Download Advanced Placement United States History

Advanced Placement United States History
Course Syllabus
About AP U.S. History:
AP U.S. History is a demanding and challenging course that is designed to be the
equivalent of a freshman college course and can earn students college credit. The
course is a yearlong survey of American history from the beginnings of European
exploration in the Americas to the present. Solid reading and writing skills, along
with a willingness to dedicate considerable time to assignments and study are
necessary to succeed. In this course, history is not the memorization of names,
dates and events, rather it is a course where emphasis is placed on evaluative and
analytical thinking, essay writing, interpretation of historical documents, and
historiography.
Topics that will be studied in this course include life and thought in colonial
America, revolutionary ideology, constitutional development, Jeffersonian and
Jacksonian democracy, nineteenth-century reform movements, and Manifest
Destiny. Other topics include the Civil War and Reconstruction, immigration,
industrialism, Populism, Progressivism, World War I, the Jazz Age, the Great
Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the post-Cold War era, and
the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This course will fulfill
the United States history graduation requirement.
In addition to the topics listed above, the course will emphasize a series of key
themes throughout the year. These themes have been determined by the College
Board as essential to a comprehensive study of United States history. The themes
will include discussions of American diversity, the development of a unique
American identity, the evolution of American culture, demographic changes over the
course of America’s history, economic trends and transformations, environmental
issues, the development of political institutions and the components of citizenship,
social reform movements, the role of religion in the making of the United States
and its impact in a multicultural society, the history of slavery and its legacies in this
hemisphere, war and diplomacy, and finally, the place of the United States in an
increasingly global arena. The course will trace these themes throughout the year,
emphasizing the ways in which they are interconnected and examining the ways in
which each have helped shape important changes over time.
Text:
THE ENDURING VISION: A History of the American People
Paul Boyer, Clifford Clark, Joseph Kett, Neal Salisbury,
Harvard Sitkoff, and Nancy Woloch
Fourth Edition, Houghton – Mifflin Company, 2000
Additional Resources:
ENDURING VOICES: Document Sets to Accompany the Enduring Vision
James Lorence
Volumes One and Two
Houghton – Mifflin Company, 2000
THE AMERICAN SPIRIT: United States History as Seen by
Contemporaries, Volume One
Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy
Eighth Edition, D. C. Heath and Company, 1994
THE AMERICAN SPIRIT: United States History as Seen by
Contemporaries, Volume Two
Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy
Tenth Edition, D. C. Heath and Company, 2002
THE AMERICAN PAGEANT: A history of the Republic
Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy
Tenth Edition, D. C. Heath and Company, 1994
A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: 1492 – Present
Howard Zinn
Perennial Classics HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2003
OUT OF MANY: A History of the American People AP Edition
John Faragher, Mari Buhle, Daniel Czitrom, and Susan Armitage
Third Edition, Prentice – Hall, 2003
Course Objectives—Students will:
1. Their ability to understand and respect other points of view. Also, students
should explore the interaction among peoples of different races and cultures
and how such interaction has shaped history.
2. An informed historical perspective.
3. An understanding of major ways that science and technology have affected
history.
4. Their understanding of the influence of geographic characteristics, including
climate, physical features, and natural resources, on North America’s major
societies and cultures.
5. The understanding of the context of current events from a historical perspective
with the ability to connect modern trends to past events.
6. The ability to integrate into understanding a wide variety of materials as well as
human and technological resources, including primary documents, texts, maps,
graphs, charts, and other resources.
7. Their understanding of the concept of change over time with the ability to relate
past to present.
8. Their understanding of the major events and movements in American history,
the turning points of historical development, and their relationship to the
present.
9. Their ability to explore critical eras in the historical development of American
history including: social, political, scientific, military, technological, economic,
and cultural (philosophical and religious).
10. The ability to apply the techniques of historical interpretation including cause
and effect, major trends, and change over time.
11. Their ability to apply their knowledge of American history to problem solving,
critical thinking, reasoning, and decision making.
12. Their ability to identify important individuals and events that have contributed to
the development of American history.
13. Their ability to critically and analytically read historical works and primary
sources.
Organization/Assignments
1. AP courses are demanding and require daily homework and reading.
2. Students should plan on a minimum of seven hours per week studying,
reading, and completing assignment
3. There will be a reading assignment almost every week usually including one
chapter from our text and one or two extra hand out readings (primary
source material).
4. There will be vocabulary/identification assigned for every chapter, topic or
theme.
5. There will chapter/topic quizzes every Monday or Tuesday that cover reading
assignments and vocabulary/identifications.
6. Students will receive completion grades for reading notes and
vocabulary/identification assignments.
7. Students will have unit tests at the end of each major unit of study. Also,
students will have final exams at the end of each semester.
8. Students will be expected to answer discussion questions orally for credit
each week in class.
9. Students will have a variety of longer and shorter writing assignments. This
will include one term paper each semester, Document Based Questions
(DBQ), document analysis writings, free response essays, and essential short
essay questions over each chapter or topic/theme covered in class.
10. Students will be expected to create and present one Power Point
presentation each semester. These presentations will be similar to a term
paper, but finding will be presented using technology.
11. Students will have a variety of other assignments including the use of
graphs, political cartoons, web sites, maps, charts, etc.
12. Students will learn three document analyses strategies: OPTICS, APPARTS,
and SOAPS.
Grading:
Grades in this class are based on a straight points system. Along with class projects
and assignments, there will be tests, quizzes, essays, and projects for each chapter
and unit. Beginning in the second semester there will be regular review quizzes.
These quizzes will be comprehensive of all the material learned to that point. The
Final grades in this class are weighted.
AP Exam:
In May students will be taking the AP US History exam. This exam consists of two
sections and is comprehensive of all the material learned in class. In Section I
students have fifty-five minutes to answer eighty multiple choice questions. Section
