ap us history

ap us history

Exploring the Evolution of American Society: A Comprehensive Analysis of AP US History

1. Introduction to AP US History

The structure of AP US History is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester college survey course. It is a challenging class that is meant to be more akin to college-level classes than high school ones. While one of our goals is the satisfaction of performing well on the Advanced Placement Exam in May, each of us—teacher and students—should strive to seek enjoyment, understanding, and personal growth from our undertaking. Broadly speaking, the course covers the history of the United States from pre-colonization to the present, with both political and social history examined. The former involves political institutions and political developments, and the latter involves subjects such as slavery and racism, voting, gender and work, popular culture, reform, changing roles of women, and American identity groups such as African, Hispanic, and Native Americans. The course is designed in a manner that allows for flexibility in the course and exam content and also allows teachers and students the opportunity to select broad areas of interest or to pursue greater depth in a particular interest.

AP US History is a demanding course that requires a great deal of effort and concentration from all students. The majority of students who enroll in this course have taken the world history course and are informed of its vast scope and complexity; many are drawn to history for its inherent interest and educational value. While the intellectual rewards are many, one should engage in the study of history for additional practical reasons. At a minimum, the study of the past provides the tools necessary to assess the present as well as to plan for the future. Additionally, the study of history enhances a person’s cultural literacy. Such knowledge cannot be purchased quickly or easily, nor can it be obtained from a one-semester course.

2. Foundations of the American Colonies

The pressure on the English government to find a workable political system had been steady from the time of the Magna Carta. The Pilgrims, a political hotbed of English freemen, a nursery of the English common law, the people of the Plymouth Company, or Massachusetts Bay Settlement, or any of the other English settlements which soon followed, had none of the political megalomania of some radical colonizers of bygone days, such as John of Leyden. Nor had they delusions of grandeur, such as the founders of the early French and Spanish colonies. They desired simply a migration, and had the courage of their convictions to take that great step. The generosity of Charles afforded them the opportunity and those who had the courage of their belief made use of his generosity and have reaped the reward.

When increasing numbers of English migrated to the New World, the court, the soil, the charter, and even the laborers were essentially English. The colonists were for generations Englishmen transplanted. The essential English institutions were carried to America in the rudimentary stage by the first settlers, and as the Englishman himself has grown, so have these institutions, until now they constitute the bulwark and boast of the Anglo-Saxon race. But more than this, the colonists brought, particularly to our Atlantic seaboard, much of the English national spirit that has been a rich heritage for us, vitalizing as it has our English speech, and English literature, and English law, and English form of government.

3. Revolutionary War and the Birth of a Nation

Let’s just get one little myth out of the way, that the United States won a lone handedly. Not. Many other countries helped us. First and foremost would be France. Thank Thomas Jefferson for selling the lie of the Minutemen farmers defeating British regulars in battle and George Washington for demanding parades from his own troops when he knew that the British were stalking him because after Saratoga arrived after the French. While experts disagree, the APUSH standard outcomes only care about the result of the conflict. We won. We are the party of duty; they are the party of freedom and personal initiative. These standard outcomes are known to be a factual discharge and should be referred to as such.

They don’t call it a war for independence for nothing. The 13 colonies, or more specifically the white portion of the population, fought Great Britain for independence in a variety of ways. The patriots vocally proclaimed the ideals of republicanism to anyone who would listen. They formed community groups and appointed officials from their ranks to enforce the political will of the patriot majority. And when diplomacy and rally speeches failed to make that tyrant King George III and the British Parliament budge, they organized a war. They defeated the greatest military power in the Western World for independence, proclaimed themselves a “new and distinct nation,” and ratified a governing infrastructure called the Constitution.

4. Expansion and Reform in the 19th Century

Concepts to cover: • American transportation • The emancipation of labor • Evangelical reform • Workingmen’s parties and state government • Demand for the expansion of slavery • The war with Mexico • Tennessee and U.S. Grant • The Mexican acquisition • The California gold rush • The California state constitution • The compromise of 1850 • Public opinion • Conceptions of black freedom • Reactions • Free soil doctrine and the emergence of the Republican Party • Called for early abolition • Not unlike the Wilmot Proviso • Prohibited the spread of slavery • The platform for most Republicans • The election of 1856

The Unit 4 unit of the course, “Expansion and Reform in the 19th Century,” covers the transformation of the United States into a nation combining political democracy and a market economy, and the many responses/reactions this transformation engendered. You should plan on spending 3 weeks on this unit. The beginnings of part of this transformation covered in Unit 3 dealt with aggressive expansion, but the market revolution is carried forward in this unit. Should the quarter or semester end before you finish the entire course, you don’t necessarily have to stop the narrative there. Although it isn’t required by College Board that you cover the post-Civil War period, this unit could serve as a transition from a 2 to a 3 term course.

5. Modern America: 20th Century and Beyond

The question of the consistency of the American national identity during this time period directly correlates to the twin related issues of equality of treatment and opportunities for these ethnic groups within the larger society. Success in dealing with these tasks presumes a willingness on behalf of the dominant group population to extend the cherished principles of American society – equality and opportunity – to racial, ethnic, and religious minorities in such a way that unity and a common national identity will develop. This time period has been full of contradictions in this process.

The time period from the turn of the century to today represents an explicit challenge to the development of a national identity in American society, as immigrants and newcomers of increasingly diverse racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds have swarmed to the United States, undertaking the arduous task of acclimatization to American life and, in return, making demands for special recognition as ethnic groups within American society.