APUSH SYLLABUS 2015 - SquarespaceCry)of)Freedom:)The)Civil)War)Era!!...

Mr. Wellington AP US History 2015-‐16 Email: [email protected] Site: ben-‐wellington.org

AP U.S. History Course Syllabus and Outline

COURSE DESCRIPTION

AP U.S. History is a college-‐level U.S. History survey course designed in accordance with the requirements of the College Board. The class will involve the study of U.S. History from pre-‐Columbian contact to the present and it is organized in a way to prepare students for success on the AP U.S. History exam. It is challenging and moves quickly, with a heavy emphasis on reading, analysis, interpreting documents, and writing essays. In particular, the course:

• Includes the study of political institutions, social and cultural developments, diplomacy, and economic trends in U.S. History.

• Requires the usage of specific historical skills including: inquiry, interpretation, change over time (COT), causation, synthesis and argumentative reasoning.

• Asks students to use themes to make relevant connections between different issues and periods in American history.

• Includes the analysis and interpretation of a wide variety of primary sources, such as documentary material, maps, statistical tables, works of art, and pictorial and graphic materials

• Provides students with frequent practice in writing analytical and interpretive essays through Free-‐Response Questions (FRQs) and Documents Based Questions (DBQs)

• Asks students to participate regularly in class discussions, debates, and lectures. • Provides students the practice necessary for success in college by guiding them in how to effectively read,

comprehend, gather and organize information; to think critically; and write persuasively.

COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY

MAIN TEXTBOOK: Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey 13th Ed., McGraw Hill Publishing, 2009

SUPPLEMENTAL TEXTS (EXCERPTS ASSIGNED AS APPROPRIATE) Cohen, Lizbeth. A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America Brands, H.W. American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-‐1900 Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to the Present McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era Wood, Gordon. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-‐1815 Williams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-‐65 Kennedy, David. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-‐1945 Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-‐1789

Patterson, James T. Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-‐1974 Potter, David M. The Impending Crisis, 1848-‐1861 Degler, Carl N. Out of Our Past Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition And The Men Who Made It C. Vann Woodward. The Strange Career of Jim Crow Anderson, Fred. The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War Walker-‐Howe, Daniel. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-‐1848

PRIMARY SOURCE VOLUMES: Divine, R. A., Breen, T. H., Fredrickson, G. M. et al. Voices of America Past And Present, Volume 1 & 2. Dudley, William and John C. Chalberg. Opposing Viewpoints, Volume 1 &2. Hofstadter, Richard. Great Issues in American History, Volume 1, 2 & 3. Kennedy, D. M. & Bailey, T. A. The American Spirit, Volume 1 (to 1877) & Volume 2 (1877-‐present), 9th Ed.

AP U.S. HISTORY COURSE THEMES

While the course is presented in a chronological and narrative format, the following themes are integrated throughout the AP U.S. History course. Within each historical period, course themes are presented as learning objectives that help students make deeper connections to the key concepts. 1. Identity (ID) 2. Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT) 3. Peopling (PEO) 4. Politics and Power (POL) 5. America in the World (WOR) 6. Environment and Geography (ENV) 7. Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture (CUL)

CURRICULUM AND COURSE SCHEDULE

FALL SEMESTER

UNIT I: EARLY SETTLEMENT AND EXPANSION OF COLONIAL AMERICA (10,000 BCE-‐1754 CE) THEMES: ID, WXT, PEO, POL, WOR, ENV READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 1: The Meeting of Cultures • Chapter 2: Transplantations and Borderlands • Chapter 3: Society and Culture in Provincial America • Map of the Atlantic World in 1500

• Map of the English Colonies • The Mayflower Compact • A Model of Christian Charity • Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States, Chapters 1-‐3

MAJOR TOPICS: Native American cultures & the effects of European contact; mercantilism & the economics of colonialism; characteristics of Spanish, French, and English colonies and their interactions with Native Americans; early slavery and colonial attitudes to race and gender; geography and economic development of the colonies; development of representative legislative bodies in the English colonies; salutary neglect & growth of colonial identity. CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS:

1. Were the Americas "discovered" or were they conquered?

2. Many of the early settlers felt that God had "paved the way" for their being here. What evidence did they find here that supported that feeling?

3. Know the differences in the approaches to exploration or colonization among those who showed interest in the Americas (Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, English). Why were some of these successful and why were some failures over time?

4. What were the prevailing attitudes and behaviors exhibited by the European settlers toward the Native American population?

5. What type of relationship developed between the colonies and their "managers" in England that led to the colonist feeling "free" to develop as they saw fit?

6. Discuss the different social structures that characterized New England and the Chesapeake colonies during the first 100 years of their development.

7. What was the economic relationship of the colonies to Europe during this period? How was it beneficial to the colonies? How was it detrimental to the colonies?

8. What was the role of religion in the early colonies? To what extent is it accurate to say that religion was the reason for there being colonies in the first place as has been so often maintained?

ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS:

• Class lecture on the rise of the English state, the Glorious Revolution, and the French and Indian War Debate on Separatists, Puritans, Quakers, and the Crown. Document analysis activity: the Mayflower Compact.

• Working in groups, students develop a class presentation that analyzes reasons for the development of different labor systems in any two of the following regions of British colonial settlement: New England, the Chesapeake, the southernmost Atlantic coast, and the British West Indies. [WXT-‐4]

• Ask students the following question: “How has the introduction of new plants, animals, and technologies altered the natural environment of North America and affected interactions among various groups before European contact and after European contact?” Using the unit readings, students will engage in small group discussions and as a class, develop a list of impacts both pre-‐ and post-‐contact with Europeans. [ENV-‐1]

• Students will complete a multiple-‐choice quiz the second day of class over the summer reading assignment • By drawing on selections from The American Spirit (Kennedy) students write an essay that explores the

evolution of identity based on race, ethnicity, and nationality [ID-‐4] • Students write an essay in which they evaluate the impact of the Columbian Exchange on Native Americans

in North America during the 16th century

Students will write an in-‐class, timed essay on at least one of the following prompts:

1. Early encounters between American Indians and European colonists led to a variety of relationships among the different cultures. Analyze how the actions taken by BOTH American Indians and European colonists shaped those relationships in the following regions. Confine your answer to the 1600s.

New England Chesapeake Spanish Southwest New York and New France

2. Although New England and the Chesapeake regions were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur? Use your knowledge of the colonial period up to 1700 to develop your answer.

