AP US History Syllabus
2013-2014
Texts:
George Brown Tindall and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History W.W. Norton &
Company: New York 2012
Charles M. Dollar ed. American Issues: A Documentary Reader Glencoe: New York 1994
Overview:
Everything that has happened in the past impacts who we are as people today
and what our futures (both individually and collectively as a society) will look like
tomorrow. Ignorance of the past is ignorance of ourselves, our society, and our
government. In order to understand the world we live in today and to make intelligent
informed decisions to make it a better place for tomorrow we need to understand what
happened in the past. This class is designed to be an intensive in-depth analysis of
United States history. Along the way you will develop skills in reading comprehension,
critical thinking, and persuasive writing that will not only enhance your understanding of
US history, but which will also help prepare you for a university-level academic
environment.
In addition, throughout the year you will evaluate the theme of the everchanging American identity, and how changes in religion, politics, and economics have
impacted our society’s understanding of who is, and what it means to be, an American
citizen.
Unit 1: The Rise of Colonial America (1 Week) (1)
Textbook Chapters 1-4
Content Covered:
1-Pre-Columbian Societies
A-Early inhabitants of the Americas
B-American Indian empires in Mesoamerica, the Southwest, and the Miss Valley
C-American Indian cultures of North America at the time of European contact
2-Transatlantic Encounters and Colonial Beginnings, 1492-1690
A-First European contacts with Native Americans
B-Spain’s Empire in North America
C-French Colonization of Canada
D-English settlement of New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the South
E-From servitude to slavery in the Chesapeake region
F-Religious diversity in the American colonies
G-Resistance to colonial authority; Bacon’s Rebellion, the Glorious Revolution,
and the Pueblo Revolt
3-Colonial North America, 1690-1754
A-Population growth and immigration
B-Transatlantic trade and the growth of seaports
1
C-The 18th century backcountry
D-Growth of plantation economies and slave societies
E-The enlightenment and the Great Awakening
F-Colonial governments and imperial policy in British North America
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-How did the geography of North America impact the development of Native
American civilizations there, the continent’s conquest by Europeans, and the varied
development of the British North American colonies?
2-How does one reconcile the development of representative government with
the development of slavery in the British colonies?
3-American Identity: What ethnicities, social classes, genders, and religions were
considered full members of society/the community in the: New England, Middle, and
Southern Colonies
Homework Assignments:
1-Read Jared Diamond’s essay “Accidental Conquerors”
2-Read and answer questions in American Issues (AI) for: 1.1, 1.2, 1.6
3-AI: 2.2, 2.6,
4-AI: 3.3, 3.4, 3.5
Primary/Secondary Source Readings:
1-“Accidental Conquerors” by Jared Diamond from The Third Chimpanzee
2-“The First Americans” (secondary source) in American Issues
3-Indian Language Groups circa 1500 (map) in AI
4-“Europe’s First Frontier” (secondary Source) in AI
5-“Reasons for Colonization” by Richard Hakluyt the Elder (primary source) in AI
6-“Indentured Servitude” by Richard B. Hofstadter (secondary source) in AI
7-“Mercantilism” by Gerald N. Grob (secondary source) in AI
8-Navigation Act of 1660 (primary source) in AI
9-“Memorial of Governor Shute to the King, 1723” (primary source) in AI
Assessments:
1-Quiz on chapters 1-4
2-Homework reading/answer assignments (1, 2, 3, 4)
3-MA: Essay—“Geography was the primary factor in shaping the development of the
British colonies in North America.” Assess the validity of this statement for the 1600 and
1700’s.
Unit 2: American Independence (2 weeks) (3)
Textbook Chapters 5-6
Content Covered:
4-The American Revolutionary Era, 1754-1789
A-The French and Indian War
2
B-The Imperial Crisis and resistance to Britain
C-The War for Independence
D-State constitutions and the Articles of Confederation
E-The federal Constitution
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-Which war more fundamentally shaped modern America, French and Indian or
American Revolution?
