Advanced Placement United States History Course Information Summer Assignment
Mr. Henery
Welcome to A.P. U.S. History for the 2014-2015 school year. You will receive further course
information at the onset of the course in August. Please keep updated on course information by signing
up for remind 101.
The AP U.S. History course curriculum has been updated for the 2014-2015 school year. I will be
attending specific training over the summer in order to more readily lead your student through the new
course content.
A general overview for my plan for the AP course is listed below, but may change due to new
information learned at the training session. More information about the course redesign can be found
at:
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-united-states-history/new-curriculum2014.
Advanced Placement U.S. History is a rigorous, college-level introductory course which examines the nations'
political, diplomatic, intellectual, cultural, social, and economic history from 1491 to present. A variety
of instructional approaches are employed and a college level textbook is supplemented by primary and
secondary sources.
Themes
Activities within each unit of study are organized around the course's seven major themes, and are designed
to develop the student's historical thinking skills.
Examples of Activities (not a complete
list)
Lecture and Discussion of Topics: Students will participate in discussions based on course topics. Reading quiz
content is embedded in class discussions.
Primary Source Analysis: Students analyze primary sources including identifying, analyzing, and
evaluating each of the sources. Students analyze the sources for two or more of the following features:
historical context, purpose and intended audience, the author's point of view, type of source, argument
and tone.
(Appropriate use of historical
evidence.)
Group Presentations: Students may be assigned historical topics to research and analyze in a group setting
throughout the school year, which they will be expected to present to the class.
Chapter Reading Guides: Students will be provided a chapter reading guide for each chapter, focusing
the student on important terms and Free Response Questions. Students will be expected to state the
significance of each of the important terms and construct answers to each of the FRQs in a wellconstructed paragraph response including specific historical detail to support their argument.
Reading Quizzes: Students will be expected to read approximately one to two chapters per week, complete
a chapter reading guide, and take a multiple choice quiz on the content from the chapter (usually every
Monday).
DBQ Deconstruction: Students, working in groups, will read the sources from and debate the question
posed by the DBQ. (As the year progresses, students will work more independently on writing DBQs in
preparation for the AP test.)
Unit Exams: Each exam will have three components: analytical multiple choice questions, analytical
short answer questions, and either a free response essay (FRQ) or a document based question (DBQ). Each
component of the exam will emphasize the application of historical thinking skills to answer the
question. Information from prior units is often a critical component of the response.
Primary
Text
The American Pageant, David M. Kennedy, Elizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey, 13th ed., Houghton Mifflin,
2006.
Alternate Text:
***** United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination (2015 Edition) by
John J. Newman and John M. Schmalbach, AMSCO Publishing. ISBN #: 978-078918904-2. *****
New copies of this book can be ordered at
http://amsco.extendsales.com/AMSCOPUB/control/product?categoryId=19&catCode=MAH
This is a new edition of text based on the new AP U.S. History parameters for the 2015
Exam. It is highly suggested that you obtain a copy of text.
Summer Assignment
Step #1: Familiarize or re-familiarize yourself with these key terms from our course
introduction.
Define: Pueblo, Chinook, Hunter Gatherer economy, Agriculture practices(maize cultivation),
Iroquois, Algonquin, small pox, mestizo, Encomienda system, Effects of new crops introduced
by the Spanish, Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish mission system, Christopher Columbus, The
Columbian Exchange, Spanish Conquistadores, Hernan Cortes, Treaty of Tordesillas, Aztecs
Step #2: Short response questions: Write a paragraph response to each of the study questions,
including significant, specific historical fact to prove your answer.
A) Are the conquistadors to be considered villains or heroes for their actions in the Americas?
B) Describe both the positive and negative benefits of the Columbian Exchange on the New and
Old World.
Step#3: Read Chapter One of A Peoples History Of The United States by Howard Zinn. Entire
book can be found online at:
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html
Howard Zinn
Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress
1.
How does Zinn view Columbus? To answer this completely, you need to include some of the stories Zinn
uses to portray Columbus.
2.
What demographic figures are cited by Zinn to support the conclusions he has drawn about Columbus?
3.
Zinn says he will approach history from a certain viewpoint. What do you think that is?
4.
“The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don’t listen to it, you will never know what justice is.”
Explain how this quote found on p. 10 relates to Zinn’s view of how history should be studied.
5.
According to Zinn, what did Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro all have in common?
6.
What reasoning was used to justify occupation of land in the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
7.
How did the Puritans justify so many Indian deaths?
8.
Ultimately, what moral question does Zinn raise for historians to consider?
9.
How does Zinn compare Iroquois and European culture?
10. What conclusions can you draw about Zinn as a historian?
11. Who is Howard Zinn? What are his qualifications as a historian? Do you think his viewpoint is valid? Is he
biased? If so, what is his bias? Look him up on the internet. See what you can find and bring it to class.
Step #4: Go to http://fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~roger_a_henery/, From the listing folder, retrieve
the Reading, A Patriots History of the United States by Larry Schweikart, Michael Patrick Allen.
Complete the question set listed as Patriots History Questions.
Step#5: From listing folder, retrieve National Geographic article America Found and Lost
**Complete the related question set for America Found and Lost
Contact:
****Please contact me at: mrhenery@gmail.com
****Please sign up for class related text messages and emails