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APUSH
AP United States History Syllabus
INTRODUCTION:
The AP program in United States History is designed to provide students with the analytical skills and
factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in United States history.
The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon
them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students should learn to assess
historical materials -- their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their
importance -- and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. In
addition, students will use a primary source reader and other scholarly reference materials throughout the
year. An AP United States History course should thus develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions
on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in an
essay format. Students are responsible for their own learning; they will write word-processed papers that
follow proper style rules, take weekly quizzes on textbook chapter note-taking assignments, and take
about one essay or document-based test a week.
A prescribed by the College Board, the course will include:
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“Study of political institutions, social and cultural developments, diplomacy [and] economic trends.”
[the teaching of students] “to analyze evidence and interpretations presented in historical
scholarship.”
“Extensive instruction in analysis and interpretation of a wide variety of primary sources, such as
documentary material, maps, statistical tables, works of art and pictorial and graphic materials.”
“Frequent practice in writing analytical and interpretive essays such as document based questions
(DBQ) and thematic essays.”
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course examines the evolution of the American Republic from the initial European incursions into
North America to the present. The course is divided into periods of time and focuses on the themes in the
AP Course Description, including national identity, economic transformation, and U.S. actions on the
world stage. Moreover, the AP curriculum demands higher-order thinking skills within a rigorous
academic context. Thus, students are frequently required to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate primary and
secondary historical sources, in addition to comprehending, memorizing, and applying facts. Our
investigation of the nature of American democracy includes methods, evidence, and scholarship from the
areas of social, political, economic, cultural, and diplomatic history.
TEXTBOOK & SUPPLEMENTAL READERS:
Kennedy, David M., and Lizabeth Cohen. The American Pageant: A History of the American People.
Fifteenth ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-present. Originally Published: New York,
2005, Print/Electronic.
Bell, James H. Eyewitnesses and Others: Readings in American History. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1996. Print.
Bruun, Erik A., 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 &
Leventhal, 2012. Print.
Yazawa, Melvin. Documents to Accompany America's History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. Print.
Lamb, Brian. Booknotes: Stories from American History. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.
Other supplemental materials will be provided throughout the year and we will use many different items
in our analysis of the material examined in this class.
GRADING:
Grades are figured on a cumulative point basis. Each test, quiz, homework assignment, etc., is worth a
given number of points according to the quality and level of completion of the work. At the end of a
marking period, a grade average is determined by dividing the total points possible by points earned.
Students will be examined through a means of chapter assessments as well as Free Response Questions
for each chapter and major unit. (FYI – your effort in the class is what will determine your grade. I will
not retroactively change your grade in August if you get a 3, 4, or 5 on the exam. What you work on all
year to earn is what you will receive in the end. So, work hard and you will probably get the grade you
desire.)
AP EXAM – MAY 14, 2014:
The culmination of this class will come in the form of the College Board AP Exam. This exam is a
demonstration of the knowledge and skills that every student should acquire through the year. Completion
of the Exam is not a requirement for successful completion of the class, however, it is greatly encouraged
that all students who pass the class attempt the exam on May 14. The AP Exam is comprised of the
following sections:
 Total Time Frame:
 Part A: Multiple Choice – 80 Questions in 55 minutes
 Part B: Document Based Question – 1 essay in 60 minutes
 Part C: Free Response Question (FRQ) – 2 essays in 70 minutes (35 minutes per FRQ)
COURSE THEMES:
Over the next 180 school days we will exam the following themes that will be analyzed, identified,
critically thought about, written about, and discussed at length:
 American Diversity
 American Identity
 Culture
 Demographic Changes
 Economic Transformations
 Environment
 Globalization
 Politics and Citizenship
 Reform
 Religion
 Slavery and Its Legacies in North America
 War and Diplomacy
CORE UNITS OF STUDY:
Unit One: (September 3-12)
Early North America: Thirty to forty thousand years before Christopher Columbus – or any Western
European, for that matter – found his way to the New World, the continent had already been settled by
migrants who had crossed a land bridge that once connected Alaska with Russia. Much later, in the early
eleventh century, Viking ships entered the western hemisphere intent on establishing colonies in North
America, but the Norse venture failed. In the latter stages of the Feudal Age, powerful Western European
nations such as Spain and Portugal were emerging, and they too were bent on expanding their political
and economic advantage through colonization. As Europe emerged from its feudal period around the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, commerce and exploration increased in intensity, stimulated by new
navigational developments such as the compass and better shipbuilding techniques, as well as nonmaritime discoveries and advancements such as the printing press. With the rise of modern nation-states,
powerful monarchs and wealthy merchants were willing to finance explorations of discovery.
