1
Oakdale High School
Advanced Placement United States History
Mr. Simoncini
Course Syllabus
Course Overview
Summer Work
Summer term paper due in late July on a specific date to be determined
Topics assigned per Appendix 1
Book report on Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle due the first day of class
Workshop (first 4 days of school):
Analysis and interpretation of historical documents, artifacts, maps, graphs,
primary source materials and secondary source materials
Writing for success in A. P. United States History
Critical thinking in history
Unit 1: Pre and Post-Columbian America
Unit 2: Colonial America (1607-1754)
Unit 3: Independence and the Constitution (1754-1800)
Unit 4: The Age of Jefferson and the Growth of Nationalism (1800-1848)
Unit 5: Sectionalism, the Civil War and Reconstruction (1844-1877)
Unit 6: The West and the Rise of Industry (The gilded Age) (1865-1898)
Unit 7: Progressivism, World War I, and the 1920s
Unit 8: The Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II
Unit 9: The Cold War and the 1950s
Unit 10: The 1960s through the 1980s
Unit 11: The United States in the 21st Century
Course Scope and Sequence
Unit 1: Chapter 1
Unit 2: Chapters 2-4
Unit 3: Chapters 5-6
Unit 4: Chapters 7-8
End first grading period
Unit 4 (continued): Chapters 9-10
Unit 5: Chapters 11-15
End of second grading period and Winter Break
Unit 6: Chapters 16-20
Unit 7: Chapters 21-24
Unit 8: Chapters 25-28
End of third grading period
Unit 9: Chapters 29-30
Unit 10: Chapters 31-32
Unit 11: Chapter 33
End of fourth grading period
Note: Oakdale High School follows a traditional block. Consequently, our normal class
schedule is five, 50-minute classes per week
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Course Resources
Course Textbook [CR 1a]
Brinkley, Alan. American History-A Survey, Boston et al, McGraw-Hill College, 2003 [CR 1a]
Primary Source Readers:
Agel, Jerome B. (editor) We, The People: Great Documents of the American Nation, New York,
Barnes & Noble Books
Woll, Peter (editor). American Government: Readings and Cases (15th ed). New York:
Pearson/Longman, 2004
Secondary Source Readers (CR 1c)
Davis, Kenneth, Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know about
American History but Never Learned. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.
[CR1c]—The course includes secondary sources written by historians or scholars interpreting
the past
Other Resources
Bowen, Catherine Drinker. Miracle at Philadelphia, Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1986
Danzer, Gerald A. Maps in Context: A workbook for American History, Boston and New York,
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle, New York, Bantam Books, 1981
Components of Each Unit
Unit 1: Pre-Columbus to 1607 (CR 2)
Readings
Brinkley, Chapter 1
Davis, pp. 1-32
“American Indians and European Diseases,” online http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/325
“Richard Hakluyt Discourse of western planting 1584,” online
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/before-1600/richard-hakluyt-discourse-of-western-planting1584.php
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
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Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 A chart pertaining to the Columbian Exchange
 The Treaty of Tordesillas
 The Papal Bull Inter Caetera of Pope Alexander VI
 Christopher Columbus’s Fourth Journal
 Excerpts from the Spanish trial of the Pueblo Revolt
 Artwork depicting smallpox among Indians
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Continuity and Change over Time: students will fill in a timeline populating it with continuities
and changes over a specific category, then students will be required to determine whether there
were more continuities or changes. Students are then asked to identify one event as a turning
point, or determine what the broader context of the events fall under. (CR 9)
Working in small groups morphing into a full class discussion, students, drawing on other
historical evidence, will discuss the article “American Indians and European Diseases” as a
means to examine relationships between causes and consequences of events or processes—
Historical causation (CR 8) (CR 4, PEO-4)
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) drawing in historical evidence
to analyze the article “Richard Hakluyt Discourse of western planting 1584” (CR 5, 9 & 11) (CR
4, WXT-1)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay. (CR 5 &
6) The essay for this unit will ask the students to analyze and assess the long term significance
of the Columbian Exchange: “To what extent did the Columbian Exchange alter the lives of
people in North America and the natural environment of North and Central America in the late
15th and 16th centuries?” (CR 4, ENV-1 & WOR-1)
Unit 2: Colonial America (1607-1754)
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 2-4
Davis, pp. 33-41
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Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 The Mayflower Compact
 John Winthrop’s, “ A Model of Christian Charity”
 Captain John Mason, A Brief History of the Pequot War
 “Religion in Virginia—R. G., 1661”
 Jonathan Edwards, “Treatise on Grace,” (excerpt)
 Ann Putnam, “The Repentance of a Witchcraft Accuser” (1706)
 William Byrd’s Diary (1709)
 Richard Frethorne, “A Letter from an Indentured Servant in Virginia”
 Connecticut Blue Laws
 Reverend Francis Higginson, A Short and True Description of New England, 1629
 James Oglethorpe, Founding Vision for Georgia, 1733
 Virginia Slave Codes (1677-1705)
 “Reason Against a General Prohibition of The Iron Manufacture in his Majesty’s
Plantations (ca. 1750)
 Map of the triangular trade
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) drawing in historical evidence
analyzing the importance of the town meeting in the social and political life of New England (CR
5, 8, 9, 10) (CR 4, POL-1)
Students will engage in a small group discussion pertaining to the causes and effects of the
Salem Witch Trials—debating the perspectives provided by Carol F. Karlsen (The Devil in the
Shape of A Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, and Kai T. Erikson (Wayward
Puritans: A Study in Sociology of Deviance.) (CR 6) (CR 4, CUL-1)
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) drawing in historical evidence
analyzing the significance of the Half-way Covenant on New England society (CR 11) (CR 4,
CUL 4)
Students will debate the question: What circumstances were in place during the mid-18th
century in England’s North American colonies that would tend to make colonists favor a
republican form of local government? (CR 9, 10, 11) (CR 4, ID-5; POL-1)
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Students will analyze, through a class discussion, how Bacon’s rebellion was a foreshadowing
of what would emerge as west-to-east conflict in early America, expanding into the early United
States (CR 12) (CR 4, ID-5)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay. (CR 5 &
6) The DBQ prompt: Evaluate the following statement: “From almost their very beginning,
England’s North American colonies, though initially being loyal to the English monarch,
nevertheless took on their own attitude as a people apart from the mainstream English.