2-Did the Articles of Confederation constitute a crisis period in US history?
3-US Constitution: radical or conservative?
4-American Identity: How did a growing sense of American identity in the years
prior to 1775 help lead to the Revolution?
5- American Identity: How did the Revolutionary period change the
understanding of American identity?
Homework Assignments:
1-AI: 4.5, 4.6, 4.7
2-AI: 5.3, 5.4
3-AI: 6.5, 6.8
Primary sources/Secondary Sources:
1-Declaration of Independence
2-Constitution
3-Bill of Rights
4-Abigail Adams to John Adams, letters about women’s rights (primary source)
5-Fiske vs. Beard, nationalist school vs. economic interpretation of the
Constitution (secondary source handouts)
6-Distribution of Slavery circa 1700 (map) in AI
7-Distribution of Wealth in Boston (graph) in AI
8-“Cultural Pluralism in the Middle Colonies” by Frederick B. Tolles (secondary
source) in AI
9-“Controlling Factions in a Republic” by James Madison (Fedralist #10 excerpt)
in AI
10-“Woman’s Place in the Republic” by Linda Kerber (secondary source) in AI
Assessments:
1-Quiz on chapters 5-9
2-HW: 4, 5, 6
3-MA: 2005 DBQ
Unit 3: The Republican Experiment (1 Week) (4)
Textbook Chapters 7-8
3
Content Covered:
5-The Early Republic, 1789-1815
A-Washington, Hamilton, and the shaping of the national government
B-Emergence of political parties; Federalists and Republicans
C-Republican Motherhood and education for women
D-Beginnings of the 2nd Great Awakening
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-What precedents for modern day US governance were established during the
Early Republic period?
Homework Assignments:
1-R/A: 7.2, 7.6
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-Alien and Sedition Acts (excerpts) (hand out in class)
2-“Hamilton’s Economic Program” (excerpts) by Alexander Hamilton (primary
source) in AI
3-Sectionalism and Party Competition 1800 (map) in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 7
2-Quiz on chapter 10
3-MA: none
Unit 4: Jeffersonian Republicanism and the Era of Good Feelings (1 Week) (5)
Textbook Chapters 9-10
Content Covered:
5-The Early Republic, 1789-1815
E-Significance of Jefferson’s Presidency
F-Expansion into the trans-Appalachian West; American Indian resistance
G-Growth of slavery and free Black communities
H-The War of 1812 and its consequences
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-To what extent did Jefferson remain true to his Republican ideals once he
became President?
Homework Assignments:
1-R/A: 8.5, 8.7
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-“Extending American Dominion to Louisiana” excerpts from Merriweather
Lewis and William Clark (primary source) in AI
4
2-Patterns of Westward Movement (map) in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 8
2-Quiz Chapters 11-12
3-MA: In-class test: multiple choice + essay. Essay= 2004 Part B #2
Unit 5: Jacksonian America (2 Weeks) (7)
Textbook Chapters 11-13
Content Covered:
6-Transformation of the Economy and Society in Antebellum America
A-The transportation revolution and creation of a national market economy
B-Beginnings of industrialization and changes in social class structures
C-Immigration and nativist reaction
D-Planters, yeoman farmers, and slaves in the cotton South
7-The Transformation of Politics in Antebellum America
A-Emergence of the second party system
B-Federal authority and its opponents; judicial federalism, the Bank War, tariff
controversy, and states’ rights debates
C-Jacksonian democracy and its successes and limitations
8-Religion, Reform, and Renaissance in Antebellum America
A-Evangelical Protestant revivalism
B-Social reforms
C-Ideals of domesticity
D-Transcendentalism and utopian communities
E-American Renaissance: literary and artistic expressions
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-How did the geography of America impact the government, society, and
economies of the different sections of the country?
2-Increased democracy: good, bad, , ?
