Website: mrsdillonshistorysite.weebly.com
Mrs. Dillon
682-7474 ext. 2654
paula.dillon@claytonvalley.org
AP European History
Course Syllabus 2015-2016
Course Description
AP European History is a challenging college-level course that is structured around the
investigation of five course themes and 19 key concepts in four different chronological
periods from the Renaissance to the present. Besides covering the relevant historical
facts from these eras and linking these facts to the analysis of the themes, the course
requires you to master nine historical thinking skills. During the year, you will be
provided with the opportunity to examine primary sources, such as documentary
material, pictures and graphs, maps, political cartoons, statistical tables, and works of
art. In addition, you will be provided with exposure to both factual narratives and to the
interpretations of European history from the perspectives of a variety of different writers
and historians. Historiography is the history of history. You will be examining how
people have thought about and written about historical events over the course of time.
You will also be provided with the opportunity to develop your analytical and interpretive
writing skills, practicing short answer questions as well as document-based and long
essay question essays. Besides the short answer questions, you will me writing at least
one essay in each unit.
This course includes history as both content and methodology. Students must
demonstrate knowledge of basic chronology and major events and trends since the
High Renaissance, and will develop academic skills, including 1.) Effective analysis of
such primary sources as documents, maps, statistics, art, pictures, and graphs;
2.) Effective note-taking; 3.) Clear and precise written expression; and 4.) The ability to
weigh evidence and reach conclusions on the basis of fact.
Themes that are addressed in the course:
1. Interaction of Europe and the World (INT)
2. Poverty and Prosperity (PP)
3. Objective Knowledge and Subjective Visions (OS)
4. States and other Institutions of Power (SP)
5. Individual and Society (IS)
Historical Thinking Skills (Organized by Skill Type) that are addressed in the
course:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Chronological Reasoning
1. Historical Causation
2. Patterns of Continuity and Change Over Time
3. Periodization
Comparison and Contextualization
4. Comparison
5. Contextualization
Crafting Historical Arguments from Historical Evidence
6. Historical Argumentation
7. Appropriate Use of Relevant Historical Evidence
Historical Interpretation and Synthesis
8. Interpretation
9. Synthesis
Course Format
Guided Reading
The Kagan text can be very challenging to read, although it is a great resource.
Therefore you will practice guided reading throughout the year, which means that you
will take notes, answer reading questions, and create flashcards for important people,
places, events, and historical developments.
Primary Source Analysis
For each unit, you will be expected to read, analyze, and interpret a wide variety of
primary sources such as:
- Written sources (letters, journals, government documents, newspapers, etc.)
- Maps
- Statistics tables
- Works of art
Secondary sources and Interpretations
Aside from the textbook, we will look at historical scholarship of various viewpoints and
historical eras. This will help you develop your own historical interpretation.
APEH Writing
Each unit will give instruction and practice in writing the DBQ (Document-Based
Question), SAQ (Short Answer Question) and LEG (Long Essay Question) essays.
Some of these will ne peer-reviewed, while others will be timed and graded in the AP
style.
Simulations, Discussions, and Socratic Seminars
Students will regularly engage in simulations, discussions, and seminars that will require
ACTIVE participation, critical thinking, collaboration, and group problem solving.
AP Practice Tests
Each unit will include a summative assessment based upon the AP Exam. These will
include AP-style multiple choice questions as well as timed LEQ, SAQ, and DBQ
essays.
Key Concepts within Four Chronological Periods:
Unit 1: 1450-1648: The Renaissance, Columbian Exchange, Reformation, and Age
of Religious Wars.
Key Concepts:
 1.1 The worldview of European intellectuals shifted from one based on
ecclesiastical and classical authority to one based primarily on inquiry and
observation of the natural world.
 1.2 The struggle for sovereignty within and among states resulted in
varying degrees of political centralization.
 1.3 Religious pluralism challenged the concept of a unified Europe.
 1.4 Europeans explored and settled overseas territories, encountering
and interacting with indigenous populations.
 1.5 European society and the experiences of everyday life were
increasingly shaped by commercial and agricultural capitalism,
notwithstanding the persistence of medieval social and economic
structures.
Unit 2: 1648-1815: Absolutism, Constitutional Government, the Scientific
Revolution, Transatlantic Economy, Colonial Revolutions, The French Revolution,
and Napoleonic Era.
Key Concepts:
 2.1 Different models of political sovereignty affected the relationship
among states and between states and individuals.
 2.2 The expansion of European commerce accelerated the growth of a
worldwide economic network.
