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A.P. American History
Syllabus
Course Description:
This course is a college-level course that will be an introduction to the development, the changes,
the challenges, and the growth of America from its start to the present time. It is a course designed to prepare
the student for the A.P. U.S. history exam. Students will be expected to analyze primary and secondary source
materials, evaluate what they encounter, and arrive at conclusions supported by evidence.
Course Textbook:
Bailey, Thomas A., David M. Kennedy and Lizabeth Cohen. The American Pageant. 14th ed. Boston, Mass.:
Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010
Supplemental Texts:
Carter, Paul. The Twenties in America. Arlington Heights, Il.: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1975.
Conkin, Paul K. The New Deal. Arlington Heights, Il.: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1975.
Danzer, Gerald A., et. al. The Americans – Reconstruction to the 21rst Century. Evanstan, Il.,: McDougal Littell, 2007.
Freidel, Frank and Brinkley, Alan. America in the Twentieth Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.,
1982.
Katz, Stanley N. and Murrin, John M., eds., Colonial America – Essays in Politics and Social Development.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1983.
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.
Various other primary source documents and handouts.
Major Themes of the Course:
The following themes will be woven throughout the course units:
a) Identity (ID)
b) Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
c) Peopling (PEO)
d) Politics and Power (POL)
e) America in the World (WOR)
f) Environment and Geography (ENV)
g) Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture (CUL)
Course Assignments and Assessments:
The following are examples of assignments and assessments that will be used throughout the course:
a) unit tests – these include both multiple choice and essay questions
b) quizzes
c) essays
d) Document-Based Questions (DBQ’s)
e) various other oral presentations (both individual and group) and projects
f) journaling/ discussion questions – Students will write journal entries and create discussion questions (DQ’s)
based on daily textbook readings. These journal entries and DQ’s will become the basis for
in-class discussions and debates as students interpret, analyze and evaluate different views of
American history.
g) class discussion/ readings – Throughout the course units there is discussion of varying interpretations of
history and how interpretations of history can change over time
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Course Units:
Unit One: “Founding the New Nation” (1491- 1700)- 3 weeks
Unit question: “How did the colonization of America differ from one region to another?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 1-4
Primary source Analysis:
“Columbian Exchange” (chart); “Virtual Jamestown” website (artifacts), “Mayflower Compact”,
“Atlantic Slave Trade” (chart), “Were the American colonists drugged during the Salem Witchcraft
Trials?” (article by Josh Clark)
Some Key Concepts: arrival of Europeans and economic, social, cultural effects on Native American populations,
European impact on geog. of American, push/pull factors which led to colonization of America;
struggles in the New World; impact of geography in affecting economies of colonies; social,
political, and econ. differences between the colonies;
Assignments:
a) Students will analyze artifacts from Jamestown Website, “Virtual Jamestown” –
b) Students will analyze “the Mayflower Compact” (using APPARTS strategy) to determine audience, time/place,
author, and purpose of the document
c) Students will read “Notes on Life in a Plymouth Colony” by John Demos from Colonial America– Essays in Politics
and Social Development, excerpts from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, and
The American Pageant and use these various interpretations to engage in a class discussion about how much
conformity and control actually existed within the settlements of New England.
d) Students will write an Essay, which includes a thesis statement and supported by relevant historical evidence, to
answer the question: “To what extent did the geography/environment play a role in creating differences
between colonial New England and the Plantation colonies?” “ (ENV-2)
e) Students will read article by Josh Clark “Were the American colonists drugged during the Salem Witchcraft
Trials?” and write an essay agreeing/disagreeing with this alternative historical theory and supporting their
argument.
