AP European History Syllabus
Teacher: Mrs. Christine Braun
MLC #50
Christine.Braun@sarasotacountyschools.net
Class Description: This class introduces students to the political, economic, religious, social,
intellectual, and artistic trends that shaped Europe from 1450 to the present. Students should
acquire knowledge of the basic chronology of events and movements from this period as well as
develop the ability to analyze historical documents and express historical understanding in writing.
As part of the Advanced Placement program, the course prepares students for the AP European
History exam. All students are expected to take the exam.
AP European History simultaneously divides the material into four sections, which we will tackle in
two parts accordingly:
◦ 1450–1648
◦ 1648–1815
◦ 1815–1914
◦ 1914–Present (2005)
Themes that are addressed in the course:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Interaction of Europe and the World (INT)
Poverty and Prosperity (PP)
Objective Knowledge and Subjective Visions (OS)
States and other Institutions of Power (SP)
Individual and Society (IS)
Historical thinking skills (organized by skill type) that are addressed in the course:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Chronological Reasoning - Historical Causation, Patterns of Continuity and Change over
Time, Periodization
Comparison and Contextualization – Comparison, Contextualization
Crafting Historical Arguments from Historical Evidence - Historical Argumentation,
Appropriate Use of Relevant Historical Evidence
Historical Interpretation and Synthesis – Interpretation, Synthesis
Textbook:
The Western Heritage Since 1300, Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner, and Alison
Frank, 11th Edition. Pearson, 2014.
Course Resources: Although we will be engaging with a wide variety of primary and secondary
sources, the following texts will serve as a foundation for the course –
Kagan, Ozment, and Turner. Documents Workbook: The Western Heritage Since 1300, AP Edition.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2007.
Merriman, John M. A History of Modern Europe: From Renaissance to the Present. 2nd ed. New
York: W.W. Norton, 2004.
Sherman, Dennis, ed. Western Civilization: Sources, Images, and Interpretations Volume I: To 1700.
8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Sherman, Dennis, ed. Western Civilization: Sources, Images, and Interpretations, from the
Renaissance to the Present. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Assessments: Within each unit students will be asked to do a variety of writing assignments. There
will also be periodic quizzes over content. The majority of formal assessment will be done at the
end of each unit. At that time students will be given a unit test that consists of 20-30 multiple
choice-type questions. These multiple-choice questions will be centered on images, graphs, and
quotes directly connected to the unit content. They will also have 2 - 4 short answer questions
over each unit, and one long essay or DBQ over each unit.
Additional Materials:
o Spiral Notebook for class notes
o Blue or black ink pens, highlighters, pencils, index cards
o Flashdrive for any computer work storage and transport
It is strongly suggested that you purchase the most recent edition of a test preparation
book. The books listed below have proven to be useful in both content clarification and
exam preparation:
o AP European History by REA. ISBN 0-87891-330-0
o AP European History by Barron’s. ISBN 0-7641-2020-4
o Cracking the AP European History Exam by The Princeton Review. ISBN 0-37576386-4
Course Format:
Guided Reading - The Kagan text, although a great resource, can prove challenging to
comprehend. We will therefore engage in guided reading practices throughout the year. This will
require you to take notes, answer guided reading questions, and create flashcards for important,
people, places, events, and historical developments.
Primary Source Analysis - Throughout each unit, you will be expected to read, analyze, and
interpret a wide variety of primary sources such as:
o
o
o
o
Written Sources (letters, journal entries, government documents, newspapers, etc.)
Maps
Statistical Tables
Works of Art
You will do this through a variety of activities and assessments, such as: Bias and Point of View
(POV) Analysis, In-Class Discussion Round-tables, and projects.
Secondary Sources & Interpretations - We will also move beyond the textbook and examine
historical scholarship of the various historical eras. You will also practice analyzing and evaluating
various viewpoints to develop your own historical interpretation.
APEH Writing - Each unit will offer instruction and practice writing the DBQ and FRQ essays (long
essay). Some assignments will be peer reviewed, while others will be timed writing assessments
that will mirror the AP exam.
Simulations & Debates - Students will regularly engage in class simulations, debates, and other
activities that require active participation, critical thinking, collaboration, and group problem
solving.
AP-Style Tests - Each unit will include a summative assessment based upon the AP Exam. These
tests will include AP-style multiple-choice questions as well as timed FRQ (long essay) and DBQ
essays.
Grading and Assessment:
Exams - 60%: Unit exams will form the backbone of students’ grades. These exams will cover
one or more units and will include multiple choice, short answer, and free response questions
(FRQs – long essay) similar to those that students may encounter on the AP Exam. In addition to
AP‐style questions, some exams will also include instructor‐generated questions. Point values
of exams may vary according to the scope of the material covered. As the AP exam is
cumulative in nature, students should be prepared to encounter cumulative elements on every
exam. There will be a Midterm Exam at the end of the 1st semester.