Colonization ultimately followed these explorations, and it was not long before France, Holland, and
England set covetous eyes on the New World. In fact, the expansion of commerce was an essential
element in this entire process. Leading the way was Spain and Portugal, but England, the latecomer,
would gain the upper hand in North America and set the stage for the unfolding of the United States.
Themes: The evolution of Native American culture, the genesis of the American identity, demographic
shifts and patterns of colonial development (Spain, France, England), evolution of regional patterns in
colonial settlement in North America.
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 1 & 2
Zinn, “Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress” pg. 1-22
Bell, “Columbus Discovers America” pgs. 2-7
“A Cherokee Legend: How the World Was Made” pg. 92-95
Yazawa, “The Role of Women in Huron Society” pg. 9-10
Bruun and Cosby, “Struggling to Settle Jamestown” pg. 38-41
Johnson, “Europeans Encounter the New World 1492-1600” pg. 12-33
DBQ: The Transformation of Colonial Virginia, 1606-1700
FRQ: Differences in Colonization of the New World
Unit Two: (September 15-26)
Colonial Life: By the 18th century the American colonies were on the way to developing their own
unique cultures while maintaining the essence of their Old World customs. Some colonies were more
theocratic and politically elitist than others; a few had some of the political rights found in a democracy –
or anywhere in Europe, for that matter – such as freedom of religion and political expression. For their
part, typical English colonists came to the New World in the hopes of improving their economic status or
to seek greater political and religious autonomy. Once in North America, some sought to convert the
Native American population to Christianity. Some arrived as indentured servants, others as refugees from
persecution, some as slaves, and still others as castoffs because of previous offenses. Some found success
and freedom in the New World; others found poverty and depression. As in Europe, the wealthy colonists
were generally politically powerful, their interests and concerns not necessarily consistent with those of
their less fortunate fellow colonists. Over time, the deeper economic, political, class, and racial divisions
would emerge, but in the short term by the middle of the 18th century some American colonists began to
envision a future for their colonies that would entail the rights to self-determination that could only come
with independence.
Themes: The evolution of Native American culture, the genesis of the American identity, demographic
shifts and patterns of colonial development.
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 3, 4 & 5
Zinn, “Persons of Mean and Vile Condition” pg. 39-58
Bell, “Publisher John Peter Zenger’s Trial in Colonial New York” pg. 60-65
Johnson, “The Southern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century” pg. 34-54
“The Northern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century” pg. 55-74
FRQ: Religion and the settlement of the English colonies.
Unit Three: (September 29 – October 10)
Revolution!: When thinking about the causes of American colonial independence, many people often
give little thought to factors other than the desire for liberty. All agree that the revolution began because
the colonists wanted independence, but they do not always trace this desire back to the imperialistic
foreign policy adopted by the British long before the struggle for independence began. There are
essentially two types of revolution: anti-imperialist and social or domestic. The objective of the first is
self-determination, or autonomy. Profound social change, as in democratization, is the goal of the second
type. Ultimately, when the causes of the American Revolution are studied, you will need to interpret
whether there were one or two revolutionary impulses. Finally, when the First Continental Congress’s
appeal to King George III, the Declaration of Rights, reached Britain in 1774, it was, to put it mildly,
poorly received. Massachusetts was now considered to be in open rebellion, and soon fresh troops began
arriving to enforce British laws and policies that would invariably send the colonies and the Crown
towards open hostilities.
Themes: Reevaluation of colonial relationship with Britain, the American Revolution as a conservative or
liberal reaction to British colonial policies, the place of the American Revolution in world events
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 6, 7 & 8
Zinn, “Tyranny is Tyranny” pg. 59-75
Johnson, “The British Empire and the Colonial Crisis” pg. 97-114
Ellis, Joseph J. Founding Brothers, pg. 3-19
Lamb, “Pauline Maier on Declaring Independence” pg. 9-13
Bell, “Patrick Henry Takes a Stand” pg. 103-107
“A Surgeon’s Diary of Valley Forge” pg.118-122
Bruun and Crosby, collection of readings, pgs. 109-116
“Common Sense” Thomas Paine pg. 123-127
FRQ: How did Americans Fight, Patriots or Profiteers?
