Buford High School
COURSE SYLLABUS – SPRING SEMESTER
COURSE TITLE......... AP US History
TEACHER .................. Gail Harris
Email Address
Teacher Web Page
Teacher Support
(Help sessions, etc.)
TERM ..............................2015 – 2016
ROOM #..........................6308
Gail.Harris@BufordCitySchools.org; BHSHarris.weebly.com
Mrs. Harris will be available before school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00 AM to 7:40 AM and after
school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:45 PM to 4:00 PM.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course meets daily from August – May. All students enrolled in APUSH must take the AP US History
exam on May 6, 2016 as well as the EOCT in U.S. History given in mid-late May.
COURSE CURRICULUM CONTENT
The complete list of learning objectives can be found at:
https://advancesinap.collegeboard.org/english-history-and-social-science/us-history.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES
Published Materials
Student Textbook:
Instructional Supplies
Teacher Resources:
Spring Semester
Schedule
Note: ALL readings need to be completed by the 1st day of the week in which we will first be
discussing the topic.
The syllabus may be updated as needed throughout the semester.
Period Six – 1865-1898
Key Concept 6.1: Technological advances, large-scale production methods, and the opening of new
markets encouraged the rise of capitalism in the United States.
Key Concept 6.2: The migrations that accompanied industrialization transformed both urban and rural
areas of the United States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.
Key Concept 6.3: The Gilded Age produced new cultural and intellectual movements, public reform
efforts, and political debates over economic and social policies.
Period Seven – 1890-1945
Key Concept 7.1: Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform
U.S. society and its economic system.
Key Concept 7.2: Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass
culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns.
Key Concept 7.3: Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of
international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.
Week 1: January 5-8 (Teacher work day January 4)
American Pageant: Chapter 26 – The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution 1865-1896
*Westward Migration, Boomtown areas of the West, Confinement of American Indians to
reservations, Assimilationist policies, Tenant farming systems, Mechanized agriculture, People’s
(Populist party)
American Pageant: Chapter 27 – Empire and Expansion 1890-1909
*Overseas expansion in the late nineteenth century, Imperialists, Anti-Imperialists, Spanish
American War, the Philippines, Increased involvement in Asia, Expanded economic and military
presence in the Caribbean and Latin America
American Pageant: Chapter 28 – Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt 1901-1912
*Progressives/Progressive reformers, Social Gospel, stronger financial regulatory system,
regulation of economy and environment, laissez-faire capitalism, government activism, limited
welfare state
Week 2: January 11-15
American Pageant: Chapter 29 – Wilsonian Progressivism in Peace and War 1913-1920
*Progressives/Progressive Reformers, Government activism, stronger financial regulatory system,
Woodrow Wilson, World War I, U.S. neutrality in World War I, Woodrow Wilson’s calls for defense
of humanitarianism and democratic principles, American Expeditionary Force, wartime patriotism,
Woodrow Wilson’s postwar negotiations, Treaty of Versailles, League of Nations
Week 3: January 19-22 (No School January 18th)
American Pageant: Chapter 30 – American Life in the “Roaring Twenties” 1920-1929
*Red Scare, Xenophobia, Highly restrictive immigration quotas, Legislation restricting immigration
from Asia & Southern and Eastern Europe, New technologies & manufacturing techniques, scientific
modernism, Harlem Renaissance
Week 4: January 25-29
American Pageant: Chapter 31 – The Politics of Boom and Bust 1920-1932
*Post World I unilateral foreign policy, Business cycle fluctuations, Credit & market instability,
Black Tuesday, Great Depression, Hoovervilles
Week 5: February 1-5
American Pageant: Chapter 32 – The Great Depression and the New Deal 1933-1939
*Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt, New Deal: Legacies of reforms & agencies, Long-term
political realignment of the Democratic Party, Liberalism
Week 6: February 8-12
February 12th – Benchmark #1
American Pageant: Chapter 33 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War 1933-1941
*World War II, Interventionists, Isolationists, U.S. Isolationism, U.S. involvement in World War II,
Attack on Pearl Harbor, Manhattan Project
Winter Break 15-19 (Teacher work days 18 & 19)
Week 7: February 22-26
American Pageant: Chapter 34 – America in World War II 1941-1945
*Great Migration, World War II, Mass mobilization of American society, Internment of Japanese
Americans, Allied victory over Axis powers, Decision to drop the atomic bomb, Postwar peace
settlements
Period Eight –1945-1980
Key Concept 8.1: The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting
and working to maintain a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and international
consequences.