3- American Identity: How did the democratic reforms of the Jacksonian period
expand the definition/understanding of the American identity, especially in terms of
social class?
Homework Assignments:
1-AI: 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.6, 9.7
2-AI: 11.2, 11.3, 11.5
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-“Jackson’s Bank Veto” excerpts by Andrew Jackson (primary source) in AI
2-“Testing the Bonds of Union: Nullification” by William Freehling (secondary
source) in AI
3-“King Andrew: A Whig View” (illustration) (primary source) in AI
5
4- National Economic Crisis: The Panic of 1837 (map) in AI
5-“The American System” by Daniel W. Howe (secondary source) in AI
6-“Seneca Falls Declaration” excerpts by Susan B. Anthony (primary source) in AI
7-Newspaper Coverage of Women’s Rights Movement (illustration) (primary
source) in AI
8-“The Closing of the Sickle and Sheaf” from Ten Nights in a Bar Room by
Timothy Shay Arthur (primary source) in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 9, 11
2- Quiz chapters 13-15
3-MA: In-class DBQ 2011 (Form B) DBQ
Unit 6: Manifest Destiny (2 Weeks) (9)
Textbook Chapters 14-16
Content Covered:
9-Territorial Expansion and Manifest Destiny
A-Forced removal of American Indians to the trans-Mississippi West
B-Western migration and cultural interactions
C-Territorial acquisitions
D-Early US imperialism, the Mexican War
10-The Crisis of the Union
A-Pro- and antislavery arguments and conflicts
B-Compromise of 1850 and popular sovereignty
C-The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the emergence of the Republican Party
D-Abraham Lincoln, the election of 1860, secession
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-What was the root cause of the tension between North and South prior to the
Civil War? What caused the South to secede?
2-Compromise, why did it fail, is it always a good thing?
3- American Identity: To what extent is westward expansion a part of the
American identity, how did westward expansion change (or eventually help lead to
changes) in the American identity by adding new ethnic groups to the United States?
Homework Assignments:
1-AI: 10.1, 10.2, 10.3
3-AI: 12.1
4-AI: 13.4, 13.5
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-“Manifest Destiny” (painting) (primary source) by John Gast in AI
2-“The Destiny of the Race” by Thomas Hart Benton (primary source) in AI
3-“Southern Views on Expansionism” by William L. Barney (secondary
6
source) in AI
4-“Defense of Slavery As a Benefit to Society” by John Calhoun (primary source)
in AI
5-Declaration of the Immediate Causes of Secession (excerpts) (primary source)
in AI
6-“Robert E. Lee and Secession” excerpts from letters by Robert E. Lee (primary
source) in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 10, 12, 13
2-Quiz chapters 16-19
3-Presidents Quiz 1788-1856
5-MA: Take home essay—2010 Part B Question 3
Unit 7: The American Civil War and Reforging the Union (2 Weeks) (11)
Textbook Chapters 17-18
Content Covered:
11-Civil War
A-Two societies at war: mobilization, resources, and internal dissent
B-Military strategies and foreign diplomacy
C-Emancipation and the role of African Americans in the war
D-Social, political, and economic effects of war in the North, South, and West
12-Reconstruction
A-Presidential and Radical Reconstruction
B-Southern state governments: aspirations, achievements, failures
C-Role of African Americans in politics, education, and the economy
D-Compromise of 1877
E-Impact of Reconstruction
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-How did the experience of Civil War change the nature of the US federal and
state governments?
2-Reconstruction: How successful was it? (de jure vs. de facto improvements in
African American lives)
3-4- American Identity: How did the experience of the Civil War and
Reconstruction fundamentally alter the understanding of American identity in terms of
government, economics, and especially race?
