AP U.S.
History Syllabus
Beth Emmerling
Spring 2007
AP U.S. History is
a challenging course that is meant to be the equivalent of a freshman college course. It is a two-semester survey of American
history from the age of exploration and discovery to the present. Solid reading and writing skills, along with a willingness
to devote considerable time to homework and study, are necessary to succeed. Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative
thinking skills, essay writing, interpretation of original documents, and historiography. A short research paper will be a
component of the class.
Course Objectives
Students
Will:
- Master a broad body of historical knowledge
- Use historical facts to support arguments and positions
- Demonstrate an understanding of historical chronology
- Differentiate between historiographical schools of thought
- Interpret and apply data from original documents, including cartoons, graphs, and letters
- Effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, compare and contrast
- Work effectively with others to produce products and solve problems
- Prepare for and successfully pass the AP U.S. History Exam
Required Texts
Textbook: Liberty,
Equality, Power, Murrin, Johnson, McPherson, Gerstle, E. Rosenberg, N. Rosenberg, editors.
2007.
Required Monographs:
- Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs:
Gender, Race and Politics in Colonial Virginia, Kathleen M. Brown (1996: University of North Carolina
Press)
- Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power
and the Forming of American Society, Mary Beth Norton (1996: First Vintage Books)
- Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation,
Joseph J. Ellis (2002: Vintage Books)
- The Souls Of Black Folks, W.E.B. Dubois (1996:
Penguin Books)
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriett Beecher
Stowe (1982: Bantam Classics)
- Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee
Nation, John Ehle (1988: Anchor Books)
- The Other America, Michael Harrington (1997: Scribner Books)
- The Cycles of American History, Arthur Schlesinger
(1999: Mariner Books)
- How The Other Half Lives, Jacob Reiss (1997:
Penguin Books)
- The Cold War: A New History, John Lewis Gaddish
(2006, Penguin Books)
Various articles and handouts from primary source
books and websites, scholarly historical articles, short passages from literature.
Course Purpose:
This course has several purposes. First and foremost,
students will learn U.S. history and government.
It will provide students with the skills necessary to analyze, assess, and contribute to historical information. This course
is also intended to prepare students to take the A.P. U.S. History Exam.
Organization:
The class will emphasize a series of key themes
throughout the year. These themes have been determined by the College Board as essential to a comprehensive study of United States history. The themes will include discussions
of American diversity, the development of a unique American identity, the evolution of American culture, demographics changes
over the course of America’s history, economic trends and transformations, environmental issues, the development of
political institutions and the components of citizenship, social reform movements, the role of religion in the making of the
United States and its impact in a multicultural society, the history of slavery and its legacies in this hemisphere, war and
diplomacy, and finally, the place of the United States in an increasingly global arena. The course will follow these themes
throughout the year, emphasizing the ways in which they are interconnected and
examining the ways in which each helps to shape the changes over time that are so important to understanding the United States.
Unit assignment sheets will be provided every
one to two weeks. Daily reading assignments and discussion questions for outlining will be provided. Quiz and test dates will
be noted. Students are responsible to keeping up with reading assignments and being aware of, and ready for, quizzes and tests.
Class will be a combination of lecture, group work, coverage of discussion questions, occasional historical simulations and
answering student questions.
Each unit will utilize discussions and writing
about related historiography, how interpretations of events have changed over time, how the issues of one time period have
had an impact on the experiences and decisions of subsequent generations, and
how such reevaluations of the past continue to shape the way historians see the world today.