 2.3 The popularization and dissemination of the Scientific Revolution and
the application of its methods to political, social, and ethical issues led to
an increased, although not unchallenged, emphasis on reason in
European culture.
 2.4 The experiences of everyday life were shaped by demographic,
environmental, medical, and technological changes.
Unit 3: 1815-1914: The Conservative Restoration, Industrial Revolution,
Revolutions of 1832 and 1848, the new bourgeoisie, realpolitik in Germany and
Italy, and New Imperialism in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Key Concepts:
 3.1 The Industrial Revolution spread from great Britain to the continent,
where the state played a greater role in promoting industry.
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3.2 The experiences of everyday life were shaped by industrialization,
depending on the level of industrial development in a particular location.
3.3 The problems of industrialization provoked a range of ideological,
governmental, and collective responses.
3.4 European states struggled to maintain international stability in an age
of nationalism and revolutions.
3.5 A variety of motives and methods led to the intensification of
European global control and increased tensions among the Great Powers.
3.6 European ideas and culture expressed a tension between objectivity
and scientific realism on one hand, and subjectivity and individual
expression on the other.
Unit 4: 1914 to the Present: World War I, the rise of communism in Russia and the
Soviet Union, Economic Collapse, Rise of Totalitarianism, World War II, The Cold
War and Decolonization.
Key Concepts:
 4.1 Total war and political instability in the first half of the 20th century
gave way to a polarized state order during the Cold War, and eventually to
efforts at transnational union.
 4.2 The stresses of economic collapse and total war engendered internal
conflicts within European states and created conflicting conceptions of the
relationship between the individual and the state, as demonstrated in the
ideological battle among liberal democracy, communism, and fascism.
 4.3 During the 20th century, diverse intellectual and cultural movements
questioned the existence of objective knowledge, the ability of reason to
arrive at truth, and the role of religion in determining moral standards.
 4.4 Demographic changes, economic growth, total war, disruptions of
traditional social patterns, and competing definitions of freedom and justce
altered experiences of everyday life.
Required Texts:
 Kagan, Ozment, Turner, and Frank. (2014) The Western Heritage, Since
1300 AP Edition, 11th edition. Pearson.
 Niccoló Machiavelli, The Prince.
Please note: I expect you to read the assigned readings ahead of time. You cannot rely on
me to lecture on what was assigned in the reading. Rather than dictate events to you
(“This happened, then that happened”), you must come to class prepared to answer
questions about the reading (“What if this had not happened? How would this affect the
other thing?”)
Supplemental Reading:
Some readings will be assigned from other texts, including, but not limited to:
 Perry, Chapman, and Hastings: Primary Source Documents in Western
Civilization. Volume Two: Since 1400.
 McKay, Hill, Buckler, Crowston, Wiesner-Hanks, and Perry. (2011) A History of
Western Society, 10th edition. Bedford-St. Martin’s.
 Palmer, Colton, and Kramer (2007) A History of the Modern World, 10th edition.
McGraw-Hill.
 Sherman, Dennis, ed. Western Civilization: Sources, Images, and Interpretations,
from the Renaissance to the Present. 8th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
 Spielvogel, Jackson (2012). Western Civilization Since 1300, 8th edition. Boston:
Wadsworth.
Required and Recommended Materials:
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An AP test prep book, if you plan on taking the AP exam in May.
A notebook or binder exclusively for this class.
Pens, pencils, and highlighters.
Post-it notes. You will often want to write notes in your textbook, but since you
cannot write in the text, use post-it notes instead to annotate what you read.
 Index cards. You may want to use these for making flash cards.
Useful Resources and Websites:
- The AP College Board website for students:
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-european-history
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YouTube’s Crash Course channel: Great history videos by author John
Green: http://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
-
www.khanacademy.org has great tutorial videos as well.
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Tom Richey, an AP Euro from South Carolina, has placed his lectures online,
Go to www.tomrichey.net to access his lecture videos and review materials.
Course Planner and Readings: “Napoleon by winter break, Hitler by spring break” is
the typical AP Euro teacher’s mantra. We will try to adhere to the following schedule.
This is a planned outline for the course calendar, along with selected readings,
activities, assignments, and quizzes/tests for each chapter unit. Primary sources will be
assigned for each chapter throughout the year.