Key Concept 8.2: New movements for civil rights and liberal efforts to expand the role of government
generated a range of political and cultural responses.
Key Concept 8.3: Postwar economic and demographic changes had far-reaching consequences for
American society, politics, and culture.
Week 8: February 29-March 4
March 2nd – Social Studies Performance Essay
American Pageant: Chapter 35 – The Politics of Boom and Bust 1945-1952
*Postwar Peace settlements, Nuremburg Trials, Cold War, Containment, Growth of Sovietdominated communism, NATO, Korean conflict, Policies and methods to root out communists
within the United States, McCarthyism, baby boom, Suburbanization, Rapid expansion of higher
education, GI Bill, The Sun Belt
Week 9: March 7-11
American Pageant: Chapter 36 – American Zenith 1952-1963
*Cold War, U.S. support for noncommunist regimes in Latin America, U.S. involvement in the Middle
East, Vietnam War, “Military-industrial complex”, desegregation of armed services, Brown v. Board
of Education, Strategies of civil rights activists: legal challenges, direct action, and nonviolent
protest tactics, SNCC, Southern white resistance to desegregation, Overall affluence of postwar
America, homogeneous mass culture, Challenges to conformity by artists, intellectuals and
rebellious youth, Berlin Wall, Cuban missile crisis, Assassination of JFK
Week 10: March 15-18 (Teacher work day 14th, 17th & 18th are ½ days)
American Pageant: Chapter 37 – The Stormy Sixties 1963-1973
*Lyndon Johnson, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Voting Rights
Act of 1965, Great Society, Counterculture of the 1960s, New conservative movement, Vietnam War,
Détente, Oil crisis
Week 11: March 21-25
American Pageant: Chapter 38 – Challenges to the Postwar Order, 1973-1980
*Watergate, Vietnam War, national energy policy, conservation measures, social and economic
equality for women, New conservatism (New Right), neoconservative thought, Iranian hostage
crisis
Period Nine – 1980-Present
Key Concept 9.1: A newly ascendant conservative movement achieved several political and policy goals
during the 1980s and continued to strongly influence public discourse in the following decades.
Key Concept 9.2: Moving into the 21st century, the nation experienced significant technological, economic,
and demographic changes.
Key Concept 9.3: The end of the Cold War and new challenges to leadership forced the nation to redefine
its foreign policy and role in the world.
Week 12: March 28-31 (No school April 1st)
American Pageant: Chapter 39 – The Resurgence of Conservatism 1980-1992
*New Conservatism (New Right), Religious Fundamentalism, Evangelical Christian churches and
organizations, deregulation, Ronald Reagan, Reagan administration, Iran-Contra affair, Mikhail
Gorbachev, End of the Cold War, Conflicts in the Middle East, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Spring Break (April 4-8)
Week 13: April 11-15
April 14th – Benchmark #2
American Pageant: Chapter 40 – America Confronts the Post-Cold War Era 1992-2000
*Clinton, Debates over civil rights, integration of the United States into the world economy, free
trade agreements: NAFTA & WTO, spread of computer technology and the internet, Surge of
migration from Latin America and Asia, Scandals rock the White House
American Pageant: Chapter 41 – The American People Face a New Century 2001-2014
*George W. Bush, Attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, War on
terrorism, debates over domestic security, Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Conflicts in the Middle
East, Concerns about climate change
Week 14: April 18-22
APUSH EXAM REVIEW
Week 15: April 25-29
APUSH EXAM REVIEW
Week 16: May 2-6 (AP EXAM WEEK)
May 6th is APUSH EXAM
APUSH EXAM REVIEW
Week 17: May 9-13
EOCT REVIEW
Week 18: May 16-20
EOCT Review
Week 19: May 23-27
Final Exam Week