Assessments:
Tests will be a combination of objective and essay
questions. (45%)
Essays will vary in length depending on the topic
and will be graded on content, use of documentary and outside supporting evidence, grammar, spelling and evidence of critical
thinking. Document Based Question (DBQ) essays will must be typed (double-spaced) or written in ink. (35%)
Mid-term and Final exams. (20%)
Summer Readings
- Textbook chapter 1
- Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs:
Gender, Race and Politics in Colonial Virginia, Kathleen M. Brown (1996: University of North Carolina
Press)
- “The Strange Death Of Silas Deane”
(handout)
- “Gender:
A Useful Category of Analysis” by Joan Scott (handout)
- Chapter one from Ramon a. Guttierrez’s
When Jesus Came The Corn Mothers Went Away (handout)
Unit One: – Pre-Colonial and Early Colonial
America (2 weeks)
Readings
- Thomas Harriot’s a Brief and True Report
of the New Found Land of Virginia” at http://www.nps.gov/foraraleigh.html and http:www.nps.gov/for/a/harrietreport.html
- National Park Service’s “Salina
Pueblo Missions” at http://www.nps.gov/sapu/home.html
- Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power
and the Forming of American Society, Mary Beth Norton (1996: First Vintage Books)
Themes:
1. The emergence of
American cultural traits and the factors that contributed to them.
2. Emerging regional
patterns and how they evolved.
Content:
Motives and methods of colonialization:
Spain, France, and Britain
Push/Pull factors bringing colonists to
the New World
Comparison and contrast of Southern, middle and New England political, economic,
social, and religious patterns
Cultural differences between Europeans
and Americans
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Develop a chart explaining the financing, motivation
for founding, and political, social, and economic reorganization for each area
- “The Church Trial of Mistress Ann Hibbens
- historical simulation(handout with parts to be assigned)
- Compare
and contrast New England, Middle, Chesapeake and Southern
colonies including geographical, economic, and social differences
- DBQ: New England and Chesapeake Regions
Unit Two: INDEPENDENCE
(2 weeks)
Readings:
Text: Chapters 5 and 6
- Declaring Independence:
The Strategies of Document Analysis” (handout from After The Fact)
- The
“Art Of The Essay” handout
Themes:
1. Colonists reevaluate their relationship with
Great Britain and with each other
2. The American Revolution and as a conservative
or a radical movement
3. The American Revolution’s place in world
developments of the time period
Content:
Mercantilism
– costs and benefits for Britain
and colonies
British
policy changes, post 1763
Emerging
colonial cooperation and decision for independence
Military
victory and terms of the Treaty of Paris
Major Assignments and Assessments
- Take home
Essay: Mercantilism was actually more favorable to the other colonies than to Great
Britain.” Asses the validity of this statement.
- Unit Test
– Colonial America (multiple choice
and vocabulary)
- British Policy
Chart: Create a chart detailing the various British policies enacted
following the Seven Years War (Proclamation
through the Intolerable Acts)
- Constitutional Debate assignments
(historical simulation)
- Independence movement as a conservative or radical movement: The class is divided into five
groups, each assigned to one article from Conflict and Consensus on the nature of the American Revolution. Each group presents
to the class based on their author’s view of the Revolution. Students take notes on all five presentations and write
a take-home essay taking a position on whether the Revolution was a radical or conservative movements in terms of goal and
results. They must cite references to at least two articles.
Unit Three– Post-Independence and the Critical Period (1 week)
Readings:
- Textbook: Chapter 7 and 8
- Founding
Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Joseph J. Ellis (2002: Vintage Books)
- “We Are All Federalists, We are All Republicans,”
by Thomas Jefferson (handout)
- Washington’s
Farewell Address (handout)
- Emancipated Slaves in the U.S. 1790-1850: A Research and Critical Thinking Activity
Themes:
1. Impact of colonial experience on post-independence government
2. Development of the United
States Constitution and the Bill of Rights
3. The emergence of political parties and the factors that divided them
4. The development of sectional specialization and interdependence
5. The conflict between
national power and states’ rights
Content:
Government under the Articles of Confederation—Successes
and failures
Constitutional
Convention
Personalities, Compromises, Controversies, Ratification
Hamilton vs. Jefferson
British–French conflict and its impact on
American politics
Trade, Diplomacy, Alien and Sedition Acts
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Simulation—Constitutional
Ratification Debate (ratification debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists. How did the Federalists win?)
