2018-2019 ap united states history syllabus...loewen, james w. lies my teacher told me: everything...

2018-2019 AP United States History Syllabus

1

Curricular Requirements Page(s)

CR1The course includes a college-level U.S. history textbook, diverse

primary sources, and secondary sources written by historians or scholars

interpreting the past.

2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,17,18,20

CR2 Each of the course historical periods receives explicit attention. 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15

,16,17,18,20,21

CR3 The course provides opportunities for students to apply detailed and

specific knowledge (such as names, chronology, facts, and events) to broader

historical understandings.

8,13,15,18

CR4 The course provides students with opportunities for instruction in the

learning objectives in each of the seven themes throughout the course, as

described in the AP U.S. History curriculum framework.

4,5,6,10,13,14,15,16,19,20,

21

CR5 The course provides opportunities for students to develop coherent

written arguments that have a thesis supported by relevant historical

evidence. — Historical argumentation

4,6,8,9,12,13,16,17,19,20,21

CR6 The course provides opportunities for students to identify and evaluate

diverse historical interpretations. — Interpretation

4,6,8,9,10,12,14,16,18,20

CR7 The course provides opportunities for students to analyze evidence

about the past from diverse sources, such as written documents, maps,

images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), and works of art. —

Appropriate use of historical evidence

8,12,13,15,16,17,19,20, 21,

CR8 The course provides opportunities for students to examine relationships

between causes and consequences of events or processes. — Historical

causation

5,10,13,16,19,20

CR9 The course provides opportunities for students to identify and analyze

patterns of continuity and change over time and connect them to larger

historical processes or themes. — Patterns of change and continuity over

time

8,12,14,15,19

CR10 The course provides opportunities for students to investigate and

construct different models of historical periodization. — Periodization

8,10,16,18,19,20,21

CR11 The course provides opportunities for students to compare historical

developments across or within societies in various chronological and

geographical contexts. — Comparison

6,13,14,19,21

CR12 The course provides opportunities for students to connect historical

developments to specific circumstances of time and place, and to broader

regional, national, or global processes. — Contextualization

9,13,15,20,21

CR13 The course provides opportunities for students to combine disparate,

sometimes contradictory evidence from primary sources and secondary

works in order to create a persuasive understanding of the past, and to apply

insights about the past to other historical contexts or circumstances,

including the present. — Synthesis

9,12,13,15,17,19,20,21


2

Course Objectives

The Advanced Placement U.S. History course is a college level survey course of U.S. history

from the pre-Columbian period to the present. Emphasis is placed on critical and analytical

thinking, essay writing, and the interpretation of various sources.

Students will:

master a broad range of historical content.

strengthen historical thinking skills and themes by reading and interpreting primary and

secondary sources

demonstrate the significance of documents by utilizing them as evidence in

argumentative essays and class debates.

Each period covered will include the following:

Lecture and discussion focused on the Concept Outline with specific historical events as

evidence

Student activities involving historical thinking skills practice

Primary source analysis in which students will read, interpret, and discuss documents,

noting the point of view of the author, his/her intent, and effect, and the significance of

the document (APPARTS will be used for analysis)

Secondary source analysis mainly done using the Varying Viewpoints inserts within the

assigned textbook American Pageant, but using additional sources such as Lies My

Teacher Told Me

Essays/Writing prompts typically formatted as DBQs, short answer, or long essay

questions

Course Textbook: (CR1)

Kennedy, M David and Lizabeth Cohen. The American Pageant: The History of the

American People. 16th edition. United States: Cengage Learning, 2016.

Primary Source Documents: (CR1)

Textbook publisher primary source document resources available within text and through

“MindTap” the interactive learning feature provided by Cengage Learning.