Unit Four: (October 13-24)
The Early Republic: The Articles of Confederation were adopted by Congress in 1777 and by 1781 all
the individual states had approved of the Union. But, by 1787 it was clear that the Articles were
insufficient for the young nation. A convention charged with revising the Articles concluded that an
entirely new structure was needed. The Constitution was the result. The ratification process would bring
the nation’s first major political figures, Hamilton, Jefferson, Washington, Adams, etc., to the forefront to
devise a plan that would direct the growth and prosperity of the young nation. Once the Constitution had
been ratified the remainder of the time between 1789 and 1800 saw the cornerstone set for the United
States Congress convened in a timely manner, Washington established the precedent of a cabinet, two
terms in office, and the stature of the executive. At the same time the Judiciary began to flex its arm and
the checks and balance philosophy, over time, became principle. But the political disputes that shaped the
constitutional ratification debate and the arguments that would come after would soon spill over into the
federal government and ultimately lead to the rise of political parties, but eventually there would be the
revolution of 1800 and the peaceful transition of power and the youthful nation would continue to leap
forward into the future.
Themes: The peaceful exchange of power, changing party philosophies, territorial growth, the growth of
nationalism.
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 9, 10 & 11
Zinn, “A Kind of Revolution” pg. 77-102
Lamb, “The Federalist Papers” pg. 22-27
“The Contested Election of 1800” pg. 32-40
“The Hamilton-Burr Duel” pg. 41-45
Josephy, Alvin M. Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes pg. 26-48
Johnson, “The New Nation Takes Form” pg. 161-181
“Republicans in Power” pg. 182-200
FRQ: Evaluation of the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson
Unit Five: (October 27 – October 31)
The War of 1812: As the United States entered the second decade of the 19th century, tensions with
Britain were exacerbated by the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. Both Britain and France had violated
America’s neutral shipping and commercial rights. The British were no more or less at fault than the
French, but Americans were already blaming them and British Canadians for inciting Native American
uprisings in the west. (In truth, Americans, in their hunger for more land, incited the unrest.) Many of
these conflicts between white expansionists and natives were blamed on the English and with the inability
to find a peaceful resolution, American War Hawks persuaded Congress to declare war on the English in
June of 1812 and so begun the “Second War of Independence.”
Themes: Expansionism, American Identity, Economic Transformation
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapter 12
Bruun and Crosby, collected primary source readings, pg. 209-212
Bell, “Tecumseh Opposes White Settlement” pg. 180-182
“The British Burn Washington” pg. 183-187
Unit Six: (November 3-14)
Jackson and Mass Democracy: Paradoxically, at the same time the United States was acquiring land,
often through conquest, it was engaged in democratizing its own institutions. This era, the 1820s to the
1850s, has been referred to as the age of reform. Some historians, however, choose to title the period after
its most famous President, Andrew Jackson, and refer to it as Jacksonian Democracy. It is important to
note, however, that this designation is challenged by historians who maintain that Jackson was actually
indifferent, opposed to, or unaware of some of the reforms. Those critical of the term see obvious
contradictory impulses present during this period: slavery, expansion, and imperialism, and the
marginalization of blacks, women, Native Americans, and laborers. Yet over the years, the terms have
come to mean the same thing – an unprecedented expansion of egalitarian ideas that transformed America
socially, politically, and economically, if only for white men.
Themes: Development of two-party system, “triumph of the common man,” economic issues of the
1830s and 1840s, reform movements in U.S. history
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 13, 14 & 15
Zinn, “The Intimately Oppressed” pg. 103-124
Johnson, “The Expanding Republic” pg. 201-219
Lamb, “The First Generation of Americans” pg. 53-59
“Tocqueville’s Democracy in America” pg. 66-72
Meacham, Jon. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Pg. 222-237
Yazawa, “A Democratic Revolution” pg. 255-272
FRQ: The Revolution of 1800 and Mass Democracy
DBQ: Indian Removal
Unit Seven: (November 17-26)
Manifest Destiny: In the two centuries since the ratification of the Constitution, the size of the United
States has more than quadrupled. As one of our most important historians, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., has
pointed out, “The drive across the continent does not call for complicated analysis. An energetic,
acquisitive people were propelled by their traits and technologies to push relentlessly into contiguous
spaces sparsely inhabited by wandering aborigines.” But there may be more to it than that. Even before
independence was won, Americans lusted after the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains – so much
so that the British imposed the Proclamation of 1763 to keep colonists closer to the eastern seaboard.
