Syllabus & ScheduleAdvanced Placement (AP) United States History
Contact Information
Students and parents alike can reach me by email at mrnudd@gmail.com. Additionally, you can call my home phone and leave a message between the hours of 6 am and 9pm at 229-867-5309.
Course Description
The AP United States History course is designed to give students a rigorous collegelevel exposure to United States history. Students will use a thematic approach tostudy the economic, political and social themes throughout United States history.Success in the Advanced Placement environment depends on the commitment of theIndividual student. Those students who meet these high expectations will have theopportunity to earn college credit (depending on the college) by taking the APUnited States History exam.ReadingsReading is the essential element for student success in AP United States History.Students will be expected to keep up with a rigorous schedule of chapters from theprimary text, as well as supplementary reading and primary source materials.Students will be expected to participate in class discussions. Students will use thestudy guide to the text (The American Pageant – 12th Addition) to organize andreview the major themes contained in the text. Additional readings will come fromThe American Spirit (Kennedy – Sixth Edition). Readings will help students develop a deeper understanding of events and themes in American History.WritingWriting is the second major component of the AP United States History Course.Students will learn how to evaluate and incorporate themes of United States history. Historical oriented essays will be a cornerstone of each unit. Students will use essaywriting to debate themes of United States history. Essays will be graded using arigorous rubric system. High level writing skills will greatly assist students on theAP United States History Exam.Primary Sources & the DBQStudents will use primary resources in American history to write Document BasedQuestions (DBQ). The DBQ is an essay that incorporates a variety of primarysource materials. Students use the documents to take a position on their essay.Students will write a minimum of ten DBQ essays throughout the course.Unit ExamsThe final component of the course will be Unit Exams. Students will use readingmaterials, class discussions, and the text study guide to prepare for each Unit Exam.Exams will cover multiple chapters and themes. A writing component willaccompany each Unit Exam.
Thematic Approach
The AP United States course will be taught using a thematic approach. Within thestructure of each unit, students will focus on the political, economic, and socialthemes of each period. An understanding of the many facets of American historywill give the student a holistic view of our nation’s rich past.
Texts
The American Pageant (12th Edition) – Primary textThe American Pageant / Study Guide (12th Edition)The American Spirit (6th Edition) – Additional Readings
Grading
Students will face a rigorous college level exposure to United States history.Students will need to keep up with all readings, essays, and class projects.Assignments will not be accepted late. Students with an approved absence will beexpected to keep up with the course schedule. Grades will not be “curved”. A 10-point scale will be used.Exams 100 points each 60 % total gradeEssays 25 points each 20% total gradeDBQ 50 points each 10% total gradeParticipation 50 points each Unit 10% total gradeAssignment Schedule & Parent ContactStudents and parents can view the current monthly schedule onHomeworknow.com. Please use this site to email me directly. I will respond by theend of the business day. Students and parents will each sign a course expectations“contract” at the beginning of the AP United States History course.Students are expected to take the AP United States History exam. Success on theAP Exam will result in the potential for college credit (depending on the college).
Course Schedule
UNIT 1- American Beginnings“New World Beginnings”American Pageant, Chapter 1American Spirit Readings“The Planting of English America”American Pageant, Chapter 2American Spirit Readings“The Settling of the Northern Colonies”American Pageant, Chapter 3American Spirit ReadingsEXAM Chapters 1-3 & Essays
UNIT 2 - Colonial America"Colonial America Before 1750"American Pageant, Chapters 4-5Essay Question: Economics in the ColoniesEXAM Chapters 4-5
UNIT 3 - The American Revolution"The Duel for North America"American Pageant, Chapter 6"The Coming of the Revolution"American Pageant, Chapter 7American Spirit. Readings to be assignedEssay: Causes of the American Revolution"America Secedes From the Empire"American Pageant, Chapter 8American Spirit Readings (TBA)Essay: Understanding the Declaration of IndependenceEXAM Chapters 7-8