Online databases such as America in Class http://americainclass.org/, EDSITEMent!

http://edsitement.neh.gov/ , AMDOCS http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/, The Heritage Foundation

http://www.heritage.org/, and the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/.

http://americainclass.org/

http://edsitement.neh.gov/

http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/

http://www.heritage.org/

http://www.loc.gov/


3

Curriculum Matrix

Period Instructional

Time in Days

Instructional

Time as a

Percentage

Percent of

Content on

the AP Exam

Textbook

Chapters

New World

Beginnings

6 5% 5% 1 Only

1

(1491-1607

6 5% 5% 1, 2

2

(1607-1754)

12-13 10% 45% 1-7

3

(1754-1800)

14-15 12% 45% 8-10

4

(1800-1848)

12-13 10% 45% 11-18

5

(1844-1877)

15-16 13% 45% 19-23

6

(1865-1898)

15-16 13% 45% 24-26

7

(1890-1945)

21-22 17% 45% 27-34

8

(1945-1980)

18-19 15% 45% 35-38

9

(1980-Present)

6 5% 5% 39-41


4

New World Beginnings: 33,000 B.C.E. – 1769 C.E.

Readings: (CR1)

American Pageant Chapter 1

Early America (4 Weeks, 8 Lessons) Discussion: Scientists in the field of space exploration believe that when and if humans travel to

Mars, the trip will be one way. In part, this could be due to how long it will take to get there, and in

part, it could be due to people’s inability to adapt back to Earth's gravitational field after living on

Mars. In what ways might travel to, exploration of, and settlement of Mars be comparable to

Europe's exploration and settlement of the Americas? Compare the possible hardships, the reasons

people might decide to take such a trip, encounters with other life forms, and the kinds of social,

political, and economic structures they might form there, for better or for worse.

Indigenous American Civilizations – Analyze the development of indigenous American

civilizations

Describe the Arctic land bridge and the early settlement of North and South America

List the major indigenous American empires, cities, and civilizations

Describe the cultural and political accomplishments of indigenous Americans before the arrival of

Europeans

Writing Assignment: You are giving a two-minute speech commemorating Columbus’s landing on

American shores. You decide to take this opportunity to share your knowledge of the complex

civilizations of the Native Americans. Write a 250-word essay on the discovery debate.

Indigenous Americans and European Settlers – Characterize American Indian cultures and their

interactions with European explorers

Describe early interactions between American Indian groups and Europeans

Explain the role of immunity, disease, weaponry, and religion in early interactions between

Europeans and American Indians.

Additional Reading Assignments (all e-texts):

o “Christopher Columbus and The Spanish Empire” The European Voyages of Exploration / The

Applied History Research Group / Advanced US History Syllabus Page 8


5

The University of Calgary, Copyright © 1997, The Applied History Research Group

o “Conquistadors” Copyright © 2000 Oregon Public Broadcasting and PBS Online

o “The Columbian Exchange” by Alfred Crosby

Writing Assignment: Trace the origins of at least one crop and one animal that Europeans brought

to the New World and the long-term effect that they had on America. Then trace the impact of one

crop and one animal that went from the New World to Europe.

Early European Colonization of America – Compare and contrast early French, Spanish, and

English colonies in America

Identify Spanish and French claims in the New World

Describe the role of trade and religion in early French and Spanish colonization

Compare and contrast the French and Spanish colonies, including colonial administration and

interactions with indigenous Americans

Additional Reading Assignments (all e-texts):

o Biography of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville

o Biography of the Vikings

Writing Assignment (teacher graded): Read more about the Spanish and French colonization of

America. Then, write an essay to compare and contrast the Spanish and French settlements in North

America. Focus on each nation’s motives for colonization, the role of religion in the colonies, and the

interaction between the colonizers and the natives.

Period 1: Contact and Exploration, 1491-1607 (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)

American Pageant chapters 1-2

Primary Source Analysis (CR1)

Letter to the King of Portugal, King Affonso (1526) (textual)

Hernando Cortės and the Spanish Soldiers Confront the Indians (1585) (artwork)

Corn Culture (image of sculpture)

Advertisement for Voyage to America (image)

Anne Hutchinson Dissenter (image of statue)

Attack on a Pequot Fort, J.W. Barber (1830) (image of engraving)

Pre Columbian American Population Demographics (graphs, tables)

Secondary Source Analysis (CR1) (CR6)

North American Indian Peoples at the Time of First Contact with Europe (map)

America: The Story of Us, The History Channel (2010)

How Should Columbus be Remembered?

Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History

Textbook Got Wrong. New York: New, 1995. pp 37-137. Print.


