AP United States History Syllabus - Public Schools of Robeson County

AP United States History Syllabus
This course is designed to prepare students for college credit, for advanced level historical
studies and to prepare students for the AP Exam. To achieve this goal, students will develop critical
thinking skills and study skills that demonstrate a high level of commitment to historical studies.
Students will be expected to develop historical writing skills that utilized document interpretation and
analysis along with the development of a thesis statement that utilizes supporting evidence to illustrate
historical argument.
This class will have a foundation of topics that overarch Units. The topics include Exploration
and Colonization, Revolution and New Nation, Antebellum America and Westward Expansion,
Sectionalism, Civil War and Reconstruction, Late Nineteenth Century America: Industrialization,
Immigration and the Rise of the Debtor, Progressivism, Imperialism and World War I, Boom and Bust:
The Years Between the Wars, World War II, Cold War, Social Conformity and Conflict of the 1950s and
1960s, Upheaval in American Society: The 1960s and 1970s, and Modernism, Conservatism,
Globalization and Terrorism. In addition to these topics, the course will emphasize themes. The themes
will include American Diversity as reflected in the development of a diverse cultural mosaic that is now a
integral part of the American landscape, the development of an American Identity from the birth of the
spirit of nationalism during to War of 1812 to the modern idea of patriotism, the development and
transformation of American Cultural expressions in Art, literature, philosophy, theater, music and film,
Demographic Changes in the American population as they expand across the North American continent,
Economic Transformations that affect American trade, commerce and technology, Environmental
consumption and conservation of natural resources through the 19 th and 20 th centuries, America’s
changing role in Global history that took her from a weak military force in the 19 th century to a Super
Power in the 20 th century, What creates American political traditions and defines Citizenship for
Americans, How groups within American society have instituted Reform that addresses the ills of society
How Religion shapes American politics, economics and society, The legacy that slavery has left in
America, and War and Diplomacy in global conflicts that have spanned from colonial to modern times.
Text
Bailey, Thomas A., Lizabeth Cohen, and David M. Kennedy. The American Pageant. Thirteenth Edition.
(Boston: New York Houghton Mifflin Company 2006).
Peiser, Andrew and Michael Serber. United States History: Preparing for the End of Course Test. North
Carolina Edition. (Amsco School Publications, Inc.).
Peiser, Andrew and Michael Serber. Reviewing U.S. History and Government. (Amsco School
Publications, Inc.).
Bennett, Jean H. and Tom Meltzer. Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam. 2002-2003 Edition. (Random
House, Inc.).
Proctor, Alan. Multiple-Choice & Free-Response Questions with DBQ in Preparation for the AP United
States History Examination. Fourth Edition. (D&S Marketing Systems, Inc.).
Irish, John, Jeanne M. Kish, Eileen M. Mattingly, and Stephen H. Rase. Advanced Placement U.S. History
Books 1, 2, 3. 2011 Edition. (The Center for Learning).
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Grading
Test ……………………………………………………………………… 30%
Quiz …………………………………………………………………….. 30%
Essays, Historical Journals and DBQ Prompts ……….. 20%
Benchmark and Novel Readings …………………………… 20%
DBQ’s and Testing
DBQ’s during the term will be completed in two formats cooperative groups and independent.
During cooperative group DBQ exercises, students will be taught historical interpretation skills:
Recognize bias, categorize the importance of documents in relation to historical topics being analyzed
and obtaining historical evidence. Students will be required to submit an essay of their interpretation of
the documents.
Major test will be given at the end of each Unit of study. They will include multiple choice along
with a DBQ. Students will be expected to interpret the documents in the DBQ independently and
submit an essay interpreting the documents.
Historical Journal
Students will be required to maintain a historical journal that examines and reflects the major
themes of AP US History: American Diversity, American Identity, Culture, Demographic Change,
Economic Transformations, Environment, Globalization, Politics and Citizenship, Reform, Religion,
Slavery and its Legacies in North America along with War and Diplomacy. The historical journal will
include but is not limited to diary entries, editorials, journal entries, poems, songs and the collection of
visual historical documents. The quality of historical journal entries will be evaluated four times during
semester and assigned a grade that will count as a major test grade.
Unit Information
Unit One: Founding the New Nation
Unit One Objectives:
Goal 1: In order to understand the causes of European exploration and the impact of colonial
settlement in the America’s along with assessing the structure of European colonies.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Identify and analyze the early inhabitants of North America in relation to location, political
structure and economy.
2. Identify and evaluate the causes of European exploration from the late 15 th to early 17 th century.
3. Analyze the social, economic and political effects of the British Empire on the American colonies
with regard to the New England, Middle and Southern colonies.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Pre-Columbian cultures; cultural diversity; early explorations; kinship and gender; reciprocity; the
introduction of slavery; Spanish, French, and English claims; the rise of mercantilism; New England
Colonies; The Middle Colonies; Chesapeake Colonies; The Carolina Colonies/The Caribbean; Rivals for
North America: France and Spain.
