United States History Advanced Placement (AP)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The AP program in United States history is designed to provide students with the
analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with issues and
information. AP students will learn to assess historical materials, their relevance, reliability, and importance to a given interpretive problem. They will also learn how to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented through historical scholarship. The AP course is intended to assist students in developing the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in an essay format.
THE STUDENT WILL:
1. Demonstrate in depth knowledge of United States history.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the origins and development of the United States
Constitution with application to current political structure.
3. Make comparisons among varying historical interpretations of United States history.
4. Analyze and discuss opposing accounts or explanations of an event by the use of
historical evidence to develop and defend opinions on historical issues.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of historical chronology.
6. Interpret and apply data from primary source documents, maps, charts, graphs,
cartoons, etc.
7. Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship of current events in the context of
historical analysis.
8. Develop an understanding and awareness of the many multicultural contributions to
the history of the United States.
9. Prepare for and successfully pass the AP U.S. History Exam.
COURSE CONTENT:
I. Chapters 1-8 (3 weeks)
Themes:
· The emergence of American cultural traits and the factors that contributed to them
· Emerging regional patterns and how they evolved
· Colonists reevaluate their relationship with Great Britain and with each other
· The American Revolution as a conservative or radical movement
· The American Revolution's place in world developments of the time period
1) Discovery and Settlement of the New World
2) America and the British Empire
DBQ: New England and Chesapeake Regions
3) Colonial Society in the Mid-Eighteenth Century
Major Assignments:
o Compare and contrast New England, Middle, and Southern colonies.
o Discuss characteristics of the Puritan experiment in colonial America.
o Discuss the economic and political relationships between Great Britain and the
American colonies prior to 1700.
o Discuss the origins of slavery in colonial America.
o Describe the impact of Bacon's Rebellion on Southern colonies.
FRQ: Analyze trade routes and colonial economic development
4) Road to Revolution
Major Assignments
o Explain the role of mercantilism and its impact on the various colonies.
o Compare the differences between French and English colonial claims in North
America.
o Discuss the impact of the Treaty of Paris on America.
o How did the victory over France lead to the American Revolution?
o Discuss how changes in British colonial policy (176376) led to the American
Revolution.
DBQ: French and Indian War
5) American Revolution (1 week)
o Work of the Continental Congress
o Declaration of Independence
o War Years
o Articles of Confederation
o Peace of Paris (1783)
o Creation of new state governments
Major Assignments
o Justify the reasons for America's claim of independence from Great Britain.
o Do you think the American Revolution was avoidable?
o Discuss the economic and social changes brought about by the American Revolution.
o Discuss events that led up to the establishment of the Articles of Confederation..
What, if any, were its weaknesses and successes?
DBQ: American Revolution as a civil war
II. Chapters 9-10
Themes:
· Impact of colonial experience on post-independence government
· Development of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights
· The emergence of political parties and the factors that divided them
· The development of sectional specialization and interdependence
· The conflict between national power and states' rights
1) Constitution and the New Republic [2 weeks]
A. Drafting the Constitution
B. Ratification Problems
C. Bill of Rights
D. Washington as president
E. John Adams as president
1. Alien and Sedition Acts
2. Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
3. XYZ Affair
Major Assignments
o Why has the constitution been referred to as a "bundle of compromises"?
o Compare the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution.
o Discuss the factors that led to the development of political parties in America.
o Discuss the factors that led to the development of U.S. foreign policy during the
Washington-Adams administration.
o Discuss the impact of the Judiciary Act of 1801.
DBQ: Constitutional Convention
FRQ: Analyze Anti-Federalist opposition to ratification.
III. Chapter 11
Themes:
· The peaceful transfer of power from one party to another
· Changes in party positions
· National growth and the growth of nationalism
1) Age of Jefferson and Madison [2 weeks]
A. Jefferson as President
1. Supreme Court under John Marshall
2. Louisiana Purchase
3. War with the Barbary pirates
4. Neutral rights, impressments, embargo
5. Legacy of Jeffersonian democracy
Major Assignments
o Why has the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800 been referred to as the
“Revolution of 1800"?
o What factors led to the decline of the Federalist Party in America?
o What were Thomas Jefferson's three greatest legacies?
B. Madison as President
1. Internal problems
2. War of 1812
i. Causes
ii. Canadian excursion
iii. Hartford Convention
iv. Treaty of Ghent
v. Battle of New Orleans
Major Assignments
o What factors led America to the War of 1812?
o Discuss the earliest examples of how the federal government was challenged by those
advocating "states' rights".
