Advanced Placement United States History St. John s College High School 2607 Military Rd. NW Washington DC, 20015 Course Description: The Advanced Placement Program in United States History is designed to provide students with analytic skills and factual knowledge to deal critically with the problems and materials in United States history. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. The College Board Course Goals: Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of American history from 1600-2000. Critically analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources for relevance, reliability and significance in the evaluation of historical questions and problems. Understand importance of historiography and the influence of various schools of thought on the current study of US history. Write clear, persuasive and detailed historical essays. Prepare for and successfully complete the AP exam. Course Themes: Politics and Government How has the Constitution remained both an instrument of continuity and an agent change throughout the history of the United States? How have the Presidents and Congress dealt with the social changes and economic growth of the United States? What role has the Supreme Court played in the political, social and economic development of the United States? Why has US foreign policy oscillated from isolation to intervention throughout its history? Technology and Economic Expansion How has technological innovation shaped the development of the United States both positively and negatively? How have economic interests influenced political and diplomatic decisions? How has government attempted to regulate business and the economic growth of the United States throughout its history? What role have banks played in the financial security and, at times, insecurity of the United States? Cultural and Social Change How has immigration been an engine of political, social and economic change throughout the history of the United States? How has religion played a role in the cultural development and transformation of the United States? How have minority groups and other social movements attempted to achieve greater political and economic equality? How did the institution of slavery and it after effects the continue to affect the United States history? How has American literature and journalism reflected American culture and been an agent of social change
Course Resources: (required text ***) PRIMARY TEXT: ***The Enduring Vision, A History of the American People, by Paul S. Boyer et al, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York. PRIMARY SOURCE READER: ***Voices of a People s History of the United States, edited by Zinn and Arnove, 2004, Seven Stories Press, New York. SUPPLEMENTAL PRIMARY SOURCE READERS: US History and Government Readings and Documents, ed. Margaret C. Moran, 2001, AMSCO Publishing. New York. The American Spirit, edited by Kennedy and Bailey, 10 th ed., Houghton Mifflin. New York. US History, Gale Group Database HISTORIOGRAPHY: ***The American Political Tradition, by Richard Hofstadter Lies My Teacher Told Me, James V. Loewen, 1996 Touchstone Publishing. ADDITIONAL SOURCES: ***United States History Preparing For The Advanced Placement Examination, by Newman and Schmalbach, 2004, AMSCO Publishing, New York. A History of the American People, by Paul Johnson, 1999, Harper Perennial, New York. American Heritage Magazine (school library has every issue published) Released US History Exams from the College Board Course Assessments: Student s grades based on the following: Daily homework. 15-20 pages of reading with questions. Class participation Essays (Students write an average of 20 essays per year) o Extensive use of Released AP US Examination Free Response Questions from the College Board s website which includes Document Based Questions and Thematic Essays o Thematic Essays Reading Quizzes (weekly) Timed In-Class Essays (monthly) Comprehensive Multiple Choice Tests formatted to the AP US exam (one per quarter) Course Overview and Outline Essay-Writing Skills A large amount of class time is devoted to essay writing. Students begin the year writing 5 paragraph essays with an emphasis on thesis development. Once that has been mastered, students write thematic essays to a DBQ without the documents. Students then write a second essay (same question) referencing the included documents using the complete DBQ. (This reinforces the requirement that all DBQ essays provide substantial outside information.) As the year continues, students write both thematic and document based essays using the 6 paragraph format, which requires students to acknowledge the opposing viewpoint and evidence presented in history generally or as specifically identified in the DBQ. Essay question are taken from released College Board exams, teacher-generated (based on the course themes detailed above), and other sources.