SEMESTER ONE:
Week ½: August 12-14
- Introduction, Course Syllabus
- Review summer homework, GPERSIA, computer lab
- Test: Summer textbook reading
Weeks 1 and 2: August 17-28
- Understanding Point-of-View Analysis
- CHAPTER 2: Renaissance and Discovery
o The Renaissance in Italy
o Italy’s Political Decline
o Revival of Monarchy in Northern Europe
o The Northern Renaissance
o Voyages of Discovery and the New World
Weeks 3 and 4: August 31- September 11
- CHAPTER 3:The Age of Reformation
o Society and Religion
o Martin Luther and the Reformation
o The English Reformation
o The Catholic Counter-Reformation
o Social Significance of the Protestant Reformation
Weeks 5 and 6: September 14-25
- CHAPTER 4: The Age of Religious Wars
o French Wars: Calvinism, Edict of Nantes
o Imperial Spain
o England: Mary I, Elizabeth I
o The Thirty Years War
Weeks 7 and 8: September 26- October 9
- CHAPTER 5: European State Consolidation in the 17th and 18th Centuries
o The Netherlands
o English Parliament and the Glorious Revolution
o Absolute Monarchy in France
o Russian Expansion and Dynasty
Week 9: October 12-16
- CHAPTER 6: New Directions in Thought and Culture in the 16th and 17th
Centuries
o The Scientific Revolution: Copernicus, Galileo, Newton
o Philosophic Reaction: Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke
o Women in the Scientific Revolution
o Science vs. Faith
o Superstitions and Witch Hunts
Week 10: October 19-23 (HOMECOMING SPIRIT WEEK)
- CHAPTER 7: Society and Economy Under the Old Regime in the 18th
Century
o The Old Regime and Aristocracy
o Family Structures
o Agricultural Revolution
o Industrial Revolution of the 1700s
o Growth of Cities, Jewish Ghettos
Weeks 11 and 12: October 26- November 6
- CHAPTER 8: The Transatlantic Economy, Trade Wars, and Colonial
Rebellion
o Mercantile Empires
o British, French, and Spanish Colonial Systems
o Transatlantic Slave Trade
o Mid-18th century wars
o American Revolution
Weeks 13 and 14: November 9- 20
- CHAPTER 9: The Age of Enlightenment: 18th-Century Thought
o The Philosophes
o Religion and Society in the Enlightenment
o Political Thought
o Women
o New styles of art: Rococo and Neoclassical
o Enlightened Despotism
- CHAPTER 10: The French Revolution
*** THANKSGIVING BREAK: NOVEMBER 24-28*** (You will have reading
homework!)
Weeks 15 and 16: November 30- December 11
- CHAPTER 10: The French Revolution
o Crisis of the French Monarchy
o Causes of 1789 Revolution
o Reconstruction of France
o Reign of Terror
o War with Europe and Thermidorian Reaction
- CHAPTER 11: The Age of Napoleon
Week 17: December 14-18
- CHAPTER 11: The Age of Napoleon and the Triumph of Romanticism
o Rise and Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte
o Revolution of Haiti
o European response to Napoleon
o Congress of Vienna
o The Romantic Movement: Art, Literature, Religion
- FINAL EXAMS
***WINTER BREAK: DECEMBER 21- JANUARY 8*** (You will have homework!)
SEMESTER TWO:
Weeks18 and 19: January 11- 22
- CHAPTER 12: The Conservative Order and the Challenges of Reform
o Conservatism in Europe
o Emergence of Liberalism and Nationalism
o Conservative Restoration
o Latin American Wars of Independence
- CHAPTER 13: Economic Advance and Social Unrest
Week 20: January 25-29
- CHAPTER 13: Economic Advance and Social Unrest
o Industrial Society
o Families, Women, and Labor
o Urban Problems: Crime, Poverty
o Early Socialism
o 1848: Year of Revolutions
Weeks 21 and 22: February 1- 12 (CAHSEE testing, Lincoln’s Birthday)