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Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Create a ship log of Quaker passage to the New World.
b. From a Native American point of view: Write journal entries of their contact with colonists.
c. Create diary entries for a Puritan during the Salem Witch Trials.
4. Historical Writing Essay – Points of View:
a. To a friend in your native country describe the conditions in the New World.
b. Write a Native American account of European contact in relation to economic, social and
political changes.
5. Class Analysis of The Mayflower Compact as a beginning of self-government in the English
Colonies.
6. Reading – Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (Jonathan Edwards)
a. Read and review the message being delivered.
b. Compare the Enlightenment philosophies with the message of the Great Awakening.
c. How were they similar and how were they different
d. What impact did these schools of thought have on religious, social, educational, and political
developments in eighteenth-century America
Goal 2: In order to understand the causes for revolution, the course of the war and evaluate the
results of the American Revolution.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Examine the status of European rivalries in the New World and the causes for revolution among
the American colonies.
2. Trace the events leading up to the revolution and through the course of the war and assess the
impact that each had on the outcome.
3. Evaluate the social, political and economic results of the American Revolution.
4. Assess how the new national and state governments were formed and their effects on American
society.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Rebellion in the colonies; Colonial economies and societies; Competing for North America; The
Enlightenment in British America; The Great Awakening in British America; The French and Indian War;
The British Acts Levied on the Colonists; Colonial ideology; Colonial resistance, including the role of
women; The Boston Massacre; The First Continental Congress; Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and The
Crisis; The Declaration of Independence; Patriots and Loyalists; The French alliance; The Treaty of Paris,
1783.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Write a colonist response to Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.
b. Editorial: Write an editorial that identifies the need for revolution.
4. Historical Writing Essay – Point of View
a. The system of mercantilism was viewed by the British as mutually beneficial to both the
colonists and the Mother Country. The colonists viewed mercantilism in quite a different
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light. Write an essay which explains the differences in viewpoints and shows how these
divergences led to revolution.
5. Reading – The Declaration of Independence
a. How was it divided
b. To whom was it addressed
c. Summarize the major grievances listed in the document. How does this promote John
Locke’s idea of the social contract
d. Is the signing of this document an act of treason
e. Explain you position.
6. Essay: Discuss the social, economic, and political changes within the 13 states produced by the
American Revolution. Be sure to consider things such as slavery, status of women, property
distribution, voting rights, and religion.
7. Unit Multiple Choice Test with DBQ
Goal 1 and Goal 2 Activities:
Seminar: Native American’s Traditional culture and impact of first contact.
Seminar: The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible Reading – What insight about Puritan society does
Hawthorne’s writing give to his reader Identify and discuss Puritan society cultural and political
norms.
Geographic Activity: Map the physical growth of the United States through 1783.
Geographic Activity: Locate the Triangle Trade Ports.
Graph Activities: Bar Graph populations of different ethnic groups in the colonies by the year
1750, Bar Graph the population of the three sections in 1690, 1750, and 1775.
Geographic Activity: Map the events that caused the American Revolution.
Graph Colonial exports to Britain and imports from Britain.
Unit Two: Building the New Nation
Unit Two Objectives:
Goal 3: In order to understand the formation and effectiveness of the institutions of the emerging
republic.
The Students Will Be Able To:
1. Identify and evaluate the events and compromises that led to the formation of a new
government and differentiate between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists views.
2. Investigate the effectiveness of the presidents and other officers of the federal government in
leading the New Nation.
3. Assess the major foreign and domestic issues and conflicts experienced by the nation during this
period and evaluate their impact on the new nation.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
The Articles of Confederation; The Northwest Ordinance; Shays’ Rebellion; The Constitutional
Convention; The Federalist Papers and Ratification; Defining the Presidency; The Bill of Rights; The
Emergence of Political Parties; Jay’s Treaty; Washington’s Farewell Address; The Alien and Sedition Acts;
The Jefferson Presidency; John Marshall and the Supreme Court; The Louisiana Purchase; The Embargo
Act; The War of 1812; The Treaty of Ghent.
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Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Write to a friend in Britain and express the challenges present in the New Nation with
respect to social, political and economic change.
b. Editorial: Report on the weakness of the National Government under the Articles of
Confederation in relation to strong state governments. Write a proposal for change in
government.
c. Editorial: “George Washington Strong Leader For The New Nation” Use this title and write
an editorial based on the evidence in the documents to support the headline.
4. Historical Writing Essay
a. The writing of the Constitution was as Catherine Drinker Bowen has observed, a “Miracle at
Philadelphia.” Yet, this “miracle” was based on historical experience. Trace the intellectual
origins of the Constitution from British theory and practices through the philosophy and
current events of the late 1780s.