Thanks to John L. O’Sullivan the idea of westward expansion took on new zest in the 1840s and 50s until
the people of the United States reached from sea to shining sea.
Themes: Westward Expansion, Mexican-American conflict, foreign policy as a newcomer.
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 16 & 17
Zinn, “We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God” pg. 149-169
Johnson, “The New West and Free North” pg. 221-238
Bruun and Crosby, “Manifest destiny by John L. O’Sullivan” pg. 281-283
DBQ: Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansionism
Unit Eight: (December 1-5)
Sectionalism: As the United States went through its growing pains in the early 19th century it became
keenly aware of the fact that there were major riffs and issues that America felt because of the different
ways in which economies and societies developed in the locations that people lived. These people lived in
different sections of a broader American nation and some of these sectional issues were too much for the
states to agree upon. These ideas blazed a stove that would eventually erupt into the Civil War.
Themes: State governments, development of federal government and political parties, development of
sectionalism (economic, political, and social), and the conflict between states’ rights and the federal
government.
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 18 & 19
Zinn, “Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom” pg.171-210
Lamb, “Buildup to the Civil War” pg. 73-79
“Women of the Slaveholding South” pg. 86-92
Bell, “On the Underground Railroad” pg. 335-240
“A Visit to Uncle Tom’s Cabin” pg. 347-350
“Frederick Douglas Describes the Songs of Slavery” pg. 351-354
Bruun and Crosby, “Dred Scott v. Sandford” pg. 321-325
“A House divided by itself cannot stand” pg. 326-330
“We denounce those threats of Disunion” pg. 335-337
FRQ: Nullification Crisis and Directing Towards War
Unit Nine: (December 8-12)
The American Civil War: To understand this nation’s history, one must understand the causes and
effects of the American Civil War. One historian even referred to the Civil war as the “crossroads of our
being.” A study of U.S History that minimizes the impact of this conflict would be similar to a study of
human anatomy that downplays the role of the heart, making our knowledge of human anatomy, well,
heartless. In the end this sectional conflict would be driven forward by regional economic differences,
tensions over political theory, differing attitudes between the north and the south, and an inability of the
central government to compromise to avert or remove the possibility of bloody conflict.
Themes: Social mores and stratification in the South, secession and war, Reconstruction issues and plans,
economic development in the South, and social equality
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 20 & 21
Johnson, “The Crucible of War, 1861-1865” 275-296
Lamb, “Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy” pg.125-130
Bruun and Crosby, “Separate and equal among the nations” pg. 340-342
“Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural” pg. 343-347
“The Emancipation Proclamation” pg. 359-360
“The Gettysburg Address” pg. 366
“With Malice Towards None” pg. 376-377
Yazawa, “Two Societies at War” pg. 315-338
DBQ: Battles of the Civil War – Reasons for Success and Failure
Unit Ten: (December 15-19)
Reconstruction: A pivotal movement in recent U.S. history has been the struggle by blacks to achieve
racial equality. Many remember or are at least aware of the leaders, organizations, and demonstrations
that shaped the 1950s and 1960s over the question of the rights of African-Americans. But the plight of
black Americans did not begin thirty or forty years ago. In fact, it can be said that this struggle is as old as
the nation. Yet, two decades in the 19th century, the 1860s and 1870s, stand out as much as any, including
the 1950s and 1960s, as essential to the goal of redefining race relations in the United States. Beginning
in the middle of the Civil War and ending in the late 1870s, the Reconstruction era was in some ways a
success and in others a failure. In fact, one historian has called it an “unfinished revolution,” while
another has referred to it as a “splendid failure.” Whatever one’s view, it is important to understand that
Reconstruction was more than a civil rights movement. It also redefined and re-created the South,
expanded capitalism, and temporarily led to the rise and division of one political party, the breakdown of
another, and set in motion forces that would have long-term consequences for the nation. What is more, it
helped determine the nature of the American nation-state.