Homework Assignments:
1-14.1, 14.6
2-15.1, 15.3, 15.5, 15.6
In-class activities/Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-Emancipation Proclamation (primary source)
7
2-Reconstruction Amendments (13, 14, 15)
3-“Roots of the Modern Industrial State” by Louis Hacker (secondary source) in
AI
4-“Sherman and Total War” excerpts from Sherman’s letter to Atlanta (primary
source) in AI
5-“President Johnson and Reconstruction” by Andrew Johnson (primary source)
in AI
6-“Mississippi Black Codes, 1865” (primary source) in AI
7-“The Freedmen’s Bureau” (illustration) (primary source) in AI
8-“Women’s Suffrage” (illustration) (primary source in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 14, 15
2-Reading Quiz chapters 20-22
3-MA: DBQ take home Reconstruction DBQ (1996)
Unit 8: The Trans-Mississippi West, American Industrialization, the Gilded Age, and the
Advent of Urban and Rural America During the Gilded Age (2 Weeks) (13)
Textbook Chapters 19-22
Content Covered:
13-The Origins of the New South
A-Reconfiguration of southern agriculture: sharecropping and crop lien system
B-Expansion of manufacturing and industrialization
C-The politics of segregation: Jim Crow and disenfranchisement
14-Development of the West in the Late 19th Century
A-Expansion and development of western railroads
B-Competitors for the West: miners, ranchers, homesteaders, and the American
Indians
C-Government policy toward American Indians
D-Gender, race, and ethnicity in the far West
E-Environmental impacts of western settlement
15-Industrial America in the Late 19th Century
A-Corporate consolidation
B-Effects of technological developments on the worker and workplace
C-Labor and unions
D-National politics and influence of corporate power
E-Migration and immigration: the changing face of the nation
F-Proponents and opponents of the new order, eg, Social Darwinism and Social
Gospel
16-Urban Society in the late 19th Century
A-Urbanization and the lure of the city
B-City problems and machine politics
C-Intellectual and cultural movements and popular entertainment
8
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-What is the proper role of the federal government when it comes to
addressing economic and social problems, laissez faire or government involvement?
2-American Identity: How did industrialization and the shift to wage labor, the
new immigration of southern and eastern Europeans, as well as the arrival of large
numbers of Catholics and Jews during the Gilded Age change the American identity?
Homework Assignments:
1-16.1, 16.4, 16.5, 16.6, 16.7
2-17.3, 17.4, 17.6
3-18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-“Chinese Railroad Workers” by Sandy Lydon (secondary source) in AI
2-“The New South” Henry W. Grady (primary source) in AI
3-“Sharecropping as a Way of Life” by Fred Shannon (secondary source) in AI
4-“The Atlanta Compromise” by Booker T. Washington (primary source) in AI
5-Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 excerpts (primary source) in AI
6-Urban Mass Transportation (illustration) in AI
7-“Working Class Women” by Sarah Eisenstein (secondary source) in AI
8-“The Best Fields for Philanthropy” by Andrew Carnegie (primary source) in AI
9-Sources of Immigration, 1880-1919 (charts) in AI
10-“Anglo Saxon Supremacy” by Josiah Strong (primary source) in AI
11-Tenement Living (illustration of dumbbell tenement) in AI
12-Interview with George Plunkitt (primary source) in AI
13-US v. E.C. Knight (handout in class) (primary source with secondary source
analysis)
Assessments:
1-HW: 16, 17, 18
2-Reading Quiz chapters 24-26
3-MA: In-class test: multiple choice questions and essay on New South
Unit 9: American Progressives and American Foreign Policy (2 Weeks) (15)
Textbook Chapters 23-25
Content Covered:
17-Populism and Progressivism
A-Agrarian discontent and political issues of the late 19th century
B-Origins of Progressive reform: municipal, state, and national
C-Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson as Progressive presidents
D-Women’s roles: family, workplace, education, politics, and reform
E-Black America: urban migration and civil rights initiatives
18-The Emergence of America as a World Power
A-American imperialism: political and economic expansion
9
B-War in Europe and American neutrality
C-The First World War at home and abroad
D-Treaty of Versailles
E-Society and economy in the postwar years
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-What is the proper role of the federal government when it comes to
addressing economic and social problems?