5. Reading: The Articles of Confederation
a. Why did the colonists design a government that did not have a strong central government
b. What difficulties did the U.S. face under the Articles of Confederation, both domestic and
foreign
c. What were the accomplishments under the Articles Why was change necessary
6. Essay: Discuss the dangers the nation faced during the Federalist era, 1789-1800, and how it
overcame or survived them. Include conflict among social, economic, and sectional interest
groups; challenges from foreign nations; and threats to individual liberties and the Bill of Rights.
Goal 4: In order to analyze the competing forces of nationalism and sectionalism and assess the
effectiveness of the emerging reform movements.
The Students Will Be Able To:
1. Examine the reasons for the emergence of nationalism and sectionalism during this period and
assess their impact on America.
2. Examine the evolution of the American economy during the first half of the 19 th century and
identify key events, inventions and ideas as well as determine their significance.
3. Compare the economies of the North and South and assess the factors that caused these
differences, as well as investigate the effects.
4. Evaluate the roles of the reform crusade on mid-19 th century America and evaluate their
effectiveness.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
The Hartford Convention; “The American System”; James Monroe and the Era of Good Feelings;
Westward Expansion; The Missouri Compromise; The Supreme Court under John Marshall; Oregon and
Florida; The Monroe Doctrine; Religious revivals; The Mormons; Educational advances; Temperance;
Women’s roles and women’s rights; Utopian experiments; Science, art, and culture; A national
literature.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected vocabulary
3. Historical Journal:
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a. Write a diary entry of a reformer and illustrate how they expect to improve American
society.
4. Students will create a booklet of reform movements featuring major leaders, events and the
significance of the movement. The booklet must include at least 3 primary sources with an
analysis.
5. Gallery of American Painters: Students will bring in examples of landscape painters of the time
period for an analysis of style and purpose.
6. Essay: Explain how American nationality was reflected in literature and art of the time.
Goal 5: In order to understand and analyze the causes and effects of Jacksonian Democracy and
Manifest Destiny.
The Students Will Be Able To:
1. Evaluate the extent to which the characterization of this time as the era of the common man is
correct.
2. Formulate reasons for the rise of the second party system in American politics.
3. Assess the actions of Andrew Jackson in dealing with issues such as: internal improvements,
states’ rights, and Indian removal.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
The “corrupt bargain” of 1824; President John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829; The triumph of Andrew
Jackson, 1828; The spoils system; The “Tariff of Abominations”; The South Carolina nullification crisis;
The removal of the Indians; Jackson’s war on the Bank of the United States; The Whig Party; Revolution
in Texas; Mass democracy and the two-party system; The westward movement; Immigration; Nativism
and assimilation; Industrialization; The Agricultural Revolution.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected vocabulary
3. Historical Journal:
a. Advertisement: Job openings in a factory.
b. Compare and contrast the economies of the North, South and West.
c. Write an account of a Native American on the Trial of Tears.
4. Compare Jeffersonianism and Jacksonianism.
5. Analysis of the slavery argument with westward expansion (slavery and sectionalism).
6. Historical Writing Essay:
a. John William Ward has called Andrew Jackson a “symbol for an age.” In what ways does
Jackson serve as a symbol for the years 1820-1848
7. Unit Multiple Choice Test with DBQ
Goal 3, Goal4, and Goal 5 Activities:
Seminar - America’s Founding Brothers. What ideologies shaped the way the structure of the
American government Debate Federal government v. State government.
Cooperative Groups: Examine the causes and effects of the Hartford Convention.
Cooperative Groups: Analyze the views of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.
Seminar: George Washington foreign and domestic conflict.
Debate – Was Jacksonian Democracy Democratic in Nature
Seminar – Who were the Reformers and how did they affect American society
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Cooperative Groups – Examine American Art and Literature for expressions of Nationalism.
Geographic Activity: Map the U.S. in 1820: states voted for the Federalist Party in 1804, states
that voted Democratic Republicans in 1804. Complete the same for the Elections of 1808, 1812,
1816, and 1820.
Pie Graph the population distribution between West, North and South in 1820.
Geographic Activity: Map the major Native American tribes of the east and trace the route of
the Trial of Tears.
Unit Three: Testing the New Nation
Unit Three Objectives:
Goal 5: In order to understand and analyze the causes and effects of Jacksonian Democracy and
Manifest Destiny.
The Students Will Be Able To:
4. Analyze American expansion through the major events of the time period such as the Texas
issue, Mexican War, and the Oregon controversy.
5. Examine the results and impact of expansion on slavery, politics, and sectionalism.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
“Tyler Too” becomes president, 1841; Fixing the Maine boundary, 1842; The annexation of Texas;
Oregon Fever; James K. Polk, the “dark horse; of 1844; War with Mexico, 1846-1848.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Graphic organizer of the Mexican American War: Causes, spark, events, leaders, outcome, and
significance.
4. Historical Writing Essay
a. Was President Polk a leader of Manifest Destiny, or was he merely a reflection of the desires
of the American people Support your essay with evidence.