Themes: Demographic change, Culture, Politics and Citizenship, Slavery, and Religion
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 22 & 23
Johnson, “Reconstruction” pg. 297-317
Yazawa, “Presidential, Radical, and the Undoing of Reconstruction” pg. 341-366
FRQ: Assessing the Ups and Downs of Reconstruction
Winter Break: Zinn, “The Other Civil War” pg. 211-251
Unit Eleven: (January 5-23)
The Gilded Age and Cities: When Reconstruction ended in 1877, the United States was still a mostly
agricultural nation that contained some large commercial urban areas, such as New York and
Philadelphia, yet also small towns, villages, and hamlets. In many places the economic landscape had
been scarcely changed by the Civil War. After all, economic development never occurs evenly in a
nation. Yet by the end of the century, new major metropolitan areas such as Chicago and Pittsburgh had
sprung up where a few decades earlier there had been an “urban frontier.” By 1885 Chicago boasted a
ten-story skyscraper. By 1900 America’s urban population was three times larger than it had been just
thirty years earlier. By 1920 more Americans would live in cities than on farms or in small village towns.
New wonders and architectural wonders would begin to dot the landscape of these new cities, but behind
the technology, the architectural wonders, and the excitement of city life, many would recognize the
darker side of modernization, industry, and urbanization: poverty, congestion, pollution, corruption, and
crime. These problems smoothly sum up the successes and failures of life and politics in the Gilded Age.
Themes: Struggle for equality, Native American relations, role of government in economic growth and
regulation, and the impact of industrialization socially, economically, and politically
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 23, 24 & 25
Zinn, “Robber Barons and Rebels” pg. 253-295
Lamb, “Frederick Law Olmstead and the Building of Central Park” pg. 133-138
“The First Transcontinental Railroad” pg. 139-145”
“The Events of the 1890s” pg. 151-156
Bruun and Crosby, “The New Colossus” pg. 432
“The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” pg. 434-437
“The Dives of New York are hot-beds of crime” pg. 441-443
“Forty Years of Hull House” pg. 450-452
“The True Gospel Concerning Wealth” pg. 452-457
“How the Other Half Lives” pg. 457
“The labor movement is a fixed fact” pg.458-460
Bell, “A View of the Political Machine” pg. 163-166
DBQ: American Business: Rich, Powerful, and Immoral
Unit Twelve: (January 26-30)
A New Kind of Imperialism: Prior to the Civil War, the United States embarked on a systematic policy
of territorial expansion across the continental U.S. In the process, through wars, treaties, and conquests, it
acquired land from Native Americans and Mexicans and settled territorial disputes with Britain and
Spain. In the decades after the Civil War, the U.S. continued to expand across the continent, but by the
late 19th century it turned its attention to noncontiguous territories – land beyond the continental U.S. If
the United States did not emerge from the civil War with its sense of nationalism intact, it was
nevertheless most certainly a rising power. By the end of the 19 th century, the United States would be an
economic giant and a military power with international colonial possessions. Less than two decades into
the 20th century, it would emerge from WWI an even stronger economic and military power. One of the
driving forces behind this development was the same both before and after the Civil War: territorial
expansion. Industry, immigration, the enormous expansion of the economy, all played a role in making
the United States a major participant on the international scene.
Themes: Role of government in the economy, impact of third parties, role of the United States in world
affairs, motives for entering WWI, postwar agreements, presidential power vs. congressional power
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 26 & 27
Zinn, “The Empire and The People” pg. 297-320
Lamb, “William Randolph Hearst and the Rise of Yellow Journalism” pg. 157-163
“The Roosevelt Dynasty” pg. 227-235
Bell (vol. II), “Football Without Helmets” pg. 68-71
“Clergyman and Critics: A Debate over Imperialism” pg. 77-82
“The Rough Riders Charge San Juan Hill” pg. 132-136
Bruun and Crosby, “Annexation of Hawaii” pg. 489
“Panama Canal Treaty” pg. 504-506
FRQ: Yellow Journalism: Expanding American Imperialism
Unit Thirteen: (February 2-6)
Teddy and Progressivism: By 1900 the United States was a world power; its aggressive foreign policy
and dynamic domestic growth were powered by enormous industrial production and the federal
government’s more assertive domestic and international policies. For America’s large businesses,
corporations, and the upper class, life was good. For the most part, they operated with little government
interference other than measures that facilitated the concentration of capital. Approximately half of the
nation’s wealth was in the hands of 1 percent of the population. Yet under the surface were serious
problems. In many cases workers suffered abject poverty, scratching out an existence in America’s
bustling, overcrowded, and filthy cities. Industrialization had made the American worker simply a cog in
the production process. While industrialization had brought despair to millions of urban workers, it was
the impetus for the emergence of a middle class of professionals, office workers, social workers,
educators, and government employees. These new members of the middle class now had time and were
willing to take up the challenges of addressing America’s social ill. Because of reform-minded public
officials and private citizen organizations, a concerted effort was made to address the maladies that
undermined American democracy. This period in U.S. history is referred to as the Progressive Era, and it
was the first manifestation of liberalism in the 20th century.