UNIT 4 – Building the New Nation"The Confederation and the Constitution"American Pageant, Chapter 9Essay: Madison’s Masterpiece"Launching the New Ship of State"American Pageant, Chapter 10American Spirit Readings (TBA)Essay: Economics in the Young RepublicEXAM Chapters 9-10
Unit 5 – Jefferson to Jackson"The Triumph and Travails of Jeffersonian Democracy"American Pageant, Chapter 11Essay: The Revolution of 1800"The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism"American Pageant, Chapter 12American Spirit ReadingsDBQ: American Nationalism & Western ExpansionEXAM on Chapters 11-12
UNIT 6 – The Nation Expands"The Rise of a Mass Democracy"American Pageant, Chapter 13American Spirit ReadingsDBQ: Politics in the 1820’s“Forging the National Economy”American Pageant, Chapter 14American Spirit ReadingsEssay: Immigration & Cultural Change"The Ferment of Reform and Culture"American Pageant, Chapter 15American Spirit ReadingsEssay: Women & the Roles of Women’s RightsEXAM on Chapters 13 -15
UNIT 7 – The Path to Civil War"The South and the Slavery Controversy"American Pageant, Chapter 16American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The Economy of Slavery"Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy"American Pageant, Chapter 17American Spirit ReadingsEssay: Texas"Renewing the Sectional Struggle"American Pageant, Chapter 18American Spirit ReadingsEssay: Popular Sovereignty"Drifting Towards Disunion, 1854-1861"American Pageant, Chapter, 19American Spirit ReadingsDBQ: The Collapse of the UnionEXAM 16 - 19
UNIT 8: The Civil War"Girding for War: The North and the South, 1861-1865"American Pageant, Chapter 20American Spirit ReadingsEssay: Economic & Political Factors of the Civil War"The Furnace of Civil War, 1861-1865"American Pageant, Chapter 21American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The Legacy of the Civil War"The Ordeal of Reconstruction"American Pageant, Chapter 22American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The Social, Economic & Political Challenges of ReconstructionEXAM Chapters 20 - 22
MIDTERM EXAMSECOND TERM
UNIT 9 – The Expansion of Industry & Cities"Politics of the Gilded Age"American Pageant, Chapter 23American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The Gilded Age"Industry Comes of Age, 1865-1900"American Pageant, Chapter 24American Spirit ReadingsDBQ: Railroads Change America"America Moves to the City, 1865-1900"American Pageant, Chapter 25American Spirit ReadingsEssay: Cities Change AmericaEXAM Chapters 23 - 25
UNIT 10 – The end of the 19th Century"The Great West"American Pageant, Chapter 26American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The Conquest of the Indians“The Path of Empire”American Pageant, Chapter 27American Spirit ReadingsEssay: American ExpansionEXAM Chapters 26 - 27
UNIT 11: The Turn of the Century (1899-1945)"America on the World Stage"American Pageant, Chapter 28American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The Big Stick (T. Roosevelt)“Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt”American Pageant, Chapter 29American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The Politics of Progressivism"Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad"American Pageant, Chapter 30American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The War in Europe & American NeutralityEXAM Chapters 28 - 30
UNIT 12 – War & Depression (1917 to 1940)"The War to End War"American Pageant, Chapter 31American Spirit ReadingsEssay: How Warfare & the World Changed“American Life in the Roaring Twenties"American Pageant, Chapter 32American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The Red Scare"The Politics of Boom and Bust"American Pageant, Chapter 33American Spirit ReadingsESSAY: Root Causes of the Great Depression“The Great Depression and the New Deal”American Pageant, Chapter 34American Spirit ReadingsDBQ: New Deal RecoveryEXAM Chapters 31 - 34
UNIT 13 – America & World War II (1941 – 1945)"Franklin Roosevelt and the Shadow of War"American Pageant, Chapter 35American Spirit ReadingsEssay: The End of Neutrality"America in World War II"American Pageant, Chapter 36American Spirit ReadingsDBQ: War Propaganda
UNIT 14 - The Cold War"The Cold War Begins"American Pageant, Chapter 37American Spirit ReadingsEssay: Evolution of a Cold War"The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1960"American Pageant, Chapter 38American Spirit ReadingsEssay: Civil Rights“The Stormy Sixties” 1960-1968American Pageant, Chapter 39DBQ: Kennedy & Johnson‘The Stalemate of the Seventies” 1968-1980American Pageant, Chapter 40American Spirit ReadingsEssay: VietnamEXAM Chapters 37 – 40
UNIT 15 – Reagan to the 21st Century“The Resurgence of Conservatism”American Pageant, Chapter 41DBQ: The Reagan Legacy“The American People Face a New Century”American Pageant, Chapter 42DBQ: Challenges of the 21st CenturyEXAM Chapters 41 & 42REVIEW FOR AP EXAMAP EXAM _____________________