- Revolutionary Era Test
- DBQ: Articles of Confederation
Unit Four: - Jefferson’s
Administration and the Growth of Nationalism (1 week)
Readings:
- Textbook: Chapter 9
- Washington’s
Farewell Address
- Review “The American war of 1812”
website at http://www.hillside.edu/dept/history/documents/war/FR1812.htm
- Read and discuss handout on “War Of 1812”
- “Ideas of the Two Major Political Party”
handout – done in-class
Themes:
1. The peaceful transfer of
power from one party to another.
2. Changes in party positions.
3. National growth and the
growth of nationalism.
Content:
Jefferson’s “Revolution of 1800”
Changes in Party Positions
War of 1812
Louisiana Purchase
War
of 1812: Causes, Conduct, Consequences
Era of Good Feelings, Rise of Nationalism,
Diplomatic Achievements
Marshall Court rulings and precedents
Monroe Doctrine
Major Assessments:
“Paper
Chase” format for reporting on Marshall Court
decisions
Unit 5: The Age of Jackson (2 weeks)
Readings:
- Textbook chapters 10, 11, 12, 13
- Chapter from Nat Turner’s Rebellion
- Jean Fagan Yellin, Women and Sisters: The Antislavery
Feminists In American Culture (1989)
- Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments vs. Declaration
of Independence assignment
- Select chapters from Democracy In America by
Alexis De Tocqueville
- Textbook: chapter 13
- Presidential Outline: Arthur/Cleveland (first
and second time)
- Read “Frederick Jackson Turner and The
Frontier Thesis”
- Review “Eli Whitney” website at
http://eliwhitney.org.ew.htm
- Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee
Nation, John Ehle (1988: Anchor Books)
Themes:
1. The emergence of
the second American party system
2. The emergence of the
“Common Man” in American politics
3. Geographical and economic
expansion
4. Reform movements and
the American character.
5. The emergence of the second
American party system
6. The emergence of the
“Common Man” in American politics
7. Geographical and economic
expansion
8. Reform movements and the American character
Content:
Election of 1824 and the founding of Jackson’s Democratic Party
Jackson’s
Administration:
Spoils System, Nullification, Bank War, Cherokee
Removal
Manifest Destiny and the War with Mexico
Immigration; social, political, and economic developments;
and reform movements, 1820-1850
Election of 824 and the founding of Jackson’s Democratic Party
Jackson’s
Administration:
Spoils System, Nullification, Bank War, Cherokee
Removal
Manifest Destiny and the War with Mexico
Immigration; social, political, and economic developments;
and reform movements, 820-850
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Transportation and sectional interdependence
- Labor and labor organizations
- Social reforms and reformers
- Utopian societies
- Religious developments
- Immigration
- Simulated debate over declaration
of War on Mexico.
- Groups create storyboards on one of the following
social developments from the 1820s to the 1850s:
- Scientific and technological developments
- Transportation and sectional interdependence
- Labor and labor organizations
- Social reforms and reformers
- Utopian societies
- Religious developments
- Immigration
- Simulated
debate over declaration of War on Mexico.
- DBQ: Cherokee Removal or Jacksonian Reformers
Unit 6: Slavery
and Sectionalism (1 week)
Readings:
- Textbook Chapter 14
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Themes:
1. Sectionalism
2. Slavery and causes of the
Civil War
Content:
Slavery as a social and economic institution
The politics of slavery:
Missouri Compromise, Abolitionists, Compromise
of 1850, Kansas–Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott Decision, Lincoln–Douglas Debates, John Brown’s
Raid, Election of 1860
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Students will choose a persona and keep a journal of events from 1850 - 1868
- Reconstruction. The
final activity is to write an essay evaluating whether the problems between the sectional regions could have been solved by
compromise or whether the Civil War was a necessary step in American history. Students will use their experiences
as their persona when writing their journals. This assignment is due at the end of the Reconstruction unit.
- Sectional Pen Pals: Students
pair with a student character from the other section (North or South) and exchange letters on each of their journal entries.
