Download AP World History

Honors World History
Shea 2014
Course Overview:
Honors World History is a two-semester class that examines European history from the
time of the Renaissance and Reformation up to the present day. Honors World History is
for the exceptionally studious high school students who wish to engage in a rigorous
academic program.
In addition to exposing students to the historical content, this course will also give
students an understanding of the principal themes in modern European History, teach
students the process involved in analyzing historical evidence, and provide students the
ability to express that understanding and analysis effectively in writing.
This course includes history both as content and as methodology. Emphasis is placed on
students developing intellectual and academic skills, including:
o Effective analysis of documents, maps, statistics, and pictorial and graphic
evidence
o Effective note-taking skills
o Clear and precise written expression
o The ability to weigh evidence and reach conclusions on the basis of facts
Textbook and Resources:
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World History: The Modern Era, (2007). Prentice Hall. ( 2014 version also
acceptable)
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We will use a selection of short primary and secondary sources, or excerpts
from them, for each unit rather than entire works. This allows students to
have contact with many voices and points of view from each era. Many
primary and secondary sources are increasingly available on the Internet.
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Recurrent Topics:
These topics will recur in different contexts throughout the course.
1. The growth of nation-states and the competition for power among them.
2. The individual versus with the demands of society.
3. The impact of economic innovations on life.
4. The struggle for emancipation and power by women, workers, peasants, and ethnic
minorities.
5. The Europeans quest for master of their natural and human environment.
6. The efforts to unite, e.g., European Union
Course Outline
• Introduction and the Later Middle Ages (1 week)
• The Renaissance—includes humanism, the rise of the New Monarchs, and the
age of exploration (3 weeks)
• The Reformation and Religious Wars (2 weeks)
• The Age of Absolutism and Constitutionalism (4 weeks)
• The Eighteenth Century—includes the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment,
and economics and society (4 weeks)
• The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era (1 week)
• The Industrial Revolution (2 weeks)
• Politics from 1815 to 1848 and Nineteenth-Century Society (2 weeks)
• Unification, the Age of Mass Politics, and Imperialism (3 weeks)
• World War I and the Interwar Period (2 weeks)
• The Rise of Dictatorships and World War II (3 weeks)
• 1945 to the Present (1 week)
Course Planner:
The Course Planner does not attempt to show everything we do in class; instead, it is
meant to be a guide that indicates the course’s pacing, readings, and test schedule. The
principle textbook and reader for the course are listed below, although I rely upon a range
of other textbooks, readers, and monographs throughout the course.
Introduction and the Later Middle Age
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The Hundred Years’ War between England and France.
The effects of the bubonic plague on society.
The growing power of secular rulers over the Church.
Schism, heresy, and conciliar reform in the Church.
The Mongol invasions and the origins of the Russia.
Unit 1: The Renaissance
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Renaissance politics, culture, and art in Italy.
The northern Renaissance that followed that in Italy.
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Italian politics, wars, and foreign intervention in Italy by France and Spain.
Powerful new monarchies of Spain, France, and England.
Spanish and Portuguese "discoveries" and conquest.
Renaissance (examples of possible reading)
*The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli– ***Summer Reading Assignment.***
*Bruni, Leonardo [1374-1444] from his works History of His Own Times in Italy and On
Learning and Literature
*Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier, 1528.
Unit 2: The Reformation and Religious Wars
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The social and religious origins of the Reformation.
Martin Luther’s role in the German Reformation.
The course of the Reformation in Switzerland, France, and England.
The Catholic Counter-Reformation’s achievements.
The social impact of the Reformation in western and central Europe.
The French wars of religion between Catholics and Calvinists.
Spanish struggle against Dutch independence in the Netherlands.
The struggle between Catholic Spain and Protestant England.
The course of the Thirty Years’ War and the devastation of central Europe.
Reformation/ Religious Wars (examples possible reading)
*Calvin, John. The Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1536.
*Constitution of the Society of Jesus [Jesuits], 1540.
*della Mirandola, Pico. Oration on the Dignity of Man.
*Erasmus, Desiderius. In Praise of Folly, 1509.
*Kramer, Heinrich and James Sprenger. Excerpts from the Malleus Maleficarum, 1486.
*Luther, Martin. Excerpts from Ninety-five Theses, 1517.
*More, Thomas. Utopia, 1515.
Unit 3: The Age of Absolutism
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The origins and decline of the Netherlands' Golden Age.
