Ms. Medrano (Rm. 204) Alliance Margaret M.

Bloomfield High School

11th Grade AP U.S. History 7907 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255
jmedrano@laalliance.org (323) 537-2060

Advanced Placement United States History Course Syllabus

2018-2019
Course Description
The Advanced Placement (A.P.) United States History class looks at U.S. History from approximately 1491 to the 21st
century. Throughout the year we will try to achieve a balance between the study of historical facts and analysis of
historical themes through the use of historical thinking skills. We will strive to become well versed in America’s political,
diplomatic, economic, social, and cultural history. We will also work to improve your ability to do analytical writing at the
collegiate level. ​It cannot be overstressed that this is a college course.​ It will employ college-level texts and readings
and move at a college pace. Students’ work ethic and perseverance must be of similar intensity. ​By taking the AP Exam
at the end of the course, students have the opportunity to demonstrate that they have, indeed, learned college-level
material and are prepared ​to enter advanced college courses.

Course Textbook/Texts
*Eric Foner, ​Give Me Liberty!,​ A.P. Edition (A textbook and ebook version will be given to you)
*John J. Newman, ​United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination ​(2018 Exam)

Additional Texts
Foner, Eric. ​Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History​, 4th Edition, Volumes 1 & 2
Zinn, Howard. ​A People’s History of the United States​ (2010 ed.) New York, New York: Harper Collins
(Additional primary sources, secondary sources, and texts will also be utilized throughout each unit.)

Class Website
http://jmmedrano.weebly.com/

Materials Needed

-Access to printer
-3-5 subject notebook
-Personal copy of Newman book if desired
-$10 exam fee

AP Focus Themes to be used Throughout the Year:

IDENTITY
WORK, EXCHANGE, AND TECHNOLOGY
PEOPLING
POLITICS AND POWER
AMERICA IN THE WORLD
ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY (PHYSICAL AND HUMAN)
IDEAS, BELIEFS, AND CULTURE

Historical Thinking Skills

These skills reflect the tasks of professional historians. While learning to master these tasks, AP U.S History
students act as “apprentice historians.”
• Historical Causation
• Patterns of Continuity and Change Over Time
• Periodization
• Comparison
• Contextualization
• Historical Argumentation

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Ms. Medrano (Rm. 204) Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School
11th Grade AP U.S. History 7907 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255
jmedrano@laalliance.org (323) 537-2060
• Appropriate Use of Historical Evidence

Class Values and Expectations

To create and maintain a positive learning community for ​all ​students, this class will adhere to a set of class
expectations that ​all​ students are expected to follow.

Class Expectations:

1. Be respectful at all times.

2. Follow directions.
3. Ask for permission to leave classroom.
4. No food or drinks in class.
5. If you’re absent, check the digital agenda first.

Readings:​ Students will be expected to read assigned passages from the required reading list ​prior​ to class
meetings as well as outside materials as is necessary. Students should also be prepared to read on a
regular basis (6-10 hours per week).
Class Participation:​ ​ Studies have consistently shown that students who participate in class discussions and
activities are more likely to grasp learning objectives. For a AP course such as ours it is ​essential ​to
student success that all students make an effort to participate during class meetings.
Tutoring: ​ Tutoring is a mandatory component of this class. Please expect tutoring during lunch at least once if
not twice a week, and after school in the weeks leading up to the AP exam.
AP Boot Camp:​ A ​ s part of this course ​students will be required to attend ​additional class meetings prior to the
exam (dates TBD). During these review sessions students will receive the necessary skills needed to
succeed on the AP exam. As such, students must attend and participate.

Grading Policy:
Students are graded based on their mastery of the standards tested on every summative assessment. Students
may receive multiple grades on one assessment since every standard receives a separate grade. Semester course
grades will be calculated based on the average of all assignments.

Assignment Score Calculations

Assessment Score Assessment Score Descriptor
The student has ​exceeded​ the achievement standard and demonstrates progress
4
towards mastery of the knowledge and skills needed for the course.
The student has ​met​ the achievement standard and demonstrates progress
3
towards mastery of the knowledge and skills needed for the course.
The student has ​nearly met​ the achievement standard and may require further
2
development to demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed for the course.
The student has ​not met​ the achievement standard and needs substantial
1
improvement to demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed for the course.
X Excused missed assignment or standard not taught.
S Accommodation/support not provided for students with disabilities.
Assignment not submitted, not reflective of the course material, and/or blank (which
Z
includes only having a student’s name on the paper) and is a grade of zero.
Ethics violation and is a grade of zero. Additional consequences will apply per the
E
Parent-Student Handbook.