- DBQ: Constitutional Causes of
Sectionalism
Unit 7: – Civil War and Reconstruction
(3 weeks)
Readings:
-
Textbook Chapter 15, 16
-
Chapter from Sarah Morgan’s Diary
-
Chapter from Elizabeth D. Leonard’s All The Daring of A Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies 1999
-
Chapter from Deanne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook’s They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American
Civil War 2002
-
The Souls Of Black Folks, W.E.B. Dubois (1996: Penguin Books)
Themes:
1. Secession and war
2. Reconstruction issues and
plans
3. The struggle for equality
4. Native American relations
Content:
Military
strategies, strengths and weaknesses, events and outcomes
The
home front, North and South
mobilizing manpower, finances, public opinion,
social, economic, and political impact of war
Presidential
vs. Congressional Reconstruction plans and actions
Economic
development: The New South?
1877
Compromise and Home Rule
Booker
T. Washington’s and W.E.B. Du Bois’s leadership styles and programs
Native Americans
Plains Wars and reservation policy
Dawes Act
Comparison of reform attitudes toward African
Americans and Native Americans in the late 19th century
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Civil War Era Journals and Essays (See Unit #6)
- Students,
in groups, consider options and create a Reconstruction policy to answer the following questions:
1. What is the primary goal
of Reconstruction? Reunification, punishment, civil rights, other?
2. What should be done to
ex-Confederates?
3. What should be done for
the freedmen?
4. Who should be able to vote
and hold office in the new Southern state governments?
5. What requirements must
be met before states regain full rights and representation?
6. How should the Southern
economy be restored?
7. What role should Union troops play in policing, governing, or rebuilding the South?
- DBQ: Booker T. Washington and
W.E.B. Du Bois
Unit 8: Rise of Business and Labor (1 week)
Readings:
- Andrew Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth”
- “The Robber Barons”
- “Robber Barons or Captains of Industry”
assignment
- “Immigration Legislation in U.S. History”
handout
- Textbook chapter 18
Themes:
1. Political alignment and
corruption in the Gilded Age
2. Role of government in economic
growth and regulation
3. Social, economic, and political
impact of industrialization
Content:
Gilded
Age politics
Party alignment, Political corruption and reform,
Industrial growth, Government support and actions
Business
tycoons: methods, accomplishments, philosophies
Rise
of organized labor
Changing
conditions
Unions,
leaders, methods, successes and failures
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Group Newspaper
Assignment—required elements:
- Report of news articles on incidents or events
during the late 11800s
- Biographical feature story on an important personality
of the period
- Editorial
- Political cartoons
- Period appropriate advertisements
- DBQ: Laissez-faire
violations in the 1800s
Unit 9: – Populists and Progressives
(3 weeks)
Readings:
- Debate on the Issue of Philippine Annexation
assignments
- Chapter from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
- Textbook chapter 19
- Jacob
Reiss’ How The Other Half Lives
- Chapter from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
- Textbook chapter 20
- Read section from Triangle: The Fire That Changed
America, David Von Drehle
Themes:
1. Inflation/Deflation—Role
of government in the economy
2. Role and effectiveness
of third parties
3. Immigration and urbanization
4. Patrician reformers
5. Bryan and Wilson: “Jeffersonian
goals in Hamiltonian form” (Conflict and Consensus)
6. Teddy Roosevelt/Taft/Wilson:
Conservatives as Progressives (reform to preserve)
7. Political alignment and
corruption in the Gilded Age
8. Role of government in economic
growth and regulation
9. Social, economic, and political
impact of industrialization
Content:
Agrarian
Revolt
Post-war
problems
Attempts
to organize
Election
of 1896
Immigration
and urbanization in the late 9th century
Social
and cultural developments of the late 9th century
Urban
middle-class reformers lead a call for change
Muckrakers
Women’s issues and roles
Political corruption and reforms
Consumer and environmental protection
Business and labor issues
Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson
administrations respond to Progressive movement
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Bioboards— “muckraking”
presentation on a period issue
- Group Newspaper Assignment—required
elements:
Report of news articles on incidents or events
during the late 800s
Biographical feature story on an important personality
of the period
Editorial
Political cartoons
Period appropriate advertisements
DBQ: Laissez-faire violations in the 1800s, Farm Problems
Unit 10: Imperialism and World War I (2 weeks)
Readings:
- Read selections from The Scopes Trial
- Presidential Outline: Eisenhower
- Textbook
chapters 21, 22, 23
- “USDA Government Inspected” (handout
– After The Fact)
- Selections
from Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
Themes:
1. The changing role of
the U.S. in world affairs — from
isolationism to world power
2. U.S. motives in World War I and post-war agreements
3. Presidential and congressional
roles in policy management
4 The changing role of the
U.S. in world affairs — from isolationism
to world power
5. U.S. motives in World War I and post-war agreements
6. Presidential and congressional
roles in policy management
Content:
Reasons
for new interest in world affairs
Spanish–American
War
Cuban situation and U.S. reaction
Military preparedness and action
Treaty provisions
Philippine annexation—debate
and results
Open Door Policy, Teddy Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” Diplomacy
Roosevelt Corollary and applications
Panama
intervention and canal building
Nobel Peace Prize
Taft’s
Dollar Diplomacy
Wilson’s
“Moral” or “Missionary” Diplomacy
Relations with Panama,
Mexico, Haiti, Philippines
Neutrality, 914–917
World War I as a war to “make the world
safe for democracy”
Various
interpretations of U.S. motives in World
War I
World War I at home
Economic impact
Harassment of German Americans
Women and minorities
Espionage and Sedition Acts
Business and Labor relations
Creel Committee—wartime propaganda
Treaty
negotiations and Senate rejection of Versailles Treaty
Reasons
for new interest in world affairs
Spanish–American War
Cuban situation and U.S. reaction
Military preparedness and action
Treaty provisions
Philippine annexation—debate and results
Open Door Policy, Teddy Roosevelt’s “Big
Stick” Diplomacy
Roosevelt Corollary and applications
Panama
intervention and canal building
Nobel Peace Prize
Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy
Wilson’s
“Moral” or “Missionary” Diplomacy
Relations with Panama,
Mexico, Haiti, Philippines
Neutrality, 914–917
World War I as a war to “make the world
safe for democracy”
Various interpretations of U.S. motives in World War I
World War I at home
Economic impact
Harassment of German Americans
Women and minorities
Espionage and Sedition Acts
Business and Labor relations
Creel Committee—wartime propaganda
Treaty negotiations and Senate rejection of Versailles
Treaty
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Simulated debate over Philippine annexation
- Political Cartoons: Students
create one cartoon representing pro-annexation sentiment and one representing anti-annexation sentiment.
- DBQ: Imperialism or Versailles Treaty
- World War I Position
Statement:
- Students evaluate documents
and make reports and position statements on whether the U.S.
claim to be fighting a war to “make the world safe for democracy” was a valid claim.
- Groups evaluate the following
sets of documents and readings:
U.S. neutrality statements,
submarine warfare experiences, Zimmerman Note, Fourteen Points
1. U.S. trade and loan
figures, Nye Commission report
2. Fourteen Points, Wilson
War Message, Versailles Treaty negotiations (U.S.
positions)
3. U.S. home front: gains
and opportunities for women and minorities, treatment of German–Americans, Espionage and Sedition Acts
- Student newspaper: World War
I on the home front
- Simulated debate over Philippine
annexation
- Political Cartoons: Students
create one cartoon representing pro-annexation sentiment and one representing anti-annexation sentiment.
- DBQ: Imperialism or Versailles Treaty
- World War I Position
Statement:
- Students evaluate documents
and make reports and position statements on whether the U.S.
claim to be fighting a war to “make the world safe for democracy” was a valid claim.
