AP® US HISTORY
Irving High School, Irving ISD
School Year 2015-2016
Irving High School
AP® US History
Facilitator: Mr. Randall Winter
Email: rwinter@irvingisd.net
Conference: 3rd Period
Telephone: 972-600-6357
Office Hours: Mornings, 8.10-8.40am;
Mon & Tues afternoon, 4.20-4.50pm;
or by Appointment.
Note: Office hours subject to change.
Course Description and Purpose:
The AP U.S. History course focuses on developing students’ understanding of American history from approximately 1491 to
the present. The course has students investigate the content of U.S. history for significant events, individuals, developments,
and processes in nine historical periods, and develop and use the same thinking skills and methods (analyzing primary and
secondary sources, making historical comparisons, chronological reasoning, and argumentation) employed by historians when
they study the past. The course also provides seven themes (American and national identity; migration and settlement; politics
and power; work, exchange, and technology; America in the world; geography and the environment; and culture and society)
that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times
and places.
Periods of US History: information for this course will b e grouped into major historical periods.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Period 1 (1491-1607)
Period 2 (1607-1754)
Period 3 (1754-1800)
Period 4 (1800-1848)
Period 5 (1844-1877)
Period 6 (1865-1898)
Period 7 (1890-1945)
Period 8 (1945-1980)
Period 9 (1980-Present)
These topics will be pursued to varying degrees based on their relative representation on the AP Examination. Please see
the AP US History “Acorn Book” for a more thorough description. A detailed course outline is also provided at the end
of the syllabus to provide you with a rough scope and sequence.
Goals:
Learning Objectives Connected to Lessons/Activities
Identity: Students will read an excerpt from Frederick Jackson Turner’s, Frontier Thesis, and will complete a review in
which they cite the author’s argument(s) and the evidence the author uses to support this argument. Students will then
participate in a class discussion over the following question: “What effect has the frontier had on establishing an American
identity?” For homework, students will write an essay in which they establish an argument with supporting evidence for
the following prompt: “Analyze the factors that led to the closing of the American frontier and the effects that the frontier
ultimately had on establishing an American identity.” (CR1c) (CR4) (ID-2) (CR5) (CR8)
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Environment: Students will trace the continuities and changes of American policies concerning the conservation and
preservation of the environment by creating an annotated timeline of these policies as they occurred in the 19th and 20th
centuries. (CR4) (ENV-5) (CR9) (13b)
Work, Exchange, and Technology: Students will read a selection from an article written by Edward T O’Donnell, Pictures vs.
Words? Public History, Tolerance, and the Challenge of Jacob Riis, and will complete a review in which they cite the
author’s argument(s) and the counter-arguments noted by the author. Students will then participate in an activity in which
they are given a series of photographs and/or excerpts from Jacob Riis’s, How the Other Half Lives, and will take a stance
supporting Riis’s argument or countering it. (CR1b, textual) (CR1b, visual) (CR1c) (CR4) (WXT-5)
Culture: Students will complete a DBQ essay in which they combine disparate and contradictory evidence from various
primary sources concerning the emergence of various cultural movements during the Cold War. (CR4) (CUL-5) (CR13a)
Peopling: Students will analyze various primary source maps and indentured servitude charts—taken from Virtual
Jamestown and the Massachusetts Archives collection, 1629-1799—relating to the settlement of both Jamestown, Virginia
and Plymouth, Massachusetts. For all of the maps and charts, the students will note the intended audience, the point of
view, and the purpose. Students will then create a Venn Diagram in which they compare and contrast the colonization
efforts of English settlers in the Chesapeake Bay and New England regions. (CR1b, map, quantitative data) (CR4) (PEO-1)
(CR7) (CR11) (CR12)
Politics and Power: Students will read an essay written by John P. Roche, from The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in
Action, and an essay by Howard Zinn, from A People’s History of the United States. While reading, students will note the
following: the arguments presented by the authors, five pieces of evidence presented by the author, and a link to two
specific pieces of information learned in previous classes in order to establish a broader historical understanding. Students
will then present the evidence and arguments they have gathered to their peers in the form of a modified debate in which
one half of the class takes the side of Roche while the other half takes the side of Zinn while answering the question,
“Were the founding fathers democratic reformers?” For homework, students will then write an essay in which they
establish an argument with supporting question for the question, “Were the founding fathers democratic reformers?”
(CR3) (CR4) (POL-2) (CR5) (CR6)
America and the World: Students will analyze various primary sources—including maps and speeches— pertaining to
American power both before and after the Spanish American War. Students will then participate in a debate over whether
or not the Spanish American War was a turning point for America as a world power. (CR4) (WOR-7) (CR10)
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Irving High School, Irving ISD
School Year 2015-2016
Materials and Textbooks:
AP® US HISTORY
Primary Text:
 Henretta, James A, Eric Hinderaker, Rebecca Edwards, and Robert O. Self. America’s History: For the AP Course (8/e).
New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. (CR1A)
Supplemental text will include:
Review Book for AP Exam:
o
Newman, John J. United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination (3/e). New York:
Amsco School Publications, 2015.
Primary Source Reader:
o
Bruun, Erik and Jay Crosby. The American Experience: The History and Culture of the United States through
Speeches, Letters, Essays, Articles, Poems, Songs, and Stories. New York: Black Dog and Leventhal
Publishers, 2012.
