AP US HISTORY SUMMER ASSIGNMENT
Welcome to APUSH! This class places attention upon understandings equivalent to those gained in a college
level introductory course; emphasis is on the general narrative of American history from 1400 to 2014; the
study also includes an examination of the political, diplomatic, intellectual, cultural, social and economic
history of the United States.
Throughout the year you will be asked to read and outline our course textbook Give Me Liberty. This is a
college-level text, which means it will most likely be a challenging text to read. However, as you progress
through the year, it will get easier. You will also be reading scholarly articles from various historians. You will
be required to keep a reading log of your analysis of these articles.
This class moves quickly and in order to start the year off effectively, you must come in on the first day
prepared to discuss our first unit, Period One- 1491-1607. To do so, you will need to complete the following
assignments.
I.
Read and outline chapters 1 and 2 of Give Me Liberty
II.
Read the Christopher Columbus article and complete the reading log entry on the article.
III.
Complete the pre-Columbian charts using your notes from chapters 1-2
Due Dates:
 Chapter One Outline- Due the first class
 Columbus Reading Log- Due the first class
 Pre-Columbian charts- Due the second class
 Chapter Two Outline- Due the second class
However, do not wait. You will receive more work the first week of school and you do NOT want to get behind.
PART I- CHAPTER OUTLINES
 Getting accustomed to reading a college textbook can be challenging, which is why you will have
outlines throughout the year to help guide your reading.
 How do you do the assignment?
o While you are reading the textbook, fill in the outline.
o This can be typed or hand written
 Some suggestions for your outlines:
o Outlines are independent work! No collaboration on outline assignments.
o The key to a good outline is to be brief, yet complete! This takes practice!
 Recommended length – If typed, single-spaced 6-10 pages in the beginning, down to 4-7
pages by mid-year.
o It is important that you develop an outline that HELPS you to study. Just typing or writing down
lots of words may look very impressive, but is a waste of time unless it helps you to study
details and analyze the information.
o Depending on your reading and note-taking speed, it should take from two to four hours to
outline a chapter. It will probably take you longer in the beginning until you get used to the
format of the text. Plan your time accordingly. Try not to leave it all for the day before it is due!
Pace yourself throughout the week doing about six pages per day.
o Outlines may be typed or handwritten.
Example:
I. Introduction
a. Three things Native Americans had in common:
1) They identified themselves as members of multigenerational families rather than as individuals or subjects of
governments.
2) Most emphasized reciprocity rather then coercion as way to maintain harmony within and between
communities.
3) They perceived the entire universe, including nature, as sacred
II. The First Americans, c. 13,000-2500 B.C.
a. Peopling New Worlds
i. Two main theories about the origins of the people of the Americas
-One theory holds that Siberian hunters, pursuing animals, crossed the land linking Asia with North
America during the last Ice Age, arriving around 10,500 B.C. According to this theory, the hunters made
their way over an ice bridge, and dispersed over much of the Western Hemisphere.
-A second theory suggests that the first humans arrived much earlier by boat, following the coast to
Alaska. At various points along the way, groups stopped and settled nearby or traveled inland to
establish new homes.
ii. Description of early Americans’ lives/culture
Most traveled in hunting territories in groups consisting of several families and totaling about fifteen to
fifty people. Men hunted, while women prepared food and cared for the children. Different group
exchanged ideas and goods, intermarried, and participated in religious ceremonies.
b. Archaic Societies
i. Description of how and why Native Americans’ culture changed
As the Earth’s atmosphere warmed, a large range of plants and animals developed. This allowed
archaic people to broaden their diets to include small mammals, fish and wild plants. Over time they
began living in smaller areas and establishing permanent villages. They developed different jobs from
men and women. Men hunted and fished, while women harvested and prepared wild plants. As early
as 5000 B.C. some Native Americans were starting to farm. They grew squash, beans, fruit and by
2500 B.C. maize.
Give Me Liberty- Chapter One
I.
II.
The First Americans
a. The Settling of the Americas
i.
Describe the early Americans.
ii.
Explain how the early Americans arrived.
iii.
Explain how the early inhabitants changed as the climate warmed.
iv.
What was the first major crop Early Americans grew?
b. Indian Societies of the Americas
i. Describe North and South America before Europeans arrived.
ii. Describe Tenochtitlan.
iii. Describe the Inca Kingdom.
iv. Describe how the Indian civilizations were different from the Europeans.