Additionally, different colonies, due to differences in economies, societies, and social attitudes,
took on outlooks that made them distinct from other colonies in addition to their distinctiveness
with regard to England.” (CR 4, ID-5)
Unit 3: Independence and the Constitution (1754-1800))
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 5-6
Davis, pp. 41-100
Woll, pp. 31-39
Joseph J. Ellis, “The First Democrats,” U. S. News and World Report, August 21, 2000, pp. 3439
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 Picture of Woodcut of Patriot woman, Marblehead, MA, 1779
 Map of the Proclamation of 1763
 Excerpts from Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
 Excerpt from the Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress
 Excerpt from the Virginia Resolves
 Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
 Excerpts from the Articles of Confederation
 Letters from Abigail Adams to John Adams
 Map of the Northwest Ordinance
 Excerpts from the Judiciary Act of 1789
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

Excerpt from Ellis, His Excellency, George Washington regarding Washington’s Farewell
Address, 1797, p. 235
Excerpt from Ian W. Toll, Six Frigates, regarding the XYZ Affair
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Students will engage in small group discussions morphing into a large group discussion using
historical evidence to compare and contrast the viewpoints of Common Sense (Paine) and
“Letter III” of Letters From A Pennsylvania Farmer (Dickinson) (CR 6, 7, 11) (CR 4, ID-1)
In a continuation from an activity during Chapter 2 (Students will analyze, through a class
discussion, how Bacon’s rebellion was a foreshadowing of what would emerge as west-to-east
conflict in early America, expanding into the early United States), students will link Bacon’s
Rebellion to Shays’s Rebellion and the Whiskey rebellion (CR 12).(CR 4, ID-5)
Students will review Woll, pp. 31-40 as well as primary and secondary sources regarding the
Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution and debate the degree to which the
Constitution reflected an emerging sense of American national identity (CR 4, ID-1).
Students will engage in a small group activity translating the Declaration of Independence into
modern language and will then discuss paragraph 2 of the Declaration in the context of its
application to modern day society. (CR 10) (CR 4, CUL-4; ID-1)
Students will read an excerpt from Washington’s Farewell Address (Ellis) and “The First
Democrats” (Ellis) and then discuss those items in the context of modern day political parties
and political campaigns (the most recent political campaign season) (CR 6, 9, & 10) (CR 4,
POL-2)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay. (CR 5 &
6)
Unit 4: The Age of Jefferson and the Growth of Nationalism (1800-1848)
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 7-10
Davis, pp. 100-126
Brands, H. W., “People’s Choice,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 2005, pp. 106, 108-115
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Woll, pp. 69-73; 414-416
Smith, Nicole, “Housework and the Cult of Domesticity” online
http://www.articlemyriad.com/housework-cult-domesticity/ January 17, 2012
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 Excerpts from Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address
 Judith Sargent Murray, “On The Equality of the Sexes,” The Massachusetts Magazine,
1790
 “The Burned Over District, “ online http://www.westernny.com/history4.html
 “Marbury v. Madison (1803)”, online
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/democracy/print/landmark_marbury.html
 “The Louisiana Purchase,” online http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/louisianapurchase
 Map of the Louisiana Purchase
 Political cartoon “Gerrymander”
 Map indicating regions supporting and not supporting entry into the War of 1812
 Map series indicating the National Road, the Erie Canal and other canals, and railroad
track distribution in the United States in various decades
 Map of the results of the Adams-Onis Treaty
 Excerpt from the House of Representatives Congressional Record from February 1820
showing debate over the Thomas Amendment (Missouri Compromise)
 Map of the Missouri Compromise
 The Monroe Doctrine
 Andrew Jackson, “First Annual Message to Congress”
 Andrew Jackson’s Bank Bill “Veto Message”
 John C. Calhoun’s Argument on Nullification
 Political cartoon packet on the Panic of 1837
 Political cartoon of the Log Cabin Campaign of 1840
 Excerpt of Massachusetts Supreme Court opinion of the court in Commonwealth v. Hunt
(1842)
 Excerpt from Hamilton Company Boardinghouse Rules (1848)
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Using Woll and Brinkley, students will complete a concept map of the following decisions of the
Marshall Court: Marbury v. Madison; Fletcher v. Peck; Dartmouth College v. Woodward;
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Cohens v. Virginia; McCulloch v. Maryland; Gibbons v. Ogden; Johnson v. McIntosh; Cherokee
Nation v. Georgia; Worcester v. Georgia.(CR 8 & 9) (CR 4, POL-5)
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) using historical evidence to
compare and contrast the general philosophies of governance between John Adams and
Thomas Jefferson (CR 8 & 9) (CR 4, POL-2 & POL-5)
Through discussions in small groups morphing into a full class discussion, students will use
historical evidence to contrast arguments of Nathan O. Hatch, “The Democratization of
Christianity and the Character of American Politics,” 1990, and Gordon S. Wood, Empire of
Liberty, 2009 regarding the formation of American political and social values between 1780 and
1840. (CR 6) (CR 4, ID-1)
After reading “People’s Choice” (Brands) and receiving a short presentation from the teacher
about the presidential election of 2004, students will compare and contrast the campaigns and
results of the presidential elections of 1828 and 2004 (CR 12 and 13b) (CR 4, POL-2 & POL-6)
Through discussions in small groups morphing into a full class discussion, students will use
historical evidence to discuss a packet of political cartoons pertaining to the presidency of
Andrew Jackson (CR 7 & 8) (CR 4, CUL-2, POL-2, POL-6)
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) discussing how the Trail of
Tears was a “wart on America’s butt.” (Note: as the year progresses, students shall continue to
evaluate various warts on America’s butt, bringing in evidence about abusive practices
demonstrated by Americans toward various constituencies including Native Americans, African
Americans, women, immigrants, and others.) (CR 5, 6, 8 & 12) (CR 4, PEO-4, PEO-5)
Students will read “Housework and the Cult of Domesticity” (Smith) and respond with short
responses to a variety of questions about the article and, using historical evidence, the general
treatment of women during the 1820s-1940s. (CR 6, 8, & 9) (CR 4, CUL-5)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay, or, in the
case of this unit, both. (CR 5 & 6) The unit DBQ focuses on the presidency of Andrew Jackson.