6

Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus.

Boston: Little, Brown, 1942, pp. 669-670. Print.

Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-present. Originally

Published: New York, 2005. pp 9-10. Print.

Writing Assignments: (CR5) (CR6)

Compose a five paragraph essay ether defending or refuting the following statement:

“The traditional portrayal of Columbus reinforces the concept that Europeans brought

enlightenment and civilization to the rest of the world. However, Howard Zinn's portrayal of

Columbus’ “discovery” undermines that purpose and therefore should not be taught in schools.”

Other Classwork/Assignments:

Is Virginia the Child of Tobacco? (CR4-GEO) (CR7)

Students work in groups to analyze a primary source document titled Early Tobacco

Advertisement from The New York Library and on page A61 of the textbook. Students will then

read “Virginia: Child of Tobacco” (American Pageant, pp. 31–32) and identify whether the

relevant historical evidence presented in the chapter supports, modifies, or refutes the imagery

presented in the document.

Concept Outline Assessment (CR2) - Before the arrival of Europeans, native populations in

North America developed a wide variety of social, political, and economic structures based in

part on interactions with the environment and each other. Multiple choice test in the APUSH format with a short answer question: (CR4-WXT)

(CR8) Answer a, b, and c.

a. Briefly name ONE of the major shifts resulting from the Colombian Exchange. Choose

an economic (work, exchange, and technology), physical (environment and geography–

physical and human), or political (politics and power) sphere for your answer.

b. Briefly name a SECOND major shift caused by the Colombian Exchange, and choose

a different sphere listed in (a).

c. Briefly evaluate how those two shifts you just described combined to produce an

additional shift into a third sphere listed in (a)


7

Period 2: Settlements Old and New, 1607-1754 (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)

American Pageant Chapters 3-6

Primary Source Analysis: (CR1)

John Winthrop’s “City upon a Hill,” 1630 (print)

Letter about life in Jamestown, Sebastian Brandt to Henry Hovener, 1622 (print)

Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (print)

William Penn’s 1681 Plans for the Province of Pennsylvania (print)

Maryland Toleration Act (1649) (print)

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1851 (painting)

The Female Combatants, 1776 (political cartoon)

The Reconciliation Between Britnnia and Her Daughter America (political cartoon)

Secondary Source Analysis: (CR1) (CR6)

English Colonial Regions (maps)

Williams, John, Stephen Williams, Thomas Prince, and John Taylor. The Redeemed Captive

Returning to Zion. Ann Arbor: U Microfilms, 1966. Print.

What Really Happened in New Mexico, 1680-1692?


8

Franklin Folsom, Indian Uprising on the Rio Grande: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000, pp. 124-125. Print

David Roberts, The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out

of the Southwest. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004, pp. 142-157. Print

Writing Assignments: (CR4-WOR) (CR4-CUL) (CR4-NAT) (CR5) (CR6)

Expanding Varying Viewpoints – Using the excerpts from Richard Bushman, From Puritan to

Yankee (1967) and Gary Nash, The Urban Crucible (1979), answer parts a, b, and c.

a) Briefly explain ONE major difference between Bushman and Nash’s historical

interpretation of British colonial America.

b) Briefly explain how ONE development from the period 1700 to 1775 not directly

mentioned in the excerpts supports Bushman’s argument.

c) Briefly explain how ONE development from the period 1700 to 1775 not directly

mentioned in the excerpts supports Nash’s argument.

Other Classwork/Assignments: Chart differences between Spanish, French, English, and Dutch colonies in North America –

political, social, economic, religious, and geographical. (CR4-MIG) (CR11)

Concept Outline Assessment (CR2) Period 2: Europeans and American Indians maneuvered and

fought for dominance, control, and security in North America, and distinctive colonial and native

societies emerged.

Compare and contrast the interactions between Europeans and Native Americans in the Spanish

colony of New Mexico, the French colony of Canada, the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, and

the English colonies of Jamestown, Pennsylvania, and New England.