IV. Chapter 12
1) Nationalism and Economic Expansion [1 week]
A. James Monroe "Era of Good Feelings"
B. Panic of 1819
C. Western expansion
D. Slavery and the Missouri Compromise
E. Foreign problems
1. Canada
2. Florida
3. Monroe Doctrine
F. Corrupt Bargain election of 1824
G. Economic revolution
1. Early railroads and canals
2. Expansion of business
Major Assignments
o Explain factors contributing to American nationalism in the post War of 1812 era.
o Discuss important contributions brought on by industrialization and its impact on the
American economy.
o Why did Thomas Jefferson refer to the issue of slavery in America as "a fireball in
the night" and how prophetic was his assertion?
DBQ: The evolution of American foreign policy 1793-1825
FRQ: Analyze the impact of the marker revolution on two regions.
V. Chapter 13-14
Themes:
· The emergence of the second American party system
· The emergence of the "Common Man" in American politics
· Geographical and economic expansion
· Reform movements and the American character
1) Age of Andrew Jackson [1 week]
A. Democracy and the "uncommon man"
B. Changes in structure of political parties
C. Internal improvements and emergence of states' rights
D. Nullification crisis
1. Tariff issue
2. Peggy Eaton" affair"
3. Calhoun v. Jackson
E. Bank war: Jackson v. Biddle
F. Presidency of Martin Van Buren
G. Removal of the Native American
1. Independent treasury system
2. Panic of 1837
Major Assignment
o Discuss factors that led to the rise of the "New Democracy" during the 1830's.
o Why was the election of Jackson referred to as a revolution?
o Was the Indian Removal (Trail of Tears) necessary?
DBQ: Jacksonian Democrats
VI. Chapter 15
Themes:
· Sectionalism
1) Sectionalism [1 week]
A. The South
1. Cotton kingdom
2. Trade and industry
3. Society and culture
B. The North
1. Industry
2. Agriculture
C. Westward expansion
1. Advance of agricultural frontier
2. Life on the frontier
DBQ: The effects of early westward movement on the American nation
FRQ: Changing roles of women between 1790 and 1860.
VII. Chapter 16
1) Creating an American culture [1 week]
A. Cultural nationalism
1. Literature
2. Art and music
3. Architecture
B. Education reform
C. Religious revivalism
D. Utopian experiments: Mormons, Oneida, New Harmony, Shakers, etc.
E. Transcendentalism
F. Reform crusades
1. Emerging women's rights movement
2. Abolitionism
3. Temperance
4. Prisons
5. Mentally ill
Major Assignments
o Compare and contrast the First and Second Great Awakenings and their impact on
religion in America.
FRQ: Influence of the Second Great Awakening.
o Discuss reform movements in America. Which is most significant in order
importance?
VIII. Chapters 17- 18
1) Territorial Expansion and Continued Sectional Crisis [1 week]
A. Manifest Destiny
1. Texas annexation
2. Oregon territory
3. California
B. James K. Polk and the Mexican War
1. Slavery and the territories
2. Wilmot Proviso
Major Assignments
o Discuss the role of Manifest Destiny during the election of 1844 and what its impact
on both foreign affairs and domestic policies was.
o Compare Southern black slavery with Northern wage slavery.
FRQ: Analyze creation of African American culture in slavery.
IX. Chapters 19-20
Theme:
· Slavery and causes of the Civil War
1) The 1850's: Decade of Crisis [1 week]
A. Compromise of 1850
B. Uncle Tom's Cabin
C. Kansas-Nebraska Act
D. “Bleeding Kansas"
1. Pottawatomie Massacre
2. Lecompton Constitution
E. Dred Scott decision
F. Lincoln-Douglas debates, 1858
G. Harpers Ferry raid and John Brown
H. Election of 1860
1. Sectional candidates
2. Lincoln's election
I. Secession crisis
DBQ: Lincoln and the Abolition of Slavery
FRQ: Analyze effectiveness of political compromise in reducing sectional tensions.