Overall Semester Grade Calculations

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Ms. Medrano (Rm. 204) Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School
11th Grade AP U.S. History 7907 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255
jmedrano@laalliance.org (323) 537-2060

Semester Grade* Semester Score Semester Score Descriptor

A 3.70-4.00
Above standard on grade-level course content
A- 3.40-3.69
B+ 3.20-3.39
B 3.00-3.19 At standard on grade-level course content
B- 2.70-2.99
C+ 2.50-2.69
C 2.30-2.49 Below standard on grade-level course content
C- 2.00-2.29
NP 0-1.99 Far below standard on grade-level course content

* Note of GPA: To convert semester course grades to a UC/CSU GPA, we will use the following:
Letter Grade GPA
A, A- 4
B+, B, B- 3
C+, C, C- 2
NP 0 (not counted towards GPA)

Students will no longer receive Life Skills grades in Behavior, Work Completion, Working in Groups, and
Participation. Homework and Class participation/classwork count as part of a student’s academic grade.

**Reassessments and late work are not permitted unless otherwise stated. This is a college level course and it is
the expectation of Ms. Medrano that all assignments will be turned in on time and to the best ability of the
student.**

Class Guidelines

Bathroom passes: ​Students are expected to use the bathroom during breaks. If students need to use the bathroom, they
must obtain a pass from Ms. Medrano and give up five minutes of the next break period. Bathroom trips should be limited
to emergencies. No bathroom passes will be issued in the first and last 30 minutes of class
Instructional time:​ Your instructional time is very valuable. You should only be focused on what I am teaching or doing
any assignment given by the teacher. Remember to be responsible for your own learning.
Electronic devices:​ Do not use any electronic devices in class. Keep cell phones, mp3 players, games, etc. in your
backpack or pocket and turned off or turned to silent. If you are unable to keep your phone put away, it will be confiscated
and returned only to your parents.
Emergency drills: ​Listen quietly and follow Ms. Medrano’s instructions according to ABHS’s (Alliance Bloomfield High
School) procedures. If we have to leave the classroom, students line up in two straight lines outside the classroom and
quietly walk to the designated area. You may see students from other classes acting foolish. Do not follow their example.
Conduct yourself like a mature young adult.
Trash:​ Keep your trash until clean-up time. If you ​must t​ hrow away trash, hold up your paper or trash silently and wait for
spoken permission from me before getting out of your seat. Take the shortest path to the nearest trashcan. Do not speak
to anyone on the way. Silently and quickly return to your seat.
Clean-up:​ Ms. Medrano expects the classroom to be neat and organized so that everyone can have a clean
environment. You will be given time at the end of each class period to clean up your work area and make sure that your
desk and floor area are neat. Use this time to calmly return materials to where they belong. You will not be dismissed until
the classroom is neat and organized.

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Ms. Medrano (Rm. 204) Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School
11th Grade AP U.S. History 7907 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255
jmedrano@laalliance.org (323) 537-2060
Dismissal:​ Class is dismissed when Ms. Medrano dismisses the class, not when the bell rings. Do not pack your bags
until the teacher alerts you to do so (when the class is calm and quiet). When you have been dismissed, you will walk
quietly.
Exiting the classroom:​ No student will leave the classroom without the teacher’s permission.

_________________________________________________________________________________
COURSE OVERVIEW
FALL SEMESTER
Unit 1 Topics: T ​ he Colonial Era to the French and Indian War, 1607-1754 (Foner Chapters 1-4)
Pre-Columbian Societies
• Early inhabitants of the Americas; American Indian empires in Mesoamerica, the Southwest, and the Mississippi
Valley; American Indian cultures of North America at the time of European contact
Transatlantic Encounters and Colonial Beginnings, 1492–1690
• First European contacts with American Indians; Spain’s empire in North America French colonization
• English settlement of New England, the Mid-Atlantic region, and the South
• From servitude to slavery in the Chesapeake region
• Religious diversity in the American colonies
• Resistance to colonial authority: Bacon’s Rebellion, the Glorious Revolution, and the Pueblo Revolt.
Colonial North America, 1690–1754
• Population growth and immigration
• Transatlantic trade and the growth of seaports
• Growth of plantation economies and slave societies
• The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening
• Colonial governments and imperial policy in British North America