Goal 5 Activities:
Geographic Activity: Map the territory gained in the Oregon Treaty and the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo.
Goal 6: In order to understand and analyze the issues that led to the Civil War, the effects of the war,
and the impact of Reconstruction on the nation.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Evaluate the role of compromise and crisis in bringing about the American Civil War.
2. Assess the impact of Abraham Lincoln and the emergence of the Republican Party in relation to
Civil War and secession.
3. Analyze the major, military, political, economic, and social events of the Civil War period and
determine their impact on the course of the war.
4. Examine Reconstruction and assess its effectiveness.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Cotton Kingdom; Southern social structure; The plantation system; Life under slavery; Abolitionism;
“Popular sovereignty”; Zachary and California statehood; The underground railroad; The Compromise of
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1850; The Fugitive Slave Law; President Pierce and expansion, 1853-1857; Senator Douglas and the
Kansas-Nebraska Act; Uncle Tom’s Cabin; “Bleeding Kansas”; Dred Scott; The financial panic of 1857; The
Lincolon-Douglas debates; John Brown; Lincoln and Republican victory, 1860; Secession; Fort Sumter;
European intervention; Lincoln and civil liberties; Financing the Civil War; Women and the war; Bull Run;
Total War; Antietam; The Emancipation Proclamation; Black soldiers; Gettysburg; Sherman marches
through Georgia; Appomattox, 1865; The assassination of Lincoln, April 1865; Johnson’s Reconstruction
policies; The Black Codes; Congressional Reconstruction; Military Reconstruction; “Black Reconstruction”
and the Ku Klux Klan; The impeachment of Andrew Johnson; The legacy of Reconstruction.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. News Story: John Brown’s raid on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry.
b. Advertisement: Land Available In Kansas-Nebraska Territory – Take the side of a proslavery
or freesoiler and create an advertisement flyer to send back to the east to encourage people
to come west.
c. Create an obituary for Jefferson Davis or Abraham Lincoln.
d. Series of Journal Entries: An African American in the South between 1860 and 1869
traveling to the north or the west.
4. Historical Writing Essay: Compare and contrast the Confederate Constitution and the United
States Constitution. Identify those parts of the Confederate Constitution which might be
considered reforms of the United States Constitution.
5. Unit Multiple Choice Test with DBQ
Goal 6 Activities:
Pie Graph: Five leading exports of the United States in 1850 and 1860.
Geographic Activity: Map the route of the Underground Railroad.
Debate on slavery within the south “Choosing Sides” – Abolitionist or Plantation Owner.
Cooperative Groups: Identify the sectional arguments in the Webster-Hayne Debates.
Cooperative Groups: Identify the four party platforms of the Election of 1860.
Geographic Activity: Map the United States (Free/slave states, first seven states to secede,
second four states to secede, border states, capital of the Union and Confederacy).
Bar Graph The Confederacy and The Union: Industrial Production, Agricultural Production,
Population.
Timeline the major conflicts of the Civil War.
Complete a War Summary Chart for the Civil War.
Complete a Reconstruction Reform Chart.
Timeline the major events of Reconstruction.
DBQ Analysis: Historical Essay with Thesis, Supporting evidence from documents and expanded
historical knowledge: Antebellum Compromise DBQ, Compromise of 1850 DBQ, Reconstruction
DBQ.
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Unit Four: Forging an Industrial Society
Unit Four Objectives:
Goal 7: In order to understand and evaluate the great westward movement, the emergence of the
New South, and the impact of the agricultural revolution on the nation.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Examine the rise of The New South and assess the changes and impact that this concept
brought to the southern economy and society.
2. Evaluate the impact of westward expansion on American Indians, the environment, and the
American economy.
3. Analyze reasons for the rise of the Populist Party, assess their goals and evaluate their effects on
American politics and economics.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Ulysses S. Grant; Corruption and reform in the post-Civil War era; The depression of the 1870s; Political
parties and partisans; The Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction; Jim Crow; Class conflict
and ethnic clashes; Grover Cleveland and the Tariff; Benjamin Harrison and the “Billion Dollar Congress”;
The Populists; Depression and Dissent.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Campaign Promotion Flyer: Outline the social, political, and economic programs of the
Populist Party.
4. Historical Writing Essay: Choose
a. Analyze the impact of the frontier on American life from 1607 to 1890.
b. Examine the political problems that plagued farmers of the Great Plains and trace the rise of
the Populist Party. Evaluate the impact of the reforms in business regulation that the
Populists introduced.
Goal 8: In order to understand and analyze how industrialization, immigration, urbanization, political
machines, and the new intellectual movements impacted America.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Contrast the Second Industrial Revolution with the First Industrial Revolution and analyze the
contributions of industrial leaders and the following industries: railroads, iron industry, coal
mining, electricity, steel production, oil drilling, and banking.
