AP United States History Syllabus 2011-2012

Course Overview

This year long course combines a general survey of American history with in-depth analysis of important events, themes, and issues. The basic progression of the class will be chronological. It is expected that each student will maintain pace with the requirements of the class as presented on the unit calendars.

The course will be structured around the themes given in the AP Course Description. Emphasis will be given to the following themes:

  • The Expansion of Political Democracy
  • Religious Movements
  • Economic Transformations
  • Demographic Patterns
  • Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Roles
  • War and Diplomacy
  • The Reform Tradition
  • Constitutionalism

The incorporation of these themes will occur across the following major units of study:

  1. Colonial Developments to 1754
  2. The Revolutionary Period, 1754-1781
  3. The Development of the Republic, 1781-1800
  4. The Age of Jefferson & the Transformation of the Economy, 1800-1828
  5. The Age of Jackson & the Spirit of Reform, 1820-1840
  6. Slavery, Settlement, Sectionalism, and Secession, 1840-1860
  7. Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1876
  8. Industrialization and Urbanization in the Gilded Age, 1870-1900
  9. The New South and the Last West, 1876-1900
  10. Progressivism, 1900-1917
  11. America on the World Stage, 1870-1919
  12. The Roaring ‘20s, 1919-1929
  13. The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1941
  14. The Second World War, 1933-1945
  15. The Cold War, 1945-1990
  16. The Great Society and the Expanding Federal Government, 1945-1980
  17. The Legacy of Civil Rights, 1945-1990
  18. The Reagan Revolution & the End of the 20th Century, 1980-2000

Course Objectives

Among the objectives of this course, students will:

1. know the influences that specific ideas and beliefs had on a period of history and how events may have been different in the absence of those ideas and beliefs.

2. know how to assess the credibility and authenticity of historical sources and how to evaluate different historical interpretations.

3. interpret such primary sources as documents, maps, graphs, political cartoons, and other pictorial evidence.

4. present a coherent thesis when making an argument and support the thesis with appropriate evidence.

5. engage in information literacy strategies, use the Internet, technology tools and resources, and apply information-management skills to answer questions and expand knowledge.

6. analyze the intent and authorship of historical documents to determine bias or point of view.

7. prepare for the AP exam in May, specifically learning the skills of writing a free response question (FRQ) and a document-based question (DBQ)

Course Readings

Main Text:

Kennedy, David M., et al. The American Pageant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006.

Other Texts/Reading Selections Include, But Are Not Limited To The Following:

Blassingame, John. The Slave Community. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.

Cummins, D. Duane and William Gee White. Contrasting Decades: The 1920’s and

1930’s. New York: Benziger Bruce & Glencoe, Inc., 1973.

Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It. New York:

Vintage Books, 1989.

Kennedy, David M., and Thomas A. Bailey, ed. The American Spirit. 2 vols. 10th ed. Boston:

Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.

Madaras, Larry, and James M. SoRelle, ed. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial

Issues in American history. 2 vols. 4th ed. Guilford, Connecticut: The Dushkin

Publishing Group, Inc., 1991.

McClellan, Jim R., ed. Changing Interpretations of America’s Past. 2 vols. Guilford,

Connecticut: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., 1994.

Morgan, Edmund S. The Birth of the Republic, 1763-1789. Chicago: The University of

Chicago Press, 1993.

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: New American Library, 2001.

Wheeler, William Bruce and Susan D. Becker, ed. Discovering the American Past. 2 vols. 5th

ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.