Primary Sources Throughout the school year students study a variety of primary sources. The Zinn reader, A Voice of the People s History of the United States, is used continuously with the textbook to elaborate and expand events presented in the textbook. In the beginning of the school year, students are taught to identify the following characteristics of all documents: date, author, source/type, intended audience, and the presence of bias. EXAMPLES: TEXTS: Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God, The Federalist Papers #10, Abraham Lincoln s contradictory letters discussing his view of slavery IMAGES: The cartoons of Thomas Nast, World War I and II propaganda posters, various maps, charts and graphs illustrating historic events and demographic changes AUDIO: Recordings of Ragtime and Big Band, Elvis, James Brown VIDEO: Documentaries such as The Fog of War, Ken Burn s Civil War, Eyes on the Prize Historiography Attention is given to historical interpretation throughout the year. Students read Richard Hofstadter s American Political Tradition, which analyzes and critiques various schools of thought in American history including, among others, American Exceptionalism and the Marxist interpretation of history. Students are challenged to agree or disagree with Hofstadter s analysis. Students also read Thomas DiLorenzo s The Truth About the "Robber Barons", a libertarian reinterpretation of Gilded Age industrialists. Additionally excerpts from Paul Johnson s History of the American People, include analysis of historians such as Frederick Jackson Turner, Charles and Mary Beard. Care is taken to include both left (Zinn, Loewen) and right (Johnson) perspectives of history. After the AP exam, students write an essay using historiography that answers the question, Who was the Best President of the United States? Supreme Court Case Summer Project Students research 50+ historically important Supreme Court decisions. [Abridged Primary Sources of Decisions] Each decision is summarized and categorized chronologically into various areas of the law in order to see the significant role of the court in U.S. history (attached) Pre-Columbian and Early Colonial America Enduring Vision Chapter 1. Native Peoples of America, to 1500 Enduring Vision Chapter 2. The Rise of the Atlantic World, 1400-1625 Enduring Vision Chapter 3. Expansion and Diversity: The Rise of Colonial America, 1625-1700 Pre Columbian Societies European Exploration Spanish Conquest Influence of Protestant Reformation English, French and Dutch Colonies New England and Puritan Hegemony Halfway Covenant Chesapeake Colonies Southern Colonies Diversity in the Colonies Indentured Servitude and African Slavery Eradication of the Indians French Canada and Spanish California
The Colonial Struggle To Nationhood Enduring Vision Chapter 4. The Bonds of Empire, 1660-1750 Enduring Vision Chapter 5. Roads to Revolution, 1750-1776 Enduring Vision Chapter 6. Securing Independence, Defining Nationhood, 1776-1788 Dominion of New England and the Glorious Revolution Trade and Mercantilism Immigration Colonial Class Structure The Great Awakening The Colonial Wars Slave Rebellions and Slave Codes British Taxation and Colonial Resistance Declaration of Independence Patriots and Tories Articles of Confederation Shay s Rebellion US Constitution and the Bill of Rights Politics of a New Nation Enduring Vision Chapter 7. Launching the New Republic, 1789-1800 Enduring Vision Chapter 8. Jeffersonianism and the Era of Good Feelings, 1801-1824 Hamilton s Financial Plan Washington s Foreign Policy Development of Political Parties Federalists and Republicans Farewell Address Alien and Sedition Acts The Revolution of 1800 Republican Motherhood Marshall and the Supreme Court Louisiana Purchase France and US Foreign Policy 1789-1812 War of 1812 Hartford Convention and the demise of the Federalists The Era of Good Feelings The impact of the Cotton Gin The Slavery Question and the Missouri Compromise The Monroe Doctrine Age of Jackson Enduring Vision Chapter 9. The Transformation of American Society, 1815-1840 Enduring Vision Chapter 10. Democratic Politics, Religious Revival, and Reform, 1824-40 Western Culture Land Speculation and the Panic of 1819 Transportation Innovations Clay s American System The First Industrial Revolution Social Egalitarianism and the development of a Middle Class