Factors behind the different political paths of France and England.
The origins and consequences of the English Civil War.
The development of Parliamentary supremacy in England, particularly after
the Glorious Revolution.
The rise of absolute monarchy in France, particularly under Louis XIV.
The wars of Louis XIV and the development of a European diplomatic system.
The sixteenth to eighteenth century developments and influence of the three
monarchies of central and eastern Europe.
Russia Enters the European Political Arena under Peter the Great.
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The factors behind the demise of the Ottoman Empire.
The astronomical theories of Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton.
The emergence of new scientific institutions.
The role of women in early science.
The relationship between science and religion.
New directions in philosophy and political science.
Witch-hunts in the early modern era.
The distinguishing characteristics of Baroque art.
Absolutism and the Balance of Power in the West and East (examples possible
reading)
*The Supremacy Act (England), 1534.
*The Act of Succession (England), 1534.
*The enforcement of the Elizabethan Settlement, 1593
*Beccaria, Cesare. Excerpts from On Crimes & Punishments, 1764.
*Cardinal Richelieu, Political Testament, 1624.
*Colon, Cristofo. First Voyage, 1492.
*de Cervantes, Miguel. Excerpts from Don Quixote, 1605.
*Royal Decree of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1501.
*Bishop Bossuet, Politics Taken from the Very Words of Scripture, 1679.
*Catherine the Great, excerpts from Proposals for a New Law Code, 1767.
*Catherine the Great, excerpts from A Decree on Serfs, 1767.
*Charles I, New Laws, 1542.
*English Bill of Rights, 1689.
Unit 4: The Eighteenth Century
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The power and privilege of the aristocracy and how they were maintained.
The struggle of rural peasants to survive.
Family structure and family economy.
Population growth and the expansion of cities.
The impact of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions.
The revolution in consumption.
Ghettos and the status of European Jews.
Europe’s concept of mercantilism and empire-building.
The nature and decline of Spain’s vast colonial empire in the Americas.
The structure of slavery in the Americas, and the role of slave labor in the
Atlantic economy's plantation system.
The wars in Europe and the colonies, particularly the Seven Years’ War.
The conflict between Britain and its colonies, and its outcome in the War of
American Independence.
The intellectual and social background of the Enlightenment.
The philosophes and their political and intellectual proposals for reform.
The beliefs of the Deists.
The roles of women in the Enlightenment.
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Enlightened Absolutism and its effects in central and eastern Europe.
Eighteenth Century (examples possible reading)
*Baron d’Holbach, System of Nature, 1770.
*de Condorcet, Antoine Nicholas. The Evils of Slavery, 1794.
*Kant, Immanuel. What is Enlightenment?, 1784.
*Paine, Thomas. The Age of Reason, 1794.
*Rousseau, Jean Jacques. The Social Contract, 1762.
*Rousseau, Jean Jacques. Émile, 1762.
*Viscount Bolingbroke, The Idea of A Patriot King, 1738.
*Voltaire, Candide, A Treatise on Toleration, 1763.
Unit 5: The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era
France’s financial crisis, which caused Louis XVI to call the Estates General.
The creation of a National Assembly, and the storming of the Bastille.
The reconstruction of political and religious institutions within the context of a
constitutional monarchy.
 The second revolution of 1792, the execution of the king and radical reforms.
 The war between France and the rest of Europe.
 The Reign of Terror under Robespierre, the Thermidorian Reaction, and the
establishment of the Directory.
 Discuss Napoleon's rise to power and explain how he was able to become
Emperor.
 Identify Napoleon's administrative reforms and understand how they differed
from Old Regime policies.
 Trace France's military conquests, the establishment of the French Empire, and
European resistance to France.
 Explain Napoleon's reasons for invading Russia and understand how the failed
invasion marked the beginning of his downfall.
 Discuss the Congress of Vienna and its significance.
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French Revolution and Napoleonic Europe (examples possible reading)
*Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen, 1798.
*De Gouges, Olympe. Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, 1791.
*Graham, Ruth. Loaves & Liberty: Women in the French Revolution, 1795
*Sewell, Maxwell. “Feet of Clay: An Examination of Napoleon Bonaparte”
*Wollstonecraft, Mary. excerpts from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792.
Unit 6: Industrial Revolutions
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The challenge of nationalism and liberalism to the conservative order.
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Domestic and international policies of the conservative governments comprising
the Concert of Europe.
The Latin American independence movements.