9

Period 3: Creating the United States, 1754-1800 (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)



Colonists Respond to the Stamp Act: Broadsides and Pamphlets in Opposition to the Stamp Act,

1765-1766 (print)

A Poetical Dream Concerning Stamped Papers (1765) (poem)

Arrival of the Troops, Paul Revere (1770) (woodcut)

A Prospective View of Part of the [Boston] Commons, Christian Remick (1768) (watercolor)

Petition to King George, First Continental Congress (1774) (print)

We Have No Choice Left to Us: Sermons on the Outbreak of War (1775) (print)

The Declaration of Independence (1776) (print)

Northwest Ordinance (1787) (print)

The Whiskey Boys (cartoon)

The XYZ Affair (cartoon)


Was the American Revolution Radical or Conservative, For Whom?

Wood, Gordon S. The Radicalism of the American Revolution. New York: A.A. Knopf,

1992. pp. 3-8. Print.

Nash, Gary B. The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and

the Struggle to Create America. New York: Viking, 2005. pp. xv-xxiv. Print.


10

Writing Assignments: (CR5) (CR7) (CR9)

DBQ - To what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as

Americans by the eve of the Revolution?

Other Classwork/Assignments: Working in small groups of 3 to 4 students will be assigned one of the following years: 1764,

1765, 1767, and 1773. Using Chapter 7 of the textbook and provided primary sources students

will: (CR4-NAT) (CR4-POL) (CR3) (CR5) (CR10)

Identify how the relationship between the British government and the colonists changed

Develop a thesis that address whether or not your assigned year was a turning point on

“the Road to Revolution”

Reconsider the periodization for the starting date of the American Revolution (July 4

1776). Present a historical argument – the class will discuss the relative merits and

limitations of each argument

Students will read excerpts from Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau, then isolate phrases from

the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution and explain how they

reflect Enlightenment thought as expressed by these three philosophers. Who was included in

these rights? Who was not? Why? Students will then identify the ways in which we regulate

these rights in modern society. (CR12) (CR13)

First Constitutional Congress primary documents debate: (CR5) (CR6) (CR12)

Proposition: If there was a "point of no return" in the prerevolutionary period (1763-

1775), it occurred in 1774.

Concept Outline Assessment (CR2) – British imperial attempts to reassert control over its colonies and the colonial reaction to these attempt produced a new American republic, along with struggles over the nation’s social, political, and economic identify.

These three assignments collectively satisfy the concept outline assessment.


11

Period 4: Crafting a Nation, 1800-1848 (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)



Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address (1801) (print)

Henry Clay, Defense of the American System (1832) (print)

The Downfall of Mother Bank (cartoon)

American Senator Opposes Nullification (1830) (print)

Charles Finney, What a Revival of Religion Is (1835) (print)

Britain and France Divide Up the World (1805) (cartoon)

The Present State of Our Country (cartoon)

President Monroe Thinking Globally (painting)


Indian Removals, 1830-1846 (map)

Presidential Election of 1800 (map)

What Was the Purpose of the War of 1812

Alan Taylor, The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels,

& Indian Allies. New York: Random House, 2010, pp. 6-10. Print.

John Sugden, Tecumseh: A Life. New York: Henry Holt, 1997, pp. 271-272, 391. Print.

Writing Assignments: (CR8)


12

Analyze and evaluate the effects of the market revolution in TWO of the following regions.

Consider long term and short term effects in your response.

The Northeast

The Midwest

The South


Historical Causation and Peopling the West - The students will be divided into small groups.

Each group will be assigned one of the following topics: the role of environmental factors in the

peopling of the West, the role of international migrants in the peopling of the West, the role of

internal migration patterns in the peopling of the West, the role of political and economic factors

in the peopling of the West, and the role of social and ethnic factors in the peopling of the West.