Unit Assessment - Unit test
Unit Two: “Colonial America and the American Revolution” (1700- 1783) - 3 weeks
Unit question: “ What were the conditions and events which led to the American Revolution?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 5-8
Primary Source Analysis:
“Colonial Population Growth” (chart), “Colonial Govt.” (chart) “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” excerpt;
“To All the English Colonies of North America”, ”Resolves of Inhabitants of Gloucester County, Virginia”,
Declaration of Independence, Common Sense
Some Key Concepts: Amer. society on the eve of Revolution (social class structure, religious affiliation, family);
causes/results of the Great Awakening; econ./polit. impact of the Navigation Laws;
causes/results of the French and Indian War; pro’s/con’s of mercantilism;
philosophy of Age of Reason; causes/results of the Amer. Revolution;
foreign involvement/diplomacy during Amer. Rev.
Unit Two: “Colonial America and the American Revolution” (1700- 1783) - 3 weeks (continued)
Assignments:
a) Students will analyze charts (Colonial population Growth, Colonial Govt.) and engage in a class discussion in
which they evaluate how the colonial population growth and structure of colonial govt. had an impact on the time
period 1700-1776 and the events leading to independence
b) Students will participate in a debate on pro’s/con’s of mercantilism
c) Students will discuss the process of how to an answer a DBQ about the French and Indian War; class
discussion and analysis of document, apply APPARTS strategy (author, audience, time, place, purpose,…) to
each of the primary documents
d) Students will create a timeline in which they choose the 7 most significant events that led to the signing of the
Declaration of Independence and justify an argument for when the movement toward America’s independence
began
e) Students will write an essay, which includes a thesis statement and supported by relevant historical evidence,
using primary source documents (Common Sense, Declaration of Independence, “To All the Colonies…”,
“Resolves of the Inhabitants..”) to answer the question: “Were the motives for American independence primarily
economic or political?”
Unit Assessment -- Unit test
Unit Three: “Building the New Nation (1776-1824)” - 4 weeks
Unit question: How did America meet the challenges of building a new nation?
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 9-12
Primary Source Analysis:
The U.S. Constitution, “Washington’s Farewell Address”; John Marshall Supreme Court decisions:
(Marbury v.Madison, McCulloch v.Maryland, Cohens v. Virginia, Gibbons v. Ogden),
- “Struggle over Ratification” (map), current electoral college map
Some Key Concepts: growing nationalism/ emerging sectionalism; causes/results of the War of 1812;
the American System; the Missouri Compromise; Monroe Doctrine
Assignments:
a) Students will create a graphic organizer comparing/contrasting the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution
b) Students will read “Washington’s Farewell Address” and participate in a class discussion to address whether or not
Washington’s concerns about political parties were justified based on a comparison of the America’s first two
political parties to America’s political parties today.
c) Students create a graphic organizer which analyzes the short/long term causes and results of the War of 1812
d) Students in groups will create an “Early 1800’s newspaper” from the perspective/bias of one region of the nation
(New England, the South, the West) in which they describe political and economic events of the early 1800s from
their perspective. Groups will then share/compare their completed newspapers to analyze how these 3 regions of
the nation had different economic and political concerns which led to a growing sectionalism with America.
e) Students will read primary secondary sources related to some of John Marshall’s Supreme Court cases. Then, they
will present oral summaries to the class. Class will use these court rulings to engage in a discussion of the
growing power of the federal government.
Unit Assessment -- Unit test
Unit Four: “Age of Jackson (1824-1840)” - 3 weeks
Unit question: “How did American democracy change during the Age of Jackson?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapt. 13
Primary Source Analysis: :
“Jackson’s Message to Congress About Indian Removal”, “Indian Removals, 1830-1846” (map)
“Webster/Hayne debate excerpts”
Some Key Concepts: American democracy changes, Tariff of Abominations, Trail of Tears, Jackson battles
the Bank of the U.S., Whig Party emerges
Assignments:
a) After reading excerpts from the Webster/Hayne debate, students will create a graphic organizer that details
the debate over tariffs and nullification from both a Northern and a Southern perspective.
b) Students will read “Jackson’s Message to Congress.” Students will then write an essay, based on a thesis
statement with supporting historical evidence” to answer the question; “What was Jackson’s true motivation in
supporting the removal of the Indians to the West?”
