AP United States History Syllabus 2015-2016 Mr. Chad Coleman Room 401 ccoleman@scspk12.org Course Description: AP United States History is a course designed to be the equivalent of a freshman college course and can earn students college credit by taking the AP Exam. This course is a comprehensive survey of United States history beginning with the colonial period and ending with the post World War II era to the present. This is not intended to be a course that details what happened, but rather it will ask why and how and study the consequences of actual events. New - All students will take the semester final even if they are taking the AP Exam. AP Central Website: https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-united-states-history Please use this site for all AP Exam Resources. Course Objectives: After completing this course, the student will be able 1) to master a broad body of historical knowledge 2) to enhance critical thinking and analytical skills 3) to interpret and apply data from original documents 4) to use historical data to support an argument or position 5) to prepare for and pass the AP Exam Required Texts: 1) America s History 8 th Edition for the AP Course by Henretta, Hinderaker, Edwards and Self. Launchpad: www.highschool.bfwpub.com/launchpad/henretta8ehs Recommended Text: 1) A People s History of the United States by Howard Zinn 2) Strive for a 5; or any AP US History Study aid book A 3-Ring Binder is required. Suggested 2 inch Binder. Expectations: 1) AP United States History will be taught as a college level course. Therefore, diligence and quality work are expected. 2) Students are responsible for all material presented in class, whether present or not. It is up to the student to get or make up any work missed. 3) Students must come to class prepared for lecture and discussion. The students will be assigned daily readings and these must be completed before coming to class. Due to the limitations on time, we will not be able to always cover all of the details outlined in the readings, but the student is responsible for all of the material covered in the assigned readings. Ask, if there are any questions. 4) Students can expect a quiz on these readings at the beginning of class. 5) Respect and Christian Fellowship are expected of all students at all times in this class. Late Work Policy: Late work will only be accepted with a 50% deduction up to the next class period. In the case of an absence, it is solely the student s responsibility to get any work missed or make up any work. Cheating: Cheating is absolutely unacceptable. If you are caught cheating in any way, your parents will be notified and you will receive a zero. Extra Credit: Extra Credit will not be available. Odds and Ends: - Be prepared to read - Do not procrastinate - Be prepared to write - Develop good time management skills
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS: Required Writing Assignments: 1) Students will have a take-home DBQ assignment as well as in class DBQ questions. 2) There will be several smaller writing assignments throughout the year. History Packets: Students will get a series of packets they are to fill out as we progress through the year. These packets are going to make a great study tool at the end of the semester as we prepare for the AP Exam. These are massive and only small sections will be graded before unit tests. These are not to be done all at once. These packets should be kept in their binders. History Packets are: - Decade - President - Major Events - Supreme Court Decisions - Amendments Binders: A Binder check will be done for a grade throughout the year. I will check for completed: 1) Notes 4) Writing assignments 2) Packets 3) Political Cartoons Research Project: Students will select a topic of American History that is of interest to them and research it. Instead of only assigning a paper, students will be required to compile and synthesize their research and then present it along with their formal paper. Students should remember that this is a major point s project. They are encouraged to be creative and think outside the box while maintaining integrity as a researcher and presenter. *Important: It is the student s choice to take AP United States History. It is the student s responsibility to stay on task, keep up with the assignments and turn in homework on time. It is also the student s responsibility to maintain above a C average for this course. If a student s grade is at a C or below for semester, the student will be moved into a regular United States History class. *Note: The student will receive a calendar for each month, laying out specified readings from the text and outside sources, as well as test days and homework due dates. Plagiarism Policy: Because of easy