projects: All groups will be assessed according to the criteria
rubric that is presented with the assigned projects. Projects include
Biographical Profiles, Cultural Literacy, Debate Issues
and others deemed by the instructor.
 Reading Assignments:
Reading assignments are assigned from primary and secondary sources,
handout excerpts, and various reader text and internet sources.
 Each Student will turn in one Conceptual Assessment Portfolio per semester. The
“Portfolio Packet” will be received at the beginning of each semester and
due at its end. Only quality work will be accepted!
1st semester, Decade in Crisis and the Civil War
2nd semester, The Civil Rights Movement
 Note: Each assignment will be accompanied by an in-depth rubric that describes
the detailed explanations of the assignment’s format and grading scale.
 Note: All projects, portfolios debate issues, etc., MUST be approved by the
Instructor before any work is initiated.
Textbooks
One Textbook is furnished to the students:
 Out of Many – Prentice Hall (2004) TSBN 0-13-09892-5
Students can check out supplemental textbooks for supporting reading including:
 American Pageant – Heath Publishing ISBN 0-669-33892-3
Course Units of Study include:
15. Discovery, Settlement and Colonial Society
16. Conflicts, Revolution and the Creation of Government
17. The Constitution and the New Republic
18. The Revolution of 1800 and the Age of Jefferson
19. Age of Jackson and the Growth of Democracy
20. Expansion Across the Continent and Reform Movements
21. Decade in Crisis, Civil War, and Reconstruction
22. The Gilded Age and the Rise of Industrial America
23. The American West and Native Americans
24. Populism and the Progressivism
25. Imperialism and World War I
26. The Roaring 1920s and the Great Depression
27. World War II and the Post war Era
28. The Cold War
29. The Civil Rights Movement
30. The Contemporary World
Course Outline
Unit 1: Discovery, Settlement, and Colonial Society
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 2, 3, 4, 5
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Mayflower Compact, Maryland Toleration
Act, Constitution of Iroquois Nations, Massachusetts Body of Liberties
Themes:
 Mediterranean Trade and European Expansion
 Columbus and the “Geographic Revolution’
 Spanish Exploration and Conquest
 The Evolution of Chesapeake Society
 Origins and Development of a Slave Labor System
 Protestant Reformation and the Origins of Puritanism
 The Evolution of English Society
 The Colonies and the British Empire
Essential Questions:
 Analyze social and economic impact of contacts between Native American
peoples and early explorers.
 Analyze Spanish, French, and British motives for colonization
 Analyze political, economic, social, and religious comparison of the British New
England, Middle Atlantic, and Southern colonies.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Develop a chart explaining the motives of establishing the Spanish, English, and
French claims to the New World. Include:
 Native interaction
 Religious motives
 Geography
 Economic motives
 The development of North America slave societies
 The establishment of government
Unit Test: MC
DBQ Exercise:
Introduce the DBQs / Documents
Introduce the DBQ Grading Document
Unit 2: Conflicts, Revolution and the Beginnings of Government
Readings:
Text, American Pageant Chapter(s) 6, 7, 8
Supplemental Documents Excerpts: Albany Plan of Union, Letters from a Farmer
Pennsylvania, Common Sense, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation,
Northwest Ordinance (1785, 1787)
Themes:
 The Economics of Mercantilism
 Anglo-French Rivalries
 The Seven Years War in America and the Expulsion of France
 The Emergence of American Nationalism
 The Economics of Resistance
 Independence and Beginnings of Government
 Revolutionary Effects on State Politics
Essential Questions:
 Compare / contrast the American and British views regarding the philosophy of
the British policy of “salutary neglect” toward the colonies after the French and
Indian War.
 Trace the evolution of government from the Albany Congress to the creation of
the Articles of Confederation.
 It can be argued that “America lost the Revolutionary War but won the peace.”
Assess the validity this statement
Major Assessments and Assessments:
Interpreting original document project: Using excerpts from the Declaration of
Independence create a chart to define the three major conditions of John Locke’s
contract theory of government. Abide by the handout rubric.