(CR 4, ID-1, POL-5 & 6)
Unit 5: Sectionalism, the Civil War and Reconstruction (1844-1877)
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 11-15
Davis, 127-165 and 181-189
Ross Drake, “The Law that Ripped America in Two,” Smithsonian Magazine, May 2004
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Opinion of the Court, Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), online
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/393/
“13th through 15th Amendments of the United States Constitution”, online
http://blackhistory.com/content/60916/13th-14th-and-15th-amendments
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 James B. D. DeBow, “Non-slaveholders Should Fight to Defend Slavery,” January, 1861
 Excerpt from the South Carolina Slave Code, 1740
 Excerpt from Senator Charles Sumner, “ The Crime Against Kansas: The Apologies for
the Crime; The True Remedy,” delivered to U. S. Senate, 19-20 May 1856
 Artist’s depiction of Rep. Preston Brooks’ (D-SC) attack on Sumner, 1856
 Walt Whitman, “O Captain, My Captain”
 Excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature
 Margaret Fuller, “Woman in the Nineteenth Century
 Patrick Reason Engraving, “Am I not a Woman and a Sister?”, 1835
 “The Drunkard’s Progress” (cartoon)
 John O’Sullivan, “Annexation”
 Thomas Corwin, “Against the Mexican War”
 The Wilmot Proviso Cartoon
 Map of “Trails West”
 Series of maps pertaining to the Mexico-U. S. War
 Map of results of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
 Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech, 1858
 Map of the key battles of the American Civil War
 Teacher handout: Civil War Facts
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Students will read the “Declaration of Sentiments” and discuss the key components as well as
discuss how the sentiments discussed compare and contrast with the condition of women in
Twenty-first century America. (CR 8, 9, 12, and 13b) (CR 4, CUL-4, 5 & 6)
Students will read the Opinion of the Supreme Court in the case Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
and debate the merits and negative aspects of the opinion. (CR 9) (CR 4, POL 3, 5 & 6)
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Students will read “The Law that Ripped America in Two” (Drake) and, using historical evidence,
discuss the relationship between the causes and consequences of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
(CR 8 & 12) (CR 4, ID-2)
Students will engage in a small group discussion that will morph into a full class discussion after
reading the Emancipation Proclamation and the text of the Thirteenth Amendment, comparing
and contrasting the key points of the two documents. (CR 4, POL-5 & 6; CUL-5)
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) comparing and contrasting the
post-war philosophies on how to deal with the defeated South: the conservative plan, Lincoln’s
plan, and the Wade-Davis Bill and discussing the positive and negative aspects of each (CR 5 &
6) (CR 4, POL 3 & 6)
After reading “13th through 15th Amendments of the United States Constitution,” students will
engage in a small group discussion that will morph into a full class discussion comparing and
contrasting the viewpoints of African Americans on one hand and white southerners on the
other hand regarding the emergence of Jim Crow laws and why the aforementioned three
amendments were not enforced in the post-war South. (CR 8 & 12) (CR 4, ID 4 & 5; POL-3)
Students will complete their second 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in the “warts on
America’s butt” series, bringing in evidence about abusive practices demonstrated by
Americans toward various constituencies including Native Americans, African Americans,
women, immigrants, and others. This paper will focus primarily on African Americans. (CR 5, 6,
8 & 12) (CR 4, POL-1)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Students will complete a DBQ evaluating changes in antebellum American society and
their effects on ensuing events—constructing a historical argument (CR 5)
Students will complete a DBQ examination in response to the following prompt: “In what ways
and to what extent did constitutional and social developments between 1860 and 1877 amount
to a revolution?” Students will use the documents and their knowledge of the period indicated to
write an essay with a thesis statement supported by historical evidence (CR 10 & 13a) (CR 4,
POL-6)
Unit 6: The West and the Rise of Industry (The gilded Age) (1865-1898)
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 16-20
Davis, pp. 257-283 and 289-303
Woll, pp. 125-127
Opinion of the Court, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) online
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/163/537/ and dissenting opinion of Justice Harlan,
online: http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/nclc375/harlan.html
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Alfred T. Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, online:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/222011/The-Influence-of-Sea-Power-Upon-History-by-Alfred-ThayerMahan
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, excerpts from students’ summer work assignment
William Jennings Bryan, The Cross of Gold Speech (1896) online
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354/
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 Treaty of Laramie (1868)
 Andrew Carnegie’s Memorandum (1868)
 The Black Hills treaty (1877)
 Chief Joseph’s surrender statement (1877)
 The Dawes Act (1877)
 The End of the Frontier statement (1893)
 “Booker T. Washington Represents the negro Race,” (1895)
 Emma Lazarus: “The New Colossus”
 The Populist Party Platform (1892)
 Images from Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives
 Statement of the U. S. annexation of the Hawaiian Isalands (1898)
 The Spanish-American War Treaty (1899)
 John Hay, “Open Door Note” of July 3, 1900
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Students will complete their third 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in the “warts on
America’s butt” series, bringing in evidence about abusive practices demonstrated by
Americans toward various constituencies including Native Americans, African Americans,
women, immigrants, and others. This paper will require students to compare and contrast the
treatment received by African-Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican, Filipino and Chinese
immigrants. (CR 5, 6, 8 & 12) (CR 4, POL-1)
Using historical evidence, students will engage in a small group discussion that will morph into a
full class discussion regarding the positive and negative aspects of the Robber Barons during
the Gilded Age. (CR 8 & 9) (CR 4, WXT-6)
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Students will complete and discuss a concept map regarding the late 19th century labor
movement—its focus, its successes and its failures and evaluate why it ultimately was