3. Analyze the ways in which TWO of the following influenced the development of American society

Puritanism during the seventeenth century the Enlightenment the Great Awakening during the eighteenth century

UNIT II: BIRTH OF A NEW NATION (1754-‐1800) THEMES: ID, WXT, PEO, POL, WOR, CUL READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 4: The Empire in Transition • Chapter 5: The American Revolution • Chapter 6: The Constitution and the New Republic • Louis M Hacker, “The Triumph of American Capitalism,” 1940 • Merrill Jensen, “Democracy and the American Revolution”, 1957 • Crevecoeur, “What is an American?” • Albany Plan of Union • Common Sense • Declaration of Independence • Olive Branch Petition • Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation • Constitution of the United States • Bill of Rights • Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions • Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States, Chapters 4-‐5 • Hofstadter, Richard The American Political Tradition and the Men who Made It, Chapter 1

MAJOR TOPICS: French & Indian War & colonial response; from 1763 to 1776—the decade of decision; changes in British imperial policy toward the colonies; what was “radical” and what was “conservative” about the American Revolution; Stamp and Intolerable Acts; the Articles of Confederation; Common Sense; Sons of Liberty; American diplomacy under the Articles; the Constitutional Convention—balancing power with power; the bank & assumption issues in the Washington administration; enumerated v. implied powers; the development of formal “factions” and the first two-‐party system—Federalist and Republicans. CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS:

1. What accounts for the dramatic increase in population in the colonies before 1750?

2. What circumstances led to the introduction of slavery into the colonies?

3. How did Britain's "neglect" of the colonies gradually lead to independence?

4. Assess the validity of the following statement: "1763 is the most significant year in the history of the colonies before the Revolutionary War."

5. In many revolutions, violence precedes a change of government. In the American history, the ten years between 1765 and 1775 provided the colonists a long period to think through what they were going to do before resorting to armed revolt. Discuss some of the changes in colonial thinking during this ten-‐year period.

6. To what extent is the American government a product of the Enlightenment.

7. How and in what ways was the American Revolution revolutionary?

8. What did the founders mean by "republic"?

9. What were the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation? What were the strengths?

10. Evaluate the following statement: "The Articles of Confederation amply served the desires of most Americans at the time. It was the economic elite who 'hijacked' America's political evolution and turned it into another course by replacing the Articles with the Constitution."

11. To what extent was fear of "too much democracy" a motive for writing the U. S. Constitution?

12. Jefferson & Madison are republicans and opposed what they considered a concentration and abuse of power in the hands of the federalists in the Washington and Adams administrations. To what extent did Jefferson's and Madison's terms as President invalidate this position?

13. To what extent was the role of the Supreme Court mapped out by John Marshall different from the role envisioned for the court by the writers of the Constitution?


• Students will read an excerpt from Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer, “What is an American?” and then in small table groups discuss the following question: “To what extent had a unique American identity developed by the eve of the American Revolution?” [ID-‐1]

• During a class seminar, students will argue the merits of Enlightenment thought versus the realities of market economics by debating the following prompt: “Were American colonists justified in rebelling from the British?”

• Students using their textbook and excerpts from the Federalist and Antifederalist Papers will participate in

a class debate regarding the following: “Should America Ratify the U.S. Constitution? [POL-‐5]

• Class discussions on what role the government should have in society. Student-‐led debates surrounding the 1st and 2nd Amendments and how they are connected to current political issues. Philosophical focus on individual rights vs. rights of the public and state vs. federal laws; recent current event topics include: restrictions on gay marriage, free speech and the Citizens United Supreme Court Ruling, Hobby Lobby Case and Freedom of Religion, recent mass shootings and whether additional restrictions on guns is warranted.

• Students will complete a Short Answer Question activity practicing Historical Interpretation. Students will read excerpts from the following historians, Louis M Hacker, “The Triumph of American Capitalism,” 1940 and Merrill Jensen, “Democracy and the American Revolution”, 1957, over the causes of the American Revolution and identify the major differences between the two interpretations, then identify specific historical evidence which supports both arguments, but not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts

• Document analysis on Albany Plan of Union, Common Sense, Declaration of Independence, Olive Branch Petition, Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, Constitution of the United States, Bill of Rights, Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions – key topics of Federalism, protection of freedoms and state vs. federal authority.

• Students will complete several reading and document based exams for each chapter. Students will write an in-‐class, timed essay on at least one of the following prompts:

1. To what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution? Use your knowledge of the period 1750 to 1776 to answer the question.

2. Analyze the degree to which the Articles of Confederation provided an effective form of government with respect to the following.

foreign relations economic conditions western lands

3. To what extent did the American Revolution fundamentally change American society? In your answer, be sure to address the political, social, and economic effects of the Revolution in the period from 1775 to 1800.

4. Evaluate the relative importance of each of the following in the decline of the Federalists and the ascent to power of the Jeffersonian Republicans:

Midnight judges the Alien and Sedition Acts the Twelfth Amendment the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

UNIT III: THE EARLY REPUBLIC AND THE AGE OF THE COMMON MAN (1800-‐1844) THEMES: ID, WXT, PEO, POL, WOR, ENV, CUL READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 7: The Jeffersonian Era • Chapter 8: Varieties of American Nationalism • Chapter 9: Jacksonian America • Marbury v. Madison excerpt • Nullification documents • Louisiana Purchase • Monroe Doctrine • Court Case Briefs from A Student’s Guide to the Supreme Court, by John J Patrick • Henry Steele Commager, “Commentary on the Constitution”, 1961 • Thomas R Dye and Harmon Zeigler, “The Irony of Democracy”, 1971 • Chapter 2, “Thomas Jefferson: The Aristocrat as Democrat” AND Chapter 3, “Andrew Jackson and the Rise

of Liberal Capitalism” from The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made It1, by Richard Hofstadter.

• Chapter 5, “Awakenings of Religion” AND Chapter 9, “Andrew Jackson and His Age” from What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-‐1848, by Daniel Walker Howe.

MAJOR TOPICS: the beginnings of political parties—enumerated v. implied powers, centralizers v. states’ rights advocates; nationalism; the beginning of American identity; change in the power of the Supreme Court; 2nd Great Awakening; America grows geographically complicated—northeast, south, west (great triumvirate as representative); Growing pains of the New Republic; foreign relations between the United States and France and Britain; causes and course of the War of 1812; political, social, and economic aftermath of the War of 1812, including the death of the Federalist Party, the emergence of the Second Bank of the United States, and the conflict over internal improvements; the contested election of 1824 and the end of the Era of Good Feeling; tariffs

and the specter of nullification; major decisions of the Marshall Court; the Monroe Doctrine and the growth of the United States in regional politics; the growth of slavery & states’ rights as defining & dividing issues; rise of the Jacksonian Democratic party, including its beliefs, policies, and important members; and the Four Main Crises of the Age of Jackson: the expanding view of democracy (spoils system, rotation in office), the Native American question (court cases and Indian removal), the nullification crisis, and economic issues of the period (Second Bank of the United States and the Panic of 1837).