2. Assess the impact of laissez faire conservatism in late 19 th century economics and politics.
3. Examine the rise of labor unions and evaluate the impact these groups had on America.
4. Describe the rise of cities in the last half of the 19 th century and analyze the problems and
reforms that resulted.
5. Evaluate the intellectual and cultural movements of the time and determine how they impacted
American life and society.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
The railroad boom; Speculators and financiers; Early efforts at government regulation; Lords of Industry;
The Gospel of Wealth; Industry in the South; The laboring class; The rise of trade unions; The rise of the
city; The “New Immigrant”; Settlement houses and social workers; Nativists and immigration restriction;
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Churches in the city; Evolution and education; Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois; The “New
Woman”; The industrialization of agriculture; Populism; Bryan versus McKinley, 1896.
Major Assignments:
1. Reading with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal:
a. Write a series of journal entries for a child worker in a textile mill.
b. Write about the conditions in a New York slum from an immigrant’s point of view.’
c. Editorial: Write an editorial that exposes the corruption of Tammany Hall.
d. Write an entry from a city dweller about the new inventions he/she has seen at the World’s
Fair.
e. Examine the lives and trials of immigrants to America and write an essay which reflects the
extent to which immigrants had a chance for opportunity and fulfillment of the American
Dream.
Goal 10: In order to understand and analyze the causes and effects of the United States emergence as
an imperial power and world influence.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Examine the facts that led to the United States taking an increasingly active role in world affairs.
2. List major causes and results of the Spanish-American War.
3. Analyze how American policy changed in the late 1800s and influenced Asia, Latin America, and
the western hemisphere.
4. Understand the imperialistic actions of Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, including but not
limited to the Roosevelt Corollary, acquisition of the Panama Canal Zone, dollar diplomacy, and
missionary diplomacy.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
The sources of American expansionism; The Hawaii Question; The Spanish-American War, 1898; The
invasion of Cuba; Acquiring Puerto Rico and the Philippines; Crushing the Filipino insurrection; The Open
Door in China; Theodore Roosevelt becomes president, 1901; The Panama Canal; Roosevelt on the
World Stage.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Write a news story by a “Yellow Journalist” that depicts the events of the Spanish-American
War.
b. In the 1890s, the United States abandoned isolationism for the New Manifest Destiny.
Evaluate the reasons for this change in America’s foreign policy.
4. Unit Multiple Choice Test with DBQ
Goal 7, Goal 8, and Goal 10.01-10.04 Activities:
Cooperative Groups: Make generalizations on the Black Codes of Mississippi and generate a
position for or against the law.
Seminar: The effects of rapid industrialization on immigrants.
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Cooperative Groups: Examine the changes in Art from the period of Nationalism to
Industrialization.
Cooperative Groups: Examine U.S. Immigration Patterns and construct a graph of where
immigrants came from.
Geographic Activity: Create a city map that includes: factory locations, government buildings,
residential areas for upper, middle and lower classes, a transportation network and public
service agencies.
Cooperative Groups: Examine Native American views about westward expansion and broken
treaties.
Seminar: Farmers Fight against big business abuses.
Time line the major events of the labor movement.
Complete a Populism Reform Chart
Discussion: What are the Populists symbols of the “Wizard of Oz” How did the “Wizard of Oz”
represent the conflict between big business and farmers How did the development of a third
party bring attention to the need for reform in America
DBQ Analysis: Populists DBQ, Agricultural Society DBQ, Labor Unions DBQ, Immigration 1880-
1925 DBQ.
Unit Five: Struggling for Justice at Home and Abroad
Unit Five Objectives:
Goal 9: In order to analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Explain the origin and the goals of the Progressive movement.
2. Analyze the local and state reforms, including utility socialism.
3. Identify three Progressive Presidents and the major actions that they took during their
administrations.
4. Compare and contrast Roosevelt’s Square Deal and Wilson’s New Freedom.
5. Identify the Progressive African American leaders and assess the impact of the Niagara
Movement.
6. Evaluate the role of women during the Progressive Era, including job opportunities, temperance
reforms, education, and suffrage.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Campaigning against social injustice; The muckrakers; Progressivism; Women battle for the vote and
against the saloon; Roosevelt, labor, and the trusts; Consumer protection; conservation; Roosevelt’s
legacy; William Howard Taft’s presidency; “Dollar Diplomacy”; The Niagara Movement; The election of
1912: The New Freedom versus the New Nationalism; Wilson, the tariff, the banks, and the trusts;
Wilson’s diplomacy in Latin America.
Major Assignments:
Goal 10: In order to understand and analyze the causes and effects of the United States emergence as
an imperial power and world influence.
The Student Will Be Able To:
5. Examine reasons for the United States attempting to remain neutral as the Great War began and
for becoming involved later.