The revolutions of 1830 in Europe and the passage of the Great Reform Bill of
1832 in Britain.
Industrialization and its impact on labor and the family.
The changing role of women in industrial society.
Problems of crime and the response of police forces and prisons.
Classical economics and its theorists.
The development of socialism and radical reform.
Industrial Society and Struggle for Reform (examples possible reading)
*Smiles, Samuel. Self-Help, 1859.
*The Sadler Commission Report on child labor, 1832.
*Ure, Andrew.The Philosophy of Manufacturers; or, An Exposition of the Scientific,
Moral, and Commercial Economy of the Factory System, 1835.
Unit 7: Politics from 1815 to 1848 and Nineteenth Century
Society
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The revolutions of 1848.
The causes and results of the Crimean War.
Reforms undertaken in the Ottoman Empire.
The unification of Germany and Italy.
The shift from the Second Empire to the Third Republic in France.
The emergence of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.
Russian political and social reforms, including emancipation of the serfs.
British liberalism and the confrontation with Irish nationalists over the Irish
Question.
The impact of the Second Industrial Revolution.
Urban development programs, including sanitation systems and housing
reform.
The condition of women, the cult of domesticity, and the rise of political
feminism.
The extent of Jewish emancipation.
The development of political socialism and the entry of workers into politics.
Ideologies “The Isms”/Upheavals/Urban Society (examples of possible reading)
*Carlsbad Decrees, 1819
* DeMaistre, Joseph. The Divine Origins of Constitutions, 1810.
*Garibaldi, Proclamation of the Liberation of Sicily, 1860.
*Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels, Excerpts from The Communist Manifesto, 1848.
*Mazzini, Giuseppi. An Essay on the Duties of Man Addressed to Workingmen, late-19c.
*Prince Metternich, On the Necessity of the Censorship of the Press, 1808.
*Ulam, Adam B. Excerpt from The Unfinished Revolution, 1960.
*Various documents concerning German Unification
Unit 8: Unification, the Age of Mass Politics, and Imperialism
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The dominance of scientific thought in this era.
The conflict between church and state, particularly over education.
The impact of modernism, psychoanalysis, and the new physics on intellectual
life.
 The rise of nationalistically inspired racism and the resurgence of anti-Semitism.
 The laying of the foundations for twentieth-century feminism.
Age of Mass Politics (examples of possible reading)
*Carlsbad Decrees, 1819
* DeMaistre, Joseph. The Divine Origins of Constitutions, 1810.
*Garibaldi, Proclamation of the Liberation of Sicily, 1860.
*Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels, Excerpts from The Communist Manifesto, 1848.
*Mazzini, Giuseppi. An Essay on the Duties of Man Addressed to Workingmen, late-19c.
*Prince Metternich, On the Necessity of the Censorship of the Press, 1808.
*Ulam, Adam B. Excerpt from The Unfinished Revolution, 1960.
*Various documents concerning German Unification
Unit 9: World War I and the Interwar Period
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The economic, strategic, and cultural forces driving the New Imperialism.
The search for strategic advantage among European nations and the creation of
opposing alliance systems.
 The immediate origins and course of the Great War (World War I).
 The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that permanently swept away the monarchy
and created the world’s first viable Communist state.
 The Versailles Treaty and associated treaties that ended the war, but left a very
difficult legacy that threatened the post-war order in Europe.
Great War / Russian Revolution (examples of possible reading)
*Key Articles of the Treaty of Versailles, 1919.
*Lenin, Vladimir I. New Economic Policy (NEP), 1921.
*Lenin, Vladimir I. What Is To Be Done?, 1902.
*Lenin, Vladimir I. April Thesis, 1917.
*Price, Morgan Philips. My Three Revolutions, 1969.
*Service, Robert. A History of Twentieth-Century Russia, 1998.
*Statutes of The Black Hand, early 20c.
*Various documents concerning the causes of World War
Unit 10: The Rise of Dictatorships and World War II
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Economic and political disorder in the post-Great War years.
The establishment of the Soviet Union’s far-reaching political and economic
experiment.
Mussolini’s Fascism in Italy.
French efforts to enforce the Versailles Treaty, leading to the Ruhr crisis of
1923.
Britain’s first Labour Party government and the General Strike of 1926.
The struggles of the successor states in eastern Europe.
The Weimar Republic’s efforts to create a stable, democratic Germany.
Factors contributing to the Great Depression in Europe.
Coalition governments of the Right and the Left in the National Government of
Britain and the Popular Front of France.