Unit Test: MC / Thematic Essay Writing
DBQ Exercise:
Document Interpretation
Developing a Thesis
Citing Documents in DBQ Essays
Unit 3: The Constitution and the New Republic
Readings:
Text: Out of Many, Chapter(s) 8
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Abigail to John Adams, Correspondence on
Women’s Rights, The Federalist no. 10, United States Constitution, Washington’s
Farewell Address, Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
Themes:
 State Constitutional Governments
 Shay’s Rebellion and the Necessity of Reform
 The Constitution Convention
 Ratification and the Bill of Rights
 President Washington and the Nation
 Hamilton’s Controversial Fiscal Policy
 The Beginnings of United States Foreign Policy
 The Rise of National Politics and Political Parties
 The Jeffersonian Revolution of 1800
Essential Questions:
 Analyze the factors that combined to bring about the ratification of the
Constitution.
 Compare and contrast the views of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton
while they were members of Washington’s cabinet.
 Examine evidence that supports the primary goal of the development of United
States foreign policy under Washington and Adams was to avoid war.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Choose one of the assignments. (a) Create a chart titled “Debating the
Constitution.” Categorize leaders, arguments, strategy, advantages, and
disadvantages. Abide by the handout rubric. (2) Create a chart titled
“Comparison of Federalist and democratic-Republican Parties.” Categorize
leaders, view of the Constitution, foreign policy, military policy, domestic policy,
and chief supporters. Abide by the handout rubric.
Unit Test: MC / Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Differentiating Between Primary / Secondary Sources
Reducing Documents to Excerpts
Utilizing the 15-Minute Reading Time
Unit 4: The Revolution of 1800 and the Age of Jefferson
Readings:
Text, American Pageant, Chapter(s) 11, 12, 13
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Supreme Court Case Briefs, Charles Dickens
- On the Lowell Factory Girls, Monroe Doctrine
Themes:
 Jefferson’s Government and Republican Agrarianism
 An Independent Judiciary and the Doctrine of Judicial Review
 The Louisiana Purchase
 Foreign Policy Under Jefferson
 The War Hawks Come to Power
 Mr. Madison’s War
 Nationalism and the Era of Good Feeling
 Clay’s American System and the Panic of 1819
 Sectionalism and the Missouri Compromise
 The Nationalistic Monroe Doctrine
Essential Questions:
 Discuss foreign policy under Jefferson’s administration. Include foreign
intervention and decisions made for domestic expediency.
 Discuss to what extent the Federalist assumed support for state rights as opposition
to the Democratic-Republicans toward the end of the War of 1812.
 From Madison’s point of view, the War if 1812 achieved none of its original aims.
Explain why its consequences were important for the future development of the
United States.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Constitutional Case Brief Project: Choose one of the Supreme Court cases
below and present a case brief to the class. Include: Case facts, Constitutional
question, Court’s decision, and Court’s reasoning. Abide by the rubric criteria. (a)
Marbury vs. Madison (b) Fletcher vs. Peck (c) McCulloch vs. Maryland (d)
Dartmouth College vs. Woodward (e) Gibbons vs. Ogden
Unit Test: MC / Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Students are to write the First Quarter DBQ. Instructor choices include:
Discovery and Settlement, Conflicts and Revolution
The Constitution and the New Republic, the Age of Jefferson
Unit 5: The Age of Jackson and the Growth of Democracy
Readings:
Text: Out of Many, Chapter(s) 10 American Pageant, Chapter(s) 17
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Daniel Webster – Reply to Haynes,
Case Brief - Worcester v. Georgia (1832), South Carolina Legislature –
On the Nullification Issue, Jackson - On the Bank Veto
Themes:
 The Election of 1824 and “Corrupt Bargain” Politics
 The Presidency under John Q. Adams
 King Cotton and Southern Expansion
 Slavery and the African American Community
 Yeomen and the Poor White Farmer
 The Pre-industrial Work Place
 The Transportation Revolution
 The Advent of Andrew Jackson
 The Spoils System and New Politics in the Kitchen
 Crisis: Nullification, the Eaton Affair, and the Battle over the Bank
 Indian Removal
 King Veto and the Rise of the Whigs
 The Panic of 1837
Essential Questions:
 Believed to be unqualified in political and social experience to be president of the
United States, Jackson’s presidency is considered on of the most influential in
American history. Explain the factors that changed the political atmosphere that
made his election possible.