Each group will be asked to write a cogent paragraph that establishes the causal connections

between their topic and the peopling of the West in the early nineteenth century. (CR4-MIG)

(CR8)

The “Era of God Feelings” is often associated with James Monroe's presidency. Discuss the

evidence that both refutes and supports the argument that the era might have been misnamed by

modern historians. (CR4-POL) (CR10)

Concept Outline Assessment (CR2) – Period 4: The new republic struggled to define and extend democratic ideals in the face of rapid economic, territorial, and demographic changes. Students will identify and explain the ways in which democratic ideals faced challenges by people and events of the period 1800-1848


13

Period 5: Testing the New Nation (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)



The Dred Scott Decision, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (1857) (print)

First and Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln, (1860, 1864) (print)

Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln (1863) (print)

Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln (1863) (print)

The Book That Made This Great War, (image)

Preston Brooks Caning Charles Sumner, John Magee (1856) (cartoon)

Dred Scott with His Wife and Daughters, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (1857) (image)

The Technology of War (1861) (photograph)

Is this Republican Form of Government?, Thomas Nast (1876) (cartoon)

The First Vote, Thomas Nast (1874) (cartoon)

Of Course He Wants to Vote the Democratic Ticket (1876) (cartoon)


Bleeding Kansas, 1854-1860 (map)

Seceding States (map)

Manufacturing by Sections (1860) (chart)

Military Reconstruction (1867) (map)

The Gettysburg Campaign (map)


14

Roland, Charles Pierce. An American Iliad: The Story of the Civil War. Lexington, KY: U of

Kentucky, 1991. Pp 248-255. Print.

What Caused the Civil War?

James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford

University Press, 1988/2003, pp. vii, 40-41.

Marc Egnal, Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil War. New York:

Hill and Wang, 2009, pp. 4-5, 7-8.

Understanding Reconstruction

William Archibald Dunning, Reconstruction Political and Economic (New York: Harper

& Brothers, 1907), pp. xv, 11-12. Print.

W. E. B. DuBois, Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 (originally published

1934; republished New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 587, 590. Print.

Writing Assignments:

Evaluate the extent to which territorial expansion in the first half of the 19th century contributed

to maintaining continuity as well as fostering change in national unity. (CR9)

DBQ - In 1877 attempts to reconstruct the South officially ended. How successful was the

attempt to reconstruct the South after the Civil War? (CR5) (CR7) (CR13)

Other Classwork/Assignments: The Spectrum of Views About Slavery in the Territories - Students will individually develop an

annotated political spectrum that compares the range of options about slavery in the territories

policy makers proposed from 1846 to 1854. Students will then work in pairs to write a multi-

paragraph explanation of how the Kansas-Nebraska Act attempted, but ultimately failed, to solve

the problem of slavery in the territories and reduce sectional tensions. (CR4-NAT) (CR4-POL)

(CR7) (CR8) (CR11)

Categorizing the Triggers of the Civil War – Students use categories to organize data into three

meaningful categories that can help them answer the following: “Analyze how arguments over

the issue of slavery in the 1850s ultimately led to the Civil War.” (CR3) (CR11) (CR12)

Students will Evaluate Lee’s decision to invade Pennsylvania in 1863, review a map of the

campaign, and suggest an alternate plan to achieve the same goals. (CR4-GEO) (CR7)

The First Inaugural Address: Defending the American Union -Students are divided into three

groups (pro-Union, pro-Confederate, Judges) each with an assigned primary source reading to

prepare for the following debate question: “Is the Union of American states permanent and

binding, or does a state have the right to secede? (CR5) (CR7) (CR8) (CR13)

Students will compare two political cartoons of Thomas Nast, The First Vote and Of Course He

Wants to Vote the Democratic Ticket, using APPARTs analysis (CR13)


15

Concept Outline Assessment – (CR2) Period 5 As the nation expanded and its population grew, regional tensions, especially over slavery, led to a civil war — the course and aftermath of which transformed American society. Assessment is satisfied by the writing assignments and The First Inaugural Address:

Defending the American Union debate.

Period 6 Forging an Industrial Society (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)



William H. Vanderbilt, Robber Baron, (1885) (cartoon)

What Are You Laughing At? To The Victor Belong the Spoils, Thomas Nast (1871) (cartoon)

The Octopus (1904) (cartoon)

Washington as Seen by the Trusts (1900) (cartoon)

The New Rich and the New Immigrants (photographs)

How the Other Half Lives, Jacob Riis (1890) (web)

Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy (1888) (print)

Jewish Women Working in a Sweatshop (1910) (photograph)

Life a Chinese Immigrant, Lee Chew (1903) (print)

Ghost Dance (image)


The Men Who Built America, History Channel (2012) (film)

The Shift to the American City 1790-2010 (chart)

Crane, Stephen, and Thomas A. Gullason. Maggie, a Girl of the Streets: (a Story of New

York). New York: Norton, 1979. Excerpts from chapters I, III, V, XV. Print.