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: 1. Discuss how the nationalism of the 1820s & 1830s became the sectionalism of the 1840s and 1850s. What

were the social, political, and economic reasons for these changes? 2. To what extent is the following statement true? John Marshall created the Supreme Court as a "third" branch of

government. 3. It could be said that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were the fathers of the Civil War. Using these

chapters and discussing events from the 1830s and 1840s, evaluate the validity of that statement. 4. In what ways and to what extent did the Jacksonian approach to Native American issues represent a

continuation of a long-‐standing attitude toward the American Indian? 5. How did the extension of the franchise (the right to vote) during this period create a more "democratic"

American society? 6. In what ways and to what extent were the social changes in American society in the 1830s and 1840s

expressions of nationalism? 7. "The South grew, but it did not develop." By the 1840s this was true socially, politically, and economically. In

what ways? 8. What were the achievements and failures of Jefferson’s presidency? Was Jefferson a great president; why or

why not? 9. Identify the major causes and consequences of the War of 1812. Which of these were the most important AND

why? ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS:

• Class discussions on U.S. Bank and the Louisiana Purchase and how both reflected arguments for a strict or

loose construction of the Constitution

• Students will complete a Short Answer Question activity over the skill of Historical Interpretation. Students will read excerpts from the following historians, Henry Steele Commager, “Commentary on the Constitution”, 1961 and Thomas R Dye and Harmon Zeigler, “The Irony of Democracy”, 1971, over the issue of the meaning of the Constitution. Identify the major differences between the two interpretations, then identify specific historical evidence which supports both arguments, but not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts

• Students will complete a unit test that will be composed of traditional multiple-‐choice questions as well as new mult. choice questions for the redesign

• Students will also do a number of pre-‐writes, in which students will practice organizing an essay prompt, outlining the essay, and developing a thesis statement

Students will write an in-‐class, timed essay on at least one of the following prompts: 1. With respect to the federal Constitution, the Jeffersonian Republicans are usually characterized as strict

constructionists who were opposed to the broad “constructionism” of the Federalists. To what extent was this characterization of the two parties accurate during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison?

2. Analyze the differences and similarities between Jeffersonian Republicanism and Jacksonian Democracy.

3. Although the power of the national government increased during the early republic, this development often

faced serious opposition. Compare the motives and effectiveness of those opposed to the growing power of the national government in TWO of the following. Whiskey Rebellion, 1794 Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 1798-‐1799 Hartford Convention, 1814-‐1815 Nullification Crisis, 1832-‐1833

4. Identify THREE of the following and evaluate the relative importance of each of the THREE in contributing to the economic growth of the United States in the period 1815-‐1850.

The American System The Transportation revolution The Second Bank of the United States The Tariff of 1828

UNIT IV: REFORM ERA POLICIES AND THE MARKET ECONOMY, (1800-‐1844) THEMES: WXT, POL, CUL READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 10: America’s Economic Revolution • Chapter 11: Cotton, Slavery, and the Old South • Chapter 12: Antebellum Culture and Reform • Thomas Dew, A Defense of Slavery • Seneca Falls Declaration • Chapters 4, 15, & 16 from Democracy In America, volume 1, by Alexis de Tocqueville • Selected excerpts from: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass. • Selected excerpts from: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Selected excerpts from: Civil Disobedience • Selected excerpts from: Roll, Jordan, Roll by Eugene Genovese • Selected excerpts from: Slavery by Stanley Elkins

MAJOR TOPICS: Lowell, Waltham & changes in the nature of work; changes in the American family; growth of American literature; changing roles for women; abolition—gradualism and absolutism; reforms in education; the second two-‐party system, Democrats & Whigs; the increasing power of the west; the Great Triumvirate; slavery post-‐1820 as defining political problem; effect of technology on American society; deep south; plantation life and slave resistance; Trends in immigration, urbanization, industrialization; social and cultural reactions to the industrial age, including the Second Great Awakening, utopian movements, and reformers; reform movements involving treatment of the poor, the blind, the deaf, the insane, and criminals; the temperance movement; reform movements involving civil rights, including the status of slaves and women; and artistic and philosophical movements of the age, including the Hudson River School, romantic authors, and transcendentalists

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: 1. What factors influenced the growth of population between 1820 and 1860? 2. How did advances in transportation, communication and technology affect the Industrial Revolution in the

United States? 3. What was the impact of industry on American society? 4. Describe the structure of planter society in the South? 5. How did slave culture create a sense of racial pride and unity? 6. What was the “peculiar institution”? Why was it dubbed this? 7. Describe how the rise of nationalism resulted in the rise of romanticism. 8. How did the Second Great Awakening affect reform in the antebellum era? 9. How did the abolitionist movement create a division between the North and the South?

ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS: • Students read excepts from Ralph Waldo Emerson “Nature,” “The American Scholar,” “Self-‐Reliance,” and

Henry David Thoreau “Walden,” “Civil Disobedience,” and “Religion, Nature, and Disobedience in the Thought of Emerson and Thoreau” by Bryan-‐Paul Frost. Students will write a 2 page review of the readings and then participate in small group discussions regarding the “Role of Transcendentalism in Antebellum America, especially with regards to reform” [CUL-‐5]

• Students will read “The Market Revolution in Early America.” by John Lauritz Larson as well as excerpts from “What Hath God Wrought” by Daniel Walker Howe and write a 2-‐4 page response to the following “How and in what ways, did innovations in the marketplace, transportation, and communications technology affect the economy and the different regions of North America?” “In what way did these changes both create unity and cause disunity?” Afterwards, students will present their papers in small groups to discuss the topic. [WXT-‐2]

• Students will read, “The Market Revolution in Early America” by John Lauritz Larson AND “The Disruption Machine” by Jill Lepore.

• Online class discussion over the following two questions: 1. “How have innovations in the market, transportation, and technology affected the economy and the

different regions of North America?” 2. “Do you agree or disagree that marketplace disruption is necessary for economic and technological

progress?”




1. In what ways did the Second Great Awakening in the North influence TWO of the following? Abolitionism Temperance The cult of domesticity Utopian communities

2. Identify THREE of the following and evaluate the relative importance of each of the THREE in contributing to the economic growth of the United States in the period 1815-‐1860. the American System the transportation revolution the Second Bank of the United States the Tariff of 1828

3. To what extent did Jacksonian Democracy reflect social and economic developments in the nation and in what ways did Jacksonian Democracy further such social and economic developments?

4. Presidential elections are referendums on the political party in power and not on the programs put forward by the challenger. Examine this statement in light of the results of the elections in 1828, 1832, and 1840.