 Explain some the things Indian societies had perfected.
c. Mound Builder of The Mississippi River Valley
i. Explain who the Mound Builders were.
ii. Explain the purpose of the mounds.
d. Western Indians
i. Explain who the Hopi and Zuni Indians were.
ii. Explain who the Pueblos were.
e. Indians of Eastern North America
i. Describe the diets of the Eastern Indians.
ii. Explain the most striking feature of the Native American society before the Europeans arrived.
iii. Explain what Indian identity centered around.
 Explain how this thought/opinion was used against them when Europeans arrived.
f. Native American Religion
i. Describe the religious lives of early Native Americans.
g. Land and Property
i. Explain how Indians saw the land.
h. Gender Relations
i. Explain the role of women in early Indian societies.
 Summarize how this is different from Europe at this time.
i. European Views of the Indians
i. Summarize how the Europeans viewed the Native Americans.
The Expansion of Europe
a. Chinese and Portuguese Navigation
i. Explain what a caravel is and how it helped with navigation.
b. The Voyages of Columbus
i. Explain where Columbus received his financial support.
c. Columbus in the New World
i. Summarize when Columbus first made contact with the New World.
d. Exploration and Conquest
i. Who took the lead in exploration and what were their motivations in exploring.
ii. Summarize how Cortez was able to conquer the Aztecs.
iii. Explain how Pizarro was able to conquer the Incas.
e. The Demographic Disaster
i. Define the Columbian Exchange (be specific about what the Americans got and the Europeans
got).
ii. Summarize the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the Indians.
 Overall how many people died as a result of the Columbian Exchange?
f. Colonists and Indians
i. Define Mesitzos.
g. Justifications for Conquests
i. Explain how Europeans justified their colonization of the New World.
h. Las Casa’s Complaint
i. Explain who Las Casa’s is.
ii. Summarize what he wrote about and how he viewed the natives.
i. Reforming the Empire
i. Explain what the encomienda system is and what the Spaniards replaced it with.
 By the end of the 16th century…
ii. Explain what the black legend was.
j. Exploring North America
i. Describe the expeditions of Coronado and De Soto.
k. The Pueblo Revolt
i. Explain why relations between the Pueblos and the Spanish fell apart.
ii. Explain who Pope is and what happened to him.
iii. Summarize the revolt of the Pueblos under Pope’s leadership.
iv. Summarize the effects of the Pueblo Rebellion.
 What lesson did the Spanish learn?
l. French Colonization
i. Summarize how the French began to colonize the new world and where they colonized.
m. New France and the Indians
i. What did the viability of New France depend on?
ii. How were the French different than the Spanish and the English?
iii. How were the French similar to the other Europeans?
n. The Dutch Empire
i. Explain what a joint stock company is.
o. Dutch Freedom/Freedom in New Netherland
i. What two freedoms did Dutch settlers have that Europeans in Europe did not have?
ii. How were women in the Dutch settlements different than the other colonies?
iii. How did the religious toleration the Dutch offer impact their population (Give examples)?
p. New Netherland and the Indians
i. How did the Dutch differ in their recognition of Indian sovereignty?
ii. What features did the Spanish, Dutch, and French Empires share (7 examples)?
Give Me Liberty- Chapter Two
I.
England and The New World
a. Unifying the English Nation
i. Explain Henry the VIII’s Reformation of England.
ii. Explain the religious strife between Protestants and Catholics.
b. England and Ireland
i. Explain what a plantation is.
c. England and North America
i. Explain what happened to the Roanoke Colony.
 What features were needed to establish a successful colony in the Americas?
d. Spreading Protestantism
i. What was the English justification for establishing colonies in the New World?
ii. Who is Sir Walter Raleigh?
e. Motives for Colonization
i. Other than bringing freedom to the Indians why else did Empire propagandists want to
colonize? (Explain)
 How did empire propagandists portray the New World?
f. The Social Crisis
i. Explain how England’s “surplus” population influenced public opinion on colonization.
ii. Who is John Winthrop?
 What was John Winthrop’s opinion of the cost of the poor on England’s local
communities?
iii. How did England’s government deal with the Social Crisis (Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Richard
Hakluyt)?
II.
g. Masterless Men
i. Who is Thomas More?
 How did Utopia coincide with the goals of ordinary Englishmen?
ii. Who are the “masterless men”?
iii. What was the main lure/ “pull factor” for emigrants to the New World?
The Coming of the English
a. English Emigrants
i. Summarize challenges emigrants settling the New World faced.
 What was the major “push factor” for emigrants to leave England?
ii. Who made up the majority of newcomers to the New World?
b. Indentured Servants
i. What is an indentured servant?
 How were they treated?
 How were they different than slaves?
c. Land and Liberty
i. What was the basis of liberty?