- Groups evaluate the following
sets of documents and readings:
1. U.S. neutrality statements,
submarine warfare experiences, Zimmerman Note, Fourteen Points
2. U.S. trade and loan
figures, Nye Commission report
3. Fourteen Points, Wilson
War Message, Versailles Treaty negotiations (U.S.
positions)
4. U.S. home front: gains and opportunities for women and minorities, treatment of
German–Americans, Espionage and Sedition Acts
- Students represent
major developments on the home front by producing a newspaper consisting of: editorials, advertisements, reports of information,
political cartoons, and feature articles
- World War I Unit Test (multiple choice/essay/DBQ)
Unit 11: 1920s
and 1930s (2 weeks)
Readings:
-
Textbook chapter 23
-
“Letters to Eleanor Roosevelt” (handout)
-
Campaign Speeches for 1932 election assignments
-
Depression shopping list (handout)
- “
The Most Dangerous Man In America”- handout
-
“The Class of 1938” (handout)
Themes:
1. Post–World War I
compared to post–Civil War nativism, laissez-faire, labor government, farmers, attitudes toward reform
2. U.S. pursuit of “advantages without responsibilities.”
3. Administration policy of
“nullification by administration”
4. Cultural conflicts: native
vs. foreign; rural vs. urban
5. Revolution in manners and
morals
6. The role
of government in society and the economy
7. Political realignment
8. Human suffering and response
to the Great Depression
Content:
Post-war recession
and agricultural problems
Intolerance
KKK
Immigration restriction
Sacco and Vanzetti
Prohibition and Organized Crime
Jazz Age culture, Youth Rebellion, Literature of
Disillusionment
Business growth and consolidation, credit, advertising
Harding, Coolidge, Hoover administrations
Scandals
Trickle-Down Economics
“Business of America is Business”
Boom and Bust in the Stock Market
Foreign Policy
Hoover v. Roosevelt’s
approaches to the Depression
New Deal Legislation—Effectiveness and Criticisms
Supreme Court Reactions and Court Packing Plan
Dust Bowl and Demographic Shifts
Extremist alternatives: Coughlin, Long, Townsend
Political Party Alignment — the new Democratic
Coalition
Impact of the Great Depression on various population
groups
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Character Journals and Essay:
Students adopt a persona and maintain journals on teacher-assigned essay topics reflecting major domestic and foreign policy
developments of 920s and 930s. The final essay evaluates the proper role of the government in American society.
- Stock market
simulation
- Political
Action/Policy Letter: Students identify one economic problem in the United
States today. They research how the government dealt with that same or a similar problem
during the 920s or 930s. They then write a letter to a local, state, or national political leader suggesting a course of action
on the problem, citing evidence to support a suggested action based on their evaluation of the 920s or 930s policy.
- Create a DBQ: Choose
an issue or development in the 920s or 930s. Develop a question, and select and arrange documents relevant to answering the
question. Your score is determined by the significance of the issue, clarity of the question, and relevance
of the documents used in answering the question.
- DBQ: Cultural conflicts
in the 1920s or Hoover and Roosevelt as conservatives or liberals
Unit 12: World War II and Origins of the Cold
War (2 weeks)
Readings
- “A
chronology of the twentieth-century struggle for civil rights” (handout)
- Textbook chapter 26
Themes:
1. Comparison of Wilson and Roosevelt
as neutrals, wartime leaders, Allied partners, post-war planners
2. U.S.
adopts new role as peacetime leader in post-war world
3. Home front conduct during World War I and World
War II
Content:
U.S. response to aggression—neutrality legislation,
Lend-Lease Act
Pearl
Harbor and U.S. response
Military
Strategy
Germany
First
Second Front Debate
Island Hopping
Atomic Bomb
Home
Front
Relocation of Japanese Americans
Women and Minorities in the Workplace
Demographic Impact
Wartime
Diplomacy and Cooperation
Atlantic Charter (Compare to Fourteen Points)
Wartime Conferences
United Nations Founding and Participation
Splintering
of Wartime Alliance and Adoption of Containment
Berlin
and German Division
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
NATO
Korea
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group or individual reports on comparisons and contrasts of aspects of World War I and World War II
- Neutrality policies
- Home front developments and regulations
Economic controls
Labor relations
Women and minorities
Civil liberties
Demographic changes
Manpower and financial mobilization efforts
- Relations with allies—wartime and communications
-
Wartime goals—Fourteen Points and Atlantic Charter/League and U.N. post-war role in world affairs
-
Take a Stand
-
Group debate and position statements on:
Reasons for relocation—national security
or racism?