UNIT V: SECTIONALISM, WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION THEMES: ID, PEO, POL, WOR, WXT, CUL, ENV,

READING ASSIGNMENTS: • Chapter 13: The Impending Crisis • Chapter 14: The Civil War • Chapter 15: Reconstruction and the New South • Compromise of 1850 & Kansas-‐Nebraska Act Maps • Five myths about why the South seceded. • Excerpt from Dred Scott v. Sanford • Lincoln’s first & second Inaugural Address • The Gettysburg Address • Selected excerpts from: The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward • Selected excerpts from: Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson • Selected excerpts from: The Impending Crisis by David Potter • Selected excerpts from: What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker-‐Howe • Selected excerpts from: Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution by Eric Foner

MAJOR TOPICS: Trends in westward expansion, specifically independence in Texas and statehood issues involving slavery; life on the trail; Oregon and California; border crisis involving Mexico and the Mexican War; and negotiation of the Treaty of Guadalupe-‐Hidalgo and shifting power structure in North America; Effects of the Mexican War in terms of land acquisition, slavery, economics, and politics; The Four Horsemen of the American Apocalypse, including Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Kansas-‐Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott Decision, and John Brown's Raid; and the Secession Crisis; Outbreak of the military conflict between north and south, and the course of the war; political, diplomatic, social, and economic consequences of the war, north and south; religion and the abolitionist cause; the Emancipation Proclamation and its effects on the war effort and the slave population; and generals and leadership during the crisis, north and south; Competing models for Reconstruction: Presidential, Congressional, and White Southern; the assassination of President Lincoln and its implications for Reconstruction and the policies of Andrew Johnson; military occupation of the south; the emergence of black republican governments; impeachment of Andrew Johnson; Radicalization of Reconstruction; 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, white resistance, the KKK and the spiral of violence; and readmitting southern states, the Grant scandals, the restoration of conservative white governments, and the gradual denial of black rights in the South

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: 1. Identify the major causes contributing to US territorial expansion in the 1840’s Which of these was the

most important and why? 2. To what extent did the expansion of slavery become the most divisive political issue in the 1840’s and 1850’s? 3. What combination of issues and events fueled the creation of the Republican Party in the 1850’s? 4. What enabled Lincoln to emerge as president from the divisive party politics of the 1850’s? 5. Identify the major causes that led to the road to secession. Which of these was the most important; why? Was

the Civil War inevitable? 6. In what way should the Civil War be considered the first modern war? 7. To what extent did a war to preserve the Union become a war to end slavery? 8. To what extent did the Civil War transform the national economy and create a stronger nation-‐state? 9. To what extent did the war effort and leadership problems affect the society and economy of the Confederacy

and the Union? 10. What were the military and political turning points of the war? Which of these was the most significant; why? 11. What were the most important wartime “rehearsals for Reconstruction”? What visions of freedom did the

former slaves and slaveholders pursue in the postwar South? 12. What were the sources, goals, and competing visions of Reconstruction? 13. What were the social and political effects of Radical Reconstruction in the South? 14. What were the main factors, in both the North and South, for the abandonment of Reconstruction? 15. To what extent was slavery a "cause" of the Civil War? 16. Was war inevitable after the sectional crises of the 1850s?

17. A good way to measure the "trauma" of a time period in American history is to look as its effects as measured by amendments to the U. S. Constitution. Using this as criteria, what were the major problems of this time period and how were they permanently addressed in the Constitution?

18. It could be said that Section 1 of the 14th Amendment is the real declaration of victory in the Civil War? To what extent and in what ways is this true?

19. As significant as the 14th Amendment is, it represented a major betrayal to one group who had been very active social movements in the 1840s and 1850s. What was this group and to what extent was the 14th Amendment a betrayal?

20. The Radical Republicans' actions in the post-‐Civil War era represented a clear attempt of one branch of the federal government to encroach on the powers of another branch of the federal government. By 1877 who was ahead? What were the effects of this on the country in general?

21. Was the Civil War detrimental or beneficial to the industrialization of America? In what ways? ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS:

• Students read the sources in a document-‐based question on the Mexican-‐American War and engage in a classroom debate on President Polk’s motives for entering the war. [WOR-‐5]

• Continuity and Change Over Time: students will review the changes in the structure of government, especially the Executive branch, under Lincoln during the Civil War by reviewing a timeline of the first sixteen presidents. Afterwards, student will compare recent presidencies including George W. Bush and Barack Obama and compare the similarities and differences of the current executive branch in a time of war.

• Causation (students will construct a cause / effect chart tracing the causes and effects of the Civil War) • A class discussion on the effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry. Debate topic

on whether John Brown and Harriet Beecher Stowe are responsible for inciting the fires of the war on slavery and if so, should history view them as heroes or terrorists?

• Class discussions on Union and Confederate generals, wartime diplomacy, and turning points in the war. • Debate on civil liberties during wartime starting with Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus, and

comparing to current discussions on the Patriot Act, Guantanamo Bay detainees and the NSA wiretapping scandal.

• Document analysis activity: the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address • Students analyze the factors that led to Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and

its resulting impacts on the Union’s war effort • Class discussions of the Reconstruction Acts and the successes and failures of the Reconstruction Era. • Students will complete a unit test that will be composed of traditional multiple-‐choice questions as well as

new mult. choice questions for the redesign • Students will also do a number of pre-‐writes, in which students will practice organizing an essay prompt,

outlining the essay, and developing a thesis statement


1. Assess the moral arguments and political actions of those opposed to the spread of slavery in the context of TWO of the following.

Missouri Compromise Mexican War Compromise of 1850 Kansas-‐Nebraska Act

2. By the 1850s the Constitution, originally framed as an instrument of national unity, had become a source of sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created. Using your knowledge of the period 1850-‐1861, assess the validity of this statement.

3. Analyze the economic consequences of the Civil War with respect to any TWO of the following in the United States between 1865 and 1880.

agriculture labor industrialization transportation

4. "With the end of Reconstruction, we in the South can now return to our normal lives." Examine the significance of this statement for both whites and blacks in the post-‐Reconstruction American South.

SPRING SEMESTER

UNIT VI: THE GILDED AGE, 1862-‐1898 THEMES: ID, WXT, PEO, POL, CUL, ENV READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 16: The Conquest of the Far West • Chapter 17: Industrial Supremacy • Chapter 18: The Age of the City • Immigration into the U. S. by decade, data & chart • Frederick Jackson Turner “Turner Thesis” • Henry George “Concentrations of Wealth Harm America” • Andrew Carnegie “Concentrations of Wealth Help America” • William Graham Sumner “What Social Classes Owe Each Other” • Andrew Carnegie “The Gospel of Wealth” • Walter Rauschenbusch “The Social Gospel” • Selected excerpts from Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, by Dee

Brown. • Selected excerpts from A Century of Dishonor by Helen Hunt Jackson • Selected excerpts from Anatomy of the State by Murray Rothbard

MAJOR TOPICS: Social and economic effects of post-‐bellum industrialization in the North and the South; the expanding economic power of the United States in the world economy; impact of an unregulated economy on the development of heavy industry and the emergence of business tycoons; case studies on Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, and Vanderbilt; early attempts to rein in big business by the government at the state and federal levels; westward expansion as seen in the context of the railroad industry and emerging economic interests; conflicts between Native Americans and settlers, ranchers, miners; and military conflicts with Native Americans.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS:

1. In what ways was the post-‐Civil War immigration different from the immigration that occurred in the 1830s and 1840s?

2. Compare the post-‐Civil War industrialization with the "factory system" of the 1840s.

3. How do you account for the growth of cities, the urbanization, of the 1880s and 1890s?

4. The farmers of the west and south felt in some ways similar to the workers in Eastern cities. How did the farmers' response differ from the response of workers in the east?