Themes: American Diversity, American Identity, Culture, Economic Transformations, Environment,
Reform, Politics, War and Diplomacy
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 28 & 29
Zinn, “The Socialist Challenge” pg. 320-357
Lamb, “The Celebrity of Helen Keller” pg. 179-184
Yazawa, “The Progressive Era” pg. 139-158
Bruun and Crosby, “The frontier has gone” pg. 466-468
“Plessy v. Ferguson: Separate but equal” pg. 481-483
“The Cross of Gold” pg. 483-485
“If you strike that dog again, I’ll kill you” pg. 497-502
“The Oil War of 1872” pg. 502-504
“The Jungle” pg. 512-513
“Clayton Anti-Trust Act” pg. 524-526
“There is a class struggle in society…” pg. 526-528
Lamb, “A Farmer in the Grip of the ‘Octopus’” pg. 137-141
DBQ: Progressive Period through Documents
Unit Fourteen: (February 9-13)
“The War to End All Wars” – World War I: By the 20th century the United States had established an
international empire that stretched from the Caribbean to the Pacific. Ironically, while acquiring the lands
of others, the government and various grassroots movements were engaged in democratizing the nation’s
social, economic, and political system, in a reforming spirit known as the progressive movement. As the
United States entered the second decade of the century, storm clouds were appearing on the horizon in
faraway Europe. Before long, a considerable part of the globe was engaged in what would become the
most destructive war in history up to that point. When WWI broke out in 1914, Americans looked warily
from across the Atlantic Ocean at the political machinations of Europe’s powers, and they were
determined to follow the advice given by President Washington over a century earlier: maintain the
nation’s neutrality in foreign disputes. Despite this sentiment, in 1917American troops were fighting in
France and Belgium in a war that would ultimately elevate the United States to world-power status.
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapter 30
Zinn, “War is the Health of the State” pg. 359-376
Bell, “General Pershing Arrives in France” pg. 177-183
“Two Doughboys in the Great War” pg. 184-193
“Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Demands Harsh Peace Terms” pg. 194-196
Harman, Chris. A People’s History of the World, pg. 403-412
Bruun and Crosby, “Wilson’s Declaration of War Against Germany” pg. 534-537
“We kept the Germans from getting into Paris.” pg. 537-540
“Wilson’s Fourteen Points” pg. 540-542
FRQ: Wilson’s League of Nations
Unit Fifteen: (February 16-20)
The Roaring 20s: What made the Twenties “roar”? Following the war, the nation experienced an
economic boom. Many Americans, especially in the nation’s urban areas, helped the expansion of the
economy by increasingly participating in America’s growing consumer culture, from the automobile to
the phonograph. New cultural forms such as jazz and modern art revolutionized American civilization,
and the Harlem renaissance offered black poets, artists, and authors an opportunity to make valuable
contributions to American cultural life. Still, under the surface there were pressures, contradictions, and
the same racial and ethnic maladies that had always plagued the nation. Increasingly, the country was
divided demographically, as rapidly changing, dynamic urban life stood in stark contrast with the more
static, traditional rural life. Also, while the economy boomed, not all benefited. An investigation of the
features, tensions, and passions of the 1920s offers an opportunity to view the nation at a pivotal point in
its history, when many sought to leave the past behind and others yearned for a “return to normalcy.”
Themes: Post-WWI reactions compared to post–Civil War reactions, isolationism, anti-immigration,
revolution in manners and morals, the role of government in the economy, political realignment,
population shifts and suffering during the Depression, government response to economic conditions
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapter 31
Lamb, “Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten” pg. 190-196
“The Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial” pg. 197-205
Yazawa, “Modern Time” pg. 215-251
Bell, “The Great Boom and the Big Crash” pg. 230-236
DBQ: The Roaring 20s?
