Mr. Greg Matthews’ Website

The AP American History class is a college level survey course of American social, economic, and political history from the time of the earliest inhabitants to the present.There is a heavy emphasis on reading skills, writing skills, and group responsibility.

Students will:

1. Demonstrate a basic understanding of the major branches of history, including political, social, economic, military and intellectual history.

2. Critically examine various primary and secondary sources, such as historical documents, oral histories and textbooks, using proper historical methodology.

3. Compose historical arguments that make use of relevant historical evidence.

4. Describe the contributions of historical events to contemporary social and political developments.

5. Identify the major historical figures, institutions and events in the pre-Columbian America, colonial America, revolutionary America, the Jacksonian Era, Westward expansion and the Civil War.

6. Interpret historical sources from pre-Civil War American history, including letters, documents related to the writing and adoption of the Constitution and literature.

7. Analyze the impact of European colonization on the New World, both in terms of its impact on the native populations and the European colonists.

8. Discuss the origins, nature and impact of the American Constitution and the evolution of American political culture during the Jacksonian Era.

9. Examine the various factors that led to the American Civil War, including slavery and other sectional divides.

10. Identify the major historical figures, institutions and events in the Gilded Age, Progressive Era, World War I, Great Depression and New Deal, World War II and the Cold War.

11. Interpret historical sources from post-Civil War American history, including government documents, literature and journalistic accounts.

12. Analyze the impact of mass immigration, urbanization, industrialization and corporatization on American society and culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

13. Discuss the origins, nature and impact of the various reform movements in post-Civil War American history, particularly the reforms of the Progressive Era, the New Deal and the 1960s and 1970s.

14. Examine the various factors that led to the Cold War and the impact of the Cold War on both the United States and the world.

The grades in the class are weighted for this one credit (full year) course. In May, students have the opportunity to take an advanced placement exam to earn college credit. Students are also eligible to earn duel credits from Lincoln Land Community College.

Assignments: For each chapter, students must write an “I learned paper”. This paper should contain what the student learned from reading the chapter. It must be more than 1 page- single spaced, typed, 12 font, or more than 2 pages hand written on college ruled paper. Students may do extra credit “Thought Provokers” from the original source document book The American Spirit. Students are also expected to create in-class study guides of terms which will be on chapter tests and take notes in class to prepare for essays.

Assignments and due dates are subject to change.

Week of November 16:

Chapter Ch 13 due Monday