unsuccessful. Students will then complete and discuss a concept map regarding the Populist
movement among America’s farmers and miners in a fashion similar to their discussion of the
labor movement. Students will then analyze and evaluate why the two movements never
merged. (CR 8, 9, 10 & 11) (CR 4, WXT-5; ENV-2 & 3)
Students will engage in a full class discussion comparing and contrasting American
amusements and leisure in the late 19th century with those in the early 21st century (CR 11 &
13b) (CR 4, CUL-7)
After reading Bryan’s Cross of Gold Speech and using historical evidence, students will debate
the concept of bimetallism in relationship to the gold standard and the effects the final resolution
of the matter had on long-term American history (CR 8, 10, & 11) (CR 4, ENV-2; POL-3; WXT6)
After reading both the Opinion of the Court and Justice Harlan’s dissenting opinion in the
landmark decision, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), as well as Woll, pp. 125-127, students will
debate the positive and negative aspects of both opinions (CR 6 & 11) (CR 4, POL-5; ID-8)
After reading selected excerpts from Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power Upon
History, students, using historical evidence, will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick
write) discussing how Mahan’s work may have set the tone for the policies of the McKinley and
Theodore Roosevelt administrations’ foreign policies. (CR 8 & 11) (CR 4, WOR-3, 5, 6, & 7)
After reading the article, “Buffalo Soldiers and the Spanish American War,” (online:
http://www.nps.gov/prsf/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers-and-the-spanish-american-war.htm)
students will discuss the contributions of African American soldiers in the second half of the 19th
century (CR 11 & 12) (CR 4, POL-3)
Students will complete their fourth 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in the “warts on
America’s butt” series, bringing in evidence about abusive practices demonstrated by
Americans toward various constituencies including Native Americans, African Americans,
women, immigrants, and others. This paper will require students to compare and contrast the
treatment received by African-Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican, Filipino and Chinese
immigrants on the one hand with that received by Filipino rebels during the Philippine-U. S. War
(1898-1902). (CR 5, 6, 8 & 12) (CR 4, POL-1; WOR-6)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay, or, in the
case of this unit, both. (CR 5 & 6) The DBQ for this unit will reflect American imperialism in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries (CR 4, WOR-6 & 7)
13
Unit 7: Progressivism, World War I, and the 1920s
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 21-24
Davis, pp. 323-368, 388-396
Edmund Morris, “Theodore Roosevelt”, 1998
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 Excerpt from Lincoln Steffens’ “The Shame of the Cities”
 Excerpts from Ida Tarbell, The History of the Standard Oil Company
 Jane Addams, “Why Women Should Vote,” online
http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1915janeadams-vote.html
 Booker T. Washington speech, “The Atlanta Compromise,” 1895 online
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/39/
 The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
 The National Defense Act of 1916 and Selective Service Act of 1917
 Woodrow Wilson, The Fourteen Points
 The Treaty of Versailles
 Espionage Act of 1917
 Sedition Act of 1917
 Eugene V. Debs, Statement prior to being sentenced to prison (1918)
 A series of World War I American propaganda posters
 Arguments for and against U. S. entry into the League of Nations
 Various Langston Hughes Poems
 Amendment XVIII and text of the Volstead Act
 Excerpts from the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and The Johnson-Reed Act of 1924
 Joseph Buffington, “Friendly Words to the Foreign Born”
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) comparing and contrasting the
viewpoints of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois regarding the advancement of African
American people (CR 9 & 11) (CR 4, POL-7)
14
After reading “Theodore Roosevelt” (Morris) and bringing in other historical evidence, students,
working first in small groups and then morphing into a full class discussion, will analyze the
positive and negative aspects of the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and evaluate his
presidency, both from the perspectives of domestic and foreign policies (CR 9 & 11) (CR 4,
POL-3)
After reading the article “Theodore Roosevelt and the Environment,”
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tr-environment/) and
doing individual research on the current policies of the Democratic and Republican parties on
the environment, students will engage in a whole class discussion comparing and contrasting
the environmental beliefs and policies of Roosevelt with modern day leaders. (CR 9 & 11) (CR
4, ENV-5)
After receiving a short presentation about the election of 1992 from the teacher, students, using
historical evidence, will analyze the election of 1912 and then will compare and contrast the
campaigns and results of the presidential elections of 1912 and 1992 (CR 12 and 13b) (CR 4,
POL-2 & 6)
Using links to www.spartacus-web.com pertaining to World War I, students will engage in an
online scavenger hunt pertaining to the battlefield horrors of the war and will respond to a series
of short answer questions. The students and teacher will then discuss their findings. (CR 7)
(CR 4, WOR-7)
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) analyzing the statement, “World
War I was a war fought with 20th century weapons and equipment but 19th century tactics.” (CR
5 & 8) (CR 4, WOR-7)
Using historical evidence, students will engage in a class discussion pertaining to how the
Treaty of Versailles was, de facto, the beginning of World War II (CR 8 & 12) (CR 4, WOR-7)
After viewing the website http://www.africaspeaks.com/marcus_garvey/ students, working in
small groups, will discuss the philosophy of Marcus Garvey and its ramifications on the lives of
African Americans in the United States (CR 8 & 12). (CR 4, POL-7)
Students will complete their fifth 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in the “warts on
America’s butt” series, bringing in evidence about abusive practices demonstrated by
Americans toward various constituencies including Native Americans, African Americans,
women, immigrants, and others. This paper will require students to compare and contrast the
treatment received by African-Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican, Filipino and Chinese
immigrants on the one hand with that received by immigrants to the United States from
Southern and Eastern Europe in the pre-and-post-World War I period. (CR 5, 6, 8 & 12) (CR 4,
PEO 5, 6 & 7)
Using historical evidence, students will engage in a full class discussion comparing and
contrasting American amusements and leisure in the 1920s with those in the early 21st century