 Discuss who benefited from the transportation revolution and why was the issue
of government support for internal improvements so controversial.
 Constitutional issues were raised by the Nullification Crisis and Indian removal.
Discuss the rights of the minority being governed by majority rule concerning
each issue.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyzing Documents
Avoiding “Laundry Listing” Documents
Unit 6: Expansion across the Continent and Reform Movements
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 13, 14
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Polk - Message on War with Mexico,
Calhoun – Speech on the Compromise of 1850, Grimke - Letters on the Equality
of the Sexes, Declaration of Sentiments, Thoreau – On Civil Disobedience
Theme:
 Exploring the West
 Manifest Destiny and Expansionist Ideology
 Western Migration and Overland Trails
 Texas Independence and the Politics of Annexation
 The Mexican American War
 California and the Gold Rush
 The Politics of Manifest Destiny
 The Compromise of 1850
 The Second Great Awakening
 Antislavery and Abolitionism
 The Early Women’s Rights Movement
 Artistic Achievements and American Philosophy
Essential Questions:
 Define and discuss the concept of Manifest Destiny.
 Assess and identify the ways that the success of Manifest Destiny and expansion
of the United States would lead to a resurrection of issues that would eventually
divide the nation.
 Evaluate the ways in which women transformed the reform movements of the
1820s-1850s. How did the role of women in those movements transform the
image and status of women?
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Biographical Presentation Project: Choose from the list below and develop a
biographical profile of one of major players of the early reform movement. Abide
by the rubric criteria. (a) Margaret Fuller, (b) Dorothea Dix, (c) Horace Mann,
(d) Sarah or Angelina Grimke, (e) Lucretia Mott or Elizabeth Stanton,
(f) George Ripley, (g) Samuel Howe, (h) Charles Finney
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercises:
Summary Readings
Analyzing Documents
Adding Historical Information to DBQ Essays
Unit 7: Decade in Crisis, Civil War and Reconstruction
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 11, 15, 16
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Taney – Supreme Court Opinion in Dred Scott
Case, Lincoln – Message to Congress 1861, Lincoln - Gettysburg Address,
Douglas - On Reconstruction
Themes:
 The Domination of Southern Life by the Slave System
 The Economic Implications of “King Cotton”
 Creation of African-American Communities
 The Social Structure of White South
 The Failure of Compromise on the Slavery Issue
 The Rise of the Republican Party
 Secession of the Southern States
 Social and Political Changes Due to the War
 Major Military Campaigns
 The End of Slavery
 Completing Political Plans for Reconstruction
 Reconstructing the States
 Sharecropping; the New Slavery
 The Compromise of 1877 and the End of Reconstruction
Essential Questions:
 “The sectional compromises of the first half of the nineteenth century were not in
fact compromises but rather “sectional sellouts” in which the North gave in to the
insistent demands of the slaveholding South.” Assess the validity of this
statement.
 Analyze the impact of two of the following in the ending of slavery during the
Civil War. (a) President Lincoln, (b) U.S. Congress, (c) Slaves and former slaves
 Explain why and how the role of the federal government changed as a result of
the Civil War with respect to two of the following during the period 1861 – 1877.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Role Play Debate Project: The class will role-play the Congressional
debate that led to the Compromise of 1850. Students will be assigned to research
one of the major players and role-play their position during the debate. Abide by
the debate criteria rubric.