Jackson, Helen Hunt. A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government's

Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes. Minneapolis: Ross & Haines, 1964. Print.


16

Were the Populists Backward-Looking?

Goodwyn, Lawrence. Democratic Promise: The Populist Moment in America. New

York: Oxford UP, 1976. Pp 541-543. Print.

Unger, Irwin. Adapted from “Critique of Norman Pollack’s ‘Fear of Man’. Agricultural

History 39.2 (Apr 1, 1965): 75. Print.

Were They Robber Barons or Benefactors?

Sean Dennis Cashman, America in the Gilded Age: From the Death of Lincoln to the

Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Third Edition. New York: New York University

Press, 1993, pp. 30-38. Print.

H.W. Brands, American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900. New

York: Doubleday, 2010, pp. 6, 542-545. Print.


Evaluate the extent to which internal as well as international migration in the late 19th century

contributed to maintaining continuity as well as fostering change in labor systems in the United

States. (CR4-MIG) (CR4-WXT) (CR9)

Short Answer Questions - Answer parts a, b, and c. (CR4-CUL) (CR11)

a) From 1820 to 1848 and again from 1865 to 1898 social activists articulated alternative

visions of political, social, and economic equality for women and African Americans.

Briefly explain ONE important similarity in the reasons why calls for women’s rights

emerged in these two time periods.

b) Briefly explain ONE important difference in alternative vision of economic equality for

African Americans in these two time periods.

c) Briefly explain ONE way in which some Americans responded critically to the

alternative visions of equality for women or African Americans in either period.

Other Classwork/Assignments: Students will read excerpts from Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and identify patterns of

changes in Native American policy from 18th to the 20th century. (CR3) (CR9) (CR13)

Students will identify locations within in the U.S. that capture the essence of the urban landscape

of the 19th century for each of the following: (CR4-MIG) (CR4-NAT) (CR7) (CR9) (CR12)

divided social conditions among classes, races, ethnicities, and cultures

economic and career opportunities for immigrants, African Americans, and

women

social prejudice and conflicting desire of immigrants to both “Americanize” and

maintain their unique identities


17

Concept Outline Assessment - (CR2) Period 6 - The transformation of the United States from an

agricultural to an increasingly industrialized and urbanized society brought about significant

economic, political, diplomatic, social, environmental, and cultural changes.

Students will list and describe the changes occurring in the U.S. in each of the categories

specified in the Period 6 Concept Outline.

Period 7 Struggling for Justice at Home and Abroad (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)



The History of the Standard Oil Company, Ida Tarbell (print)

The New Nationalism, Teddy Roosevelt, (1910) (print)

Fourteen Points Speech, Woodrow Wilson (1918) (print)

Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address (1933) (print)

Breadline at McCauley Water Street Mission (image)

I’d Rather Not Be on Relief, Lester Hunter Shafter, (1938) (print)

Executive Order 9066 – Japanese Relocation, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1942) (print)

Rosie the Riveter in Saturday Evening Post, Norman Rockwell (1943) (image)

Rosie the Riveter for Washington House Corporation, J. Howard Miller, (1943) (image)


The World Wars, The History Channel (2014) (film)

What Was the Impact of the New Deal?

Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (New York:

Harper Collins, 2007), pp. 7-9.Print


18

Anthony J. Badger, FDR: The First Hundred Days (New York: Hill & Wang, 2008), pp.

xv-xvi, 172- 174. Print

Was World War II the “Good War”?

Donald L. Miller, The Story of World War II (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001), pp.

15-16. Print.

David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War,

1929-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 855-857. Print.