6. Analyze the impact the Great War had on the home front in America.
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7. Examine the political, social and cultural results of the Great War.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
War in Europe and America’s neutrality; The reelection of Wilson, 1916; America goes to war, 1917;
Wilsonian idealism and the Fourteen Points; Propaganda and civil liberties; Workers, blacks, and women
on the home front; Drafting soldiers; The United States fights in France; Wilsonian peacemaking at Paris;
The League of Nations; The Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Write a campaign speech for Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 Election.
b. Editorial: Senate rejection of the Treaty of Versailles.
4. War Chart: Long-term causes, immediate causes, spark, major political leader, major military
leaders, results and terms of the peace.
Goal 11: In order to understand and analyze the economic, social, and political changes that American
society underwent in the 1920s.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Analyze the causes of economic prosperity and the rise of consumerism.
2. Analyze the extent of prosperity for different segments of society.
3. Elaborate on the Actions of the three Republican Presidents.
4. Assess the importance and types of social change, including but not limited to the Jazz Age,
Harlem Renaissance, movies and flappers.
5. Describe various types of conservative backlash and conflict of cultures during the 1920s.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
The “red scare”; Immigration restriction, 1921-1924; Prohibition and gangsterism; the Scopes trial; A
mass-consumption economy; The automobile age; Radio and movies; Jazz age, music, and literature;
The economic boom; The Republicans return to power, 1921; Disarmament and isolation; The Harding
Scandals; Calvin Coolidge’s foreign policies.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Intolerance and nativism in American society during the 1920s.
b. Press Account: Testimony of William Jennings Bryan in the Scopes Trial.
c. Radio Advertisement: For an automobile in 1925.
d. Web search: find pictures that represent the new woman of the 1920s.
e. News Story: Normalcy in America
4. Students will select a person from the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance to research.
Research will include at least one primary source. Students will prepare an oral presentation for
the class using technology (example: digital essay or PowerPoint). Rubric will be provided.
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Goal 12: In order to understand and analyze the impact and influence of the Great Depression and
New Deal on the political, economic, and social aspects of America.
The Students Will Be Able To:
1. Trace and elaborate on the underlying causes of economic problems at the end of the 1920s.
2. Analyze how the Stock Market Crash sparked the beginning of the Great Depression.
3. Evaluate the actions of President Herbert Hoover in response to the Great Depression.
4. Outline and evaluate the events and results, as well as the actions and reactions of the New
Deal.
5. Describe the differing impact of the Depression on various minority groups in America.
6. Analyze the growth of influence and power of the Federal government.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
The international debt snarl; Herbert Hoover, cautious progressive; The great crash, 1929; Hoover and
the Great Depression; Aggression in Asia; “Good Neighbors” in Latin America; Franklin D. Roosevelt as
president; The Hundred Days Congress, 1933; Relief, Recovery, and Reform; Depression Demagogues;
The national Recovery Administration, 1933-1935; Aid for Agriculture; The Tennessee Valley Authority;
Housing and Social Security; A new deal for labor; The election of 1936; The Supreme Court fight, 1937;
The New Deal assessed.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. News Story: Removal of the Bonus Army.
4. Historical Writing Essay: In the First and Second New Deals, America moved away from a strict
laissez-faire policy and moved toward government intervention into the lives of individuals and
groups. Analyze how the New Deal affected various groups in the United States.
Goal 13: In order to understand and analyze the reemergence of the United States in world affairs,
including analyzing the causes and effects of the United States involvement in World War II.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Examine world events during the 1930s, rise of totalitarian states, and the U.S. role to promote
relationships with our American neighbors.
2. Identify the causes of World War II and trace the events that led to the U.S. entry into the war.
3. Describe the military, political and diplomatic turning points of the war and evaluate their
significance to the outcome.
4. Analyze the impact of World War II on political, economic and social life of the United States.
5. Summarize the results of war-time conferences, the impact of the war on U.S. domestic and
foreign affairs and the rise of the U.S. as an international super power.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Roosevelt’s early foreign policies; German and Japanese aggression; The Neutrality Acts, 1935-1939; The
Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939; Isolation and appeasement; The Lend-Lease Act and the Atlantic Charter,
1941; The Japanese attack of Pearly Harbor, December 7, 1941; The shock of war; The internment of
Japanese Americans; Mobilizing the economy; Women in wartime; The war’s effect on African
Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans; The economic impact of war; Turning the
Japanese tide in the Pacific; Campaigns in North Africa (1942) and Italy (1943); “D-Day” in Normandy,
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June 6, 1944; Germany surrenders, May 1945; The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August
1945.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Diary entries of an American at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack.
b. Series of Journal Entries: A Soldier in either the Atlantic or Pacific Theaters during World
War II.
c. Collect war time propaganda posters.
d. Journal entries of the pilot who dropped the Atomic bomb on Japan.
4. Historical Writing Essay: Compare and Contrast – The United States entry into World War I and
World War II.
5. Unit Multiple Choice Test with DBQ
Goal 9, Goal 10.5-10.7, Goal 11, Goal 12, and Goal 13 Activities:
Graph annual immigration into the U.S. from 1919 to 1929.