Unit 2 Topics:​ T
​ he American Revolution to the Early Republic, 1754-1800 ( Foner Chapters 5-8)
The American Revolutionary Era, 1754–1781
• The French and Indian War
• The Imperial Crisis and resistance to Britain
• The War for Independence
The Confederation Era (1781-1789)
• State constitutions and the Articles of Confederation
• The Constitutional Convention
• The Founders and Religion
The Early Republic, 1789–1800
• Washington, Hamilton, and shaping of the national government
• Emergence of political parties: Federalists and Republicans
• Republican Motherhood and education for women
• Election of 1800

Unit 3 Topics:​ T​ he Jeffersonian Era and the Age of Jackson, 1800-1840 (Chapters 8-10)
The Jeffersonian Era
• Significance of Jefferson’s presidency – Jeffersonian Republicanism
• Expansion into the trans-Appalachian West; American Indian resistance
• Growth of slavery and free Black communities
• The War of 1812 and its consequences
Transformation of the Economy and Society in Antebellum America
• The transportation revolution and creation of a national market economy
• Beginnings of industrialization and changes in social and class structures

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Ms. Medrano (Rm. 204) Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School
11th Grade AP U.S. History 7907 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255
jmedrano@laalliance.org (323) 537-2060
• Immigration and nativist reaction
• Planters, yeoman farmers, and slaves in the cotton South
The Transformation of Politics in Antebellum America
• Emergence of the second party system
• Federal authority and its opponents: judicial federalism, the Bank War, tariff
• controversy, and states’ rights debates
• Jacksonian democracy and its successes and limitations

Unit 4 Topics :​ ​Slavery, Freedom, and the Crisis of the Union, 1820-1877 (Chapters 11-15)
Religion, Reform, and Renaissance in Antebellum America
• Evangelical Protestant revivalism
• Social reforms; Ideals of domesticity
• Transcendentalism and utopian communities
• American Renaissance: literary and artistic expressions
Territorial Expansion and Manifest Destiny
• Forced removal of American Indians to the trans-Mississippi West
• Western migration and cultural interactions
• Territorial acquisitions; Early U.S. imperialism: the Mexican War
The Crisis of the Union
• Pro- and antislavery arguments and conflicts
• Compromise of 1850 and popular sovereignty
• The Kansas–Nebraska Act and the emergence of the Republican Party
• Abraham Lincoln, the election of 1860, and secession
Civil War
• Two societies at war: mobilization, resources, and internal dissent
• Military strategies and foreign diplomacy
• Emancipation and the role of African Americans in the war
• Social, political, and economic effects of war in the North, South, and West
Reconstruction
• Presidential and Radical Reconstruction
• Southern state governments: aspirations, achievements, failures
• Role of African Americans in politics, education, and the economy
• Compromise of 1877; Impact of Reconstruction

Unit 5 Topics: T​ he Second Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age, 1865-1898 (Chapters 16 & 17)
The Origins of the New South
• Reconfiguration of southern agriculture: sharecropping and crop-lien system
• Expansion of manufacturing and industrialization
• The politics of segregation: Jim Crow and disfranchisement
Development of the West in the Late Nineteenth Century
• Expansion and development of western railroads
• Competitors for the West: miners, ranchers, homesteaders, and American Indians
• Government policy toward American Indians
• Gender, race, and ethnicity in the far West
• Environmental impacts of western settlement
Industrial America in the Late Nineteenth Century
• Corporate consolidation of industry
• Effects of technological development on the worker and workplace
• Labor and unions

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Ms. Medrano (Rm. 204) Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School
11th Grade AP U.S. History 7907 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255
jmedrano@laalliance.org (323) 537-2060
• National politics and influence of corporate power
• Migration and immigration: the changing face of the nation
• Proponents and opponents of the new order, e.g., Social Darwinism and Social Gospel
Urban Society in the Late Nineteenth Century
• Urbanization and the lure of the city
• City problems and machine politics
• Intellectual and cultural movements and popular entertainment