Secondary Source Readers:
o
Madaras, Larry and James M. SoRelle. Taking Sides: Clashing View in United States History, Volume 1
(13/e). New York: McGraw Hill Companies, 2009.
o
Madaras, Larry and James M. SoRelle. Taking Sides: Clashing View in United States History, Volume 2
(15/e). New York: McGraw Hill Companies, 2013.
Note: Many other texts and sources will be used for both review and primary and secondary sources.
Mandatory materials for this course include: textbook, paper, pens and pencils (you may find a small variety
of colors useful for graphing). A binder as well as a spiral dedicated to this course is strongly recommended to help you
keep track of the tremendous paperwork an AP class usually entails.
You should also consider items that you, personally, may find useful while reading or studying: highlighters (do
not write or highlight in the textbook!), Post-It notes, tabs for marking pages, etc. Writing material s and notebooks should
be brought to class daily, as well as your laptops. You will not need to bring the textbook to class unless instructed to do
so, but you should expect to make use of the textbook regularly for homework assignments.
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College Board AP US History Requirement Specifications
Topic:
Period 1: 1491-1607
AP Exam: Readings:
5%
America’s History:
Chapter 1
Time:
1 Week
Key Concept 1.1: As native populations migrated and settled across
the vast expanse of North America over time, they developed distinct
and increasingly complex societies by adapting to and transforming
their diverse environments.
Key Concept 1.2: Contact among Europeans, Native Americans,
and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and significant
social, cultural, and political changes on both sides of the Atlantic
Ocean.
Period 2: 1607-1754
Key Concept 2.1: Europeans developed a variety of colonization
and migration patterns, influenced by different imperial goals,
cultures, and the varied North American environments where they
settled, and they competed with each other and American Indians for
resources.
Key Concept 2.2: The British colonies participated in political,
social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that
encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to
Britain’s control.
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10%
America’s
History:
Chapter 2, 3
&4
3 weeks
Irving High School, Irving ISD
School Year 2015-2016
Period 3: 1754-1800
AP® US HISTORY
12%
America’s
History: Chapter
5, 6, 7 & 8
4 weeks
10%
America’s
Histroy: Chapter
9, 10, 11 & 12
4 Weeks
Key Concept 3.1: British attempts to assert tighter control over its
North American colonies and the colonial resolve to pursue selfgovernment led to a colonial independence movement and the
Revolutionary War.
Key Concept 3.2: The American Revolution’s democratic and
republican ideals inspired new experiments with different forms of
government.
Key Concept 3.3: Migration within North America and competition
over resources, boundaries, and trade intensified conflicts among
peoples and nations.
Period 4: 1800-1848
Key Concept 4.1: The United States began to develop a modern
democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans
sought to define the nation’s democratic ideals and change their
society and institutions to match them.
Key Concept 4.2: Innovations in technology, agriculture, and
commerce powerfully accelerated the American economy,
precipitating profound changes to U.S. society and to national and
regional identities.
Key Concept 4.3: The U.S. interest in increasing foreign trade and
expanding its national borders shaped the nation’s foreign policy and
spurred government and private initiatives.
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Period 5: 1844-1877
13%
Key Concept 5.1: The United States became more connected with
the world, pursued an expansionist foreign policy in the Western
Hemisphere, and emerged as the destination for many migrants from
other countries.
America’s
History:
Chapter 13,
14, 15, & 16
4 weeks
Key Concept 5.2: Intensified by expansion and deepening regional
divisions, debates over slavery and other economic, cultural, and
political issues led the nation into civil war.
Key Concept 5.3: The Union victory in the Civil War and the
contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery
and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power
of the federal government and citizenship rights.
Period 6: 1865-1898
13%
America’s History:
Chapter 17, 18, 19
& 20
4 Weeks
17%
America’s History:
Chapter 21, 22, 23,
& 24
4 Weeks
Key Concept 6.1: Technological advances, large-scale production
methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of
industrial 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 7: 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.
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Irving High School, Irving ISD
School Year 2015-2016
Period 8: 1945-1980
AP® US HISTORY
15%
America’s History:
Chapter 25, 26, 27,
28 & 29
5 Weeks
5%
America’s History:
Chapter 30 &31
2 Weeks
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.
Period 9: 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
U.S. leadership forced the nation to redefine its foreign policy and
role in the world.
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Assignments and Grading
1. Unit Assignments
Textbook readings will constitute most of your homework for each unit. Other types of assignments include various
writing assignments, quizzes, online research, and multiple choice tests.
Students who read get higher scores on the AP Exam. To ensure you get the 4 or 5 that many colleges require for you
to receive credit… READ!
Exams will consist of at least 40 questions. No notes will be allowed. We
will do our best to do at least one FRQ per week.
2. Projects
In addition to traditional assessments, projects will impact your course grade. Students will work on projects
individually or in groups.
3. Grading Policy
Irving ISD has revised its grading policy for the 2015-2016 Academic Year. Formative assessments will be used to
assess understanding and will count 30% of a six weeks grade (Formative Assessments are assignments which
provide a snapshot of your learning at one particular time. Formal assessments include but are not limited to tests,
quizzes, projects, in-class assignments, and homework assignments. No remediation period is provided for Formative
assessments). Summative grades will count 70% of the overall grade (1-week remediation period for late or make-up
work).
It is the teacher’s expectation that students will adequately complete all assigned class work and organization
strategies. These are assignments which help you to prepare and practice for formal assessments, Semester
Examinations, and ultimately the AP US History Exam. Perfect practice makes perfect!
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