Homework Assignments:
1-19.1, 19.5, 19.6
2-20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.6, 20.7
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-Lochner v. New York and Mueller v. Oregon excerpts
2-“The Populist Vision” excerpts from the Populist Party Platform of 1892
(primary source) in AI
3-“Reform as Social Control: Prohibition and the Progressive Movement” by
Norman H. Clark (secondary source) in AI
4-Women’s Suffrage and the Working Class (illustrations) (primary source) in AI
5-Buck v. Bell excerpts
6-“Strategic Reasons for American Expansion: The ‘Big Navy’ Argument” excerpts
by Alfred T. Mahan (primary source) in AI
7-American Foreign Trade, 1880-1920 (charts) in AI
8-“The White Man’s Burden” by David Healy (secondary source) in AI
9-Theodore Roosevelt as World Policeman (illustration) (primary source) in AI
10-“American Intervention in World War I” by Ross Gregory (secondary source)
in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 19, 20
2-Reading Quiz chapters 27-30
3-MA: 2003 DBQ (Form B)
Unit 10: The Roaring 20s and the Great Depression (2 Weeks) (17)
Textbook Chapters 26-28
Content Covered:
19-The New Era: 1920s
A-Business of America and the consumer economy
B-Republican politics: Harding, Coolidge, Hoover
C-The culture of modernism: science, the arts, and entertainment
D-Response to Modernism: religious fundamentalism, nativism, Prohibition
E-The ongoing struggle for equality: African Americans and women
10
20-The Great Depression and the New Deal
A-Causes of the Great Depression
B-The Hoover administration’s responses
C-FDR and the New Deal
D-Labor and union recognition
E-The New Deal coalition and its critics from the Right and the Left
F-Surviving hard times: American society during the Great Depression
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-In what ways were the unique characteristics of the 1920s a product of US
experiences during the progressive era and WWI?
2-Was the New Deal conservative, radical, neither?
3- American Identity: How did the cultural conflicts of the 1920’s, the economic
turmoil of the Great Depression, and the increased government involvement of the New
Deal change the American identity?
Homework Assignments:
1-21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, 21.6
2-22.1, 22.3, 22.4, 22.5, 22.6
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-“The Troubled Countryside” (chart and illustration) in AI
2-“The Revived Ku Klux Klan” by Hiram W. Evans (primary source) in AI
3-The Results of Immigration Restriction (chart) in AI
4-Marcus Garvey and Black Nationalism (photographs) (primary source) in AI
5-“Religion and Politics: A Catholic for President” editorial by Al Smith (primary
source) in AI
6-“Launching the New Deal” speech by Franklin Roosevelt (primary source) in AI
7-The Depression and the New Deal (chart) in AI
8-Documenting Poverty in the Recession (photograph) by Dorothea Lange
(primary source) in AI
9-“Women’s Roles in the Depression” by Lois Scharf (secondary source) in AI
10-“The New Deal and Blacks’ Frustrations” by Manning Marable (secondary
source) in Ai
Assessments:
1-HW: 21, 22
2-Reading quiz chapters 31-33
3-MA: In-class 2003 DBQ
Unit 11: The Second World War (2 Weeks) (19)
Textbook Chapters 29-30
Content Covered:
21-The Second World War
11
A-The rise of fascism and militarism in Japan, Italy, and Germany
B-Prelude to war: policy of neutrality
C-The attack on Pearl Harbor and US declaration of war
D-Fighting a multifront war
E-Diplomacy, war aims, and wartime conferences
F-The US as a global power in the Atomic Age
22-The Home Front During the War
A-Wartime mobilization of the economy
B-Urban migration and demographic changes
C-Women, work, and family during the war
D-Civil liberties and civil rights during wartime
E-War and regional development
F-Expansion of government power
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-How did WWII fundamentally alter US history?