5. Discuss the similarities between the Horatio Alger "rags-‐to-‐riches" attitude and the Social Darwinism of William Graham Sumner.

6. Evaluate the effect of "bigness"—in business, in the burgeoning economy, in foreign affairs-‐-‐on American Society in the period between 1875 and 1925.

7. To what extent did the boundaries of American freedom grow narrower during the Gilded Age?

8. There was a second wave of American expansionism, a "new" Manifest Destiny, after the frontier was "closed" according to Frederick Jackson Turner. To what extent did this justify or support Turner's "frontier thesis?"


• Students will read the following two primary sources, Native American Party “Immigrants Endanger America,” and Thomas Nichols “Immigrants Do Not Endanger America.” After reading students identify the key arguments made by the authors and discuss the readings in a small group seminar. Afterwards, students will discuss the current criticisms of immigration policy and identify the similarities to the arguments made by the articles. [PEO-‐5]

• Class discussions on immigration, industrialization, the growth of cities and urban culture, materialism and growth of a wealthy industrial aristocracy.

• Students write an essay asking what role the acquisition of natural resources has played in U.S. foreign policy decisions since the late 19th century.

• Class debates on whether the government should interfere with free market conditions to make things ‘fair’ AND whether concentration of wealth is good or bad? Students can use provided excerpts from Murray Rothbard, John Maynard Keynes, Henry George, Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, Andrew Carnegie and Karl Marx.

• Art Activity: Students review various pieces of art from the era and identify their favorite piece and write a

short (1-‐2 page) analysis. For extra credit, students can recreate the style of their favorite painting, picture or structure and add their own local, modern twist [Example: recreate the feeling of loneliness in Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” by having someone sitting at a Starbucks, alone on their phone.]

o Works of Art: Winslow Homer “The Gulf Stream” | Thomas Eakins “The Gross Clinic”, “Max Schmidt in a Single Skull” | George Bellows “Stag at Sharkey’s”, “Tennis at Newport” | Thomas Pollock Anshutz “Iron Workers at Noontime” | Edward P Moran “Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” | Horace Bonham “Nearing the Issue” | John Singer Sargent “El Jaleo” | JA McNeill Whistler “Arrangement in Gray and Black (or Whistler’s Mother)”, “Nocturne in Black and Gold (or the Falling Rocket)” | Edward Hopper “Nighthawks”

• Students will complete a unit test that will be composed of traditional multiple-‐choice questions as well as

new mult. choice questions for the redesign • Students will also do a number of pre-‐writes, in which students will practice organizing an essay prompt,

outlining the essay, and developing a thesis statement


1. How were the lives of the Plains Indians in the second half of the nineteenth century affected by technological developments and government actions?

2. It was innovations in communications and transportation, more than innovations in business and industry, that changed the daily life of the working American. Assess the validity of this statement for the period 1875-‐1900.

3. Because of industrialization the lives of most Americans underwent a fundamental transformation. Assess the validity of this statement in relation to TWO of the following for the period 1875-‐1900.

the family unit

in consumer behavior in leisure-‐time activities American class structure

4. How did the “old immigration” of the 1840s and 1850s differ from the “new immigration” that began in the 1880s?

UNIT VII: THE PROGRESSIVE ERA, 1890-‐1920 THEMES: ID, WXT, POL, CUL, ENV, WOR READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 19: From Crisis to Empire • Chapter 20: The Progressives • Chapter 21: America and the Great War • Excerpt from “Our Country,” by Josiah Strong • Populist Party Platform, 1892 • “The War Prayer,” by Mark Twain • Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, 1904 • “The New Nationalism,” Theodore Roosevelt • Woodrow Wilson “The Federal Government Should Oppose Trusts: Wilson’s New Freedom” • Woodrow Wilson “America Should Enter WWI”, George W Norris “America Should Not Enter WWI” • US census and immigration charts from 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920 • Maps of urban growth and ethnic neighborhoods • Excerpts from Ronald G. Walters “The First Age of Reform” and Richard Hofstadter “The Age of Reform”

MAJOR TOPICS: Spanish-‐American War, Hawaiian Annexation, John Hay, “Open Door” policy, McKinley, US expansion in the Pacific, populism, William Jennings Bryan, Gold-‐Silver Debate, influence of big business, trusts, cycle of farmer debt, big stick diplomacy, dollar diplomacy, election of 1912, WWI, Treaty of Versailles organized labor, federal reserve act, revised military organization; progressive concept of management and reliance on science; growth of “professionalism”; Progressivism defined, goals of Progressivism, and types of Progressives; muckrakers, social reform, and the use of the media to achieve social, economic, and political goals; radical movements, the IWW and Socialist Party, the changing role in government (including state and local); role of Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson in promoting Progressive agendas at the federal level; and successes and failures of the Progressive Era

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS:

1. The farmers of the west and south felt in some ways similar to the workers in Eastern cities. How did the farmers' response differ from the response of workers in the east?

2. If you use changes to the U. S. Constitution as a measure, this period is one of the most significant in American history. What were the Constitutional changes? How are they a product of the changes that occurred in American society in this period?

3. There was a second wave of American expansionism, a "new" Manifest Destiny, after the frontier was "closed" according to Frederick Jackson Turner. To what extent did this justify or support Turner's "frontier thesis?"

4. To what extent did Progressivism build on the demands made earlier by the Populists?

5. It has been said that the 20th Century actually began when Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States. To what extent is this a true statement?

6. What were the root causes of the progressive movement? Why did the movement flourish in the north and west, but lack support in the south?

7. Is it accurate to describe Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson as progressives? Who was the most progressive and why? The least?

8. To what extent did women play a significant role in the societal changes that characterized this time period?

9. The period 1901-‐1920 can be characterized as a long argument between interventionism and isolationism. To what extent is this true?

10. The Progressive Era ended in a bitter period of fear-‐filled isolationism. What caused America to recoil like this?

11. Woodrow Wilson is generally listed as one of the "near great" Presidents of the United States. Is this assessment justified? Why or why not?


• Using various census data maps about immigration students will analyze the impact of shifting trends in immigration to America during the last decades of the 19th century and explain why the public and political response was both similar and different to earlier eras. (Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882 and Immigration Act 1924) **Students should conclude the changes in the ethnicity of the immigrants, as well as, a global rise in nationalistic rhetoric, were key reasons for a more forceful Congressional response.