Debate: Science v. Fundamentalism – Which one should reign supreme
Chart the prices of the following stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange in January and
October of 1926, 1927, 1929, and 1930: Blue Chip, Growth, Speculative.
Simulation: Stock Market Crash.
Complete a New Deal Reform Chart
Complete a Second New Deal Reform Chart
Seminar: Effects of the Great Depression of the Farmers of America.
Debate: Should the government give assistance to the poor
Cooperative Groups: Examine Art and Literature from the Great Depression and draw
conclusions about how American Art and Literature have developed.
Geography Activity: Map the locations of territories occupied by Germany, Italy, and Japan in
the 1930s prior to August 1939.
Discussion: Examine the causes of WWI and causes of WWII in relation to American response.
Is there a correlation between the two Why did America maintain a policy of neutrality
Geography Activity: Map the locations of WWII conference sites and major nations participating
in these conferences.
Examine propaganda posters form WWII: How were the posters a reflection of National unity
Geography Activity: Map the locations of Japanese Relocation Centers in the United States.
Complete a War Summary Chart for World War II.
Debate: Do you think American should drop the bomb Discuss – Examine images from the
effects of the A Bomb – Debate the dropping of the bomb.
Cooperative Groups: Examine Wartime political cartoons and interpret their meaning.
DBQ Analysis: Foreign Policy 1920-1941 DBQ, 1920s DBQ, American Women DBQ, Roosevelt
and Hoover DBQ, World War II: Road to War DBQ, World War II Mobilization DBQ, Dropping the
Atomic Bomb DBQ.
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Unit Six: Making Modern America
Unit Six Objectives:
Goal 14: In order to understand and assess the causes and effects of the United States/Soviet
tensions, the Civil Rights Movement and economic prosperity.
The Student Will Be Able To:
1. Analyze the changes in United States foreign policy related to the tensions of the Cold War and
assess the role of organizations established to address them.
2. Analyze the strained relationship between the United States and the U.S.S.R and suspicion
between the two superpowers in Europe and Asia.
3. Evaluate the significance of domestic adjustments during postwar prosperity and the consumer
culture.
4. Identify the major events of the Civil Rights Movement and evaluate the role of landmark
Supreme Court cases.
5. Assess the impact of the leaders of the Civil Rights movements.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Postwar prosperity; The “Sunbelt” and the suburbs; The postwar baby boom; Harry S. Truman as
president; Origins of the Cold War; The United Nations and the postwar world; Communism and
containment; The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO; Anti-communism at home; The
Korean War, 1950-1953; Affluent America; Consumer culture of the 1950s; The election of Dwight D.
Eisenhower, 1952; The menace of McCarthyism; Desegregating the South; Brown v. Board of Education
(1954) and the seeds of the civil rights revolution; Eisenhower Republicanism; Cold war crises; The space
race and the arms race; The election of John F. Kennedy, 1960; Postwar literature and culture.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary.
3. Historical Journal
a. Issues in the 1952 Election.
b. Journal of a 1950s house wife doing her duty to fight Communism.
c. Memorandum: From General Douglas McArthur to President Truman justifying his actions
during the Korean War.
d. Diary entries of SNCC worker in Mississippi registering voters.
4. Historical Writing Essay: Choose One
a. By what methods did some Americans seek to implement the Brown v. Board of Education
decision, and by what methods did some seek to thwart this implementation
b. Evaluate the extent that McCarthyism limited America’s First Amendment right to the
freedom of speech.
Goal 15: In order to identify, and analyze political, social, and economic developments and foreign
affairs during the 1960s and 1970s.
Students Will Be Able To:
1. Describe major issues of social movements including race, gender, economic and environmental
problems and assess their impact on the emergence of the counter-culture.
2. Characterize and identify the foreign policy of Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in relation to Cuba,
Vietnam, China, and the Soviet Union.
3. Assess the changes in domestic policy and society during the 1960s and 1970s.
4. Evaluate the changes in the nature of politics and disillusionment of the American people.
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Content and/or Skills Taught:
Kennedy and the Cold War; Vietnam; The Cuban missile crisis, 1962; The struggle for civil rights;
Kennedy assassinated, November 22, 1963; Lyndon Baines Johnson and the “Great Society”; The civil
rights revolution explodes; The Vietnam disaster; The election of Richard Nixon, 1968; The cultural
upheavals of the 1960s; Economic stagnation; Nixon and the Vietnam War; New policies toward China
and the Soviet Union; Nixon and the Supreme Court; Nixon’s domestic program; Israelis, Arabs, and oil;
The Watergate scandal; Nixon resigns; Feminism; Desegregation and affirmative action; The election of
Jimmy Carter, 1976; The energy crisis and inflation; The Iranian hostage humiliation.
Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Writings from a youth who belongs to the counterculture protesting the lack of freedom of
speech in America.
b. Series of Journal Entries: Henry Kissinger during his attempts to open diplomatic relations
with the People’s Republic of China.
c. Journal of a Vietnam soldier.
4. Historical Writing Essay: Choose One
a. How was the American culture a reflection of foreign and domestic policies during the 1960s
and 1970s
b. Trace the foreign and domestic conflict of Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon to analyze the
impact that foreign crisis had on the American culture.
c. Trace the conflict and trials of minorities gaining Civil Rights in America. Evaluate the extent
to which minorities in America gained social, economic, and political equality.
Goal 16: In order to understand and evaluate trends in domestic and foreign affairs of the United
States during the later part of the 20 th and beginning of the 21 st Century.
Students Will Be Able To:
1. Assess the reasons for and results of the “Reagan Revolution”.
2. Evaluate the administrations of the modern Presidents.
3. Analyze the advancements of various minorities in American society over the previous two
decades.
4. Explain the impact of new technology on the economy and society.
Content and/or Skills Taught:
The “New Right” and Reagan’s election, 1980; Budget battles and tax cuts; Reagan and the Soviets;
Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, and the thawing of the Cold War; The Iran-Contra scandal; Reagan’s
economic legacy; The religious right; Conservatism and the courts; The election of George Bush, 1988;
The end of the Cold War; The Persian Gulf War, 1991; Bush’s battles at home; The election of Bill
Clinton, 1992; Clinton as president; Post-Cold War foreign policy; The Clinton impeachment trial; The
controversial 2000 election; George W. Bush as president; The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001;
War in Iraq; The reelection of George W. Bush, 2004; The high-tech economy; The feminist revolution;
The changing American family; Immigration and assimilation; Cities and suburbs; A multicultural society.
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Major Assignments:
1. Readings with essential questions.
2. Selected Vocabulary
3. Historical Journal
a. Interview of a person born in the 1960s: How has technology changed during your life
b. Republican Congressional notes on “Contract with America.”
c. Environmentalist views on Global Warming and measures need to slow its progression.
d. Interview of someone who remembers the events of 9/11.
e. Interview: How has the War on Terror changed your life
4. Historical Writing Essay: Was the Cold War a victory for the United States Examine the
outcome of WWI and WWII in relation to the end of the Cold War. Was there a clear cut victor
or was something else at play
5. Unit Multiple Choice Test with DBQ
Goal 14, Goal 15, and Goal 16 Activities:
Seminar – What effects did the Civil Rights Movement have on American society
Complete a War Summary Chart for the Korean War.
Geography Activity: Map the members of NATO, SEATO, OAS, and Warsaw Pact.
Cooperative Groups: Map NATO and analyze U.S. defense policy in post WWII years.
Create a pie graph of the world’s population residing in Communist and non-Communist
nations: January 1, 1945, January 1, 1946, January 1, 1950, and January 1, 1960.
Cooperative Groups: Analyze the decision and impact of Plessy v. Ferguson.
Geography Activity: Map the sites of race riots and political demonstrations.
Debate: Was Dr. Seuss a political activist Groups Read: “Butter Battle Book,” “Horton Hears a
Who,” “Yertle the Turtle,” “The Sneetches,” and “The Lorax.” Debate the topic using the
evidence found in the stories.
Chart the presidential elections of 1948, 1952, and 1956.
Cooperative Groups: Analyze John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address.
Chart the Presidential Elections of 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972.
Geography Activity: Map the countries of Containment and the Domino Theory. Map where
major military action took place and identify the NATO line of nuclear defense in Europe.
Complete a War Summary Chart for the Vietnam War.
Seminar – Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on Native Americans and other minorities in
American society.
Geography Activity: Map Communists Nations present in 1945, 1985, 1991.
Complete presidential Elections charts for 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000.
Compare and Contrast Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan’s visions for
America.
Complete a War Summary Chart for the Gulf War.
Discussion/debate: What caused the Gulf War Oil or Terrorism.
Discussion/Cooperative Groups: “We didn’t start the fire” Billy Joel: Do the lyrics of this song
stand true for today’s society or was it exclusive to the 1950s – 1980s Create lyrics that
represent the conflict of your lifetime.
DBQ Analysis: Civil Rights DBQ, Beginning of the Cold War DBQ Cold War DBQ, LBJ Great Society
DBQ, Vietnam DBQ, Reagan DBQ
Practice Tests and DBQ’s
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Readings:
The Scarlet Letter: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Clotel, The President’s Daughter: William Wells Brown
Common Sense: Thomas Paine
The Last of the Mohicans: James F. Cooper
Democracy in America: Alexis de Tocquville
The Gettysburg Address: Abraham Lincoln
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas: Frederick Douglas
Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War: Stephen Crane
O’Pioneers!: Willa Sibert Carther
How The Other Half Lives: Jacob A. Riis
The Jungle: Upton Sinclair
This Side of Paradise: F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Souls of Black Folk: W.E.B. Du Bois
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