c) Students will write an essay answer to a DBQ question about Jacksonian Democrats as supporters of the
Constitution
Unit Assessment - Unit test
Unit Five: “Forging the New Nation (1790-1860)” - 4 weeks
Unit question: “How did the American culture and economy change from 1790-1860?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts.14-16
Primary Source Analysis:
“Seneca Falls - Declaration of Sentiments”, “ pro-slavery Propaganda Images” (cartoon),
“The Liberator (1831)” – William Lloyd Garrison, “Irish and German Immigration by Decade” (chart),
“Major Rivers. Roads, Canals…”(map); “The Railroad Revoultuion” (map) ,
“Slaveowning Families, 1850” (chart)
Some Key Concepts: rise of the market economy, transportation revolution, changing role of women,
nascent nationalism in American literature and culture, immigration,
westward expansion, slavery (economics, morality, abolition)
Assignments:
a) Students present oral presentations about American literature, music, art, and entertainment of the period 17901860 and how these started to represent a new emerging “American” identity (CUL -2)
b) Students present oral presentations about reform movements of the Antebellum years. Class engages in
discussion of the goals of these reformers and how the reforms changed American society. (POL -3)
c) Students read “Seneca Falls” and “the Declaration of Independence”. Students then engage in a discussion of
similarities/differences between these two documents.
d) Students engage in a role-playing debate between northerners and southerners criticizing/justifying slavery.
(Students will analyze varying viewpoints about slavery such as a pro-slavery propaganda cartoon,
and excerpt from The Liberator to prepare for the debate).
e) Students analyze maps regarding changing transportation. Students create a cause and result graphic organizer
to detail how and why changes in transportation impacted the American economy. (WXT-2)
Unit Five: “Forging the New Nation (1790-1860)” - 4 weeks (continued)
f) Students choose 2 important new inventions from the antebellum years and create a chart which shows at least
five ways that each invention changed the American economy or social structure. (WXT -2)
Assessments – oral presentations
Unit Test
Unit Six: “Causes and Results of the Civil War” (1840-1877) - 3 weeks
Unit question: “What were the causes and results of the American Civil War?”
Readings - The American Pageant: Chapts. 16-22
Primary Source Analysis:
“Polk’s War Message”, “Slavery After the Compromise of 1850” (map),
“Presidential Election of 1860” (electoral map), “Seceding States” (map),
“Manufacturing by sections, 1860” (chart)
Some Key Concepts: Manifest Destiny, Causes/Results of the Mexican War, slavery in the new territories,
Kansas-Nebraska Scheme, Dred Scott decision, formation of the Republican Party,
key Civil War battles/results, Reconstruction plans, 13th-15th Amendments, Black Codes
Assignments:
a) Students will write a College Board 1987 DBQ about the Constitution and its role in holding the Union together
(1850-1861)
b) Students will write an essay, whic includes a thesis statement and supported by historical evidence, to
answer the question “– “How successful was Reconstruction?”
Unit Assessment – Unit test
MIDTERM EXAM -- Units One-Six; Chapts. 1-22
Unit Seven: “America from 1870-1900” (1870—1900)- 4 weeks
Unit question: “How did America change in the late 1800’s?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 23-27
Primary Source Analysis:
handout: “William Mary Tweed, Corrupt Boss of the Political Machine”
“The Significance of the Frontier in American History” by Frederick Jackson Turner
“In Defense of Imperialism” by Albert J. Beveridge
“A Criticism of Imperialism” by Carl Schrurz
“The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling
assorted Thomas Nast cartoons
Some key concepts: the Gilded Age, Populist Party; the weakening presidency, the Pendleton Act;,
Sherman Anti-trust Act; Gold v. Silver; struggles of labor, labor unions;
growth of big business; causes/results of the Spanish-American War;
American imperialism/ America on the World Stage in late 1800’s
Unit Seven: “America from 1870-1900” - 4 weeks (continued)
Assignments:
a) Students will evaluate Nast political cartoons
b) Students will read excerpts from Frederick Jackson Turner’s “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”
and participate in a class discussion about various interpretations of history regarding the West
c) Students will research characteristics of the immigration wave of the late 1800s/early 1900s and compare and
contrast it to the wave of immigration prior to the Civil War (ID-6) (PEO-2)
d) Students will present oral presentations about how America’s identity was changed and shaped in the late
1800s by the Industrial Revolution, reform movements, and art, literature, and other cultural entertainment.