 What liberties were land owning men given?
ii. What made the land valuable?
 How did landowners fix this problem?
d. Englishmen and Indians
i. How were the English different than the Spanish? (Explain)
ii. Summarize the English view of the Indian’s claim to land?
iii. How did the English acquire land?
iv. Explain the colonial government’s reaction to Indian land sales.
v. Explain the initial stages of English settlement.
e. The Transformation of Indian Life
i. What was the initial reaction and motives of Indians to newcomers? (Explain)
III.
ii. How and why did interactions with European settlers change the Indians way of life/culture?
iii. Explain how European demands affected Indian tribal relations?
f. Changes in the Land
i. Explain the impact of settlers on the land and how it affected Indian society and culture.
 Crops
 Hunting
 Trapping
Settling the Chesapeake
a. The Jamestown Colony
i. Identify who made up the population of Jamestown.
ii. Explain the conditions/challenges that the Jamestown settlers faced.
iii. What actions did John Smith take to make Jamestown successful?
b. From Company to Society
i. What steps did the Virginia Company take to ensure its colonies survival?
 Gold
 Food
 Trade
ii. What incentives did the Virginia Company provide people willing to travel to the New World?
iii. Explain the significance of the creation of the House of Burgesses.
 Who made up the House of Burgesses?
c. Powhatan and Pocahontas
i. Explain the relationship between Powhatan and the English.
 Powhatan’s opinion of English
 English’s opinion of Powhatan
ii. What role did Pocahontas play between the Indians and the English?
 What did the marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas symbolize to the English?
d. The Uprising of 1622
i. Why did the Virginia Company believe the uprising of 1622 had occurred?
 What was the outcome of the 1622 uprising?
ii. What was the outcome of the final rebellion in 1644?
 Explain what became of the remaining coastal Indians.
iii. Explain why the Virginia Company was considered a failure?
iv. Who is John Rolfe and why is he important?
e. A Tobacco Colony
i. Who benefitted from the establishment of the tobacco plant?
 What are custom duties?
ii. By the 17th century what did Virginia’s society resembled?
 Identify the classes within this society.
f. Women and the Family
i. Summarize the population gap between men and women within the Virginia colony.
 Why did this gap exist? (Explain)
a. Indentured servitude
b. Life Expectancy
ii. Define femme sole.
 Who took advantage of the new legal status?
IV.
g. The Maryland Experiment
i. Identify similarities to Virginia Colony.
ii. Identify differences to Virginia Colony.
iii. Define proprietary structure
 Who is Cecilus Calvert?
 Explain the differences between the absolute powers of proprietor vs. rights of
colonists.
h. Religion in Maryland
i. Summarize Calvert’s hope for Catholic and Protestant relations in the New World.
ii. Explain the prospects of land ownership.
The New England Way
a. The Rise of Puritanism
i. Explain the emergence of Puritanism in England
ii. While Puritans differed on various issues what were their common convictions?
 Central Importance of sermons
 John Calvin’s ideology
a. The elect and the damned
b. Salvation
c. Puritan’s world behavior
b. Moral Liberty
i. Explain how Charles I reign mobilized Puritan separatists.
 What were their concerns?
 Who did they blame?
 What were they escaping?
ii. What were the motives of Puritans in migrating to the New World? (Explain)
iii. Summarize the Puritan concept of freedom
 Denunciation of “natural liberty”
 Embracing of the “ moral liberty”
c. The Pilgrims at Plymouth
i. How did the Pilgrims arrive in Plymouth?
ii. What is the Mayflower Compact?
iii. What were the hardships that were faced by the Pilgrims at Plymouth?
iv. Explain how the Indians helped the Pilgrims
v. What is the purpose/importance behind the first Thanksgiving?
d. The Great Migration
i. Identify the Massachusetts Bay Company.
 What were their motives in colonization?
ii. What was the Great Migration?
iii. Explain the unique features of New England Settlements
 How were they different than Virginia and Maryland colonists? (Explain)
e. The Puritan Family
i. Explain the elements of the Puritan patriarchal society.
ii. Explain the role of women within the Puritan society.
f. Government and Society in Massachusetts
i. Summarize the Puritan attitude toward individualism and social unity.
ii. How were towns organized within Puritan New England?

V.
Explain the concept of self-governing towns.
a. Subdivision of land
 Explain how Puritan religion influenced government.
 What institutions were put into place?
iii. Why was colonial autonomy so important to the Puritans?
iv. Explain the importance of the principle of consent.
v. Who were the “Visible Saints”
 How would one become a “Visible Saint”?
g. Puritan Liberties
i. Explain the concept of hierarchical societies.