II is the writing portion of the exam and is divided into three parts. Part A of Section
II is a document based question (DBQ). Students will have sixty minutes to answer
the DBQ portion of the exam, fifteen minutes to read the given documents and
forty-five minutes to write their answer. Parts B and C of Section II have two free
response questions each. Students will choose one free response question from
Part B and one free response question from Part C. Students are then given seventy
minutes to answer both free response questions. This exam is very challenging, but
with a year long commitment of hard work and a willingness to succeed students
will meet your highest potential on the exam. More information will be provided
later on how the exam is graded and strategies for taking the exam. In the
meantime students can check out the College Board’s website which will provide
information for both them and parents regarding AP and the examination process:
www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html
AP History Review Book:
Although not necessary for the course, it is highly recommend that each student
purchase a review book for the AP Exam. These books can be found in any major
bookstore or online shops such as amazon.com. In order to be successful on the AP
exam, students will need to devote a large amount of time outside of class studying
and preparing for the exam on their own. This exam preparation is in addition to all
classroom assignments made by the teacher and should be done on a regular
basis.
Notebook:
All AP students will be required to keep a notebook during this course. The
notebook should be a three ring binder and should be divided into the following
sections: Notes, Quizzes/Tests, Handouts, DBQs/FRQs. By keeping an organized
notebook this will allow us to centralize all of our materials and aid us in studying
for the AP Exam
Attendance:
Daily attendance in this course is of the utmost importance. Due to the vast
amounts of material we cover each day, missing a day of class will add
considerable work to your daily routine. If possible, all Doctor/Dentist and other
appointments should be scheduled around this class. If you should be absent it is
your responsibility to contact me to find out the daily assignments. This will be best
accomplished through email. Tardiness will not be accepted.
Course Outline:
1ST SEMESTER
Unit 1: Early American History (2 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 1-5
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 Emergence of a European presence in the Western Hemisphere and its
impact on indigenous peoples.
 Developing social, economic, and cultural patterns within colonial America
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 To what extent should the colonization of America be understood as the
extension of European civilization into the New World, or should it be
understood as the gradual development of a uniquely American culture?
 What did John Winthrop mean when he said, “we shall be as a city upon a
hill.” Did the Massachusetts Bay Colony reach this objective? Why or why
not?
 Why did colonial masters first adopt the institution of indentured servitude
rather than Indian or black slavery to meet their demands for labor? Why,
then, did black slavery replace indentured servitude?
 Identify the main cause of Bacon's Rebellion: resentment felt by
backcountry farmers, Governor Berkeley's Indian policies, or the pressure of
the tobacco economy? Justify your choice.
 Compare and contrast the ways in which tobacco and sugar affected the
social and economic development of colonial America.
Tutorial and handout on completing a DBQ and using the following strategies:
OPTICS, SOAPS, and APPARTS.
DBQ on Chesapeake and New England Colonies due August 23
Unit Test Chapters 1-5 August 26
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Analyze the extent to which religious freedom existed in the British North American
colonies prior to 1700.
Analyze the origins and development of slavery in Britain’s North American colonies
in the period 1607-1776.
Unit 2: The Struggle for American Independence (2 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 6-8
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 The repercussions from the French and Indian War force colonists to
reevaluate their relationship with Great Britain
 Tensions between the U.S. and Great Britain center around Great Britain’s
policy of mercantilism and its implementation
 The Revolutionary War as a local and national movement
 The place of America/U.S. in world diplomacy
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 Why did the Ohio Valley become the arena of conflict between the French
and British in America?
 To what extent did the Seven Years' War helped cause the American
Revolutionary War?
 Compare and contrast the reasons for unity and the reasons for disunity in
the American colonies before and after the Seven Years' War.
 Explain the relationship between mercantilism, the Navigation Laws, and
British efforts to create an administrative structure for their empire after
1696.
 In what ways were the mercantilist policies of the British burdensome to the
colonists? In what ways were they beneficial? From this comparison, draw a
conclusion about the effects of mercantilism and the Navigation Laws on
British-colonial relations up to 1763.
 It might be said that it was the British who were revolutionaries in 1763 and
the colonists who were conservatives attempting to preserve the status quo.
Explain
 Explain the following quote, “Insurrection of thought usually precedes
insurrection of deed.” What does this mean? In what ways is this
generalization an accurate description of the coming of the American
Revolutionary War?
Student Project due September 2:
Cooperative learning project: Create a Revolutionary War era newspaper
using both primary and secondary sources. The newspapers will cover
important issues of the era and must include the following: editorial,
letter to the editor, political cartoons, three articles covering significant
events, and classified adds.
Unit Test Chapters 6-8 September 9
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams (listed below).
Analyze the ways in which British Imperial policies between 1763 and 1776
intensified colonials’ resistance to British rule and their commitment to republican
values.
Analyze the political, diplomatic, and military reasons for the United States victory in
the Revolutionary War. Confine your answer to the period 1775-1783.
Unit 3: Development of an American Identity and Navigating the Critical Period
(2 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 9-10
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 American political innovations that result from experience as a colony
 Development of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
 Emerging conflicts between federal power and states’ rights
 Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist philosophies of government
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 Compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution,
especially in regard to the specific powers granted by each to the national
government
 Thomas Jefferson observed that “173 despots would surely be as oppressive
as one.” What was the context of his remark? What was Jefferson warning
against?
 Assess the extent to which the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 played a role in
shaping American history after 1800?
 Describe what you think would be Hamilton's assessment of government in
the United States today. Describe what you think Jefferson's assessment
would be.