- CHAPTER 14: The Age of Nation-States
o Crimean War
o Realpolitik
o Italian Unification
o German Unification
o France’s Third Empire
o The Hapsburgs of Austria
o Russia: Revolutionary Stirrings
o Great Britain’s move to democracy
- CHAPTER 15: Building European Supremacy
Week 23: February 15- 19
- CHAPTER 15: The Building of European Supremacy: Society and Politics to
World War I
o New Industrialism
o Rise of the Middle Class
o Urban Life in the late 1800s
o Women’s Experiences
o Jewish Emancipation
o Labor, Socialism, and Politics to World War I
Week 24: February 22-26
- CHAPTER 16: The Birth of Modern European Thought
o The Literate Public
o Science: Comte, Darwin
o Church vs Skepticism
o Twentieth Century Thinking
Week 25 : February 29- March 4
- CHAPTER 17: The Age of Western Imperialism
o British Imperial Dominance
o India
o New Imperialism and its Motives
o Partition of Africa
o Russian expansion
o Western Powers in Asia
o Missionaries and Scientists
Weeks 26 and 27: March 7-18
- CHAPTER 18: Alliances, War, and a Troubled Peace- WORLD WAR I
o Emergence of German Empire and the Alliance System
o World War I
o The Russian Revolution, Birth of the Communist Soviet Union
o End of World War I and Peace Settlements
Week 28: March 21- 25
- CHAPTER 19: The Interwar Years: The Challenge of Dictatorship and
Depression
o Effects of Versailles Treaty
o Great Depression
o Soviet Communism; Lenin and Stalin
o Fascism in Italy; Mussolini
o German Dictatorship: Hitler and Nazi Party
o Eastern European States
*** SPRING BREAK MARCH 28-APRIL 1*** (Expect reading homework!)
Weeks 29 and 30: April 4-15
- CHAPTER 20: WORLD WAR II
o Road to War: Appeasement, Spanish Civil War and Nazi-Soviet Pact
o German Conquest of Europe
o Defeat of Nazi Germany
o Fall of Japanese Empire
o Racism and the Holocaust
o Preparations for Peace
Weeks 31 AND 32: April 8- May 29
- Chapter 21: The Cold War Era, Decolonization, and the Emergence of a New
Europe
o Containment and American Foreign Policy
o NATO and the Warsaw Pact
o Soviet Domination in Eastern Europe
o Creation of Israeli State
o Korean War
o Khruschev in the USSR
o The Berlin Wall and Cuban Missile Crisis
o Decolonization around the world
o Turmoil of French Decolonization: Algeria, Vietnam, Cambodia
o Collapse of the Soviet Union and European Communism
o Yugoslavia’s Civil War
o Putin’s Russia
o Rise of Radical Political Islamism
SATURDAY REVIEW SESSION: APRIL 30 @ 10am. COME READY TO STUDY!
Week 33: May 2-6
- CHAPTER 22: Social, Cultural, and Economic Challenges in the West
through the Present
o 20th Century Movement of Peoples
o Welfare State Societies
o Women and Work
o New Knowledge and Culture
o Art Since World War II
o Technology
o European Unification
o New American Leadership and Financial Crisis
- REVIEW DAYS
- AP EXAM: FRIDAY MAY 6!!!
Weeks 34- 37: May 11- June 4
- Fun stuff. Yes, you still have to come to class.
- Film studies
- Field trips (maybe )
- Fun projects
- Finals Week and last days of school
- The format of the final exam/project in this class is to be determined.
Grading System:
Grades are weighted in the following categories:
- Chapter/Unit Tests: 35%
- Essays (DBQ, LEQ, and SAQ): 35%
- Homework and Reading Quizzes: 20%
- Participation: 10%
Based on recommendations of the College Board, the following scale will be used:
 90-100%= A
 60-69%= D
 80-89%= B
 0-59%= F
 70-79%= C
All DBQs (Document-Based Question Essay) will be based on a 7-point scale (no half
points). The standards for grading will focus on thesis statement clarity, logic of
argument, evidence, outside information provided, etc.
 7= 100% = A+
 3= 65% = D
 6= 95% = A
 2= 55% = F
 5= 85% = B
 1= 45% = F
 4= 75% = C
All LEQs (Long Essay Question) will be based on a 6-point scale (no half points). There
are four different types of LEQs: Causation, Comparison, Continuity and Change Over
Time, and Periodization.
- 6= 100% = A
- 5= 92% = A- 4= 82% = B- 3= 72% = C- 2= 62% = D- 1= 52% = F
Final Note:
Please remember that this class may be challenging, but at the end of the year, you will find that you
have acquired great skills in reading, analysis, critical thinking, and writing. If you try your best and do not
fall behind in the homework, success is possible and attainable. If you are struggling with any material or
reading, please contact Mrs. Dillon as soon as possible- don’t wait! Best of luck in this school year.
“Europe was created by history.
America was created by philosophy. “
- Margaret Thatcher
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY STUDENT CONTRACT
I, _______________, have read and understand the course, rigor,
and requirements for success in the class. I promise to try my
best and always ask for help when I need it. I understand that this
course requires me to pull my own weight and keep up with the
assigned reading. I also understand that by preparing for and
passing the AP exam in May, I can earn college credit, and
therefore will give it my best effort. Finally, I understand that I
must be an active participant in the class in order to gain as much
knowledge as I can from this course.
Student Name: __________________
Student Signature: ___________________
Parent Name: ___________________
Parent Signature: _____________________
Date: ______________________________
______________________________
Mrs. Paula Dillon, AP European History teacher
Please detach this page and return to Mrs. Dillon