(CR 11 & 13b) (CR 4, CUL-7)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
15
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay, or, in the
case of this unit, both. (CR 5 & 6)
Unit 8: The Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 25-28
Davis, pp. 400-410; 418-436
Woll, pp. 274-298; 303-311
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 Herbert Hoover’s statement on republicanism
 Map of the Dust Bowl and westward migrations caused by the Dust Bowl
 Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address
 Excerpt from FDR’s fireside chat regarding the bank holiday
 FDR’s statement prior to signing the Social Security Act
 FDR’s executive order establishing the Works Progress Administration
 Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League
 FDR’s “Quarantine Speech”
 FDR’s “Day of Infamy Speech”
 FDR’s executive order banning discrimination in national defense industries
 Text of the Atlantic Charter
 Excerpts from Korematsu v. United States
 Albert Einstein’s letter to FDR urging nuyclear research
 Various documents pertaining to Harry Truman’s decision to use atomic weapons
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) utilizing historical evidence to
analyze the causes of the Great Depression and linking them to the current state of the
American economy (based on the students’ current knowledge (CR 5, 8 & 11) (CR 4, WXT-6 &
8)
16
Students will complete their sixth 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in the “warts on
America’s butt” series, bringing in evidence about abusive practices demonstrated by
Americans toward various constituencies including Native Americans, African Americans,
women, immigrants, and others. This paper will require students to compare and contrast
previously discussed information in this series with how the African American experience during
the Great Depression differed from that of white people. Students will be required to use
historical evidence to include, as a minimum, the Scottsboro case, Marian Anderson’s concert,
and FDR’s Black Cabinet in their discussion. (CR 5, 6, 8 & 12) (CR 4, ID-8; POL-7)
Students will engage in small group discussions morphing into a full class discussion using
historical evidence to compare and contrast Presidents Hoover and F. D. Roosevelt in their
approaches to solving the problems associated with the Great Depression. (CR 8, 9, 10, & 11)
That assignment will lead to the next one. (CR 4, WXT-8)
Students will divide into six groups in each class. Each group will be assigned one of the
following readings from Woll: Rossiter, “The Presidency—Focus of Leadership;” Neustadt,
“Presidential Power;” Cronin and Genovese, “Presidential Paradoxes;” Barber, “The Presidential
Character;” 299 U. S. 304 (1936), United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation;” and
Wildavsky, “The Two Presidencies.” Each group will read its assigned article and then apply the
reading to the presidential leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss how he changed the
presidency and the use of presidential power. Each group will then select one president
previously studied and compare and contrast the use of presidential power between that
president and FDR. The group will then engage in a class jigsaw activity. (CR 6, 8, 9, 10, 11,
13a, & 13b) (CR 4, POL 4, 5 & 6)
Students will follow the previous two activities by, working in small groups then morphing into a
full class discussion, using historical evidence to compare and contrast the foreign policies of
the Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover administrations on the one hand with that of F. D. Roosevelt
on the other hand and evaluating their relative strengths and weaknesses (CR 3, 5, 8 & 11).
(CR 4, WOR 7 & 8)
Students will complete their seventh 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in the “warts on
America’s butt” series, bringing in evidence about abusive practices demonstrated by
Americans toward various constituencies including Native Americans, African Americans,
women, immigrants, and others. This paper will require students to compare and contrast
previously discussed information in this series with how the United States government handled
the St. Louis Affair, segregation of African Americans in military units (including the Tuskegee
Airmen) and war industries, and the internment of Japanese Americans (including the record of
the 442nd RCT) during the war. (CR 5, 6, 8 & 12) (CR 4, ID-8; POL-7)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
17
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay, or, in the
case of this unit, both. (CR 5 & 6)
Unit 9: The Cold War and the 1950s
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 29-30
Davis, pp. 418-440
Woll, pp. 128-134
Opinion of the Court, Brown v. Board of Education (1954), online
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/ and Opinion of the Court, Brown v. Board
of Education II (1955), online https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/349/294/
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 Excerpts from the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (G. I. Bill)
 President Truman’s speech to the nation on the occasion of V. J. Day
 Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech
 President Truman’s executive order eliminating segregation in the military
 Excerpts from the north Atlantic Treaty
 President Truman’s statement on ordering the U. S. into the Korean War
 President Truman’s statement on firing General of the Army MacArthur
 Richard Nixon’s Checkers Speech
 U. S. Senate statement of censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI)
 President Eisenhower’s Farewell Address
 Map series on the key events of the Cold War
(CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
Students will engage in small group discussions morphing into a full class discussion using
historical evidence to outline the key elements of the Truman Doctrine and evaluating the longterm success or failure of those elements individually as well as the policy of containment in
general through 1960 (CR 6, 8, 9, 12, and 13b). (CR 4, WOR-7)
Students will engage in a class debate, using historical evidence, to evaluate the viewpoints that
caused and helped maintain the Second Red Scare (HUAC, Nixon-Hiss, McCarthy) as opposed
18
to viewpoints that challenged the ideas and tactics of those groups (Edward R. Murrow, Joseph
N. Welch, etc.) (CR 10, 11, & 13a) (CR 4, POL-6, ID-3)
After reading the indicated section from Woll as well as the Opinions of the Court for both Brown
decisions, and after reviewing the highlights of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, students
will complete their eighth 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in the “warts on America’s butt”
series, bringing in evidence about abusive practices demonstrated by Americans toward various
constituencies including Native Americans, African Americans, women, immigrants, and others.