Compare and contrast the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans,
especially their views on democracy, government power, the economy, and
foreign affairs.
DBQ: The 1780s: A Critical Period? Due September 20
Unit Test Chapters 9-10 September 23
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams (listed below).
Analyze the extent to which the American Revolution represented a radical
altercation in American political ideas and institutions.
Analyze the degree to which the Articles of Confederation provided an effective form
of government with respect to any two of the following: Foreign Relations, economic
conditions, western lands.
Unit 4: Growth of Nationalism and Jeffersonian Democracy (3 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 11-12
Handout reading assignments
* Assign Power Point Presentation – Topic: “Slavery and its long term effects on
American society” or “American diversity and its role in American history”
Themes:
 Peaceful transfer of power from one party to another
 Expansion of the United States and growth of nationalism
 Difficulties of the early government with Great Britain
 Assertion of power by the Supreme Court
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 What basis did Thomas Jefferson have for believing that American trade
could be used as a diplomatic tool? Would you judge his economic coercion
policy a failure or a success? Why or why not?
 List at least three key principles of government advanced by Thomas
Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican party before 1800. Describe how
these ideals fared during Jefferson's administration. Were they translated
into public policy? Explain how or, if not, why not.
 Suppose you were a faithful Democratic-Republican party adviser to
President Jefferson in 1803. What arguments would you present in favor of
the Louisiana Purchase? What arguments opposing the purchase would you
have to counter?
 Assess the Jeffersonian presidency. What do you think were his three most
important legacies? Explain your choices.