DBQ – Evaluate the following statement: Self-interest was more important than idealism in

driving American foreign-policy decision making during the period 1895-1920. (CR4-WOR)

(CR5) (CR7) (CR10)

Other Classwork/Assignments: Origins of American Expansionism – Students develop a concise thesis that accounts for why

businessmen and foreign policymakers promoted American expansionism in the Pacific, Asia,

and Latin America in the late nineteenth century. (CR4-WOR) (CR5) (CR7) (CR8)

Students will read the following primary and secondary sources and compose an argumentative

essay based on the following prompt: “The 1920’s represented a time in which modernity

overcame conservatism, creating a new liberal society”.

Assess the validity of the statement. (CR1) (CR5) (CR7) (CR13)

Robert and Helen Lynd, The Automobile Comes to Middletown (1924). (print)

John F. Carter, These Wild Young People- by One of Them (1920) (print)

Paul Morand, Speakeasies in New York (1929) (print)

The Creed of Klanswomen (1924) (print)

Nicola Sacco and Barolomeo Vanzetti, Court Statements (1927) (print)

Life Magazine cover “roaring ‘20’s”. (image)

William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. (image)

Lynching Statistics Choropleth Maps (map)

Immigration into the United States, Census Bureau (chart)

Concept Outline Assessment – (CR2) Period 7: An increasingly pluralistic United States faced

profound domestic and global challenges, debated the proper degree of government activism, and

sought to define its international role.

Students will describe the challenges faced by the U.S. during this period and explain

the role of the government and the controversies surrounding its role in addressing

each challenge.


19

Period 8 Making Modern America, 1945-1989 (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)



The Marshall Plan, George Marshall (1947) (print)

Statement on the Atomic Bomb, Harry S. Truman (1945) (print)

Atomic explosion (image)

Duck and Cover (video)

The Iron Curtain (1946) (cartoon)

Joseph McCarthy, Speech at Wheeling (1950) (print)

Executive Order 10730 – Desegregation of Central High School (1957) (print)

Little Rock Nine escorted into Central High School (image)

Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. (1963) (print)

What does Mississippi have to do with Harlem, Malcom X (1964) (print)

Commencement Address at the University of Michigan, Lyndon B. Johnson (1964) (print)

The Smoking Gun Tape, Richard Nixon and H.R. Haldeman (1972) (print)

State Department Bulleting, The Tonkin Gulf Incident (1964) (print)

Vietnam War Veterans Against the War Statement, John Kerry (1971) (print)

John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address (1961) (print)


20

Malcolm X, What Does Mississippi Have to Do With Harlem? (1964) (print)

Life Magazine Identifies the New Teenage Market (1959) (print)

Crisis of Confidence, Jimmy Carter (1979) (print)

The Iran Hostage Crisis: The Diary of Robert Ode (1980) (print)


Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W. Norton, 1963. The Problem That Has

No Name. Print.

Caputo, Philip. A Rumor of War. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977. Print.

Mason, Robert. Chickenhawk. New York: Viking, 1983. Print.

Could ... or Should ... the U.S. Have Won in Vietnam?

Guenter Lewy, America in Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978, pp. v-

vii, pp. 430-439. Print.

George C. Hering, America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975.

New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978; Third edition, 1996, pp. x-xii, 298-299. Print.


Some historians have argued that the development of the policy of containment after the WWII

marked a turning point in U.S. foreign policy. Support, modify, or refute this contention using

specific evidence. (CR3) (CR6) (CR10)

DBQ – Historians have tended to portray the 1950s as a decade of conformity and political

consensus, while the 1960s have been viewed as a decade of nonconformity and political

divisiveness. Evaluate the extent to which these generalizations are accurate. (CR5) (CR7)

(CR9) (CR10) (CR13)


Students will examine Cold War documents, images, and cartoons and explain how Cold War

fears led to the second Red Scare. (CR7) (CR8)

Debating the Vietnam War – Students will analyze one of the following topics from their group’s

perspective: the power of the federal government, acceptable means for pursuing international

and domestic goals, and the proper balance between liberty and order. Students prepare for a

debate on the Cold War policies that led to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. (CR4-POL)

CR4-NAT)(CR5) (CR7) (CR9)

Students will compare and contrast the views of Malcom X, Stokely Carmichael, and MLK Jr.

and write a brief essay arguing for the most influential approach. (CR11)

Students will work with a partner and utilize print and electronic resources to select six

photographs representing key developments in the history of the feminist movement in the

twentieth century. They will also write one sentence captions for each of their photographs and

design the exhibits. (CR4-POL) (CR4-CUL) (CR4-NAT) (CR7) (CR8)


21

Concept Outline Assessment – (CR2) Period 8: After World War II, the United States grappled

with prosperity and unfamiliar international responsibilities, while struggling to live up to its

ideals.