Homework Assignments:
1-23.2, 23.3, 23.4, 23.5, 23.6, 23.7
2-24.4, 24.5, 24.6, 24.7
Primary sources/secondary sources:
1-Roosevelt and the Aftermath of the Quarantine Speech by Franklin Roosevelt
(primary source) in AI
2-America and the War in Europe by Charles Lindbergh (primary source) in AI
3-German and Japanese Aggression (maps) in AI
4-To Fight for Freedom pictures by Norman Rockwell (primary source) in AI
5-“America and the Holocaust” by David S. Wyman (secondary source) in AI
6-Truman’s Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb by Harry S Truman (primary
source) in AI
7-Japanese-American Relocation: Civil Rights Abridged excerpts from US House
Select Committee Hearings (primary source) in AI
8-“Race Relations during the War” by Carey McWilliams in AI
9-“Women and Wartime Mobilization” by Susan M. Hartmann (secondary
source) in AI
10-The Returning Hero: Contrasting Images illustrations by Norman Rockwell
(primary source) in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 23, 24
2-Reading quiz chapters 34-35
3-MA: Take-home 2004 DBQ (Form B)
Unit 12: The Cold War and 1950’s Prosperity (1 Week) (20)
12
Textbook Chapters 31-33
Content Covered:
23-The United States and the Early Cold War
A-Origins of the Cold War
B-Truman and containment
C-The Cold War in Asia: China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan
D-Diplomatic strategies and policies of Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations
E-The Red Scare and McCarthyism
F-Impact of the Cold War on American Society
24-The 1950’s
A-Emergence of the modern civil rights movement
B-The affluent society and the “other America”
C-Consensus and conformity: suburbia and middle class America
D-Social critics, nonconformists, and cultural rebels
E-Impact of changes in science, technology, and medicine
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-What were the pros and cons of 1950s America, does it constitute an American
“Golden Age”
2- American Identity: What people/groups were still not fully included in most
Americans’ understanding of the American identity in the 1950s?
Homework Assignments:
1-25.1, 25.4, 25.6
2-26.1, 26.2, 26.3, 26.4, 26.6, 26.7
Primary sources/Secondary sources:
1-George Kennan’s “X Article” (primary source) handout
2-The Truman Doctrine (primary source) handout
3-American Commitment to Cold War: National Security Council Document 68 by
the Department of State (primary source) in AI
4-Restraining Communism: United States Security Agreements, 1947-1959 (map)
in AI
5-The Military Industrial Complex excerpts by Dwight D. Esienhower (primary
source) in AI
6-Postwar Prosperity and Government Spending (charts) in AI
7-Frustration of Truman’s Fair Deal (political cartoons, primary source) in AI
8-Desegragation and the Southern Response: Brown v. Board and The Southern
Manifesto (excerpts) (primary source) in AI
9-Problems of Suburbia excerpts from “The Suburban Dislocation” by David
Riesman (primary source) in AI
10-Feminism in Postwar America by Leila J. Rupp and Verta Taylor (secondary
source) in AI
13
11-A Strategy for the Civil Rights Revolution, excerpts from “A Letter from
Birmingham City Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. (primary source) in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 25, 26
2-Reading quiz chapters 36-37
3-Presidents quiz 1860-1956
4-MA: In-class test multiple choice and DBQ (2006 form B DBQ)
Unit 13: The 1960’s and the Civil Rights Movement, Counterculture, and Vietnam (2
Weeks) (22)
Textbook Chapter 34-35
Content Covered:
25-The Turbulent 1960’s
A-From the New Frontier to the Great Society
B-Expanding movements for civil rights
C-Cold War confrontations: Asia, Latin America, and Europe
D-Beginning of Détente
E-The antiwar movement and the counterculture
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-Who was proved right: Washington or DuBois?
2-War Protesters: right or wrong?
3- American Identity: How did the experiences of the modern Civil Rights
Movement and the political turmoil of the 1960’s expand the understanding of who was
an American?
