AP United States Historycourse Description and Expectations

AP United States HistoryCourse Description and Expectations

Mrs. Wirthwein

Test Day: Wednesday May 14, 2014 (Morning)

Course Description:

•The AP U.S. History course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in U.S. history. The program prepares students for college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students will learn to analyze historical materials—assess their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and importance—and then to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. An AP U.S. History course will 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 essay format. The course covers from exploration to present day

Materials Needed:

1.Text- Ethel WoodAP United States History: An Essential Coursebook (Woodyard Publishing) I strongly recommend you BUY your own copy of this book. Easiest source- Amazon.com

2.Standard Class materials: Pen or pencil, highlighter, 3-ring binder (2 ½ or 3 inch)Paper

Course Expectations:

This is a college-level class; therefore I expect each of you to treat it as such. Attendance and attentiveness are both vital for success. There will be a large amount of outside reading/notetaking EVERY night (sorry) You will receive a reading schedule for every unit- even if you are absent, you are still responsible for the assigned reading. All powerpoints are available online- you should be able to fill in what you missed.

Grades will come from:

Daily Reading (Dice) Quizzes 5 pts

Focus Questions 10 pts

Chapter Terms Quizzes (Tquiz)10-15 pts

Multiple Choice tests30-70 pts

FRQs/DBQs 20 pts

There will be opportunities for extra credit each quarter. Extra Credit is only available to whole class (don’t ask for something just for you) and may not be more than 20 points in one quarter

APUSH Units

1. Exploration Up to the French and Indian War; The French and Indian War Through the Constitution Chapters 1-5; pages 15-130

Organizing principles: Between 1607 and 1763, the British North American colonies gained experience in, and the expectation of, self-government in the development of political, religious, economic, and social institutions.

Topics: Exploration, colonization, governmental development, economic development, religious

development, colonial wars, salutary neglect, social development

Organizing principles: Between 1763 and 1776, British attempts to exert control over the colonies led to violent, organized, successful resistance. The Articles of Confederation provided a reasonable and workable transition from the unitary system of British rule to the federal system established under the Constitution.

Topics: British tax policy, colonial reaction, intercolonial unity, intercolonial conflict, independence movement, revolution, revolutionary change, Articles of Confederation, Constitution

1. Early National Period Through Era of Good Feelings; Age of Jackson; Causes of the Civil War Chapters 6-10; pages 146-269

Organizing principles: Between 1789 and 1820, conflict over the increasing power of the national government created intensified sectional tension. Between 1789 and 1823, geographic isolation allowed the United States to pursue a policy of selective involvement in world affairs.

Topics: Federalism, first American party system, Hamilton’s economic plan, neutrality and foreign policy, Jeffersonian democracy, Supreme court cases, territorial expansion, freedom of the seas, War of 1812, convention system, national market economy, industrial revolution, transportation revolution, agricultural revolution, nationalism, sectionalism, Era of Good Feelings

Organizing principles: In the 1820s and 1830s, during and after the presidency of Andrew Jackson, popular political movements expanded, the two-party political system merged, the power of the presidency increased, America became more optimistic and expansionist, and sectionalism supplanted nationalism.

Topics: Jacksonian democracy, second American party system, democratization, sectionalism, reform movements, Native Americans, Bank War, nullification, American Renaissance, Manifest Destiny, slavery

Organizing principles: 1840–1877. The Civil War was caused by historic economic, social, and political sectional differences that crystallized around the slavery issue. The Civil War effectively determined the nature of the Union, the economic direction of the United States, and political control of the country.

Topics: Sectionalism, abolition, expansion of slavery, apologists, Compromise of 1850, Kansas–Nebraska Act, third American party system, popular controversies over slavery, economic development, social development

1. Civil War Through Reconstruction; Gilded Age Through Populism; New Imperialism; ProgressivismChapters 11-15; pages 284-425

Organizing principles: 1840–1877. The Civil War was caused by historic economic, social, and political sectional differences that crystallized around the slavery issue. The Civil War effectively determined the nature of the Union, the economic direction of the United States, and political control of the country

Topics: Civil War (social, economic, political consequences), amendments, Reconstruction (economic, political, social consequences)

Post–Civil War–1890s. The Gilded Age fostered the consolidation of business, the beginnings of government involvement in the economy, and the organization of disadvantaged economic and social classes.

Topics: Grantism, corruption, politics, rise of big business, agrarian reform, labor movement, Native Americans, cattle frontier, mining frontier, agricultural frontier, immigration, urbanization, Social Gospel, Social Darwinism, changing function of government

Organizing principles: From 1890 to 1918, the United States became increasingly active and aggressive in world affairs. The Progressive movement partially succeeded in improving life for average Americans by curbing big business, making the government more responsive to the will of the people, and enacting social welfare legislation.

Topics: New Imperialism, Spanish–American War, Big Stick policy (jingoism), internationalism, Progressive reform (political, social, economic), regulatory agencies, Square Deal, Old Guard (Conservative Republicans led by Speaker of the House “Uncle” Joe Cannon) versus Insurgents (Progressive Republicans who sought to limit the power of the Speaker of the House), New Nationalism, New Freedom, Supreme Court and social welfare

1. World War I; 1920s Through the New Deal; World War II Through 1960; 1960 Through the PresentChapters 16-21; pages 441-623

Organizing principles: Disillusionment with the idealism that led the country into World War I drove Americans to fear change and difference and to retreat into a superficial shell of self-satisfaction. The Great Depression and New Deal resulted in an expectation of government intervention to maintain the economic stability of the nation.

Topics: World War I (economic, political, social consequences), the Committee on Public Information, Red Scare, Treaty of Versailles Fear of change and difference, value conflicts, mass society, consumerism, technological development, foreign policy, social changes, arts and entertainment, economics, “normalcy,” Great Depression, New Deal, relief, recovery, reform, public works projects, labor, political realignment, changing function of government

Organizing principles: Between World War II and 1960, the New Deal philosophy that the government was a legitimate agent of social welfare became firmly embedded in the American mind. The Cold War led the United States to pursue an ambivalent policy of confrontation, negotiation, and preparedness between 1945 and 1970.

Topics: 1930s foreign policy, neutrality, World War II (political, economic, social consequences), strategies and battles, postwar demobilization, Fair Deal, Red Scare, containment, Cold War, NSC 68, Korean War, modern Republicanism, massive retaliation, social changes, politics of the 1950s, consumerism, baby boom

Organizing principles: Disillusionment with the increasingly violent protest of the 1960s and the social movements in their aftermath led to the rise of conservative ideology and political groups between 1968 and 1992. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, America’s foreign policy groped for ways to promote world peace with minimal U.S. direct military involvement. Technological developments between 1950 and 2000 radically altered the economic, social, and moral fiber of the nation.

Topics: Liberalism, civil rights, feminism, identity politics, political activism, foreign policy, Vietnam, youth culture, poverty, conservative resurgence, energy, Watergate, malaise, Reagan revolution (foreign policy, economy, social issues), technology and affluence, post–Cold War foreign policy, Middle East, multiculturalism, welfare, Clinton scandals, Obama election, Tea Party