This paper will require students to use historical evidence to evaluate to what extent the
response of white Americans to the aforementioned events was or was not a “wart on America’s
butt,” and why. (CR 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, & 11) (CR 4, POL-7; ID-7)
Students will engage in small group discussions morphing into a full class discussion using
historical evidence to respond to the prompt: “Were the 1950s truly America’s ‘Happy Days?’”
(CR 6, 10, 11, 13a, & 13b) (CR 4, CUL 6 & 7; WXT-3; ID-7)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay, or, in the
case of this unit, both. (CR 5 & 6)
Unit 10: The 1960s through the 1980s
Readings
Brinkley, Chapters 31-32
Davis, pp. 441-463
Woll, pp. 98-113, 135-142, 146-155
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 President Kennedy’s speech pledging to land a man on the moon by 1969
 President Kennedy’s statement on signing legislation initiating the Peace Corps
 Newton Minow’s characterization of television as “a vast wasteland”
 Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
 Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech
19
 The Voting Rights Act of 1965
 Vietnam War protest songs
 Excerpts from Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique
 The Civil Rights Act of 1968
 Excerpts from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
 President Nixon’s resignation speech
 President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon
 President Carter’s “Malaise Speech”
 President Kennedy’s speech to the American people during the Cuban Missile Crisis
 The Shanghai Communique
 The War Powers Resolution
 Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal
 Ronald Reagan’s Evil Empire speech
CR 1b) The course includes diverse primary sources consisting of written documents, maps,
images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art.
(CR 7) The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence about the past from
diverse sources, such as written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs,
tables), and works of art.—Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence
After observing a film clip of President Kennedy’s speech regarding putting an American on the
moon by the end of the decade of the 1960s, students, using historical evidence found during
an Internet scavenger hunt, will create a time line of American space exploration to the present
and will evaluate, basing their evaluations on historical evidence found in the online scavenger
hunt, whether or not those efforts have been worth the political, economic and social costs. (CR
5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13a, & 13b). (CR 4, WOR-8)
After reading Woll and other sources, students, using historical evidence, will engage in a
classroom debate on to what extent the Warren U. S. Supreme Court did or did not support the
intent of the Founders, particularly with regard (but not limited) to search and seizure and rights
of the accused. Specific cases to be studied will include Engle v. Vitale (1962), Griswold v.
Connecticut (1965), Loving v. Virginia (1967), Mapp v. Ohio (1961), Gideon v. Wainwright
(1963), Escobido v. Illinois (1964), and Miranda v. Arizona (1966) (CR 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, & 13b).
(CR 4, POL-5)
Students will complete their ninth and final essay in the “warts on America’s butt” series (this
one a homework essay), bringing in evidence about abusive practices demonstrated by
Americans toward various constituencies including Native Americans, African Americans,
women, immigrants, and others. This paper will require students to use historical evidence to
evaluate how successful Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society coupled with the Civil Rights
Movement (including the American Indian Movement, Cesar Chavez’s United Farmworker
Movement, and the Women’s Movement) were in gaining additional rights and nation-wide
respect for each of those constituencies. Students will conclude their essay responding to the
sub-prompt: “Should the way Americans treat all constituencies in our society today still be
considered a “wart on the butt” of America and why?” (CR 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13b) (CR
4, CUL-6; ID-8; PEO-7; POL-7)
Students will engage in small group discussions morphing into a full class discussion using
historical evidence to evaluate the domestic policies of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon,
Ford, Carter, Reagan and G. H. W. Bush. In a second discussion (different class period)
20
students will engage in small group discussions morphing into a full class discussion using
historical evidence to evaluate the foreign policies of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon,
Ford, Carter, Reagan and G. H. W. Bush. (CR 6, 10, 11, 13a, & 13b) (CR 4, POL-4 & 6; WOR8)
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in which they use historical
evidence to respond to the following prompt: “To what extent did the Vietnam experience
change America? (CR 5, 8 & 11) (CR 4, CUL-5, 6 & 7; ID-3)
After a brief general discussion after the teacher has made a short presentation about Rachel
Carson’s Silent Spring, students will engage in a debate regarding political, social and
business/economic policies pertaining to environmental protection vs. economic development in
late-20th/early-21st century America (CR 6, 8, 9 & 12) (CR 4, ENV-5; WXT-8)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will be divided into two
parts. Part one will model the new test items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice
questions grouped in sets, and will be centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will
model previous AP tests focusing on factual recall of information from the chapters and other
readings. Part three will incorporate two to three short answer questions (SAQ), patterned on
the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay, or, in the
case of this unit, both. (CR 5 & 6)
Unit 11: The United States in the 21st Century
Readings
Brinkley, Ch. 33
Davis, pp. 510-587
Woll, pp. 424-428
Activities
The primary thrust of most classes involves each student participating in a Socratic class
discussion. Students will be provided with sets of questions prior to reading chapters or
sections of chapters. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss those
questions in depth. Students will be required to take notes over each chapter. (CR 3)
Document Comparison and Analysis—Purpose, Historical Context, Intended Audience, Author’s
Point of View (PHIA)
Students use PHIA to analyze one or more of the sources below during in-class oral and inclass writing assignments (CR 1b and CR 7)
 Bill Clinton’s First Inaugural Address
 George W. Bush, Republican nomination acceptance speech
 Creation of Homeland Security Department documents
 Bill Clinton, “Address on Health Care Reform”
 Barack Obama, “Address to Congress on Health Care”
21
After reading Woll, students, working in small groups then morphing into full class discussion,
using historical evidence will evaluate the final result of the 2000 presidential election, including
the U. S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore (2000). (CR 7, 8, and 13a) (CR 4, POL-5)
Iconic Moments Lesson: students will compose a list of iconic moments or events associated
with U. S. history in the period 1990 to present. The purpose of this exercise is to deepen the
students’ awareness of specific content for the period studied. Next, students will categorize the
moments using the seven themes of A. P. U. S. History (this activity borrowed from APUSH
Sample Syllabus 6—CR 3). (CR 4, ID-3 & 8; WXT-3 & 8; PEO-7; POL 6 & 7; WOR-4 & 8;
ENV-5; CUL-7)
Students will complete a 20-minute pressure paper (quick write) in which they use historical
evidence to evaluate the domestic and foreign policies of Presidents Clinton, G. W. Bush, and
Obama (latter to date). (CR 5, 9 & 11) (CR 4, POL-4 & 6; WOR-8)
Assessment
Unit Test: Each unit students will take a multiple choice test. The test will model the new test
items, which will involve a stimulus, with multiple choice questions grouped in sets, and will be
centered on the Conceptual Framework. Part two will incorporate two to three short answer
questions (SAQ), patterned on the new test.