• Periodization (students will construct a periodization chart in which they identify a beginning and ending date / event for the Progressive Era; next they will identify specific details which reinforce / contradict commonly held beliefs of the period)

• Class discussions on the role of muckrakers and on third party candidacies in the Progressive Era • Class discussions focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the Progressive mind set, as well as the

successes and failures of Progressive programs

• After reading the work of historians Richard Hofstadter and Ronald G. Walters, students are asked to write an essay agreeing or disagreeing with Hofstadter’s arguments by referencing one reform movement from the antebellum or progressive eras. [POL-‐3]

• In-‐class document analysis: excerpts from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida Tarbell

• Students engage in a small group seminar analyzing the extent to which the Spanish-‐American War was a turning point in the history of US foreign relations

• Students will read excerpts from the following two sources: Albert J. Beveridge “America Should Retain the Philippines” and Joseph Henry Cooker “America Should Not Rule the Philippines.” Afterwards, students will write a reflection on the shift in American Foreign Policy and the role the Philippines had in this change. [WOR-‐6]

• Students create a political cartoon arguing for or against annexation of Cuba after the Spanish American War



• Students will outline in-‐class the following DBQ: “In the post-‐Civil War US, corporations grew significantly in number, size, and influence. Analyze the impact of big business on the economy and politics and the responses of Americans to these changes. Confine your answer to the period 1870 to 1900.”

o Students will analyze the documents in the DBQ using APPARTS or the Rhetorical Triangle (historical context, intended audience, point of view, and purpose)


1. How successful were progressive reforms during the period 1890 to 1915 with respect to TWO of the following?

Industrial conditions Urban life Politics

2. Organized labor failed to establish itself as a viable force in the Gilded Age America, not because it faced hostile combinations and an unsympathetic government, but because it ran counter to the doctrine of “rugged individualism.” Assess the validity of this statement for the period 1875-‐1900.

3. America’s declaration of war against Spain in 1898 was more a result of agitation by special interest groups than it was an instrument of national policy. Assess the validity of this statement in light of TWO of the following:

business interests expansionist ideals yellow journalism advocates of the Monroe Doctrine

4. The election of 1896 is often identified as a turning point in American politics. Assess the validity of this statement. To what extent did the role of the federal government change under President Theodore Roosevelt in regard to TWO of the following.

Labor Trusts Conservation World affairs

5. Assess the relative influence of THREE of the following in the American decision to declare war on Germany in 1917.

German naval policy American economic interests Woodrow Wilson’s idealism Allied propaganda America’s claim to world power

UNIT VIII: THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE NEW DEAL (1920-‐1941) THEMES: ID, WXT, POL, CUL, ENV READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 22: The “New Era” • Chapter 23: The Great Depression • Chapter 24: The New Deal • FDR’s first inaugural address, 1933 • Excerpts from Freedom from Fear by David Kennedy • Don’t Blame Hoover By David Kennedy • Henry Ford “Self-‐Help is the Best Response to Unemployment” • Charles R Walker “Self-‐ Help is Not Enough” • Franklin D Roosevelt “America Needs a New Deal” • Herbert Hoover “Roosevelt’s New Deal Would Destroy America” • Huey P Long “Redistributing America’s Wealth Would Solve the Depression”

• Selected excerpts from: Studs Terkel, Hard Times • Richard Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition

MAJOR TOPICS: the Treaty of Versailles and the Senate fight over ratification and the League of Nations; Warren G. Harding, Normalcy, and the end of the Progressive Era; and social, political, economic, and cultural trends during the 1920s, nativism and xenophobia, return of the KKK, Scope Trial/Evolution Debate, European Nihilism and Abstract Culture; “live for today attitude,” Harlem Renaissance, flappers, speakeasies, prohibition, Hoover, Coolidge Consumerism, Teapot Dome Scandal, Henry Ford and American Consumer Culture, Stock Market Crash, crop failures, and the collapse of the banking industry by 1932; the Bonus Army, Hoovervilles, and the social crisis surrounding the election of 1932; FDR, Hundred Days, the First and Second New Deals, and the recasting of the role of government; court challenges to the New Deal programs, and other dissenting voices, including economic and religious critics; the overall effects of the New Deal programs on the economy, politics, and the popular understanding of the role of government in American society CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: 1. When Warren G. Harding ungrammatically promised America a return to "normalcy," what did he mean? 2. It has been said, "When America is afraid, it turns inward and gets mean." Discuss the extent to which this is

true especially as regarding the period in American history immediately after World War 1. 3. Discuss how the decade of the 20s paved the way for the collapse of the American economy in the decade of the

30s. 4. To what extent and in what ways did the role of women change during the 20s and 30s? 5. Why wasn't there a radical revolution in the United States when it's economy failed in the late 20s and its

government apparently could not deal with the disaster? 6. What beliefs or assumptions led to Hoover's failure to adequately deal with the deteriorating economic

situation during his years as President? 7. What were the underlying causes of the Great Depression and the initial attempts by the Hoover

administration to mitigate its effects? 8. To what extent did the reforms of the New Deal truly transform the role of government, and to what extent did

they merely build upon an earlier foundation? 9. Why didn't all of the legislation produced in the Roosevelt years "cure" the Great Depression? What did end it?


• Students will participate in a small group seminar over the New Deal and its critics (critical thinking questions based on the reading will be discussed, students identify the main points and thesis of the authors, they will offer critiques of the arguments and offer their own interpretation and analysis of the readings as well as others within their group, with connections to the present

• Students will read excerpts from the following historians, Arthur M Schlesinger, Jr, “The Broad Accomplishments of the New Deal”, 1948 AND Richard Hofstadter, “The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It”, 1948, over the nature of the New Deal. After reading students will identify the major differences between the two interpretations, then identify specific historical evidence which supports both arguments, but not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts



• Using APPARTS or SOAPS, students will analyze a series of political cartoons regarding FDR, the New Deal and his battle with the Supreme Court.


1. During the presidential election in 1920, he Republican candidate, Warren G. Harding, called for a "return to normalcy" after the activism of the Progressive era. How did Harding and his successor, Calvin Coolidge, respond to the public clamor for a "return to normalcy"?

2. Analyze the ways in which THREE of the following indicated the tension between conservative and liberal views in American society during the 1920s.

the Red Scare Prohibition the Scopes trial flappers

3. American foreign policy is usually described as isolationist from the end of World War 1 to the outbreak of World War 2. Discuss the evidence that supports this position.

4. In what ways did economic conditions and developments in the arts and entertainment help create the reputation of the 1920s as the Roaring Twenties?

5. During the First New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt tried to provide for "Relief, Recovery, and Reform." What did he do to try to accomplish this?

6. Identify THREE of the following New Deal measures and analyze the ways in which each of the three attempted to fashion a more stable economy and a more equitable society.

