AP US History

 

Synopsis of Curriculum

A.P. United States History is a challenging course that is meant to be the equivalent of a freshman college course and can earn students college credit if they take and pass the AP Exam each May.  It is a two-semester survey of American History from the Age of Exploration to the present.  Solid reading and writing skills, along with a willingness to devote considerable time to reading and study, are necessary to succeed.  Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay writing, interpretation of original documents and histography.  In addition, to the topics listed above, the course will emphasize a series of key themes throughout the year.  The themes will include discussions of American diversity, the history of slavery, the evolution of American culture, economic trends and transformations, environmental issues, the development of political institutions throughout American history, social reforms, diplomatic and intellectual history.  In addition, to the themes mentioned above, students will be required through discussion to think conceptually about the American past and to focus on historical change over time. Each unit includes one or more of the nine periods and/or key concepts outlined in the AP U.S. History curriculum framework.

 

Units of Study Titles

UNIT I Early Colonial (Prologue + Chap. 1 - 2) (11 days) (Period 1-2)

UNIT II America's War for Independence (Chap. 3,4 and 5)

UNIT III Federalist Era (Chap. 5) (10 days)

UNIT IV Jeffersonian Democracy and Nationalism (chap. 6, 7 & the Marshall Court) (9 days) (44)     

UNIT V  The Rise of the American Economy and Jacksonian America (chap. 8, 9 and 10) (11 days) (52)
UNIT VI Expansion and Slavery (Chap. 11-13) (9 days) (62)
UNIT VII Civil War and Reconstruction (Chap. 14-15) (12 days) (74)

UNIT VIII  West and the Gilded Age (Chap.16,17, 18 and 19)
 
UNIT IX Populism and Progressivism (Chap. 20- 21) (10 days) (96)
UNIT X Imperialism and the Great War (Chap. 23-24) (7 days) (103)      

UNIT XIV Twenties, Depression, and New Deal (24, 25 & 26 up to isolationism) (10 days) (113) 
UNIT XV World War II and the Cold War (Chap. End of 27, 28 & 29) (13 days)(126)
UNIT XVI Kennedy, Vietnam, Civil Rights to Watergate (Chap. 29-30) (14 days)(140)

UNIT XVII  Carter to Present (Chap. 30-32)