Essays: Each unit students will write in-class formal timed essays. Depending on the unit, the
essay will either be a long essay (FRQ) or a Document Based Question (DBQ) essay, or, in the
case of this unit, both. (CR 5 & 6)
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Appendix 1: Summer Work
Oakdale High School
Advanced Placement United States History
Mr. Simoncini
Summer Work Requirements
All students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) United States history for the 2014-2015
school year will be required to complete three specific assignments during the summer. One will
be due on Friday, July 25, 2014 and the other two will be due on the first day of classes,
scheduled for Thursday, August 7, 2014. The purpose of this information sheet is to enumerate
those requirements. The teacher expects students to complete each of the following
assignments demonstrating a very high level of quality in their work.
Project 1: Students will be required to prepare an 800-1,000-word (3-5-page), double-spaced,
typewritten research paper. At the summer work class meeting in May 2014, I shall arbitrarily
assign specific topics to individual students (see attached sheets). Each student must perform
research on and write his or her paper about the topic that he or she is assigned. This is a
research project. As such, students must parenthetically document the sources of their
information in the body of the paper and indicate all research sources on a Works Cited page at
the end of the paper. There will be no trading of topics between students. Additionally, I shall
not grant permission for alternate topics. I shall, however, be available during most of the
summer to provide assistance with research as needed. Papers are due on Friday, July 25,
2014. I may extend that due date to a later time if unforeseen circumstances pertaining to MY
situation warrant a change. On the due date, students may bring their papers to Oakdale High
School classroom F-11 between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. As an alternative, students may email
their papers to me at psimoncini@oakdale.k12.ca.us. Students desiring to submit their papers
before the due date (something that I would welcome) may do so by e-mail. Unless a student’s
scheduling problems have been previously coordinated with me, students who fail to turn-in
their research papers by July 25th will be involuntarily dropped from the course.
Project 2: Students also must prepare a poster, about their research paper topic, that is suitable
for hanging on the classroom wall.
Project 3: Students must obtain a copy of The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, read the book, and
write a 2-3 page paper (typed, double spaced) analyzing Sinclair’s description of the lives of
immigrants and his description of abuses of the meat-packing industry in Chicago,
Illinois in the early years of the 20th century. Note: the book covers more than just the
aforementioned topics; however, students are to focus their work solely on how Sinclair treats
immigrants and the meat-packing industry.
The term paper will be worth 100-points, the book report will be worth 75-points, and the poster
will be worth 50-points. I shall include the 225-points for summer work in the First Quarter
grade book for each student, which will also become part of that student’s First Semester grade.
During the summer, please feel free to contact me by e-mail should you have any questions
about these projects or any other issues pertaining to this course. Additionally, as the summer
progresses, students should periodically check the class website (http://psimonciniohs.net) for
announcements and possible changes to due dates.
23
Oakdale High School
Advanced Placement United States History
Mr. Simoncini
Summer Term Paper Topics
Note: Each of the prompts that follow are from previous national A. P. U. S. History tests,
released by the College Board
Topic
Prompt
1
Compare the ways in which TWO of the following reflected tensions in colonial
society
a. Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)
b. Pueblo Revolt (1680)
c. Salem Witch Trials (1692)
d. Stono Rebellion (1739)
2
Although the power of the national government increased during the early
republic, this development often faced serious opposition. Compare the motives
and effectiveness of those opposed to the growing power of the national
government in TWO of the following:
a. Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
b. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (798-1799)
c. Hartford Convention (1814-1815)
d. Nullification Crisis (1832-1833)
3
Analyze the ways in which farmers and industrial workers responded to
industrialization in the Gilded Age (1865-1900).
4
How did economic, geographic, and social factors encourage the growth of
slavery as an important part of the economy of the southern colonies between
1607 and 1775?
5
The Jacksonian Period (1824-1848) has been celebrated as the era of the
“common man.” To what extent did the period live up to its characterization.
Write about TWO of the following: economic development, politics or reform
movements.
6
How and why did transportation developments spark economic growth during the
period from 1860 to 1900 in the United States?
7
Describe and account for the rise of Nativism in American society from 1900 to
1930.
8
Compare the ways in which religion shaped the development of colonial society
(to 1740) in TWO of the following regions: New England, Chesapeake, or the
Middle Atlantic.
9
Analyze the contributions of TWO of the following in helping establish a stable
government after the adoption of the Constitution: John Adams, Thomas
Jefferson, or George Washington.
24
10
Compare and contrast U. S. foreign policy after the First World War and after the
Second World War. Consider the periods 1919-1928 and 1945-1950.
11
How did the African American Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s
address the failures of the Reconstruction?
12
Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of Confederation were effective in
solving the problems that confronted the new nation.
13
In what ways did developments in transportation bring about economic and social
change in the U. S. in the period 1820-1860?
14
Evaluate the impact of the Civil War on political and economic developments in
TWO of the following regions: the South, the North, or the West.