Civil War Portfolio: Abide by the Rubrics located in the Civil War Packet
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Students are to write the Second Quarter DBQ. Instructor choices include:
Age of Jackson and the Growth of Democracy
Expansion across the Continent and Reform Movements
Decade in Crisis, Civil War and Reconstruction
Unit 8: The Gilded Age and the Rise of Industrial America
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 18,19
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Vanderbilt –The Public be
Damned, Rockefeller – On the Virtues of Integration, Carnegie – On
Wealth, Jane Adams - On the Clash of Cultures, Chinese Exclusion Act
Themes:
 The Rise of Industry
 The Gospel of Wealth
 Politics During the Gilded Age
 The Spoils System verses Civil Service Reform
 The Rise of Labor and Triumph of Big Business
 The Industrial City
 The Impact of Immigration
 The Rise of Boss Control and Political Machines
 The New South and Southern Industrialization
 Labor Conflicts
 Culture and Society During the Gilded Age
 Culture in Common: Culture in Conflict
 Education, Leisure and National Pastimes
Essential Questions:



Compare and contrast the economic patterns and lifestyles of middle class
urbanites with the working class urbanites during the Gilded Age.
The term “robber barons” or “captains of industry’ are often used to describe the
“prime movers” of the second industrial revolution period. Choose one of the
descriptors and defend your position.
How did the rise of organized sports and commercial amusements reflect and
shape social divisions at the end of the century?
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Presentation Project: Develop a PowerPoint presentation on one of the
topics listed below. Abide by the rubric criteria. (a) Labor Conflicts,
(b) Immigrants and Leisure Time, (c) Cultural Conflicts, (d) National Pastimes
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyzing Documents
Checking Your Essay against the Rubric
Unit 9: The American West and Native Americans
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 17
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Red Cloud – On the Original American Race,
Chief Joseph – Fight No More Forever, Dawes Plan, Turner Thesis
Themes:
 Indian Peoples under Siege
 The Impact of the “Iron Horse”
 Reservations and the Slaughter of the Buffalo
 The Indian Wars
 Mining Communities, Mormon Settlements
 The Cattle Industry
 Farming Communities of the Great Plains
 The Range Wars
 Technological Advances on the Great Plains
 The Western Landscape
 The Transformation of Indian Societies
 The Closing of the Frontier
Essential Questions:



Discuss the federal government’s policies toward Native Americans from the
1830s to the 1900s.
Explain how two of the following influenced the development of the last of the
West from the 1850s to 1900.
To what extent were the problems of the American farmers in the period of 1865
– 1900 caused (a) by big business and government policy and (b) by farmers own
decisions?
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyzing Documents
Developing an Outline
Unit 10: The Populist and Progressive Movements
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 20, 22
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Pollack v. The Farmers Loan and Trust Co.,
Bryan - Cross of Gold, Lewis – Jungle, Riis - How the Other half Lives, Steffens
– Shame of the Cities, Brandeis Brief, Washington – Atlanta Compromise,
Du Bois – Soul of the Black Folks
Themes:













The Dilemma of the Farmer
The Grange and Farmer’s Alliances
The Economics of Free Silver
The Rise and Fall of the Populists Party
Social Gospel Movement
The Underlying Currents of Progressivism
The Grass-Root Progressives and Muckrakers
The Women’s Movement Achieves Suffrage
The Triumph of Prohibition
Conflicting Philosophy: Washington and Du Bois
Racism and Accommodation
Presidential Activism and Domestic Policy During the Era
Presidential Politics and the Election of 1912
Essential Questions:
 Identify two problems that Progressives addressed and, for each, describe a
democratic reform that was designed to deal with the problem.
 Compare and contrast the philosophies of Booker T. Washington and
W. E. B. Du Bois regarding their objectives and methods.
 Compare and contrast presidential domestic policy between 1901 and 1920.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Read / study teacher made portfolio, “Show Me the Money.” The data-based
portfolio provides an analysis of the national debt, bank debates, tariffs, silver
and gold issues and other monetary issues from Hamilton to the creation of the
Federal Reserve.