Homework Assignments:
1-27.1, 27.2, 27.3, 27.4
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-Challenge and Response: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by Lyndon b. Johnson
(primary source) in AI
2-A Soldier’s Experience in Vietnam by Specialist Harold Bryant (primary source)
in AI
3-America’s Failure in Vietnam: Lessons Learned by George C. Herring (secondary
source) in AI
4-Demonstrations and Protest Against the War (photographs, primary sources)
in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 27
2-Reading quiz chapter 38
3-MA: Take home essay: 2011 essay number 5
14
Unit 14: The 1970’s: Caution in a Crazy World (1 Week) (23)
Textbook Chapter 35
Content Covered:
26-Politics and Economics at the End of the 20th Century
A-The election of 1968 and the “silent majority”
B-Nixon’s challenges: Vietnam, China, Watergate
C-Changes in the American economy: the energy crisis, deindustrialization, and
the service economy
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-Was 1968 a turning point in US history, why?
2-What is the status of the civil rights movement today, is it over?
3-How did the Vietnam and Watergate experiences fundamentally change the
nature of American government?
Homework Assignments:
1-27.5, 27.6, 27.7
Primary sources/Secondary Sources:
1-Nixon’s Veto of the War Powers Act, Richard Nixon (primary source) in AI
2-Excerpts from Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America by Stokely
Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton (primary source) in AI
3-President Ford’s Pardon of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford (primary source) in AI
Assessments:
1-HW: 27(part2)
2-Reading quiz chapter 39
3-MA: In-class DBQ 2008
Unit 15: The 1980’s and Beyond: Conservatism Triumphant (1 Week) (24)
Textbook Chapter 36
Content Covered:
26-Politics and Economics at the End of the 20th Century
D-The New Right and the Reagan Revolution
E-End of the Cold War
27-Society and Culture at the End of the 20th Century
A-Demographic changes: surge of immigration after 1965, Sunbelt migration,
and the graying of America
B-Revolutions in biotechnology, mass communication, and computers
C-Politics in a multicultural society
28-The United States in the Post-Cold War World
A-Globalization and the American Economy
15
B-Unilateralism vs multilateralism in foreign policy
C-Domestic and foreign terrorism
D-Environmental issues in a global context
Major Themes/Essential Questions:
1-Did the 1980s and 1990s really mark the triumph of conservatism in America?
2- American Identity: What is the modern-day definition of who or what it
means to be an American? Is there one definition? What groups are still not fully
accepted as part of the American nation? Are there certain hurdles that need to be
cleared (in terms of race, gender, social class, ethnicity, language, religion, political
beliefs) in order to truly be an “American”?
Homework Assignments:
1-28.2, 28.4, 28.5, 28.6
2-29.1, 29.5
Primary Sources/Secondary Sources:
1-Politics and Moral Issues: The Moral Majority, Jerry Falwell (primary source) AI
2-Regional Migration Changes in the United States, 1970-1985 (map) in AI
3-US Commission on Civil Rights Report on Affirmative Action (primary source) AI
4-Reaganomics: Economic Policies and Results in the Eighties, (political cartoons,
chart) in AI
5-Excerpts from President Bush’s speech on Earth Summit, George H. W. Bush
(primary source) in AI
6-Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) excerpts (primary source) in AI
Assessments:
1-HW 28, 29
2-Reading quiz chapters 40-42
3-Presidents quiz 1960-2008
4-MA: Essay 2010 question 5
Looking Backward: Themes Throughout History
1-How has the understanding/interpretation of the Constitution changed over time.
How have those changes been linked to changes in the US economy and position in the
world?
2-How has the influence of religion ebbed and flowed in the US over time? What effects
have the following periods of religious revival had on the larger US history: 1st Great
Awakening, 2nd Great Awakening, Christian fundamentalism during the early 1900s, Billy
Graham and the modern evangelist movement of the 1950s, the moral majority of the
1980s-present?
3-What role has geography played in shaping the history of the United States?
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