Course Grading—Each quarter is broken down into the following components:

  • MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS: There will be three to four tests each nine weeks. Most will either be worth 100 points but some may be worth 50 points to be combined with a short essay worth 50 points. A test usually consists of 40-80 multiple choice questions and may cover several textbook chapters. Tests are sometimes given in conjunction with an in-class essay (over the course of two days). MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS ARE WORTH 25%OF THE NINE WEEKS' GRADE.
  • ESSAYS: There will be two or three full essays and one shorter essay each nine weeks which will be a combination of in-class and out-of-class assignments. The longer essays will be worth 100 points and the shorter essay will be worth 50 points and will be combined with the short test which is worth 50 points. These essays will include document-based questions (DBQ) and free-response questions (FRQ). In-class essays are sometimes given in conjunction with the multiple choice tests. We will work hard on developing the writing skills necessary to do well on the AP exam given in May. ESSAYS ARE WORTH 25% OF THE NINE WEEKS' GRADE.
  • PROJECTS: There will be one project each nine weeks, WORTH 10% OF THE NINE WEEKS’ GRADE. The projects are as follows:
  • 1st Nine Weeks—Summer Assignment
  • 2nd Nine Weeks—Mini-Teach Assignment
  • 3rd Nine Weeks—Devil in the White City Assignment
  • 4th Nine Weeks—History Mystery (after the May exam)
  • HOMEWORK/PARTICIPATION: Homework assignments will be much different in this class than most of your other classes. Homework is not always collected, but is still to be completed. Much of your homework grade will come from discussion questions (DQs) that you are to prepare based on your reading. I will give a grade for MOST homework assigned, although sometimes this grade will be based on your oral responses (participation) in class or a spot check of homework. HOMEWORK IS WORTH 15% OF THE NINE WEEKS' GRADE.
  • READING QUIZZES: Approximately twelve reading quizzes will be given each nine weeks. Some will be announced and some will be unannounced. ALL READING QUIZZES ARE OPEN NOTE (your own handwritten notes in a spiral notebook). Your lowest 2 reading quiz grades will be dropped. If you miss one or two reading quizzes due to absence, they will count as your drops. After that, you will come in to make up missed quizzes. READING QUIZZES ARE WORTH 15% OF THE NINE WEEKS' GRADE.
  • TERMS QUIZZES: There will be three or four terms quizzes each quarter, each worth 25 points and each to be announced well ahead of time. You will have 15 minutes to complete each term quiz. TERMS QUIZZES ARE WORTH 10% OF THE NINE WEEKS' GRADE.

Grades will be based on the following scale:

92%-100% A 83%-91% B 74%-82% C 65%-74% D 0%-64% F

Approximate Course Outline (You may want to set up a 3-ringed notebook by the units listed below)

FIRST QUARTER

UNIT 1—Colonial Developments to 1754 (includes summer assignment)

Text, ch 1-5

UNIT 2—The Revolutionary Period, 1754-1781

Text, ch 6-8

UNIT 3 –The Development of the Republic, 1781-1800

Text, ch 9-10

UNIT 4 –The Age of Jefferson & the Rise of Industrialism, 1800-1828

Text, ch 11-12

SECOND QUARTER

UNIT 5 –The Age of Jackson, 1820-1840

Text, ch 13-15

UNIT 6—Slavery, Settlement, Sectionalism, and Secession, 1840-1860

Text, ch 16-19

UNIT 7—Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1876

Text, ch 20-22

MID-TERM EXAMS (December)

UNIT 8—Industrialization and Urbanization in the Gilded Age, 1870-1900

Text, ch 23-25

THIRD QUARTER

UNIT 9—The New South and the Last West, 1876-1900

Text, ch. 26

UNIT 10—America on the World Stage, 1870-1919

Text, ch. 27 & 30

UNIT 11—Progressivism, 1900-1917

Text, ch. 28-29

UNIT 12—The Roaring ‘20s, 1919-1929

Text, ch. 30-31

UNIT 13—The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1941

Text, ch. 32-33

FOURTH QUARTER

UNIT 14—The Second World War, 1933-1945

Text, ch. 34-35

UNIT 15—The Era of the Cold War, 1945-1990

Text, ch. 36-37

UNIT 16—The Legacy of Civil Rights, 1945-1990

Text, ch. 37-38

UNIT 17—The Great Society and the Expanding Federal Government, 1945-1980

Text, ch. 38-39

UNIT 18--The Revival of Conservatism & the End of the 20th Century, 1980-2000

Text, ch. 40-42

ATTENDANCE (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY)