Why was the West the region most seized with the spirit of nationalism
following the War of 1812?
To what extent was the Monroe Doctrine an isolationist document? Support
your answer.
To what extent is the Era of Good Feelings “something of a misnomer” for
the decade following the War of 1812?
Historians have sometimes referred to the program of the Jeffersonian
Republicans after 1815 as “neo-Federalist.” Is this an accurate label? Why or
why not?
Which do you think was the most significant event of the decade following
the Treaty of Ghent: panic of 1819, McCulloch v. Maryland, Florida Purchase
Treaty, Missouri Compromise, Monroe Doctrine? Justify your selection.
What might the president and Congress have done in 1812 to avoid war with
Britain and still maintain the nation's honor?
DBQ: The Alien and Sedition Acts. Due October 7
Unit Test Chapters 11-12 October 14
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Unit 5: The Age of Jackson, Reform, and Sectionalism (2 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 13-18
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 Rise of the “common man” in American politics
 Manifest Destiny and western expansion
 19th Century Reform movements
 Development of a national/international economy
 Impact of immigrants
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 To what extent was Andrew Jackson a states' rightist? To what extent was he
a nationalist?
 Write your definition of political favoritism. Then use this definition to argue
that the rotation in office/spoils system of the Jacksonians was or was not
crass political favoritism.
 Write your definition of tyrant. Then use this definition to argue that Andrew
Jackson was or was not a presidential tyrant riding roughshod over the
Constitution
 Why has Andrew Jackson been called “the first modern president”?
 To what extent did the impact of industrialization, urbanization, and the
transportation revolution have on the development of American agriculture?
 If America is indeed a “nation of immigrants,” why does it have a history of
native prejudice toward new immigrant groups?









Compare and contrast the Irish and German immigrants of early-nineteenthcentury America in terms of their motives for leaving Europe, pattern of
settlement in the United States, impact on American life, and reception by
native-born Americans.
How did Eli Whitney make the American Civil War more likely and at the
same time give the Union an advantage once the war began?
In what ways did American literature in the early nineteenth century reflect
the New Democracy of the Jacksonian age?
What role did women play in the intellectual and literary movements of the
early 1800s?
Given the great enthusiasm for territorial expansion, why did the “all of
Mexico” movement fail?
Assess the validity of the following statement, “James K. Polk is one of
America's near great presidents.” Do you agree that he should be so highly
ranked? Why or why not?
Explain the widespread popularity of the concept of popular sovereignty as a
way to resolve the issue of slavery in the territories. Then explain why it
ultimately failed
Assess the validity of the following statement, “the Compromise of 1850
contributed to the Union victory in the Civil War.”
It has been said that “the historian who searches for examples of intelligent
and tolerant statesmanship in the period 1850–1854 seeks almost in vain.”
Citing the “statesmanship” of men like Clay, Douglas, Webster, Calhoun,
Pierce, and Fillmore, demonstrate that this argument is or is not
supportable.
DBQ: Andrew Jackson & Indian Removal. Due October 25
Unit Test Chapters 13-18 due October 28
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Unit 6: Civil War and Reconstruction (5 Weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 19-22
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 Secession and Civil War
 Reconstruction: Success or Failure
 Native American relations
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 What was responsible for the violence in “Bleeding Kansas”? Why
might the violence be viewed as a “prelude to Civil War”?