The Nazi seizure of power in Germany and its effects.
Central economic planning in the Soviet Five Year Plan and Italian Fascist
"syndicalism".
The human costs of Soviet Communism, including collectivization, shortages
of housing and consumer goods, and the purges.
Democracy and Totalitarianism and World War II (examples of possible reading)
*Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy, 1872.
*Nietzsche, Friedrich. excerpts from The Will to Power, 1901.
*Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Antichrist, 1888.
*Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science, 1882.
*Various documents related to Hitler and the Third Reich
Unit 11: 1945 to the Present
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The long-term and immediate causes of World War II.
The course of battles and economic management during the war.
Nazi racism and the Holocaust.
The impact of the war on the people of Europe.
Wartime diplomatic relations and plans for the postwar world.
The origins of the Cold War and the division of Europe into rival eastern and
western blocs.
The process of decolonization, including the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
Political and economic developments in western Europe, particularly the
European Union.
The revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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The changing relations in global politics between the United States and radical
political Islamism.
Population trends and migrations throughout Europe, and the continuing
problem of ethnic tensions.
The expansion and contraction of the European welfare state.
The changing roles and aspirations of women.
The rapid growth of western Europe's consumer economy.
Postwar intellectual movements.
The ongoing role of religion in Western political and intellectual life.
The emergence of computers as everyday tools for some individuals and
societies.
Cold War and Beyond (examples of possible reading)
*Various speeches of communist leaders (Cold War and Beyond)
Performance Tasks and Assessments:
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Students are given a calendar at the beginning of each month detailing their
assignments.
Terms, Tests, and Discussion Tests
Researched Critical Analysis Essays (Document Based Questions)
Examine a wide variety of primary sources, such as documentary material
Work with maps, statistical tables, and works of art (pictorial and graphic)
Essays (FRQ) (at least 4 throughout the year) in class and as homework.
A minimum of four (4) Document Based Questions (DBQ) in class and as
homework.
Editing, discussing, and revising student writing, peer review
Nightly reading
Vocabulary/terms assignments and quizzes
Group and individual PowerPoint presentations
Regular class discussion of reading
Practice AP tests in-class and at-home multiple choice
Quizzes in reading comprehension
In-class timed writing
Individual conferences with the teacher
Participation:
All students will be required to participate in class discussions, debates, and other
activities, which are part of the course curriculum. All students are expected to have
completed all assigned readings for class and be prepared to begin class immediately at
the bell.
Grading Policy:
Grades will be based on points earned using the following grading scale.
Tests,quizzes
20%
Daily Assignments
10%
Class Discussion / Participation
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Class Projects
10%
Homework
20%
Final Exam
20% of total points
20%
Classroom Rules:
1.) No food or drink in the classroom. (Water is the only exception)
2.) BE ON TIME, in your seat and ready to learn when the bell rings.
3.) Bring all your supplies with you to class every day. (No pencils/pens will be
provided)
4.) Be respectful to your fellow students.
Classroom Procedures:
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Homework will be assigned. If you wish to turn in your homework early you may
do so, otherwise all homework is due on the assigned date. No late work will be
accepted.
Quizzes and Tests can only be made up if you have an excused absence. You will
have one week to make up all missed assignments. If you know you are not going
to be present please let me know in advance. I reserve the right to give essay tests
in place of missed exams
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We will often have classroom discussions. Whenever you have a question or
would like to contribute to the discussions please raise your and wait to be called
on.
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Your name must be in the upper right hand margin of all assignments. Nameless
papers will become automatic zeros.
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Plagiarism will NOT be tolerated on any level. If you turn in work that is not your
own please be prepared to accept a zero on that assignment.
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Be in your seat when the bell rings. Those who are not in their seat when the bell
rings will be counted as tardy.
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All students will have assigned seats. Do not move to a different seat without first
asking permission. I will take roll according to the seating chart. If you are not in
your correct seat you will be counted absent.
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Class is not dismissed when the bell rings, but when I dismiss class. Please be
respectful! DO NOT gather your belongings in anticipation of the bell. Class will
not be dismissed until all the desks are re-aligned and any trash is picked up. (If
you bring it in, take it out)
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Students are expected to go the restroom prior to coming to class. Emergencies
will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
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Be respectful to others.
You are not allowed to sleep during class. Laying your head down or having your
eyes closed will be considered sleeping. Such behavior will result in disciplinary
action.
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Student Signature
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