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyzing Documents
Developing Arguments to Support your Thesis
Unit 11: Imperialism and World War I
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 22
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Mahan – On Sea Power, The De Lome Letter,
Teller Amendment, Hay – On the Open Door Policy, Roosevelt - On the
Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, The Zimmermann Telegram, Wilson Address to Congress, Wilson - the Fourteen Points, Palmer – The Case Against
the Reds
Themes:
 China and the Open Door Policy
 Roosevelt adds a Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
 Taft and Dollar Diplomacy
 Wilson, Moralism, and Mexico
 The Great War and the Attempt to Remain Neutral
 American Mobilization
 The Home Front: The Business of War and Volunteerism
 The Home Front: Controlling Dissent and Labor Strife
 The War Front: “Over There” on the Western Front
 The Fourteen Points, Treaty of Versailles and Ratification
 The Russian Revolution and the Red Scare
Essential Questions:
 In the late 1800s, the United States embarked on a new wave of expansionism
during which it acquired overseas territories. Explain the reasons for this new
wave of expansionism.
 World War began in 1914. The United States entered the War in 1917.
Chronologically explain the events the led the United States into the War.
 Assesses the influence of two of the following on the United State’s involvement
in World War I.

Civil Liberties

African Americans

Business

Women
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise: Students are to write the Third Quarter DBQ. Instructor choices include:
The Gilded Age and the Rise of Industrial America
The American West and Native Americans
Populism and the Progressivism
Imperialism and World War I
Unit 12: The Roaring 1920s and the Great Depression
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 22, 23
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Barton – The Man Nobody Knows, Bryan The Menace of Darwinism, Herndon – What Scottsboro Means, Hoover –
American Individualism, Roosevelt – First Inaugural, Roosevelt – Four Freedoms
Eleanor Roosevelt – This I Remember, Westin – How Women Survived the ‘30s
Themes:
 Return to Normalcy – and Scandal
 The Emergence of a Mass-Consumption Economy
 Immigration and Restrictions
 The Impact of the Automobile
 The Great Migration and Cultural Renaissance
 Popular Culture in the Jazz Age
 Prohibition and the Rise of Organized Crime
 Intellectuals and The Lost Generation
 Resistance to Modernity
 Foreign Policy and Isolation
 The Bull Market Crash
 Hoover’s Gradualism and Failure
 Roosevelt’s New Deal and the Hundred Day Congress
 The Devastation of the Dust Bowl
 The Second New Deal
 A New Deal for Native Americans
 The Resurrection of Labor and The New Deal Critics
 The Recession of 1937 and Keynesian Economics
 Political Capital and Court Packing
 War in Europe Primes the Economic Pump
Essential Questions:
 “The business of America is business!” Explain the significant of President
Coolidge’s statement in terms of United States government policies in the 1920s
and the long term impact of these policies.
 What were the underlying causes of the Great Depression? What consequences
did it have for ordinary Americans, and how did the Hoover administration
attempt to deal with the crisis?
 Evaluate the impact that the New Deal had toward solving the economic crisis of
the Great Depression.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyzing Documents
Unit 13: World War II and the Post War Era
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 25
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Roosevelt - Quarantine Speech, Roosevelt –
War Message to Congress, Korematsu v. U.S., Prange - At Dawn We Slept,
Toland - Infamy: Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath
Themes:
 Isolationism and Neutrality
 Fascist Aggression
 The Break in Isolation
 The Road to Pearl Harbor
 The Arsenal of Democracy
 The War on the Home Front
 Internment and Dissent
 Women and African Americans in Industry, Labor Strikes
 The Pacific Theatre of War
 The European Theatre of War
 War Conferences and Strategies
 The Holocaust
 The Creation and Decision to Use the Bomb
 Post War Culture
Essential Questions:
 To what extent and why did the United States adopt an isolationist policy in the
1920’s and the 1930’s?
 Analyze the discrimination two of the following groups faced during World War
II.
o
African Americans
o
Japanese Americans
o
Women
 Argue either for or against this statement: “President Truman’s decision to use
the atomic bomb was completely justified.”
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyzing Documents
Unit 14: The Civil Rights Movement
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 26, 27,29
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Truman – Executive Order 9981, Brown v.