(ID-2), (ID-7), (WXT-3),
e) After reading various interpretations about American imperialism in late 1800’s/early 1900’s, ( “In Defense of
Imperialism” by Albert J. Beveridge, “A Criticism of Imperialism” by Carl Schrurz, “The White Man’s Burden” by
Rudyard Kipling, ”Little Brown Brother” – by Leon Wolff), students will participate in a debate about American
rule of the Philippines (WOR-6)
Assessments -- Student oral presentations
Quizzes
Unit test
Unit Eight: “The Progressive Era” (1900-1916) - 1 week
Unit question: “How did America change politically, socially, and economically during the Progressive Era?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 28-29
Some key concepts: muckrakers; evaluate success of Progressive goals; Progressive political reforms change
Amer. govt; Progressive econ. reforms limit power of big business’
Assignments:
a) Students will create a graphic organizer to compare the state of politics during the early 1900s and the political
reforms created during the Progressive Era to the state of politics and need for political reforms in current
times.
b) Students will write an essay which traces the reforms of the Progressive Era to today to see which are still
in place and impacting America today and analyzes the role of the government in the lives of Americans.
(WXT-8)
Assessment - Unit test
Unit Nine: “World War I” – (1914-1920) 1 week
Unit question: “How did W.W. I. affect America and change America’s role in the world?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapt. 29-30
Primary Source Analysis:
Handout: “The Fourteen Points”, “Territorial Changes at Versailles” (map)
Some key concepts: causes/results of W.W.I; events which pull American into the war; war’s effect on the
homefront; America’s role at Versailles (Fourteen Points, League of Nations, Treaty of
Versailles)
Assignments:
a) Students will create a cause/effect graphic organizer which shows the causes/results of W.W. I., including
America’s changing role in the world (ID-3)
b) In groups, students will create and perform a commercial to urge Americans to do their part on the homefront
for the war effort, including an explanation of why that effort would make an impact on the entire outcome
of the war
c) Students will analyze and compare the a map of pre-WW I Europe to a map of Europe after the Treaty of
Versailles
Assessment - Unit Test
Unit Ten: “the 1920’s” (1920-1929) - 1 week
Unit question: “How and why did America change during the 1920’s?
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 31-32
Some key concepts: U.S. isolation in the world following WW I; social changes during 12920’s (flappers, Harlem
Renaissance, religion/science, families); laissez-faire economics; cultural contributions
to the American identity (Jazz, Blues, literature of the decade, dance)
Assignments:
a) Students will engage in a class discussion and role playing to share the impact that individuals played in
changing American history and culture during the 1920s (Lindbergh, Scopes, Capone, Harding, etc…)
b) Students will read various historical interpretations about the changing social and political standards of the
1920s from from Paul Carter’s book The Twenties in America, Friedel and Brinkley’s America in the Twentieth
Century, Howard Zinn’s. A People’s History of the United States, and The American Pageant. Students will then
write an essay comparing /contrasting these various views of how truly radical the changes of the 1920s really
were and which view they most support.
c) Students will engage in a class discussion, analysis, and planning about the DBQ on the 1920s and “changing
standards”
Assessment - Unit Test
Unit Eleven: “The Great Depression” (1929-1939) - 1 week
Unit question: “How and Why did America change during the 1930’s?
