AP European History
Butler High School (Sambrotto)
r.sambrotto@cms.k12.nc.us
http://pages.cms.k12.nc.us/rsambrotto/
Syllabus
Course Description and Goals
AP European History is a college level course designed to prepare students to take the AP exam
administered by the College Board and Educational Testing Service world wide in May. Our shared goal is
to achieve an AP exam score that will earn college credit, advance placement, or both. In addition, the aim
of the course is to provide a learning experience equivalent to that in most college introductory European or
Western Civilization courses. It is a highly structured, very demanding college level course. While
acceptance into this class is open, success is based on a combination of factors, including past academic
achievement, motivation to learn, demonstrated ability to express ideas in written form, and parental
support. A successful score on this AP exam can open the door to many competitive colleges and
universities.
This is a content heavy course. The following themes are addressed: Intellectual and Cultural History,
Political and Diplomatic History, and Social and Economic History. In addition to the McKay text that
emphasizes social and cultural as well as political history, we will make extensive use of a primary source
reader throughout the year. Questions will accompany the primary source readings, sometimes assessing
basic knowledge, but frequently designed to require you to analyze, interpret, and evaluate the source.
There are large amounts of material to cover that you not only have to master factually, but interpret and
use. This will be a challenging class. It is a true “historian’s” class.
Bibliography
1. Machiavelli, Niccolo. Luigi Ricci, translation. The Prince. New York: Signet Classic, 1999.
2. Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. Samuel Moore, translation. The Communist Manifesto. New York:
Pocket Books, 1964
3. McKay, John P…et al. A History of Western Society. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 7th ed.
4. Merriman, John. A History of Modern Europe-From the Renaissance to the Present. New York: W.W.
Norton, 1st ed.
5. Perry, Marvin…et al. Sources of Western Tradition: Vol. II From The Renaissance To The Present.
New York: Houghton Mifflin, 4th ed.
Assignments/Tests
Reading: There is extensive reading required. It must be done in advance of the material being covered in
class. Reading assignments will be known well in advance. It is not possible to cover all the necessary
detail in class. Therefore, you will need to read and learn material on your own, and ask questions in class
when necessary.
Notes: The class will be a combination of lecture, Socratic discussion, and some group work. Note-taking
is your responsibility. Use whatever style you prefer, but stress details and facts. Take notes from lectures
and reading assignments.
Study Guides: Lecture guides will be designed for each unit. Use these to help organize your notes. In
addition, study guides will be given for each unit for you to complete and assist you in getting through the
reading and class discussions. They will include id’s and key questions.
Quizzes
Reading quizzes will be given as needed to access comprehension.
Tests
Tests will access both readings and classroom discussion based on Socratic lectures. They will mirror the
actual AP exam. There will be a multiple choice and free response section (thematic essay) for each test,
each counting fifty percent. For the free response section, students will typically be given two or three
questions and asked to choose one. Each question will allow students to practice analyzing and interpreting
data and information. Students will therefore “practice the way they’ll play”, with each unit test designed
as a mini-AP test, and students writing free response questions once every six or seven class days.
Primary Source Material
Primary source readings will be assigned with each unit from the reader. There are questions to respond to
with each reading that will be collected at the beginning of class, and returned to use for class discussion of
the reading.
DBQ’s
We will write approximately two document-based questions per quarter. They will be either in-class
assignments, homework assignments, or part of a test. All students will be trained on how to analyze and
interpret documents as a true historian might, including charts/graphs and paintings/visuals, as well as look
for potential bias in the documents, and have ample opportunities to practice this kind of writing.
Book Reviews
Each student will read parallel and supplemental books. Summaries and critiques of these books will be
due each quarter (dates tbd). They can be histories, biographies, or historical novels. All choices must be
preapproved. Everyone will read The Prince for their first review. Later in the year, everyone will read
The Communist Manifesto. There are study guides/questions to go with these two reviews. In class, we
will discuss the criteria for analyzing and interpreting the themes and evidence presented in these works
(thesis/narrative, supporting ideas, context, various kinds of possible bias, etc.)
Films
Films and videos will be used to further illustrate factual knowledge. They will be accompanied by a video
guide to complete during class, and when appropriate, a permission slip may be required. Alternate
assignments will be provided when a permission slip is not returned.