To what extent did each of these individuals contributed to the
coming of the Civil War: John Brown, Stephen Douglas, Abraham
Lincoln
Assess the validity of the following statement; “it was probably
fortunate for the Union that secession and civil war did not come in
1856, following a Republican victory.”
To what extent was the Crittenden Compromise a way to avoid Civil
War? What modifications might have made it more attractive to both
Lincoln and the South?
Explain why Britain finally decided against intervention on behalf of
the Confederacy. In what ways was Britain helpful to the South
anyway?
Assess the validity of the following statement, “the South's devotion
to states' rights was a major reason for its failure to win the Civil
War.”
During the Civil War many poor Southerners complained that it was a
rich man's war but a poor man's fight. On what basis did they make
this complaint? Could Northerners have made the same accusation
for the same reason? Explain.
Identify the significance of the Border States to both the North and
the South. How did they influence the shaping of Union strategy?
At the outset of the Civil War, the South confidently anticipated that
King Cotton would guarantee it European intervention. Why didn't this
intervention materialize?
Which of the following do you think was the most significant battle of
the Civil War: Antietam, Gettysburg, Vicksburg? Why?
To what extent did the Civil War slow the United States Industrial
Revolution, or did it help usher in modern America?
What role did each of the following play in the congressional
assumption of control over Reconstruction policy: Black Codes,
Southern election of former Confederates, President Johnson's
personality and actions?
Why was President Johnson impeached? Why didn't the Senate
convict him of “high crimes and misdemeanors”? Would Johnson's
conviction have permanently altered the balance of power between
Congress and the President?
How did freed slaves respond to Reconstruction? How did freedom
affect the economic, social, and political life of former slaves? In what
ways was their freedom still incomplete?
Some historians have argued that Reconstruction was a total failure,
while others have seen it as laying the foundation for future American
progress in race relations and civil rights. What arguments can be
made for each position? Which is more persuasive?
The Fourteenth Amendment is commonly referred to as one of the
most important additions to the Constitution. Why?
Student Project (due Nov. 23): Team Teaching major battles of the Civil War
 Students will be divided into groups of three
 Each group will be assigned a major battle of the Civil War
 Each group must create a 20 minute presentation for the class over
their battle
 Each presentation must include but is not limited to: 3 visual aides,
primary resource documents from eye witness accounts, 1 page typed
outline notes (to be distributed to the class), a quiz for the class at the
end of the presentation
Unit Test Chapters 19-22 due December 2
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Unit 7: Forging an Industrial Society (2 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 23-25
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 Politics and corruption during the Gilded Age
 Class conflict and race relations
 Rise of trade unions
 Social, economic, political impact of industrialization
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 For one of only a few times in its history, the treasury showed a
surplus in the 1880s. Why was this a problem?
 How did racial issues—including Chinese immigration—affect
economic and political developments of the Gilded Age?
 What explains the rise of the Populist Party in the 1890s? Were the
Populists reflecting only farmers' discontent, or did they express a
deeper disaffection with the weaknesses of the two-party system?
 American capitalist businessmen usually justified their wealth on the
basis of the “survival of the fittest.” Yet in practice most of them
disliked business competition and sought to create effective
monopolies. Why?
 Why did labor unions find it difficult to organize industrial workers in
the late nineteenth century?
 Present an argument that “the Constitution and the courts were on
the side of the corporations” in the late nineteenth century. Cite
passages from the Constitution and court decisions to illustrate your
argument
 The arrival of immigrants on American shores in the late nineteenth
century involved both “push” and “pull” factors. Describe the major


motives that caused emigrants to leave Europe and come to the
United States during this period
What was the impact of industrialization and urbanization on latenineteenth-century American churches, schools, and family life? Cite
at least two changes wrought on each of these institutions during this
period.
In what ways was the city a “frontier of opportunity for women”?
Name at least two women who seized this “opportunity” and
elaborate on their experiences.
Student Project presentations begin December 13th: Power Point presentation on
an approved topic. Each presentation must:
 Be 10-12 minutes in length
 Show substantial knowledge and research outside the textbook
 Include 7-10 pictures from the era
 Include a works cited of 4-6 sources
Unit Test Chapters 23-25 December 16
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
END OF SEMESTER 1
SEMESTER 1 FINAL EXAM December 20
Unit 8: The Age of Imperialism, Progressivism, and Roosevelt: (3 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 26-29
Handout reading assignments
Themes:




U.S. expansion abroad
Bryan vs. McKinley
Roosevelt as President
Changing role of the U.S. on an International stage
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 Explain why the Populist Party became the most successful third party in
American history up to that time. Explain why it failed to survive the decade
of the 1890s.
 Was the Spanish-American War really necessary? List the alternatives to war
available to McKinley in 1898 and explain why he rejected them in favor of a
war policy.