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapt. 32-33
Some key concepts: causes of the stock market crash and the Depression; responses to the Depression:
Hoover v. F.D.R. ; pro’s/con’s of New Deal; affect of New Deal on America’s economy
Assignments:
a) Students will read various historical interpretations about the New Deal ( excerpts from Paul Conklin’s book
The New Deal, Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, The Americans-Reconstruction to the
21rst Century, and The American Pageant.)
Then, students will use the various interpretations to
participate in a class discussion about t the New Deal and how close to socialism it really was. ( POL-4)
b) Students will create a graphic organizer about the causes and results of the Dust Bowl, including the movement
of Okies to the West Coast (ID-6)
c) Students will write an essay answer, to the 1984 DBQ on Hoover/FDR as conservative/liberal
Assessment:
Unit Test
Unit Twelve: “World War II” (1933-1945) - 1 week
Unit question: “How did World War II affect America and America’s role in the world?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 34-35
Some key concepts: conditions which led to rise of dictators around the world; America’s role in W.W.II; effects
of W.W. II on the home front
Assignments:
a) Students will create a graphic organizer detailing how America’s “neutrality” prior to Pearl Harbor attack, really
wasn’t so neutral
b) students will analyze and discuss examples of WW II propaganda posters (use website called “Powers
of Persuasion” )
c) class discussion about the role that famous individuals (Eisenhower, FDR, Patton, MacArthur,…) played in
affecting the outcome of W.W. II
Assessment – Quizzes
Unit Thirteen: “The Cold War” –( 1945-1991) 3 weeks
Unit question: “How did the Cold War affect America?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 36-41 (selected topics specific to unit)
Some key concepts: causes of the Cold War; causes/result of key events during the Cold War (Korean War,
Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam); Truman Doctrine, Eisenhower Doctrine;
McCarthyism; détente; Carter (Afghanistan, Olympic boycott, SALT II), Reagan (“evil
empire, meeting with Gorbachev); end of the Cold War
Assignments:
a) Students will create a graphic organizer which shows the causes of the Cold War
b) Students will create a graphic organizer in which they compare/contrast McCarthyism of the 1950s with the
Salem Witch Trials and with the “Red Scare” of the 1920s
c) Students will analyze, discuss, and do the planning for a DBQ on Eisenhower and the Cold War
Assessment - Unit Test
Unit Fourteen: “The Civil Rights Movement” (1945-present) - 2 weeks
Unit question: “How did the Civil Rights Movement change America?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 36-42 (selected topics specific to unit)
Some key concepts: Jim Crow, Plessy v.Ferguson; Brown v. Board of Ed.; Booker T. Washington, W.E.B.Dubois,
Martin Luther King; Jr., Rosa Parks; segregation; methods of protest; successes and failures;
Assignments:
a) Students will create a timeline on which they place the 10 most important key events in the Civil Rights Movement.
They will include a written argument for each of their 10 choices on the timeline. (ID -8), (POL -3)
b) Students will create a graphic organizer which compares/contrasts the roles and impact of Dr. King and Malcolm X
on the Civil Rights movement.
c) Students will engage in a class discussion comparing the status of race relations during the late 20th century to
today.
Assessment – Quizzes
-- Unit Test
Unit Fifteen: “American culture and other domestic events since WW II” (1945-present) - 2 weeks
Unit question: “How did the American culture and economy change in the years since W.W.II?”
Readings: The American Pageant: Chapts. 36-42 (selected topics specific to unit)
Some key concepts: the Fair Deal; Eisenhower’s Republicanism; the New Frontier’; the Great Society;
causes/results of Watergate scandal; Conservative agenda in 1980’s; key domestic events in
recent presidential administrations; the Counterculture movement; current social issues
Assignment:
Students will complete a project called “When I was Your Age” in which they interview people from 3
different decades in American history to compare how America has changed socially, culturally, economically,
and politically since the end of W.W. II.
Assessment – Quizzes
-- Unit Test
Final Exam: Units 7-15;
Chapts. 23-42