Board of Education, King - Letter from the Birmingham Jail, King - I Have a
Dream, Hamer – Address to the Democratic Convention, Steinem – Hearing on
the Equal Rights Amendment
Themes:
 African American Nationalism before 1950
 The Political Solid South
 Brown v. Board of Education and the Crisis in Little Rock
 Dr. Martin Luther King: The Movement Finds a Leader
 “Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired” –The Movement Becomes Pro-active
 From Birmingham to Washington
 Presidential Leadership and Congressional Acts
 Separatist Movements and Black Power
 The American Indian Movement
 The Women’s Liberation Movement
 Mexican Americans and Asian Americans
Essential Questions:
 What accounted for the growth between 1940 and 1965 of popular and
governmental concern for the position of Blacks in American society?
 How did African American communities challenge legal segregation in the
South? Compare the strategies of key organizations, such as the NAACP, SNCC,
SCLC, and CORE.
 What relationship did the African American struggle for civil rights have with
other American minorities? How did these communities benefit and build their
own versions of the Civil Rights Movement.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Civil Rights Portfolio: Abide by the Rubrics located in the Civil Rights
Portfolio Packet.
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyzing Documents
Unit 15: The Cold War
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 28, 29, 30
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Wilson – Sinews of Peace, Kennan – The
Sources of Soviet Conduct, U.S. Senate – Censure of Senator McCarthy,
NSC – Memo 68, Kennedy – Inaugural Address,
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Themes:
 The Evolution of the United Nations
 The Iron Curtain and Truman’s Doctrine
 Marshal Plan, Berlin Crisis, and the Formation of NATO
 The Second Red Scare
 American Society in the 1950’s
 The Cold War Heats Up Asia – Korea
 From Brinkmanship to Mutually Assured Destruction
 The Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis
 The Vietnam Quagmire
 The Philosophy of Détente
Essential Questions:
 To what extent did President Eisenhower continue the containment policy of
Harry Truman?
 The 1950s were an era of “conformity and complacency.” Give reasons for
agreeing or disagreeing with this statement.
 Compare and contrast the military foreign policy of President Johnson to that of
President Nixon.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Unit Test: MC /Thematic Essay
DBQ Exercise: Students are to write the Fourth Quarter DBQ. Instructor choices
include:
Roaring 1920s and Great Depression
World War II and the Post war Era
The Cold War
The Civil Rights Movement
Unit 16: The Contemporary World
Readings:
Text, Out of Many, Chapter(s) 30, 31
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Nixon – Address to the American People,
Carter – On the Erosion of Confidence, Reagan – Inaugural Address, Bush – On
the New World Order, Clinton – On NAFTA, Bush Jr. – Bush Doctrine
Themes:
 The Effects of the Democratic War and Republican Scandal
 The Global Politics of Oil, Middle East Blunders, and Accords
 Reagan and the Conservative Revolution
 From Evil Empire to the Collapse of the Soviet Union
 The Persian Gulf War
 Trends and the New Millennium
 The National Debt v. Government Spending
 The Electronic Culture
 New Immigration Issues
 Global Environmental Issues
 Cultural Challenges: Drugs, AIDS, Homelessness
 The War On Terror
Essential Questions:
 Analyze the key structural factors underlying recent changes in American
economic and cultural life. Do you see any political solutions for the growth of
poverty and inequality?
 The concept of globalization is highly controversial. Are borders between
nations “melting away” as some scholars contend? Does this concept apply
primary to economics, or is it useful for discussing issues related to culture,
media, the environment, and population trends.
 Earlier scholars predicted that the end of the Cold War would bring peace and
promote democracy throughout the world. Events, beginning with the Persian
Gulf War, have instead suggested a new basis for international affairs. Describe
the importance of regional and ethnic conflicts in the Middle East and Central
Europe.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
AP Test Preparation
DBQ Exercise: AP Test Preparation
Post-AP Test…. Movie Time! After the AP Exam my students are rewarded for
their endurance for surviving the eight month push toward the test. The students
will research films they would like to view from a furnished list. Two films will be
watched in class and another will a group homework assignment. Movies include
Last of the Mohicans, Dancing with Wolves, Glory, Citizen Kane, the Grapes of
Wrath, The Patriot, Dr. Strangelove, etc.