Write your definition of imperialism. Then use this definition to argue that
the conduct of American foreign relations between 1890 and 1905 was or
was not imperialistic.
Explain the rationale for President Cleveland's refusal to annex the Hawaiian
Islands to the United States? Could Hawaii have remained independent
under either native Hawaiian rule or white planter rule? Why or why not?
What were the arguments of the pro-imperialists and the anti-imperialists in
the debate over acquiring the Philippines? Which of the anti-imperialist
arguments were most persuasive, and which proved not to hold up?
What was the fundamental assumption of the Roosevelt Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine? What made these assumptions seem persuasive to
Theodore Roosevelt and others? Do you agree that the Corollary violated
rather than extended the principles of the Monroe Doctrine?
Explain the ways in which (a) the Boxer Rebellion, (b) the Open Door notes,
and (c) the Portsmouth and Algeciras conferences signaled a new departure
for American foreign policy.
Would you label Theodore Roosevelt a radical, liberal, moderate, or
conservative? Justify your choice.
Critically evaluate Woodrow Wilson's personal qualities as well as his
presidential leadership and policies. How did his personality affect his
policies and their outcome?
Unit Test Chapters 26-29
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Unit 9: World War I and the 1920s (2 Weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 30-32
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 U.S. motives in World War I
 Changes in post World War I America
 Conservative domestic Republican administrations
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 Summarize President Wilson's Fourteen Points. Which were substantially
attained as a result of American participation in World War I? Which were
not? Why?
 Why did President Wilson finally decide that the United States needed to
enter World War I? What were the essential principles underlying Wilson's
idealistic appeal for a “war to make the world safe for democracy”? Why
does the text call those principles “prophetic”?






Do you think that the United States was better off for having participated in
World War I? If so, in what ways? If not, why? Create a scenario envisaging
the outcome of World War I, had the United States not joined the Allies.
Describe the dominant themes of American literature in the 1920s. Explain
why these themes prevailed.
In what ways did writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and
Theodore Dreiser reflect the prevalent American culture of the 1920s? In
what ways did they criticize it?
What explains the rise of Marcus Garvey's United Negro Improvement
Association movement? Why was Garvey such an important figure even
though his movement failed?.
Compare the presidential leadership of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. What
did they have in common, and how did they differ? How did their personal
qualities affect their political success in the 1920s?
Outline the causes of the great crash of 1929. Why did it come so
unexpectedly?
Unit Test Chapters 30-32
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Unit 10: 1930s: From Depression to the eve of war (2 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 33-34
Handout reading assignments
Themes:




Role of government in society and the economy
reinventing politics
A nation in depression
Nadir of race relations
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 Compare and contrast the first two years of the New Deal with the
later New Deal after 1934. Account for the differences.
 Select the three most important programs of the New Deal, explain
what they did, and tell why you chose these three.
 A popular slogan of the mid-1930s claimed that “Roosevelt wants you
to join a union.” Explain why this assertion contained some truth.
 Among New Deal actions that have continued long after the 1930s
are Social Security, the Securities Exchange Commission, and the full
legalization of labor unions. Why have these efforts continued long
after the Depression conditions of the 1930s passed? What other
New Deal programs quickly passed away, and why?


Explain how in the 1930s “the American people were overwhelmingly
anti-Nazi and anti-Hitler, but they were desperately determined to stay
out [of war].”
At what point do you think American entry into the war in Europe
became inevitable? Explain.
DBQ: Hoover and Roosevelt: Liberal or Conservative
Unit Test Chapters 33-34
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Unit 11: The 1940s and 1950s: World War II and the Cold War Era (3 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 35-37
Handout reading assignments
Themes



Emergence of the U.S. as a world hegemon
The war effort on the home front
Cold War issues and tactics
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 Present arguments for and against using the A-bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in 1945. Had it been your decision, what would you
have done? Why?
 What are the arguments for and against the Japanese American
relocation camps used in World War II? Do you agree with the text
authors that these camps were “unnecessary and unfair”? Why or why
not?
 Summarize the grand strategy of the Big Three allies in World War II.
What aspect of that strategy became controversial? Why?
 In terms of defending America's national interests, which do you think
was the most critical front in World War II, the European theater or
the Pacific? Why?
 In what ways did the United States emerge from World War II
fundamentally changed? Consider national power, economic health,
and the home front.
 What motivated the large-scale postwar migration to the Sunbelt and
the suburbs? To what extent was this movement a result of social
changes like the baby boom, and to what extent was it a result of
deliberate federal policies like federal housing loans, military
spending, and the interstate highway system?