Unit Sixteen: (February 23 – March 6)
The Great Depression: In 1929, a little over a decade after the most devastating war in modern times
up to that point, the United States and the world endured the worst economic crisis in history in terms of
intensity and duration. The economic, political, and social crises that resulted from the Great Depression
required massive interventions by the government on an unprecedented scale in order to preserve the
capitalist system and recover from the ruinous effects of the depression. Ultimately, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt and his New Deal program preserved capitalism by balancing the needs of the capitalist class
with the demands of the working classes. Equally important was that the New Deal represented the
federal government’s expansion and implementation of its authority to tax, borrow, and spend in order to
help find solutions for both short- and long-term problems in the economy. In short, Roosevelt and the
New Deal took great strides in ending the depression, but it was not until WWII that the United States
recovered from the despair of the Great Depression.
Themes: America and Its Changing Face, Cultural Identity, Economic Transformation, Reform,
Globalization, Demographic Changes
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 32 & 33
Zinn, “Self Help in Hard Times” pg. 377-406
Lamb, “Great Depression and World War II” pg. 237-244
Bell, “A Portrait of FDR, from Sunrise at Campello” pg. 221-227
“Life in the Breadlines” pg. 250-253
“Roosevelt Defends the New Deal” pg. 254-257
“Two Poems from Langston Hughes’ Don’t You Want to be Free?” pg. 258-260
“The Impact of the Great Depression” pg. 261-266
“From Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath” pg. 274-281
Bruun and Crosby, “The Volstead Act” pg. 550-552
“Women must not accept; she must challenge” pg. 556-558
“The Bonus Army” pg. 588-589
“FDR’s First Inaugural” pg. 589-591
“The National recovery Act” pg. 593-596
“The Securities Exchange Act of 1934” pg. 604-607
DBQ: Depression and Recovery: How Did It Happen?
Unit Seventeen: (March 9-20)
To End Tyranny – World War II: As nations struggled to survive the ordeal of the Great Depression,
they would soon be confronted with the malevolence greater than the horrors of WWI or the desperation
associated with the collapse of the world’s economy. For in Europe and Asia imperialism, militarism, and
fascism were taking hold and would soon envelope the world in a catastrophe that made other modern
wars pale in comparison. Although these events increasingly concerned American political leaders, the
developments in Europe and Asia could not shift the American public away from the belief that these
were uniquely European or Asian problems, and that the United States should most certainly avoid
involvement in yet another war, that like WWI, had dubious benefits for the United States. Thus,
throughout the interwar years, the United States maintained an increasing fragile policy of neutrality until
the infamous events of Pearl Harbor quickly drug the isolationist Americans into the global conflict.
Themes: Comparison of the administrations of WWI and WWII as neutral leaders, wartime leaders, and
peacemakers; home front comparisons of WWI and WWII; America assuming role of world leader in
post-WWII world
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 34 & 35
Zinn, “A People’s War?” pg. 407-442
Lamb, “The World War II Generation” pg. 269-273
Yazawa, “The World At War, 1939-1945” pg. 279-305
Bell, “The Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor” pg. 282-286
“Margaret Takahashi Describes the Internment…” pg. 294-296
Bruun and Crosby, “FDR’s Four Freedoms Speech” pg. 642-643
“FDR Asks for War against Japan” pg.645-646
“Japanese Relocation Order” pg. 646-647
“The Yalta Conference” pg. 659-663
“Total Victory” pg. 665
“The Marshall Plan” pg. 670-672
“The North Atlantic Treaty” pg. 672-674
FRQ: Concentration v. Internment
Unit Eighteen: (March 23 – April 3)
Cold Beginnings to a Cold War: The two Cold War adversaries, the United States and the Soviet
Union, had experienced WWII differently. The U.S. had suffered 1 million casualties; the Soviets, at least
twenty times that number. For the second time in twenty-five years, Germany had invaded the Soviet
Union. Millions of Soviets had been killed, and its western agrarian and urban areas had been devastated
by the Nazi invasion of 1941. The Soviet government, led by Josef Stalin, would make certain that no
European nation ever invaded again. For Americans, the war had been fought afar, and they were
comforted by the protection accorded by the vast Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. When the war ended, the
U.S. and the USSR were the world’s two most powerful nations – superpowers – and they were
suspicious of each other’s political and economic systems, not to mention foreign policy objects. Despite
tensions between the two countries prior to the war, they had been wartime allies. Once promising
indicators of peace would divulge in to quiet hostilities throughout the post-war period and the Americans
and soviets would remain wary of each other’s intentions for the future.