 Access to land
 Status within church
 Social stature
 Claim to “liberties”
ii. What was the relationship between church and state?
New Englanders Divided
a. Puritan values
i. Summarize the emphasis on conformity to communal norms.
ii. Explain the Puritans intolerance of individualism and dissent.
b. Roger Williams
i. Explain Roger Williams’s critique of Puritan values and beliefs.
c. Rhode Island and Connecticut
i. Describe the establishment of Rhode Island
 Religious toleration
 Democratic governance
ii. Describe the establishment of Connecticut
 Who establish the settlement of Hartford
a. How did Hartford’s government differ from Massachusetts?
 Who founded New Haven and why?
d. The Trials of Anne Hutchinson
i. Explain how Anne Hutchinson challenged Puritan leadership.
ii. Explain the way she challenged to gender norms.
iii. Summarize Anne Hutchinson’s trial and banishment.
iv. What was Anne Hutchinson’s lasting legacy?
e. Puritans and Coastal Indians
i. Explain the balance of power between Puritans and Coastal Indians.
 Why did the Puritans have numerical supremacy over the Indians?
 Explain the concerns Puritans had to the attraction of Indian life.
ii. Explain the view Settlers' had of Indians.
 As savages
 As dangerous temptation
 As obstacle to be removed
f. The Pequot War
i. Identify why there were rising frontier tensions.
ii. Summarize the Pequot War and the extermination of Pequot’s.
iii. Explain the after effects of Pequot War.
 Opening of Connecticut River valley to white settlement
VI.
 Intimidation of other Indians
 Affirmation of Puritan sense of mission
g. The New England economy
i. Explain the economic motives behind New England settlement.
 Identify what "competency" meant to Puritans and why it was important.
a. Land ownership
b. Craft status
 Explain the aspiration for mercantile success
 Explain how Puritans blended their religious and profit motives.
a. How does this relate to divine grace?
ii. What were the differences between New England’s economy and Virginia’s?
 Family-based agriculture
a. Chiefly subsistence orientation
b. Broad distribution of land
 Exports to other colonies and Europe
 Rise of a market elite
h. The Merchant Elite
i. Explain the tensions within political/religious order
 How merchants challenged Puritan policies.
i. The Half-Way Covenant
 What was the Puritan concern over "declension"?
 Explain what the Half-Way Covenant was.
 Define Jeremiads.
Religion, Politics, and Freedom
a. The rights of Englishmen
i. What is the Magna Carta, explain its significance.
ii. English Civil War
 Explain the struggle for political supremacy between Parliament and Stuart monarchs.
 Summarize the emergence of the Commonwealth and restoration of the monarchy.
b. England’s Debate Over Freedom
i. Explain the Levellers definition of freedom
ii. Explain the Diggers definition of freedom
c. The Civil War and English America
i. What were the repercussions of English Civil War in colonial North America?
 In New England
a. Ambivalence of Puritans
b. Quakers
c. Emergence
d. Persecution
d. The Crisis in Maryland
i. Explain Maryland’s position regarding the civil war in England.
 In Maryland
a. Religious-political crisis
b. Initiatives to stabilize colony
c. Calvert's pre-Protestant gestures
d. Enactment of religious toleration measure
PART II- READING LOG: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ARTICLE
 Read the article and underline/highlight and make notes in the margins while you read.
 Steps to completing a reading log: (these should be numbered in your log)
1. Write the name of the article, the author, and the date it was published
2. Write the author’s thesis
3. While you’re reading take notes- what information is the author giving to support his
argument?
4. Significance- Explain in a few sentences why this information is important.
a. What are the effects of this information?
b. What connections, either personally or to another time period, can you make to this
information?
c. What does this information tell you about the time period you are studying/what
inferences can you make?
5. Write a brief summary of what you read.
a. Why is this article important?
b. What did you learn?
c. How does this help your understanding of the material?
d. What is the author’s overall argument in the article?
Reading Log Format
Title of the article:
Author & Date of the Article:
Author’s Thesis (word for word from the article):
Any biases the author might have:
Facts/Details/Quotes/Notes:
Inference/Significance/Meaning of your quote/notes:
Summary:
PART III- PRE-COLUMBIAN CHART
Directions:
 Complete the following chart using your notes from your outline and your textbook.
 Be as detailed as you can be. The more information, the better.
 You do not need to use complete sentences.
Pre Columbian Societies
Names of Tribes
Southwest
Eastern
Woodlands
Great Plains
Social Characteristics
Political Characteristics
Economic Characteristics
Examples of Conflicts