How do you assess Harry S Truman as a political leader? What were
his greatest successes in foreign and domestic policy? What were his
greatest failures?
Trace the origins of the Cold War, considering the historical
background of United States-Soviet Union relations, the wartime
relationship, and early postwar developments.
Weigh the contributions made by both the United States and the
Soviet Union to the developing Cold War. Do you think that the Cold
War was inevitable? Why or why not? If so, at what point did it
become inevitable?
Identify the factors that produced the anticommunist “witch hunt”
after World War II. List some of its most important short- and longterm consequences.
How important has the post-World War II baby boom been to recent
American history? Indicate its impact on each decade since 1945.
What importance is it likely to have in the next twenty-five years?
Do you agree with critics of the time that the 1950s was “an age of
conformity”? Why or why not?
How did television affect American religion, sports, and politics in the
1950s?
Do you think that you would have liked “Ike” in the 1950s? Why or
why not? Which of his (a) personal qualities, (b) domestic programs,
and (c) foreign-policy decisions do you find most admirable? For what
may he be criticized? Why?
Student Project: Class Debate: Students will be divided into 4 teams. Each team
will take a side on an assigned issue: Was the United States justified in dropping
atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War II? Or was the United States
justified in placing Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II?
DBQ: The decision to drop the atomic bomb
Unit Test Chapters 35-37
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Unit 12: The 1960s and 1970s (1-2 weeks)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 38-39
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 Kennedy administration’s “flexible response” doctrine to combat the spread
of third world communism
 President Johnson’s escalation of the Vietnam War



Domestic stalemate of the Kennedy administration
Johnson’s Great Society
Civil Rights movements of the 1960s
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 Do you think that President Kennedy promised more as a candidate than he
delivered as president? Focus on his domestic reform proposals and be
specific. What did he promise, and what did he accomplish?
 Explain how America's involvement in Vietnam “presented a grisly
demonstration” of how “the doctrine of 'flexible response'…contained lethal
logic.”
 Explain why the civil rights movement became more radical and violent as
the 1960s progressed. What changes occurred in the motives, assumptions,
and leadership of the movement?
 Why did the doctrines of “flexible response” and guerilla warfare against
communist enemies seem so appealing in the early 1960s? How were those
ideas implemented in Vietnam? Where were their most serious flaws?
 Do you agree with the text authors that Martin Luther King, Jr., was “one of
the most inspirational leaders in [American] history,” who “left a shining
legacy of racial progress”? Why or why not?
 Which of the 1960s “liberation” movements were most significant and
enduring? How did African Americans, young whites, Hispanics, workers,
women, and gays each experience “the sixties” differently?
 Offer your considered judgment of Richard Nixon as president, taking into
account his personal qualities, domestic program, and foreign policies. Do
you think that he was a “great” president? Why or why not?
 Evaluate the impact of the Warren Court on American life. Cite specific cases
that “reflected [the Supreme Court's] deep concern for the individual, no
matter how lowly.”
 How did the Vietnam War end? Why did it end this way? In what way had the
United States “in the technical sense…not lost the war” but “lost more than a
war”?
 Was defeat of the ERA a major setback for feminism? Why or why not?
 Do you think that President Carter overreacted to the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan? Why or why not? In what way did that event mark a critical
turning point in American foreign policy?
Unit Test Chapters 38-39
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Unit 13: The 1980s and beyond (1 week)
Readings: Bailey and Kennedy, Chapters 40-41
Handout reading assignments
Themes:
 President Regan’s “new right” movement
 Economic growth and growing deficit
 Cold War revival
Essential Questions for assessment, class discussion, and essay development:
 What were Ronald Reagan's goals as he entered the presidency in 1981?
How successful was he in implementing them? In what ways did he fail to
achieve his goals? Why?
 Describe President Reagan's approach to foreign affairs. Was it effective?
Why or why not?
 Why was the U.S. more successful in dealing with the former Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe than with China? Why did President George H.W. Bush
refuse to join in the call for punitive trade restrictions on China after it
crushed the prodemocracy movement?
 Was the Persian Gulf War a complete American triumph or only a qualified
success? What were its long-term consequences?
 Did the contested, razor-thin election of 2000 reflect the strengths or the
weaknesses of American democracy? Do you agree that the Supreme Court
was right to settle the outcome? What other possible solutions might have
been pursued?
Unit Test Chapters 40-42
Test format will include both multiple choice questions and Free Response B and C
questions from previous exams.
Review for AP Exam: (2 weeks)
May 11th
AP U.S. History Exam