Agricultural Adjustment Act Securities and Exchange Commission Wagner National Labor Relations Act Social Security Act

UNIT IX: WORLD WAR II AND THE COLD WAR (1932-‐1962) THEMES: ID, WXT, PEO, POL, WOR, CUL READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 25: The Global Crisis, 1932-‐1945 • Chapter 26: America in a World at War • Chapter 27: The Cold War • George F. Kennan: Russia, the Atom and the West • Dean Acheson, “The Illusion of Disengagement” • Kenneth N. Waltz, “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb” • Graham Allison, “The Cuban Missile Crisis at 50” • The Atlantic Charter, 1941 • The Marshall Plan, 1947 • Excerpts from “The Four Freedoms” • Excerpts from The Second World War: A Complete History by Martin Gilbert • Excerpts from Freedom from Fear by David Kennedy • Images from Dr. Seuss Goes to War • Images of American Political Cartoons

MAJOR TOPICS: American isolationism in the 1930s, the Neutrality Acts, and the slow drift toward intervention by 1941; Pearl Harbor, involvement in the War, mobilization, and its effects on American economy, society, and

politics; civil liberties during the war, especially the status of Japanese Americans; the course of the war in the Pacific and in Europe, including the dropping of the atomic bomb and the end of the war; and diplomacy during the war, from the Atlantic Charter to the Potsdam Conference; the legacy of FDR and Truman on the power of the presidency; new political alignments; the G-‐I Bill and changing roles for education; nuclear diplomacy, Sputnik; post-‐war internationalism—the U. N. and NATO; us against them—“better dead than red”; containment (Marshall Plan, NATO, Truman Doctrine); Berlin; dominoes dropping—Europe and Asia (China, Korea, Vietnam); Suez Canal Crisis in Egypt; the beginning of American involvement in the Middle East; Cuba & the threat of Soviet influence into the Western Hemisphere; bi-‐polar conflict, NSC-‐68, military industrial complex, the space race, Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: 1. Why was America socially, economically, and politically reluctant to become involved in what would become

World War 2?

2. World War 2 marked the beginning of a real civil rights movement among Black Americans. Why?

3. The New Deal did not stop the Great Depression, World War 2 did. Assess the validity of this statement.

4. Dropping the atomic bomb was necessary to ending the war. To what extent was this true for those making the decision in 1945?

5. Respond to the following statement: It was "easier" for America to drop the atomic bomb on Japan because the Japanese are racially different from the majority of Americans; America would never have dropped an atomic bomb on Europe.

6. What perceptions or misperceptions at the end of World War 2 created the Cold War?

7. In what ways was the Marshall Plan an attempt to avoid the mistakes that had been made after the Treaty of Versailles?

8. To what extent does the "domino effect" explain America's actions in Asia since the end of World War 2? Is this an example of the Truman Doctrine and of NSC-‐68? How?

9. Why did America emerge into the post-‐World War 2 era as a "super" power?

10. Compare and contrast the Red Scare at the end of World War 1 and the McCarthyism at the end of World War 2.

11. To what extent were the 1950’s a period of consensus in both domestic policies and foreign affairs? 12. In what ways were the Bay of Pigs, the Space Race, and the Cuban Missile Crisis related? ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS:

• Periodization (students will construct a periodization chart in which they identify a beginning and ending date / event for WWII as well as identify key specific events at home, in Europe and in the Pacific and connect them to the broader war movement.

• Students will fill out maps of the Pacific and European fronts of war that detail the movement of the Allied forces, the key battles, and the territorial extent of the Axis powers.

• Compare and contrast the Red Scare of 1919-‐1920s to the Red Scare of the 1950s by creating a Venn Diagram.

• Students will participate in a class discussion over the textbook chapter material as it relates to the Critical Thinking Questions.

• Document analysis activity: “The Four Freedoms.” • In-‐class debate on whether dropping the atomic bomb was necessary to win the war? • Student led discussion on Eisenhower Doctrine and whether Mutually Assured Destruction is a productive

foreign policy strategy. Students then read the article “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb” by Kenneth N. Waltz and use it as a modern comparison to M.A.D. policy.

• Students will complete a unit test which will be composed of traditional MC items as well as new MC items for the redesign


1. Describe the major decisions made at the wartime conferences between the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. To what extent were these decisions responsible for the Cold War?

2. "After the death of Franklin Roosevelt and the end of the Second World War, the United States deliberately abandoned the wartime policy of collaboration and, exhilarated by the possession of the atomic bomb, undertook a course of aggression of its own designed to expel all Russian influence from Eastern Europe...[leaving] Moscow no alternative but to take measures in defense of its own borders. The result was the Cold War."

Assess the validity of this statement.

3. Compare and contrast United States foreign policy after the First World War and after the Second World War.

Consider the periods 1919-‐1928 and 1945-‐1950.

4. Analyze the ways in which THREE of the following supported the United States policy of containment in the post-‐World War 2 era.

the Truman Doctrine the Marshall Plan the Berlin airlift NATO

5. “What were the causes which prompted the Cold War fears of the American people to the aftermath of the

Second World War? How successfully did the administration of Eisenhower address these fears? Confine your answer to the period 1948 – 1961.”

UNIT X: THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY, CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND THE VIETNAM WAR THEMES: ID, WXT, POL, CUL, ENV, WOR READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 28: The Affluent Society • Chapter 29: Civil Rights, Vietnam, and the Ordeal of Liberalism • Patterson, James T. Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-‐1974 • Williams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-‐65 • Cohen, Lizbeth. A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America • Martin Luther King, Jr “Blacks Should Strive to be Part of the American Dream” • Malcolm X “Blacks Can Never Be Part of the American Dream” • Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from a Birmingham Jail • Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet • Lyndon B Johnson “America is Fighting for a Just Cause in Vietnam” • Eugene McCarthy “America is Not Fighting for a Just Cause in Vietnam” • Students for a Democratic Society “America’s Youth Must Lead a New Revolution”

MAJOR TOPICS: Trends in popular media and culture during the 1950s and 1960s; the Red Scare and its impact on cultural conformity, and the backlash against that conformity during the 1960s; the modern civil rights movement, including Brown v. Board, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Sit-‐ Ins, the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, the Black Panthers; Mexico City Olympic Protests 1968, Attica Prison Riot 1971, Nation of Islam, civil rights movements by other groups, including: women, Native Americans, and gays;

post-‐war religious trends; youth and farm workers; and baby-‐boomers and the emergence of anti-‐institutionalism; Dien Bien Phu, Ho Chi Minh, the assassination of Diem, and the growth of American involvement in French Indochina; the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the expansion of American involvement in the war; the course of the war from 1964 to 1975, including bombing campaigns of the North, the Tet Offensive, the incursion into Cambodia, the Paris Peace Accords, and the Fall of Saigon; and American support for and opposition to the war in Vietnam, and its effects on the political, economic, and social situation in the United States during this time CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: 1. Who were the great figures in post-‐war art and literature? 2. Specifically, what did their work say about the post-‐war society and values? 3. To what extent was the sexual revolution revolutionary? 4. To what extent was it a continuation of past movements? 5. What were the high and low points of the Civil Rights Movement, from 1954 to 1968, and to what extent were

the civil rights of African Americans extended? 6. How did the role of students evolve during this period? 7. In what ways did the war in Vietnam reflect the geopolitical struggles of the Cold War? 8. To what extent did growing discontent with the war influence changes in American policy between 1968 and

1975? 9. How effective were the tactics used by opponents of the war? 10. To what extent did opposition to the war drive the counterculture movement, and to what extent were other

contributing factors at work? ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS:

• Student-‐directed roundtable debate on the subject of the modern civil rights movement • In-‐class document analysis: “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and the “Ballot or the Bullet” documents.