X. Chapters 21-22
Themes:
· Secession and war
· Reconstruction issues and plans
· The struggle for equality
· Native American relations
1) American Civil War or the War Between the States [1 week]
A. Union
1. Mobilization and financing
2. Civil liberties
3. Election of 1864
B. Confederacy
1. Confederate constitution
2. Mobilization and financing
3. States' rights and the Confederacy
C. Foreign affairs and diplomacy during wartime
D. Military strategy, campaigns, and battles
E. Abolition of slavery
1. Emancipation Proclamation
2. Freedmen's Bureau
3. Thirteenth Amendment
F. Effects of war on society
1. Inflation and public debt
2. Role of women
3. Devastation of the South
4. Changing labor patterns
Major Assignments
o Discuss how the break down of the major political parties during the 1850's was a
determining factor leading to the Civil War in America.
o Compare the grievances of the South that led to the Civil War with those factors
leading to the American Revolution.
o Do you think the War Between the States was inevitable or avoidable?
o Discuss the role of diplomacy during the Civil War.
o Compare the leadership of Lincoln and Davis during the Civil War.
FRQ: Evaluate the impact of the Civil War on regional political and economic
developments.
XI. Chapter 23
1) Reconstruction to 1877 [1 week]
A. Presidential Reconstruction under Lincoln and Johnson
B. Radical Republican (Congressional) Reconstruction
1. Civil rights and the Fourteenth Amendment
2. Military reconstruction
3. Impeachment of Johnson
4. Fifteenth Amendment and African-American suffrage
C. Southern state government: problems, achievements, and weaknesses
D. Stolen election of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction
Major Assignments
o Compare presidential versus congressional plans for Reconstruction.
o Discuss factors surrounding congressional rejection of newly elected Southern legislators
in 1865 and the impeachment of President Johnson.
o Discuss the impact of the Compromise of 1877 and its impact on the South and the new
freedmen.
DBQ: Reconstruction and justice for freed Blacks
XII. Chapters 24-26
Themes:
· Political alignment and corruption in the Gilded Age
· Role of government in economic growth and regulation
· Social, economic, and political impact of industrialization
1) Industrialization and Corporate Consolidation [2 weeks]
A. Industrial growth: railroads, iron, coal, electricity, steel, oil, and banks
B. Industrialization and Corporate Consolidation
1. Laissez-faire conservatism
i. “Gospel of Wealth"
ii. Myth of the "self-made man"
iii. Social Darwinism
iv. Social critics and dissenters
2. Effects of technological development on workers and work place
3. Union movement
i. National Trade Union, Knights of Labor, and American
Federation of Labor
ii. Strikes: Haymarket Square, Homestead, and Pullman
C. Urban Society
1. Post Civil War lure of the city
2. Immigration in late Nineteenth Century
3. City problems
i. Reform movements
a. Social legislation
b. Settlement houses: Jane Adams and Lillian Wald
c. Structural reforms in government
4. Intellectual and Cultural Movements
Major Assignments
o Describe some of the unfair practices employed by railroads that led to the demand for
federal regulation.
o Discuss the role of women as it relates to the growth of cities in America.
FRQ: Analyze farmers’ and workers’ response to industrialization in the Gilded Age.
XIII. Chapter 27
Themes:
· The Conquest of the Indians
· The mining and cattle frontiers
· The industrialization of agriculture
1) New South and the End of the Frontier [1 week]
A. Politics in the New South
1. Redeemers
2. Plight of Whites and African Americans
3. Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws
B. Post war economy in the South
4. Sharecropping
5. Industrial beginnings
C. Cattle Kingdom
6. Open range ranching
7. Day of the cowboy
D. Building the railroad
E. Subordination of the Native American
8. Plains Indian wars
9. Plight of the Nez Perce and Chief Joseph
F. Problems in farming on the Plains
G. Mining bonanzas
Major Assignments
o Describe how reformers and humanitarians hastened the destruction of the Plains Indian
Culture.
o Compare and contrast the ideas of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.
DBQ: Plessey v. Ferguson
FRQ: To what extent was the “New South” a reality by WWI?
FRQ: Affects of technology and government actions on Plains Indians.
XIV. Chapters 29-30
1) Foreign Policy including Imperialism [2 weeks]
A. New imperialism
1. Purchase of Alaska
2. Blaine and Latin America
3. International Darwinism: missionaries, politicians, and naval
expansionists
4. Spanish-American War including Philippines Question
5. China and the Open Door policy
6. Theodore Roosevelt and the "Big Stick" including the Panama Canal
then and now.
B. New foreign policy initiatives
1. Taft and Dollar Diplomacy
2. Wilson and Moral Diplomacy
Major Assignments
o Compare the policies of Presidents Cleveland and McKinley on the issue of Hawaii.