Decision to drop the atomic bombs—military
necessity, nationalism, or Cold War diplomacy?
- Storyboards on Cold War issues
Cold War Pen Pals: Students select
a partner. Each creates a persona, one a U.S.
citizen and one a Soviet citizen. They exchange notes or letters commenting on selected incidents and developments during
the Cold War.
Create a DBQ: Students select an
issue, create a question, and select documents to create a DBQ on the Cold War. Scores are based on the significance of the
issue, clarity of the question, and the relevance of documents used in answering question.
Brown University “Choices” activities
for post–World War II policy decisions
Unit 13: Post-War Domestic Issues (2 weeks)
Readings
-
Select pages from Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock
-
Chapter from The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman
-
Textbook chapter 28
-
The Cycles of American History, Arthur Schlesinger (1999: Mariner Books)
Themes:
1. Continued impact of New
Deal on government’s role in society
2. Struggle for civil liberties
and civil rights
3. Checks and balances at
work in American politics
Content:
Truman’s administration
Fair Deal
GI Bill of Rights
Taft–Hartley Act
22nd Amendment
1948 election
Loyalty program
Eisenhower’s administration
McCarthyism
Modern Republicanism
Highway construction
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Warren
Court
Role of white middle-class
women in domestic policy
Kennedy/Johnson administrations
Civil Rights Movement: Popular and government response
War on Poverty and Great Society programs
Counterculture and anti-establishment movements
Major Assignments and Assessments
DBQ: Civil Rights
Civil Rights Leaders and Tactics: Students read position
statements by various civil rights leaders including Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther
King Jr., Jesse Jackson, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and Elijah Muhammad. They describe
these leaders’ philosophies, programs, and strategies for action and evaluate which policies were most effective and
why.
Unit 14: Foreign
Policy: Eisenhower-Nixon (2 weeks)
Readings:
- Textbook chapter 29, 30. 31
- The Cold War: A New History, John Lewis Gaddish
(2006, Penguin Books)
Themes:
1. Cycles of freezes and thaws
in East-West relations
2. The “Vietnam Syndrome”
in post-war foreign policy
3. Human rights vs. strategic
self-interest in policy formulation
4. Interrelationship of foreign
policy and economic stability
Content:
Eisenhower
Liberation,
not containment
John Foster Dulles
Massive retaliation
Asia policies:
Korea
Southeast Asia — Geneva Accords and aid
to South Vietnam
Peaceful
Coexistence — Khrushchev’s visit
U-2
Incident
Kennedy:
Flexible response
Aid for social and economic development
Peace Corps
Alliance
for Progress
Southeast Asia
military and economic aid
Bay of Pigs and
Cuban Missile Crisis
Johnson:
Vietnam War
Nixon/Ford:
Vietnamization
Nixon Doctrine
China
Card
Detente
Carter:
Human rights policies
Camp David Accords
Panama Canal
Treaties
SALT II, Afghanistan, and Olympic boycott
Iran Revolution and hostage crisis
Reagan:
“The Evil Empire”
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
End of the Cold War
Major Assignments and Assessments:
- Cold War Grid — Compare
the presidential policies of Truman and Reagan regarding:
- Nature of the Cold War—ideological vs. power struggle
Containment in Europe
Asia
Middle East
Latin America
Neutralism/nonalignment
- Brown
University “Choices” materials:
Cuban Missile Crisis
Vietnam
- Storyboards on various issues
Unit 15: Post Exam activity (1 week)
- Simulation or dramatic group presentation of
a decision that changed American history.
