Course: Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH)

Instructor: Mr. Johnson (John)

2017-2018 School Year

Course Description

This course is designed to provide a college-level experience and preparation for the AP Exam that will be given in May 11, 2018. The major emphasis of this course is placed on mastering significant course topics and information (heavy emphasis is placed on course readings,outlines, debates, articles, and notes), interpreting documents, and learning how to write critical essays. Moreover, students should expect daily homework assignments, quizzes, and multiple-choice and essay exams.

TEXTBOOKS

*Gonick, Larry. The Cartoon History of the United States. New York, N.Y.: HarperPerenial, 1991.

Murrin, John M., Johnson, Paul E., McPherson, James E., Gerstle, Gary., Rosenberg, Emily S., and Rosenberg, Norman L., Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People

4th edition. Belmont, CA.: Thomas Learning Inc., 2005

*Madaras, Larry., and SoRelle, James M. Taking Sides: American History, Volume I

Eleventh edition. Dubuque, IA.: McGraw-Hill Co Inc., 2005

*Madaras, Larry., and SoRelle, James M. Taking Sides: American History, Volume II

Eleventh edition. Dubuque, IA.: McGraw-Hill Co Inc., 2005

*Zinn, Howard, A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present, Revised Edition. New York: HarperPerennial, 2003.

*Zinn, Howard and Arnove Anthony, Voices of a People’s History of the United States. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2004.

*Supplemental texts

Each unit also utilizes discussions of and writing about related historiography: how interpretations of events have changed over time, how the issues of one time period had an impact on the experiences and decisions of subsequent generations, and how such reevaluations of the past continue to shape the way historians see the world today.

Unit 1: Colonial America 1491-1750 (August-September)

Required Reading and Assignments:

  • Focus Question: Analyze the development of northern,middle, and southern colonies in America during the period 1607-1750
  • Reading and note-taking on Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  1. “Was Conflict Between Europeans and Native Americans Ineveitable?” by Madaras and SoRelle
  2. “Were Socioeconomic Tensions Resposible for the Witchcraft Hysteria in Salem?” by Madaras and SoRelle
  3. “Columbus and Las Casas” by Zinn and Arnove
  4. “Richard Frethorne’s ‘Letter to his Parents’”
  • Audio Visuals: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 1: Massacre at Mystic

Unit 2: Revolutionary America 1750-1800 (September-October)

Required Reading and Assignments:

  • Focus Question: What were the social, political and economic factors that drove the American colonies from dependency on Great Britain to independence?
  • Reading and note taking Chapters 5, 6 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  • Was the American Revolution Largely a Product of Market-Driven Consumer Forces? -Madaras & SoRelle
  • “Preparing the Revolution” -Zinn & Arnove
  • “Half a Revolution” -Zinn & Arnove
  • Charts of British Tax Policies and Causes of the American Revolution
  • Audio Visuals: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 2: Shays’ Rebellion: America’s First Civil War

Unit 3: The Early National Period 1789-1820 (October)

Required Reading and Assignments:

  • Focus Question: What challenges did the early federal government face in establishing a strong central government from 1789-1820?
  • Reading and note taking Chapters 7, 8 and 9 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  1. “Was President Jefferson a Political Compromiser?-Madaras & SoRelle
  2. “The First Slaves” -Zinn & Arnove
  • Comparison Chart on Federalist vs. Antifederalists

Unit 4: Antebellum America 1820-1850 (October-November)

Required Reading and Assignment:

  • Focus Question: In what ways and to what extent did the forces of growth and expansion beginning with the Constitution contribute to disunion?
  • Reading and note taking Chapter 10, 11, and 12 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  • “Did the Industrial Revolution Provide More Economic Opportunities for Women in the 1830s? -Madaras & SoRelle
  • “Was the Mexican War an Exercise in American Imperialism? -Madaras & SoRelle
  • “The Early Women’s Movement” -Zinn & Arnove
  • “Indian Removal” -Zinn & Arnove
  • “The War On Mexico” -Zinn & Arnove
  • Audio Visual: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 3: Gold Rush

Unit 5: Civil War & Reconstruction 1850-1877 (November-December)

Required Reading and Assignments:

  • Focus Question: Evalute the extent to which the CivilWar and Reconstruction forged a new sense of identity and nationhood for the American People.
  • Read Chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  • “Was John Brown an Irrational Terrorist?” -Madaras & SoRelle
  • “Was the Civil War Fought Over Slavery?” -Madaras & SoRelle
  • “Slavery and Defiance” -Zinn & Arnove
  • “Civil War and Class Conflict” -Zinn & Arnove
  • “Jefferson Davis Speech, 1861”
  • “Emancipation Proclamation”
  • Audio Visual: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 4: Antietam

Unit 6: The Gilded Age 1865-1900 (January)

Required Reading and Assignments:

  • Focus Question: How did the U.S. become industrialized, modernized nation?
  • Read Chapters 18, 19, 20, and 21 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  1. “Strikers and Populists” -Zinn & Arnove
  2. “The Expansion of the Empire” -Zinn & Arnove
  3. “Were the Nineteenth-Century Entrepreneurs ‘Robber Barrons’?” -Madaras & SoRelle
  4. “Did Booker T. Washington’s Philosophy and Actions Betray the Interests of African Americans? -Madaras & SoRelle
  • Audio Visual: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 5: The Homestead Strike

Unit 7: The World Wars and the Great Depression 1900-1945 (February)

Required Reading and Assignments:

  • Focus Question: Analyze and interpret the changes in the social, political, and economic involvement of government in American society.
  • Read Chapter 22, 23, 25, and 26 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  • “Was Woodrow Wilson Responsible for the Failure of the United States to Join the League of Nations?” -Madaras & SoRelle
  • “Did the New Deal Prolong the Great Depression?” -Madaras & SoRelle
  • “From the Jazz Age to the Uprisings of the 1930s” -Zinn & Arnove
  • “World War II and McCarthyism” -Zinn & Arnove
  • Audio Visual: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 6: Murder at the Fair: The Assassination of President McKinley
  • Audio Visual: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 7: Scopes: The Battle Over America’s Soul
  • Audio Visual: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 8: Einstein’s Letter

Unit 8: The Cold War 1945-1989 (February-March)

Required Reading and Assignment:

  • Focus Question: In what ways and to what extent did the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement shape American society between 1945-1968?
  • Read and take notes Chapter 27, 28, 29 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  1. “Was President Truman Responsible for the Cold War?” -Madaras & SoRelle
  2. “The Black Upsurge Against Racial Segregation” -Zinn & Arnove
  3. “Did President Nixon Negotiate a ‘Peace With Honor’ in Vietnam in 1973?” -Madaras & SoRelle
  • Audio Visual: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 9: When America Was Rocked
  • Audio Visual: 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America, Episode 10: Freedom Summer

Unit 9: Post-Cold War to the Present 1989-Present (March-April)

Required Reading and Assignment:

  • Focus Question: In what ways to what extent has the neoconservative revolution altered American social, political, and economic structure in the last years of the 20th century?
  • Read and take notes Chapter 30 and31 (Liberty Textbook)
  • Historiography:
  • “Has the Women’s Movement of the 1970s Failed to Liberate American Women?” -Madaras & SoRelle
  • “The Carter-Reagan-Bush Consensus” -Zinn & Arnove
  • “Bush II, Obama, and the ‘War on Terror” -Zinn & Arnove

*Review for AP Exam (April-May)