Grading
Tests, Book Reviews, DBQ’s
Quizzes, Homework, Study Guides
Class Participation
60%
25%
15%
Course Outline and Reading (*note: number of days may change)
1st Semester
Middle Ages Review
- End of Feudalism
Film: Henry V (scene: Battle of Agincourt)
1-2 days
Unit 1: The Renaissance
3 days
1. Italian Renaissance: Economics and Politics
2. Northern Renaissance: Christian Humanism
Reading: McKay - Ch. 13; Perry – In Praise of Folly (Erasmus), Utopia (More); Machiavelli – The Prince
* DBQ (training packet/Renaissance education)
1 day
* Power Point: Renaissance Art (classicism, humanism, individualism) 1 day
Unit 2: The Reformation
4 days
1. Early Attempts at Reform
3. Spread of the Reformation
2. Luther and the Revolution
4. Catholic Reformation
Reading: McKay - Ch. 14; Perry – The Freedom of A Christian; Of Marriage and Celibacy (Luther),
Spiritual Exercises (Loyola)
Map Activity: Reformation/Counter Reformation in Europe
Film: A Man For All Seasons; Luther
Unit 3: Rise of the World Economy and Wars of Religion
1. Expansion of European Trade
2. Thirty Years’ War and Religious Conflict
Reading: McKay - Ch. 15; Perry – Edict Of Nantes (Henry IV)
* DBQ – Witchcraft or Pilgrammage of Grace
4 days
Unit 4: Absolutism in Western Europe
4 days
1. Development of Absolutism
2. English Civil War and the Development of Constitutionalism
Reading: McKay - Ch. 16; Perry – Leviathan (Hobbes), Second Treatise of Government (Locke)
Film: Sister Wendy Art Series (Baroque and Romantic Periods) (* will fit in where possible)
Unit 5: Absolutism in Eastern Europe
1. Prussian and Russian Absolutism
2. Austrian Empire
Reading: McKay - Ch. 17
3 days
Unit 6: Scientific Revolution/Enlightenment
4 days
1. Events/Players of the Scientific Revolution
3. Enlightenment Ideas and Philosophers
2. Social and Cultural Impact of the Scientific Revolution
4. Classical Liberalism
Reading: McKay - Ch. 18; Perry – On The Revolutions of The Heavenly Spheres (Copernicus), What Is
The Enlightenment (Kant), The Social Contract (Rousseau), The Wealth of
Nations (Smith)
Mini Research: Biographies (prepare for Salon)
1 day
Film: Isaac Newton biography
Unit 7: 18th Century Social Change
1. Social, Economic Life in the 18th Century
Reading: McKay - Ch. 19, 20
* DBQ – The Gin Act
4 days
Unit 8: The French Revolution/Napoleonic Era
4 days
1. The Ancien Regime
3. Rise and Fall of Napoleonic Europe
2. Revolution: Social, Political, and Cultural
4. Congress of Vienna
Reading: McKay - Ch. 21; Perry – Declaration of The Rights of Man and Of Citizens, Vindication of The
Rights of Women (Wollstonecraft)
Map Activity: Napoleonic Europe/Napoleonic Wars
Film: The Affair of the Necklace; Marie Antoinette biography
Unit 9: The Industrial Revolution
4 days
1. Events and Players of the Industrial Revolution
2. Social and Cultural Impact of the Industrial Revolution
Reading: McKay - Ch. 22; Perry – Factory Rules, Sadler Commission Report on Child Labor, The Wealth
Of Nations (Smith), On The Principles of Population (Malthus)
Semester Exam
2nd Semester
Unit 10: Ideologies and Revolution (“isms”)
3 days
1. Conservatism
3. Romanticism, Art and Revolution
2. Liberalism, Nationalism and Revolution
4. Socialism
Reading: McKay - Ch. 23; Marx – Communist Manifesto; Perry – Tables Turned (Wordsworth),
Reflections On The Revolutions in France (Burke), On Liberty (Mill), The War
of Liberation (Arndt), Karlsbad Decrees, The June Days (de Toqueville)
* DBQ – Greek Independence Movement
Film: Sister Wendy Art Series (Art of the Revolutions)
Unit 11: Changing Urban Society
4 days
1. Second Industrial Revolution
2. Changing Social Structure and Changing Family
Reading: McKay - Ch. 24; Perry – Hard Times (Dickens), Natural Selection (Darwin),
* DBQ – The Poor in Europe
Unit 12: Age of Nationalism
1. Events and Players of German Unification
2. Events and Players of Italian Unification
Reading: McKay - Ch. 25; Perry – The Jewish State (Hertzl)
Map Activity: German and Italian Unification
4 days
Unit 13: Imperialism
4 days
1. “Old” vs. “New” Imperialism
2. European Imperialism in Africa: Factors and Impact
Reading: McKay - Ch. 26; Perry – Confessions of Faith (Rhodes), An Early Critique of Imperialism
(Hobson), Passive Resistance (Ghandi),The White Man’s Burden (Kipling)
Map Activity: European Imperialism in Africa
* DBQ – Competition, Sports, and Nationalism
Unit 14: World War I
4 days
1. Long and Short-Term Causes 3. Economic, Social and Political Consequences
2. The Great War
4. The Russian Revolution
Reading: McKay - Ch. 27; Perry – The Greatness of War (Trietschke), Russian Women In Combat,
Disillusionment (Valery), What Is To Be Done (Lenin)
Map Activity: The Great War
Unit 15: Between Wars/Age of Anxiety
Reading: McKay - Ch. 28; Perry – The Unconscious (Freud)
Film: Illusion and Disillusion
1-2 days
Unit 16: Totalitarianism/World War II
1. Italian and German Fascism
2. Russian Communism/Stalinism
3. Events and Players of World War II
Reading: McKay Ch. 29
3 days
4. Social and Political Consequences
5. Redrawing a New Europe
Unit 17: The Cold War (1945-1985)
1. Events and Players of the Cold War
2. East vs. West: Economic and Social Issues
Reading: McKay Ch. 30
Map Activity: Post War Europe
* DBQ – European Union
3-4 days
3. De-Stalinization of the Soviet Union
4. Cracks Behind the Iron Curtain
Unit 18: Collapse of Communism/The Recent Past
3 days
1. Nationalism in Post-War Europe
3. German Re-Unification
2. Case Studies: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Soviet Union
4. History of European Unity
Reading: McKay Ch. 31; Perry – Perestroika (Gorbachev), The Failure of Communism (Havel)
Map Activity: A New Europe
Exam Review
5 days