Themes: Economic transition, governmental powers, social mores, civil liberties, and civil rights
Reading for this Unit: American Pageant, Chapters 36 & 37
Harman, Chris. A People’s History of the World, pg. 543-576
Lamb, “Five Men Who Shaped the Post-World War II World” pg. 289-293
“The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy” pg. 313-320
Bell, “The Truman Doctrine and the Four Points” pg. 324-329
“Victor Navasky Describes the Costs of ‘McCarthyism’” pg. 334-337
FRQ: McCarthyism
Unit Nineteen: (April 6-17)
The Cultural Pendulum: The 1960s, 1970s and 1980s: Following the end of WWII, many groups in
America began to press, once again, the question of equality. Throughout the second half of the 20th
century, these groups began to mobilize and influence change across the United States. This period
revolved around large philosophical, as well as real world, problems. As the Cold War intensified,
McCarthyism put certain clamps on Civil Liberties that would have to be addressed by the Courts of the
United States and by society in general. As these Cold War problems began to resolve themselves, the
question of civil rights and equality came rushing forward as minority groups throughout the United
States, in many different forms and credos, began to push state governments and the federal government
for a redress to their issues. The United States saw some of its most endearing figures come from this
period in history, but the time frame would be dominated by the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, and
the rise of new Conservatism through the 1980s.
Themes: The United States on the world stage, societal changes, Continuity and change, Cold War
episodes, human rights, globalization, self-interests and the American character, economic stability,
cultural mores, societal changes
Reading for this Unit:
American Pageant, Chapters 38, 39 & 40
Zinn, “Or Does it Explode?” pg. 443-467
“The Impossible Victory: Vietnam” pg. 469-501
“The Seventies: Under Control?” pg. 541-562
Bell, “Letter from A Birmingham Jail” pg. 367-374
Lamb, “The 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing” pg. 553-557
DBQ: Civil rights and Civil Liberties
Unit Twenty: (April 20 – May 1)
America Moving Forward in the Post-Modern Age: the collapse of the USSR put a sudden end to
the Cold War, which had cost billions of dollars and millions of lives and had created insecurity and
anxiety for more than 25 years. Yet the decades following the dissolution of the Soviet empire did not
bring peace to the United States and the world. In fact, every American president since Ronald Reagan
has used military and economic resources of the United States to resolve foreign-affairs problems.
Around the world, from Nicaragua to Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, the United States has
engaged new adversaries. The United States has itself been attacked. Even now, years after September
11th, the extent of the devastation is hard to comprehend. Domestically, the past 25 years have been
tumultuous as well, including the attempted assassination of one president and the impeachment of
another; one popular war in the Mideast and another increasingly unpopular one in the same region over a
decade later. At home, many Americans have embraced evangelical religious fundamentalism as the
essence of their personal and political lives, and they played an important role in the rise to the presidency
of a born-again Christian. The cultural and political influence of Christian fundamentalism went hand in
hand with reemergence of conservatism as a political force. With the nation divided into so-called red and
blue states, these forces are at the foundation of contemporary American social, political, and cultural life
for now and the foreseeable future.
Themes: Continuity and change, Cold War episodes, human rights, globalization, self-interests and the
American character, economic stability, cultural mores, societal changes
Reading for this Unit:
American Pageant, Chapters 41 & 42
Zinn, “The Clinton Presidency” pg. 643-674
“The 2000 Election and the ‘War on Terrorism’” pg. 675-682
Yazawa, “The Reagan Revolution and the End of the Cold War” pg. 429-454
Lamb, “September 11 and Osama bin Laden” pg. 503-508
“September 11 and the Roots of Islamic Terrorism” pg. 509-514
FRQ: The U.S.A. Patriot Act
After The Exam: (May 15 – June 20)
AP American Government and Politics Prepper: For those that will be continuing on with us next
year, we will begin to look at more government and politics items in the final weeks of the year. Most of
this will be loose in nature and will revolve around defining and creating a basic understanding of the
three branches of the federal government: the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.