SPRING SEMESTER

Unit 6 -​ ​The Emergence of American Economic and Global Intervention, 1898-1945 (Chapters 18-22)
Populism and Progressivism
• Agrarian discontent and political issues of the late nineteenth century
• Origins of Progressive reform: municipal, state, and national
• Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson as Progressive presidents
• Women’s roles: family, workplace, education, politics, and reform
• Black America: urban migration and civil rights initiatives
The New Era: 1920s
• The business of America and the consumer economy
• Republican politics: Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover
• The culture of Modernism: science, the arts, and entertainment
• Responses to Modernism: religious fundamentalism, nativism, and Prohibition
• The ongoing struggle for equality: African Americans and women
The Great Depression and the New Deal
• Causes of the Great Depression
• The Hoover administration’s response
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal
• Labor and union recognition
• The New Deal coalition and its critics from the Right and the Left
• Surviving hard times: American society during the Great Depression
American Imperialism and Military Interventions (1898-1945)
• American imperialism: political and economic expansion; Spanish American War
• War in Europe and American neutrality
• The First World War at home and abroad; Treaty of Versailles; Society and economy in the postwar years
The Second World War
• The rise of fascism and militarism in Japan, Italy, and Germany
• Prelude to war: policy of neutrality
• The attack on Pearl Harbor and United States declaration of war
• Fighting a multi-front war; Diplomacy, war aims, and wartime conferences
• The United States as a global power in the Atomic Age
The Home Front During the War
• Wartime mobilization of the economy; Urban migration and demographic changes
• Women, work, and family during the war; Civil liberties and civil rights during wartime
• War and regional development; Expansion of government power

​ lobal Leadership in the Post-War World, 1945- Present (Chapters 23-28)

Unit 7 topics: G
The United States and the Early Cold War
• Origins of the Cold War; Truman and containment
• The Cold War in Asia: China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan

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 Ms. Medrano (Rm. 204) Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School
11th Grade AP U.S. History 7907 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255
jmedrano@laalliance.org (323) 537-2060
• Diplomatic strategies and policies of the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations
• The Red Scare and McCarthyism; Impact of the Cold War on American society
The 1950s
• Emergence of the modern civil rights movement
• The affluent society and “the other America”; Consensus and conformity: suburbia & the middle-class
• Social critics, nonconformists, and cultural rebels; Impact of changes in science, technology, etc.
The Turbulent 1960s
• From the New Frontier to the Great Society; Expanding movements for civil rights
• Cold War confrontations: Asia, Latin America, and Europe; Beginning of Détente
• The antiwar movement and the counterculture
Politics and Economics at the End of the Twentieth Century
• The election of 1968 and the “Silent Majority”; Nixon’s challenges: Vietnam, China, and Watergate
• Changes in the American economy: the energy crisis, deindustrialization, and the service economy
• The New Right and the Reagan revolution, End of the Cold War
Society and Culture at the End of the Twentieth Century
• Demographic changes: surge of immigration after 1965, Sunbelt migration, and the graying of America
• Revolutions in biotechnology, mass communication, and computers
• Politics in a multicultural society
The United States in the Post–Cold War World
• Globalization and the American economy
• Unilateralism vs. multilateralism in foreign policy; Domestic and foreign terrorism; Environmental issues in a
global context.

______________________________________
Acknowledgment of Syllabi

Student: ​I have read this classroom syllabi and understand it. I will honor it while in the classroom.

Student name: ___________________________________________________ Period: ________________

Signature: _______________________________________________________ Date: _________________

Person who can help me with my homework:

Name:________________________ Relationship: _____________ Contact (phone or

email):__________________________

Parent/Guardian: ​My child has discussed the Syllabus with me. I understand it and I will support it.

Signature: _______________________________________________________ Date: _________________

Best Phone Number: ____________________________________

Teacher: ​I will be fair and consistent in administering the Discipline Plan and procedures in the Guide for Success.

Signature: ​Ms. Joann Medrano​ Date: ____8/8/2018______

Firmas
Alumno/a:​ He leído esta guía y lo entiendo. Me comprometo cumplir con los deberes explicados aquí.

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Ms. Medrano (Rm. 204) Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School
11th Grade AP U.S. History 7907 Santa Fe Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255
jmedrano@laalliance.org (323) 537-2060

Nombre completo: _______________________________________ Periodo: _____________________

Firma: _________________________________________________ Fecha: _______________________

Alguien que me puede ayudar con la tarea:

Nombre: ______________________ Relación:_____________ teléfono o email: _____________________

Padres/guardianes:​ He hablado con mi hijo/a y entiendo lo que se espera de el/ella. Me comprometo ayudarle a mi
hijo/a a tener éxito en su clase de ingles.

Firma: _________________________________________________ Fecha: _______________________

Mejor numero de teléfono: _____________________________________

Maestra: Ms. Medrano ​me comprometo ser justa y consistente en ayudar a los estudiantes lograr sus metas y explicar
las expectaciones de la clase. Prometo que yo trabajare igual de fuerte que como espero que trabajen los estudiantes.