The Corrupt Bargain Jacksonian Democracy Nullification Crisis Trail of Tears War on the Bank Abolition Movement and the Gag Rule Second Party System Second Great Awakening Antebellum Reform Movements Antebellum America Enduring Vision Chapter 11. Technology, Culture, and Everyday Life, 1840-1860 Enduring Vision Chapter 12. The Old South and Slavery, 1830-1860 Enduring Vision Chapter 13. Immigration, Expansion, and Sectional Conflict, 1840-1848 Enduring Vision Chapter 14. From Compromise to Secession, 1850-1861 Technological Innovations Transportation revolution Agriculture in the West Significance of the Romantics and the Transcendentals King Cotton and the Plantation System White Southern Culture and Class Structure Slavery and African-American Culture Abolition and the Underground Railroad Immigration and the Rise of Nativism Western Expansion and Manifest Destiny Mexican American War Collapse of the Whigs and the Rise of the Republicans Popular Sovereignty and Bleeding Kansas Election of 1860 and Southern Secession The Civil War and Reconstruction Enduring Vision Chapter 15. Crucible of Freedom, Civil War, 1861-1865 Enduring Vision Chapter 16. The Crises of Reconstruction, 1865-1877 Strengths and Weaknesses Rich Man s War, Poor Man s Fight Dissent Antietam/Emancipation Proclamation Gettysburg Election of 1864 Total War Presidential and Radical Reconstruction Reconstruction Amendments Ku Klux Klan Carpetbaggers and Scalawags Election of 1876, Redemption Governments Free at Last? Sharecropping and Jim Crow The Gilded Age Enduring Vision Chapter 17. The Transformation of the Trans-Mississippi West, 1860-1900
Enduring Vision Chapter 18. The Rise of Industrial America, 1865-1900 Enduring Vision Chapter 19. Immigration, Urbanization, and Everyday Life, 1860-1900 Enduring Vision Chapter 20. Politics and Expansion in an Industrializing Age, 1877-1900 Destruction of the Plains Indians Homestead and Dawes Severalty Acts Transcontinental Railroad Turner s Frontier Thesis The myth of the West Conservation Movement Robber Barons or Captains of Industry? Regulation of Big Business The Failures of the early Labor Movement New Immigrant Struggles Cult of Domesticity Victorian Morality The political machine and corruption Urbanization and Social Reform Bryan and the Agrarian Revolt Gospel of Wealth Social Darwinism Imperialism and the Spanish American War Progress? Enduring Vision Chapter 21. The Progressive Era, 1900-1917 Enduring Vision Chapter 22. Global Involvements and World War I, 1902-1920 Enduring Vision Chapter 23. The 1920s: Coping with Change, 1920-1929 Progressive Reformers Labor Movement TR, Wilson and Presidential Progressive Reform Progressive Amendments Big Stick Policy Dollar Diplomacy Wilson and WWI Propaganda and the Espionage Act Failure of the Treaty of Versailles Red Scare and Isolationism Return to Normalcy Independent Internationalism The Roaring 20 s. Permissive or Conservative? Flappers Scopes Trial Resurgence of the Klan Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation Prohibition Franklin D. Roosevelt Enduring Vision Chapter 24. The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1939 Enduring Vision Chapter 25. Americans and a World in Crisis, 1933-1945
The Stock Market Crash Hoover, The Great Humanitarian? The Great Depression Roosevelt s New Deal Alphabet Agencies Court-Packing The Second New Deal Labor Movement Victorious Neutrality and America First, Lend Lease Act World War II Economic Recovery and Boom The Home Front Allied Struggle towards Victory Post World War II America Enduring Vision Chapter 26. The Cold War Abroad and at Home, 1945-1952 Enduring Vision Chapter 27. America at Midcentury, 1952-1960 Significance of the GI Bill The Iron Curtain descends Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and NATO HUAC and McCarthyism Korean War The Baby Boom Eisenhower Interstate Highways Consumerism and Credit Cards The Space Race Cultural Backlash: Rock and Roll and the Beat Generation The Warren Court MLK and the Civil Rights Movement The 1960 s: The War at Home and Abroad Enduring Vision Chapter 28. The Liberal Era, 1960-1968 Enduring Vision Chapter 29. A Time of Upheaval, 1968-1974 JFK s New Frontier LBJ and the Great Society The Warren Court II Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act The Black Power Movement Cesar Chavez Feminism The Pill and the Sexual Revolution The Counterculture and Political Radicalism on Campus Vietnam Détente Watergate Environmentalism
Return of Conservatism Enduring Vision Chapter 30. Society, Politics and World Events From Ford to Reagan, 1974-1989 Enduring Vision Chapter 31. Beyond the Cold War: Charting a New Course, 1988-1995 Enduring Vision Chapter 32. New Century, New Challenges, 1996 to the Present Inflation, the Energy Crisis and the Middle East Iranian Hostage Crisis Women s Movement: Roe v. Wade to the ERA Deregulation Nuclear Reduction Treaties Gorbachev and the Fall of the Soviet Union Reagan in Latin America Reganomics supply-side or trickle-down? National Debt Iraq and Desert Storm The Culture War NAFTA United Nations and American Foreign Policy in the 90 s