15
Compare and contrast U. S. society in the 1920s and the 1950s with respect to
TWO of the following: race relations, role of women, consumerism.
16
Analyze the impact of the American Revolution on both slavery and the status of
women in the period from 1775-1800.
17
Analyze the effectiveness of political compromise in reducing sectional tensions
in the period 1820-1861.
18
Compare and contrast the programs and policies designed by reformers of the
Progressive era to those designed by reformers of the New Deal period, with
particular emphasis on how those programs addressed the needs of those living
in poverty.
19
Analyze the successes and failures of the U. S. Cold War policy of containment
as it developed in TWO of the following regions of the world during the period
1945 to 1975: East and Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America, or the Middle
East.
20
Compare and contrast the ways in which economic development affected politics
in Massachusetts and Virginia in the period from 1607 to 1750.
21
To what extent did the debates about the Mexican War and its aftermath reflect
the sectional interests of New Englanders, westerners, and southerners in the
period from 1845 to 1855?
22
Describe the patterns of immigration in TWO of the following periods: 1820-1860,
1880-1924, or 1965-2000. Compare and contrast the responses of Americans to
immigrants in these periods.
23
Analyze the extent to which TWO of the following transformed American society
in the 1960s and 1970s: the Civil Rights movement, the antiwar movement, or
the women’s movement.
25
24
Analyze the differences between the Spanish settlements in the Southwest and
the English colonies in New England in the seventeenth century in terms of TWO
of the following: politics, religion, or economic development.
25
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:
race relations, economic development, or westward expansion.
26
Historians have argued that Progressive reform lost momentum in the 1920s.
Evaluate this statement with respect to TWO of the following: regulation of
business, labor, or immigrants.
27
While the U. S. appeared to be dominated by consensus and conformity in the
1950s, some Americans reacted against the status quo. Analyze the critiques of
U. S. society made by TWO of the following: youth, Civil Rights activists, or
intellectuals.
28
Settlers in the eighteenth-century American backcountry sometimes resorted to
violent protest to express their grievances. Analyze the causes and significance
of TWO of the following: the march of the Paxton Boys, the regulator movement,
Shays’ Rebellion, or the Whiskey Rebellion.
29
In what ways did the Second great Awakening in the North influence TWO of the
following: abolitionism, temperance, the cult of domesticity, or Utopian
communities?
30
To what extent did the role of the federal government change under President
Theodore Roosevelt in regard to TWO of the following: labor, trusts,
conservation, or world affairs?
31
“Landslide presidential victories do not ensure continued political effectiveness or
legislative success.” Assess the validity of this statement by comparing TWO of
the following presidential administrations: Franklin Roosevelt (1936), Lyndon
Johnson (1964), Richard Nixon (1972), or Ronald Reagan (1984).
32
Early encounters between American Indians and European colonists led to a
variety of relationships among the different cultures. Analyze how the actions
taken by BOTH American Indians and European colonists shaped those
relationships in TWO of the following regions. Confine your paper to the 1600s:
New England, Chesapeake, Spanish Southwest, or New York and New France.
33
Analyze the impact of the market revolution (1815-1860) on the economies of
TWO of the following regions: the Northeast, the Midwest, or the South.
34
Following Reconstruction, many southern leaders promoted the idea of a “New
South.” To what extent was this “New South” a reality by the time of the First
World War? In your paper, be sure to address TWO of the following: economic
development, politics, or race relations.
26
35
Presidential elections between 1928 and 1948 revealed major shifts in political
party loyalties. Analyze both the reasons for these changes and their
consequences during this period.
36
Analyze the ways in which British imperial policies between 1763 and 1776
intensified colonials’ resistance to British rule and their commitment to republican
values.
37
Analyze the social, political and economic forces of the 1840s and early 1850s
that led to the emergence of the Republican Party.
38
Choose TWO of the following organizations and explain their strategies for
advancing the interests of workers. To what extent were these organizations
successful in achieving their objectives between the years 1975 and 1925?
Knights of Labor; American Federation of Labor; Socialist Party of America;
Industrial Workers of the World
39
Analyze the home-front experiences of TWO of the following groups during World
War II: African Americans, Japanese Americans, Jewish Americans, or Mexican
Americans.
40
Analyze the political, diplomatic, and military reasons for the United States victory
in the Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1783.
41
Analyze the ways in which controversy over the extension of slavery into western
territories contributed to the coming of the Civil War between 1845 and 1861.
42
Analyze the roles that women played in Progressive Era reforms from the 1880s
through 1920. Focus your paper on TWO of the following: politics, social
conditions, labor and working conditions.
43
Explain the causes and consequences of TWO of the following population
movements in the United States during the period 1945 to 1985: suburbanization,
the growth of the Sun Belt, immigration to the United States.
44
Analyze the origins and development of slavery in Britain’s North American
colonies in the period 1607 to 1776.
45
To what extent did political parties contribute to the development of national unity
in the United States between 1790 and 1840?
46
Compare and contrast the ways that many Americans expressed their opposition
to immigrants in the 1840s-1850s with the ways that many Americans expressed
their opposition to immigrants in the 1910s-1920s.
47
African American leaders have responded to racial discrimination in the United
States in a variety of ways. Compare and contrast the goals and strategies of
African American leaders in the 1890s-1920s with the goals and strategies of
African American leaders in the 1950s-1960s.
27
48
Analyze the effect of the French and Indian War and its aftermath on the
relationship between Great Britain and the British colonies. Confine your
response to the period from 1754 to 1776.
49
Analyze how western expansion contributed to growing sectional tensions
between the North and the South between the years 1800 and 1850.
50
Analyze the origins and outcomes of the intense cultural conflicts of the 1920s.
In your response, focus on TWO of the following: immigration, Prohibition,
religion.
51
Compare and contrast the Cold War foreign policies of TWO of the following
presidents: Harry Truman (1945-1953), Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), or
Richard Nixon (1969-1974.