Advanced Placement United States History

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You have embarked on a challenging, yet exciting, journey through the history of your country. At the AP level, we will be working hard to gain a deep understanding of  the who, what, and when of our country’s past.

Course Description:

Themes: This course is an intensive look at United States History from the arrival of the European explorers in the late fifteenth century through the first term of President George W. Bush.  We will be studying the development of our country utilizing several broad themes that make up our dynamic history. These themes include American diversity and identity, culture, demographic change over time, economic transformations, the environment and our impact and stewardship of it, the challenges and benefits of globalization, the politics of the country and the citizen’s role in our democracy, our interactions with other nations, slavery and its legacy, religion and the reform impulses and movements that have shaped our modern nation.

Topics: Within these broad themes are a number of topics that will further our understanding of the United States as it now exists. These specific topics will be historically tied together through the themes listed above, and include the settlement of the continent by various Europeans including the Spanish, French, and English, their life and ideologies, the Enlightenment and how it affected American and European thought, the ideas that the Enlightenment fostered that eventually drove the Americans to revolt and secede from Britain, the political theories that helped to shape the Constitution and the citizen’s role(s) in this type of government, the development of democracy during the Jeffersonian and Jacksonian years, the role of religion in shaping the course and moral development of the nation, the economy of the early United States and how all of these factors spurred movements demanding and working toward reforming society. Topics move forward through expansion and Manifest Destiny to help foster an understanding of the various causes of the US Civil War, and then how these ideas – tempered by war – led to the attempt to “reconstruct” society, then how the reconstruction ideas failed. We will also examine the profound changes to the country that were brought on by industrialization, the changes in the groups immigrating into the country, through the populist and progressive movements, World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression and the expansion of governmental power to combat it, World War II, the Cold War, the Post-Cold War, and the early years of the current century.  These topics will help us to understand the ideas and ideals, the dreams, the people, and the development of the nation that results from their work.

Grading: Assignments and homework are designed to prepare you for both the AP exam and college courses that you will take in the future. In addition to content, you will be learning some of the skills of a professional historian. These include historical research, source verification, note taking, analysis, and historical writing. The textbooks provide some very basic information. Primary and secondary source documents, your instructor, and your own research will provide the rest. 

A VERY important part of our learning experience will take the form of discussions both, in the classroom and via forums on-line. Your participation is both appreciated and expected.

By clicking on the pictures or links below, you can move on to the course syllabus, find your homework assignments, utilize resources, find the AP website, and much more!