You are expected to be in class on time every day. You will miss important materials and discussion if you are not with us. If your absence is excused, YOU are responsible for getting make-up assignments from me or another student. Work not made up in a timely manner will receive a zero. All make-up work must be completed within an equivalent number of school days after you return to school. If an assignment is due on a day that you are absent, you are expected to turn that assignment in AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS ON THE DAY you return to school. If you are absent the day before a test or announced quiz, you are generally expected to take the test or quiz as you will have plenty of advanced notice of the test or quiz on the calendar. If you miss this class on a test day, you may be responsible to take an alternate test, at my discretion. Unexcused absences will result in no credit and no chance for make-up work (see p. 16 of student handbook for further clarification).

If you are in school on a day that an assignment is due but are absent from my class, you are expected to turn that assignment in on that day (I reserve the right to determine extenuating circumstances). Here are a couple of examples which often come up:

Example #1: You have my class 3rd period and don’t come in to school until 5th period. You have plenty of opportunity to bring me your work that day and need to do so to receive full credit (I will give half credit if turned in the next day).

Example #2: You have my class 5th period and are here for the first four periods but have a field trip in the afternoon. You need to turn the work in before you go on the field trip to receive credit (I will give half credit if turned in the next day).

I will issue a 30 minute detention for each tardy in excess of two per grading period. No extra time will be given to complete a test or quiz due to tardiness and quizzes missed due to tardiness will be scored as a zero.

“Six Day” Absence Rule (taken from student handbook, p. 14): Any student who misses more than 6 days of class in one grading period must document why he/she is missing so much school. Documentation could include excuses from doctors and dentists, court appearances, family emergencies such as a death and other reasons as approved by the Administration.

If a student cannot document his/her absences, those absences beyond 6 per grading period in any course will be considered unexcused, students will not be permitted to make up assignments missed during those days, and the student may be given a failing grade for that grading period. Any time a student is more than 15 minutes late for a class, this will count as one of the six absences for that class.

LATE WORK

Except under extenuating circumstances (as determined by the instructor) and the examples given above, late work will not be accepted for credit. Please understand that work not completed at the beginning of class is considered late and will not be accepted for credit. Please print off all work ahead of time and don’t bring me a flash drive asking me to print it off or a story about how you just need to print your work and you’ll get it to me later in the day. Yes printers run out of ink and computers do funny things, but it is your responsibility to get me your work. Come to school early and get your work printed out ahead of time if you need to.

EXTRA CREDIT

I will be hosting “Movies & Moore” each nine weeks for the chance at extra credit. You may earn up to 2% points to be added to your quarter grade. There will be no other extra credit offered so please take advantage of these lunchtime opportunities. A schedule will be given for these movies shortly.

WEBSITE

Please take advantage of my website which has the assignment calendars as well as other information (I will be adding as the year goes on).

GRADES AND THE AP EXAM

This course is designed to help prepare you for the AP exam given in May (although that is not its only purpose). Over the past two school years, Oakwood AP U.S. History students have scored an average of over 4.0 on the exam as compared to about 2.8 nationally. About 100 students have taken the exam the past two years and over 90% of them have scored 3 or higher. Work hard and you’ve got a decent shot to do well on the exam.

While not a perfect correlation in every case, the course is designed in the following way:

A=4 or 5 on the exam

B=3 or 4 on the exam

C=2 or 3 on the exam

D=1 or 2 on the exam

Some A students have scored a 2 and some D students have scored a 4. Again, it is not a perfect correlation.

FINALLY

I love teaching AP history and have done so for over twenty years. You will learn a lot in this class, not only about history, but about writing, about studying, about yourself. I am demanding but reasonable. I love to see students succeed.

Ms. Hess used to put the following quote on her syllabus and I believe it is appropriate to conclude with: “AP is a marathon, not a sprint. Run accordingly.”