Students then compare and contrast each philosophical statement by using a Venn Diagram to identify similarities and differences.

• Students write an essay that compares the women’s movement of the 1960s with the women’s movement at the turn of the 20thcentury

• Periodization (students will construct a periodization chart in which they identify a beginning and ending

date / event for the civil rights movement; next they will identify specific details which reinforce / contradict commonly held beliefs of the period) Compare the African American civil rights movement to that of the La Raza/Farmer Workers Union, Women’s Liberation Movement and the Pink Revolution/Stonewall Protesters.

• Students should look for how the failures of Reconstruction were addressed by Civil Rights Protesters of

the 1950s/60s.

• Students will participate in a class debate over the question: “Were the 60’s a time of radicalism”? (students will draw on both primary and secondary articles, as well as info from the textbook, to articulate their position with regard to the prompt

• Students write an essay debating the role of popular music in affecting public attitudes toward the Vietnam War. [CUL-‐6]

• Students will complete a unit test which will be composed of traditional MC items as well as new MC items for the redesign



1. What were the major events in the civil rights movement of the early 1960’s? Identify the top three; why were these the most important?

2. What were the major crises and policy initiatives of the Kennedy presidency? Which of these was the most important and did Kennedy handle them successfully?

3. What were the purposes and strategies of Johnson’s Great Society programs? Was he successful in accomplishing his goals?

4. Compare and contrast the civil rights movement during the 1950’s with that during the 1960’s 5. To what extent did the Vietnam War fundamentally transform American politics and culture? 6. Identify the causes and consequences of the rights revolution of the late 1960’s? 7. To what extent was 1968 a climactic year for the Sixties? UNIT XI: NIXON, REAGAN AND THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION THEMES: ID, WXT, PEO, POL, WOR, ENV, CUL READING ASSIGNMENTS:

• Chapter 30: The Crisis of Authority • Chapter 31: From “The Age of Limits” to the Age of Reagan • Chapter 32: The Age of Globalization • Jimmy Carter “America is Facing a Crisis of Confidence” • Ronald Reagan “The American Spirit Remains Strong.” • Peggy McIntosh, “Invisible Knapsack” • Robert D. Schulzinger “The End of the Cold War, 1961 – 1991” • John Lewis Gaddis “The Cold War was a Great Victory for the U.S.” • Wade Huntley “The Cold War was Not a Great Victory for the US” • Francis Fukuyama “The End of History and the Last Man”

MAJOR TOPICS: Women’s Liberation Movement, Counter Culture Movement, Woodstock, Increasing prosperity and global responsibilities after WWII; Vietnamization, removal from Vietnam, Ping Pong Diplomacy, SALT I, SALT II, Camp David Accords, OPEC, Iran-‐Hostage Crisis, revolt of the middle class or the “silent” majority; the Republican transformation on the American South; the rise of the “new right”; personal freedom movements—gay rights, women’s rights, reproductive rights (Griswold v. Connecticut & privacy and Roe v. Wade); morality as politics; immigration; technology and its impact on American Society; globalization and redefining national identity; creation of the Environmental Protection Agency; Watergate, the resignation of President Nixon, and the emerging distrust of government; expanding role of the popular media; modern religion and political activism; Reaganomics; deregulation, increase in military spending, and the Iran-‐contra scandal; liberalism on the wane: the Republican Revolution of 1994, the Impeachment of President Clinton; Rodney King and Anita Hill; Welfare Reform Act of 1996; the election of 2000, terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and emerging questions about civil liberties and the role of the federal government during a time of war; trends in immigration; and the election of 2008 CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: 1. What were the major policies of the Nixon administration on social and economic issues? Were these

successful; why? 2. To what extent did Vietnam and Watergate affect popular trust in the government? 3. To what extent did opportunities of most Americans diminish during the 1970’s? 4. Identify the causes and consequences for the rise of the conservative movement during the last half of the 20th

century 5. To what extent did the Reagan presidency affect Americans both at home and abroad?

6. What were the major international initiatives of the Clinton administration in the aftermath of the Cold War? Were these successful; why?

7. Identify the causes which drove the economic resurgence of the 1990’s Which of these was the most important; why?

8. What cultural conflicts emerged during the 1990’s? Which of these was the most important; why? 9. To what extent did a divisive political partisanship affect the election of 2000? 10. What were the prevailing ideas of American freedom at the end of the century? 11. What were the major policy elements of the war on terror in the wake of September 11, 2001? To what extent

did these fundamentally reshape American society? 12. How did the war in Iraq unfold in the wake of 9/11? 13. To what extent did the war on terror affect the economy and American liberties? 14. Identify the major causes which eroded support for Bush’s policies during his second term 15. What kinds of change did voters hope for when they elected Obama? Did they get these changes? ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS:

• Class discussions on the Reagan Revolution, the collapse of communism, and modern immigration Debate on Ford’s pardon of Nixon, and the rise of the New Right

• Document analysis activity: Contract with America • Compare and Contrast (students will construct a Venn diagram identifying similarities and differences

between the 70’s, and 80’s) • Students use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the causes and goals of each act as described in

excerpts from the 1924, 1965, and 1990 Immigration Acts. [PEO-‐7] • Using Lisa McGirr’s Suburban Warriors, students map the ideas and strategies of the New Right and

compare this movement to earlier moments (1880s, 1920s, 1950s) of conservative activism. What values remained constant over this long period of time? [CUL-‐7]

• Students will research the changing ideas and policies related to the environment from 1900 to 2000. The essay should including a mix of primary and secondary sources and approximately 5 pages in length. [ENV-‐5]

• Students will participate in a class debate over the question: “Was the end of the Cold War a victory for the United States”?

• Students will participate in a small group seminar over the Crisis of Confidence (critical thinking questions based on the reading will be discussed, students identify the main points and thesis of the authors, they will offer critiques of the arguments and offer their own interpretation and analysis of the readings as well as others within their group, with connections to the present)

• Students will write a research paper on whether whistleblowers like Mark Felt (Deep throat), Edward

Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange, are heroes or traitors.


• Periodization (students will construct a periodization chart in which they identify a beginning and ending date / event for the War on Terror; next they will identify specific details which reinforce / contradict commonly held beliefs of the period

• Students will complete a unit test that will be composed of traditional MC items as well as new MC items for

the redesign

APUSH SYLLABUS 2015 - SquarespaceCry)of)Freedom:)The)Civil)War)Era!!...

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