DBQ’s and Identification Quizzes – 20%: DBQ’s will be administered on an as needed basis to
improve students writing skills. Full DBQs will begin around November and be assigned
frequently. Mastering the skills of writing a DBQ is also vital to success on the AP exam. During the
first nine weeks, all necessary skills will be taught and the DBQs will be answered as homework.
Once mastery of the necessary skills is evident, the students will be given timed DBQs at the end of
every unit.
Identification Quizzes will be after each unit. Each unit will have a series of persons or events that
must be identified because of their significance. Index cards will be due at the end of the unit.
These cards will assist as a study tool. The student will use the following guidelines for definition
on index cards.
Event:
o
o
o
o
What was it?
Causes or preconditions of the event
Actions, significant players, and events involved in the event
Results (both long and short term) and/or significance of event for European
history
Person:
o
o
o
o
Who was it?
Explain the person’s relationship to the time period
Actions, accomplishments, and achievements etc. of the person
Consequences of person’s action and/or significance of person for European
history
Artistic Movement:
o
What was its ideology? What were its innovations?
o
Discuss the time period. How was it a reaction to another period?
o
List the major artists and their major works
Artists:
o
o
o
Brief biography
What movement did he/she belong to?
List of major works or if he/she is an author include a brief description of his/her
works subject
Guided Reading Questions/Classwork/ID Cards – 15%: Each chapter will have a series of in depth
questions that are designed to develop an understanding of the broader concepts of the chapter.
Class Participation – 5%: In order to be successful in this course, it is imperative that students
participate in class discussions, simulations, and all other assigned activities. Both quality and
quantity of class participation will be considered in determining a student’s participation grade.
Course Outline:
The course is divided into two semesters. The first semester covers the High Renaissance (1450)
to the effects of the Industrial Revolution (1848). The second semester covers The Age of Nation
States (1850) to the present (2005). There are 11 Units paced over the weeks leading up to the AP
Exam. They are as follows –
o
o
o
o
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o
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Unit 1: Introduction. End of Feudalism and The Renaissance – includes humanism, new
monarchs, Age of Exploration
Unit 2: Reformation and Religious Wars
Unit 3: Age of Absolutism and Constitutionalism
Unit 4: New Directions of Thought and Culture – includes Scientific Revolution,
Transatlantic Economy, and The Enlightenment
Unit 5: French Revolution, Napoleonic Era and Romanticism
Unit 6: The Industrial Revolution and Reform
Unit 7: The Age of Nation States, The Building of European Supremacy, and The Birth of
Modern European Thought
Unit 8: Imperialism, Alliances, and World War I
Unit 9: Political Experiments of the 1920’s and The Great Depression of the 1930’s
Unit 10: The Rise of Dictatorships and World War II
Unit 11: 1945 to the Present
I firmly believe flexibility is required in the planning of any course, so I prefer guidelines to specific
day by day activities. This planner is meant to provide a pacing for the instruction as well as a
sampling of the documents which will be used for the course instruction.
Pacing Guide:
Unit 1: Chapters 1 and 2 (3 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Workers Revolt: The Demands of the Ciompi”
“Petrarch: Rules for the Ruler” – “Letter to Cicero”
“Machiavelli: from the Discourses” – “The Prince”
“Christopher Columbus: The Letters of Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel”
“Marriage: A Serious Business”
“On Wifely Duties”
Unit 2: Chapters 3 and 4 (3 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Erasmus: A Diatribe Against the Pope”
“Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses”
“The Act of Supremacy: The Church of England”
“A Protestant Woman Argues for Tolerance”
“The Edict of Nantes”
“The Catholic Response: The Council of Trent”
“The German Peasant’s Revolt: The Twelve Articles”
“The Ecclesiastical Ordinances of Geneva”
“The Arrest of the Catholic Priest Edmund Campion and his Associates”
“The Peace of Westphalia”
Unit 3: Chapter 5 (2 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Mercantilism: Financing Absolutism”
“Miguel de Cervantes: Chapter 1 from Don Quixote”
“John Bunyan: from Pilgrim’s Progress”
“Richelieu: Controlling the Nobility”
“The Sun King Shines”
“Louis XIV: Mémoires for the Instruction of the Dauphin”
“G. M. Trevelyan: Chapter 1 from History of England”
“Peter the Great: Correspondence with His Son”
Unit 4: Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 (5 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Francis Bacon: from First Book of Aphorisms”
“Rejecting Aristotle: Galileo Defends the Heliocentric View”
“Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan”
“Rethinking the Bible: Galileo Confronts His Critics”
“Tortured Execution vs. Prison Rules”
“Instructions for a New Law Code”
“The Creation of the Steam Loom”
“Protesting the Machines”
“G. M. Trevelyan: Chapter XIII from English Social History”
“Demands from a Slave Rebellion”
“Slaves in the City”
“The Stamp Act: “Unconstitutional and Unjust”
“Declaration of Sentiments”: American Women Want Independence Too”
“Thomas Paine: from Common Sense”
“John Adams: Thoughts on Government”
“John Locke: Chapter 1 from Essay Concerning Human Understanding”
“David Hume: Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature”
“Charles Montesquieu: Book 4 from The Spirit of the Laws”
“The Encyclopédie”
“Adam Smith: Division of Labor”
Unit 5: Chapters 10, 11, and 12 (3 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen”
“Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen”
“Petition of Women of the Third Estate”
“Robespierre: Justification of Terror”
“Louis XVI: A Royal Reform Proposal, 1787”
“Edmund Burke: The Moral Imagination”
“A View from the Field: A Napoleonic Soldier”
“A View from the Other Side: A British Soldier”
“Jean-Jacques Rousseau : Emile »
Unit 6: Chapter 13 (2 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Thomas MacAulay: A Radical War-Song”
“Alexis de Tocqueville: The New Social Morality”
“Simon Bolívar’s Political Ideas”
“Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The Communist Manifesto”
“Michael Harrington, from Socialism: Past and Future”
“Anarchism: Michael Bakunin”
“Extolling the Virtues of the Manufacturer”
“Child Labor Inquiry”
“Improving the Poor?”