Long Essay – How did the United States extend its ideals and beliefs into the

international arena in the post-war period? To what extent did the U.S. live up to those

ideals?


22

Period 9 Facing a New Century, 1980-Present (CR2)

Readings: (CR1)



Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address (1981) (print)

“The Ten Conservative Principles,” Russell Kirk (1986) (lecture)

Articles of Impeachment Against William Jefferson Clinton (1999) (print)

U.S. v. Timothy James McVeigh, (1998) (print)

George H. W. Bush, Address on Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait (1990) (video)

9/11 Collapse of the Twin Towers (image)

George W. Bush, Address to the Nation on the Invasion of Iraq (2003) (video)

Barack H. Obama, A More Perfect Union speech (2008) (video)

Citizenfour (2014) (film)


Pomper, Gerald M. "The 2000 Presidential Election: Why Gore Lost." Political Science

Quarterly 116.2 (2001): 201-23. Print.

Did Ronald Reagan End the Cold War?

Michael Schaller, “Reagan and the Cold War,” in Kyle Longley, Jeremy D. Mayer,

Michael Schaller, and John W. Sloan, Deconstructing Reagan: Conservative

Mythology and America’s Fortieth President. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp, 2007,

pp. 3, 30, 36-38. Print

Peter Schweizer, Reagan’s War. New York: Random House, 2002, pp. 280-284. Print.

Does the U.S. Economy Need More, or Less, Government Intervention?

Derek Scott, “More Capitalism, Less Regulation, Financial Times, December 22, 2009.

Print.

Paul Krugman, “How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?” New York Times, September

6, 2009. Print


DBQ – Assess the effectiveness of the Reagan administration’s responses to the domestic and

international challenges of the 1980s. (CR4-WOR) (CR4-POL) (CR5) (CR6) (CR7) (CR12)

(CR13)

Short Answer Question - Answer parts a, b, and c. (CR4-WXT) (CR7) (CR8) (CR10)

a) Choose ONE of the events listed below and briefly explain why your choice best

represents the beginning of the twenty-first century.

The end of the Cold War

The spread of computer technology and the Internet


23

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11,

2001

b) Provide at least ONE piece of evidence to support your choice.

c) Contrast your choice against ONE of the other options, demonstrating why that

option is not as good as your choice.


Trading Liberty for Security: Students will evaluate Ben Franklin’s quote in the context of the

Patriot Act and debate whether the Patriot Act went too far in infringing on civil liberties, or if it

was a justified means of “ensuring domestic tranquility”. (CR7) (CR11) (CR13)

The Soundtrack Game – Working in groups, students will identify approximately 8–10 songs

that will serve as the soundtrack for one of the following topics: racial identity in the twenty-first

century, women and gender roles in the twenty-first century, family structures in the twenty-first

century, immigration and new migrants in the twenty-first century, and national identity in the

twenty-first century. The groups will have to write a brief paper justifying each of their song

selections. (CR4-POL) (CR4-WXT) (CR5) (CR7) (CR12)

Turning Point – Students brainstorm reasons the 2016 presidential election might be the

beginning of a new era and a turning point in U.S. history. The teacher then divides the class into

small groups and asks each group to develop a historical argument that rejects 2016 as a turning

point and justifies an alternate year between 1980 and the present as a better choice for the

beginning of a new era in U.S. history. (CR4-CUL) (CR4-WXT) (CR10)

Concept Outline Assessment – (CR2) Period 9: As the United States transitioned to a new

century filled with challenges and possibilities, it experienced renewed ideological and cultural

debates, sought to redefine its foreign policy, and adapted to economic globalization and

revolutionary changes in science and technology.

Students will list and describe the changes occurring in the U.S. in each of the categories

specified in the Period 9 outline.