accessibility to and borrowing of electronic and other forms of information, plagiarism has become a major educational concern. Plagiarism arises out of the following research/writing/homework activities: - Deliberate incorporation (or cutting and pasting) of another source s material-words, pictures, ideas, theories, products-without proper acknowledgement of that source - Accidental incorporation (or cutting and pasting) of another source s material-words, pictures, ideas theories, products-caused by unprofessional research and/or writing - Intentional or unintentional copying/sharing of peer work (daily assignments, presentations, PowerPoints, in-class work, etc ) Because plagiarism is both ethically and legally wrong, none of these activities are acceptable in the classroom. Following are the consequences of a detected plagiarism: - A grade of F on the assignment/project with no option of re-doing the assignment/project - A demerit for Academic Dishonesty - Possible refusal of a faculty letter of recommendation for college applications General Info: It is important for the student and parent to know that the students will be required to read each chapter and will be given a quiz over those chapters approximately every other class. These quizzes will be around 10 points each. I will be grading their notes over these chapters as well which are also worth 10 points. LaunchPad: The text is available online through each students LaunchPad access code. This is given to the students in class. The Majority of their points in this class will come from: - Chapter Quizzes - Chapter Notes - Unit Tests - History Packets
General Outline of the school year: * August 2 weeks (Ch. 1-5) 1. Historiography Why do we study history? a. primary vs. secondary sources 2. Age of Exploration a. Portugal, Spain and England s roles in exploration and colonization b. Mayan, Incan and Aztec societies and reactions to explorers c. Religious diversity in English colonies - Protestants, Puritans, Quakers, Catholics d. problems in English colonies - Bacon s Rebellion 3. Colonial Society a. differences between the northern, middle and southern colonies - economics, agriculture, religion, lifestyles b. population growth and migration c. colonial slavery origins of d. the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening 4. The Road to Revolution a. British imperial policy b. French and Indian War c. various economic problems and issues d. move from salutary neglect by King George III e. resistance to Britain * September 4 weeks (Ch. 6-9) 1. The American Revolution a. the Declaration of Independence b. Thomas Paine and Common Sense c. Patriots vs. Loyalists d. Proclamation of 1763 e. the effects of the Revolution on Native Americans, Africans and women 2. The Confederation and the Constitution a. state constitutions and the Articles of Confederation b. Constitutional Convention c. Federalists and AntiFederalists arguments for and against the Constitution d. the federal Constitution and the Bill of Rights * October 4 weeks (Ch. 10-11) 1. The New Ship of State a. Washington s presidency b. roles of Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and Henry Knox c. emergence of political parties Federalists vs. Republicans d. arguments over a national bank between Hamilton and Jefferson e. French Revolution f. Adam s presidency - XYZ Affair - Alien and Sedition Acts 2. Jeffersonian Republic a. Marbury vs. Madison b. Louisiana Purchase c. foreign policy and the hated Embargo * November 2 ½ weeks (Ch. 12-13, 16) 1. War of 1812 consequences of a. Hartford Convention 2. Monroe s presidency a. Era of Good Feelings b. Monroe Doctrine 3. Andrew Jackson a. the corrupt bargain b. Jacksonian democracy and the civil service c. treatment of Native Americans 4. The South and slavery question
a. King Cotton b. everyday life and slave roles - myth of the Old South - Sambo personality - active vs. passive resistance * December 2 ½ weeks (Ch. 16-19) 1. The South and slavery a. abolition b. Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850 c. Kansas-Nebraska Bill d. literary reaction to slavery - Uncle Tom s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and The Impending Crisis of the South by Hinton Helper e. Dred Scott case f. election of 1860 and secession 2. Manifest Destiny and expansion a. Texas question b. James K. Polk and the Mexican War 3. Civil War a. reasons for and ideology of b. differences between the North and South - economies, politics, resources 4. Final Exam comprehensive with United States map * January 4 weeks (Ch. 20-22) 1. Civil War a. Confederate and Union approaches to b. Lincoln s presidency - martial law declared - Emancipation Proclamation - 13 th Amendment c. military strategy and foreign policy d. role of African Americans in the war e. overall effects of the war on the North, South and West f. assassination of Lincoln 2. Reconstruction a. the Freedmen s Bureau b. Lincoln s plan vs. Johnson s plan for reconstruction of the South c. southern state governments and roles of African Americans in society and politics d. 14 th Amendment e. Compromise of 1877 f. impeachment of Johnson g. KKK h. carpetbaggers vs. scalawags 3. The New South a. Jim Crow laws b. Democratic Party party of racism c. crop-lien system d. Plessy v. Ferguson e. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois * February 4 weeks (Ch. 23-28) 1. Gilded Age a. Grant s presidency - corruption in the government b. 15 th Amendment c. Mark Twain d. Populists as a political party 2. Industrial Revolution a. rise of the monopoly - horizontal vs. vertical integration b. evolutions of the corporation
c. Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan d. Social Darwinism e. new technology 3. Immigration a. new vs. old immigrants b. restrictions c. problems urban society d. Jane Addams and Hull House 4. Expansionism/Imperialism a. Spanish-American War - acquisition of Puerto Rico and the Philippines b. Open Door policy John Hay 5. Progressivism a. T. Roosevelt s presidency - Panama Canal - Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine - Roosevelt as a trust-breaker b. Taft s presidency * March 4 weeks (Ch. 29-34) 1. World War I a. Wilson s presidency - initial declaration of neutrality and isolationism - reasons to join the war: a war to end all war and a war for democracy b. Central vs. Allied powers c. Wilson s 14 Points and the League of Nations d. Treaty of Versailles and the terms ending the war future problems? e. the Senate vs. Wilson 2. 1920s a. Red Scare b. postwar economy c. the new woman d. Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 e. Harlem Renaissance f. resurgence of the KKK g. responses to modernism h. 18 th Amendment 3. The Great Depression Hoover and FDR a. reasons for b. action taken by both Hoover and FDR c. social conditions d. labor unions 4. The New Deal a. programs b. pros and cons c. Constitutionality 5. Shadow of war a. problems in Europe b. policy of isolationism and neutrality c. reactions to d. Pearl Harbor and declaration of war * April 4 weeks (Ch. 35-37) 1. World War II a. U.S. involvement b. the Holocaust c. Allied vs. Axis Powers d. diplomacy, war aims and wartime conferences e. wartime economy ends the Great Depression
f. effects on women and minorities g. demographic changes h. FDR and Truman i. atomic bomb j. U.S. as a world power 2. Cold War a. beginnings of b. whose fault? c. Truman and containment d. Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO e. Korean War f. McCarthyism 3. 1950s a. Eisenhower s presidency b. Consensus and conformity c. Civil Rights Movement - Brown v. Board of Education - Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Emmitt Till d. social critics, nonconformists, cultural rebels * May 2 to 3 weeks (38-42) 1. 1960s a. JFK s presidency - Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, assassination b. LBJ and the Great Society c. civil rights explosion d. Cold War confrontations - Asia, Latin America, Europe e. détente f. antiwar movement and the counterculture 2. 1970s to the present a. Nixon s presidency - China, Watergate b. Vietnam c. economic changes d. Conservatism and Reagan e. end of the Cold War f. Bush, Sr. - Persian Gulf War g. Clinton Administration - Somalia - impeachment h. Post-Cold War - globalization and the American economy - unilateralism vs. multilateralism in foreign policy - domestic and foreign terrorism - environmental issues VIDEOS WATCHED IN CLASS: AMERICA: THE STORY OF US THE PRESIDENTS AFTERSHOCK: Beyond The Civil War GANGS OF NEW YORK (History Channel Presentation) (History Channel Presentation) (History Channel Presentation) (Select scenes) This semester we will watch videos clips from motion pictures and documentaries to enhance your child s understanding of the material we are covering. All movies are approved by the Social Studies department and screened before watched in class. Please come to me with any questions, problems, and concerns. Sincerely, Chad Coleman CColeman@scspk12.org
AP U.S. HISTORY Block: Parents: Please sign this to confirm you have read this syllabus and are aware of the expectations of your child and are aware of the major assignments and videos used to supplement this course. PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN BY Parent / Guardian Printed Name Student s Name (Printed) Parent / Guardian Signature Home Phone Number E-mail: If your SIS E-mail is updated I will use that - If not please give me a way to contact you. Email Addresses: - Who? - Who? Any extra requests/ instructions?