“A Factory Girl: Countering the Stereotypes”
Unit 7: Chapters 14, 15, and 16 (4 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“The Church Weighs In: Rerum Novarum”
“Women Without Power Change the System”
“John Stuart Mill: from The Subjection of Women”
“Bernard Shaw: Act III from Mrs. Warren’s Profession”
“Gertrude Himmelfarb: from Poverty and Compassion”
“George Eliot: Essay on Margaret Fuller and Mary Wollstonecraft”
“An Advocate for Science Education”
“Auguste Comte: from The Age of Ideology”
“Friedrich Nietzsche: from The Age of Ideology”
“Sir Edmund Gosse: from Father and Son”
Unit 8: Chapters 17 and 18 (3 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Confessions of Faith, Cecil Rhodes”
“Manifesto for the Society for German Colonization”
“A White Woman’s Perspective of Africa”
“Black Man’s Burden”
“Between Ruler and Ruled”
“Rupert Brooke: The Soldier”
“Isaac Rosenberg: Dead Man’s Dump”
“Woodrow Wilson: Speech on the Fourteen Points”
“Anna Eisenmenger, A German Soldier Returns Home: “A Complete Stranger”
“Pressing for Peace”
“George Clemenceau Presents the French Demands at the Paris Peace Conference”
Unit 9: Chapter 19 (2weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Werner Heisenberg: Uncertainty”
“Neville Chamberlain Defends the Policy of Appeasement”
“Nadezhda K. Krupskaya: What a Communist Ought To Be Like”
“Christopher Dawson: Religion and the Totalitarian State”
“The Russian Revolution”
“A Peasant’s View of the Revolution”
“Socialist Marriage to Motherhood for the Fatherland”
“The Depression: Germany’s Unemployed”
“Leader of the NAZI Women’s Organization”
Unit 10: Chapter 20 (3 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Benito Mussolini: from The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism”
“Adolf Hitler: from Mein Kampf”
“Stalin’s First Five Year Plan”
“Adolf Hitler: The Obersalzberg Speech”
“Winston Churchill: “Their Finest Hour”—House of Commons, 18 June 1940”
“Franklin D. Roosevelt: “A Call for Sacrifice”—28 April 1942”
“NAZI SS Officers”
“The Buchenwald Report”
“Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto”
“Surviving the Labor Camp”
Unit 11: Chapters 21 and 22 (3 weeks)
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
“Nikita S. Khrushchev: Address to the Twentieth Party Congress”
“George Kennan: from Memoirs: 1925-1950”
“Bosnia: The Two Faces of War”
“The Non-‐Aligned Movement”
“The Wall in My Backyard”
“Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism”
“Stokley Carmichael: What We Want”
Review Period (Approx. 2 weeks)
AP Euro Exam – May 6th
Post AP Exam Instruction:
The remaining time will be spent on a unit offering an in‐depth look at a topic (or series of topics)
relevant to European History, to be decided upon by consultation between the instructor and students
before Spring Break. We will also use some of the remaining time to view historical films that the brisk
pace of the AP course did not allow us to view during the initial coverage of the content.
Make Up Work Policy for Excused Absences:
For regular homework assignments (other than essays and projects) you have as many days to make up
work as you have been excused for your absence. For all other assignments which have been assigned
in advance you are responsible for turning them in the day you return to school at the beginning of the
class period. TAKE HEED: I will not pursue you about your missed work; check with your fellow students,
consult the school’s website, and get any notes or explanations from a trusted classmate. For
assignments that cannot go home, you may make them up at a time and place prearranged with me. It
is your responsibility to prearrange said time and place with me.