II. Using a Textbook:
A. Use:

IV. Taking Notes from Reading:
A. Organization:

V. Taking Notes from an Oral Presentation:
A. Organization (see section IV)
B. Content:

C. Techniques:

VI. Completing an Assignment:
A. Read the Directions / Ask for Clarification
B. Budget Time for Length of Assignments / Make a Calendar
C. Leave Time for Review / Revisions

VII. Reviewing for a Test:
A. Understand Nature / Format of Test
B. Spread Out in Several Sessions / No Cramming
C. Set a Deadline to Complete / Sleep and Relax
D. Write as You Review

VIII. Reviewing for a Mid-year or Final Exam:
A. Use Techniques Listed in Section VIII
B. Review Old Quizzes and Tests

IX Taking a Test:
A. Skim the Entire Test / Exam
B. Read Over All of the Directions
C. Plan Out Time for Taking the Test
D. Mark and Return to Unanswered Questions
E. Check for Completeness

X. Learning from a Graded Test or Assignment:
A. Read Teachers' Comments Carefully
B. Review Both Good and Poor Answers
C. Understand Successes and Failures
D. Check Notes for Content and Revise if Necessary
E. Seek Help

Eleventh & Twelfth Grades:

Review of the above skills with individual students as needed

Instruction:

During courses in the ninth and tenth grades the techniques outlined above should be reviewed. Students entering Lincoln-Sudbury will have some familiarity with these skills, but the range of mastery will vary. These skills will be modeled occasionally.

Work in grades eleven and twelve should be given on an individual basis as needed.

Assessment:

Direct assessment of some of these basic skills should be done in the ninth grade. Checking on notes and seeing how well students have highlighted a reading can be done easily and quickly so that the teacher can focus on those students who need the most support.

It is possible to quiz students on some of these skills. For example a quiz might be given on way to use a text by giving students a copy of a chapter from another text and asking questions about it or about their text compared to the one copied. Assessment of a student's approach to a Xeroxed reading can be done in many ways, and need not be done separately. Ongoing assessment will occur in virtually any test or other form of assessment used during the course.
SPEAKING and LISTENING SKILLS

Ninth and Tenth Grades:

1. Respect the opinions of others
2. Speak clearly and at an appropriate volume
3. Do not interrupt
4. Speak to the class, not to the teacher
5. Respond when called upon
6. Incorporate evidence from reading sources
7. Contribute only what is relevant, and think before speaking
8. Participate voluntarily and regularly

Eleventh & Twelfth Grades:

1. Addresses the entire class during discussion, not just the teacher

Instruction:

At the beginning of the year expectations for speech need to be made clear by the teacher. Coaching on an individual basis during class or individually will be required.

In ninth and tenth grade each student will make a three to five minute presentation to the class. The student will be instructed in the necessary preparation for such a presentation. Such presentations may be continued in the upper grades.

Assessment:

Presentations will be graded on a set of criteria given to students before they speak. Students should also be assessed based on their daily oral participation in class. The Department will also continue to sponsor an annual contest to further promote the art of speaking.

ANALYTICAL SKILLS

Ninth and Tenth Grades:

Geographic Skills:

Historical Skills:

Eleventh & Twelfth Grades:

Historical Skills:

As students work with primary and secondary material they need to develop more sophisticated ways of analyzing and interpreting it. In order to develop these skills, which are central to our disciplines, students need to learn to consider the following types of materials in the following ways:

I. Evidence may be: Criteria to be considered:

Written or oral: Ninth and Tenth Grades:

primary

Eleventh & Twelfth Grades:

Visual or audible: Ninth And Tenth Grades:

primary

Eleventh & Twelfth Grades:

Numerical data: Ninth and Tenth Grades:

raw

Eleventh & Twelfth Grades:

Instruction:

The skills required to successfully analyze the past and interpret an historical document are the core skills of history and the social sciences. They must be taught recursively, and with increasing levels of sophistication over the course of four years. Teachers carefully integrate these skills into their curricula, referring to the preceding outlines.

Recurring exercises in all of these skills and the application of the various criteria to be used in evaluating evidence is part of every course, as can be seen from the sample assignments given in the course descriptions section of this publication. Students frequently work directly with primary material, applying the criteria they have learned in the past and learning to ask new questions of it. They are given exercises to aid them in learning to apply analytical skills to different types of material. Over the course of four years students should gain the ability to use these skills more independently, determining which are most appropriate to use in a given situation.

Assessment:

Analytical skills are so embedded in our disciplines that assessment of any kind can not take place without them. The range evident in "Sample Assignments" and "Assessment" in each of the twenty-two course descriptions which follow indicate how this is done. Such assessment must constantly review skills previously learned while emphasizing new ones. Assessment also must increase in sophistication with time as students' skills develop in sophistication. It is critical, especially in the senior year, that students work with considerable independence in order to prepare them for what will be required of them in school and in the workplace after graduation.

RESEARCH SKILLS

Ninth & Tenth Grades:

Locating Materials
1. Use of reference room
2. Use of atlases: world, national, and historical
3. Other reference materials:

Screening Materials Ñ How to Select Relevant Material
1. Date
2. Organization: by theme or by chronology?
3. Author (and his/her background)
4. Use of indexes
5. Table of contents
6. Internet search engines and CD Rom resources.

Bibliographical Data and Footnote Data

Plagiarism

Screening Materials:
1. Learn to evaluate author's point-of-view
2. Researching conflicting points-of-view on some topic
3. Evaluate for bias (gender, class, race, national, economic, etc.)

Source Data
1. use proper footnote and bibliographical citations papers
[Review the library pamphlet "Documenting A Research Paper."]

Eleventh & Twelfth Grades

Review the proceeding as needed.

Instruction

In the ninth grade students will do various exercises involving research, such as five-paragraph essays requiring sources outside of class. This type of instruction will continue in tenth grade; one research task in tenth grade will include the use of several primary sources. In another exercise teachers might have students evaluate their sources for bias.
In eleventh and twelfth grades each student will write a research paper which includes some primary sources, when available. These papers will require proper footnotes and bibliographical citations. Other exercises may be included.
In teaching citation teachers will use the booklet "Documenting A Research Paper," a guide for high school students prepared by the library staff. The correct citation of reference books, encyclopedias, magazines, pamphlets, and electronically-accessed information is explained. Examples of the correct use of notes, bibliography, and special forms are provided.
The English and history departments have the same plagiarism policy, and each teacher will distribute copies of it in each class each year. Teachers will discuss plagiarism with their classes.

Assessment

The exercises suggested or required above are the basis for assessment as well as instruction.
ESSAY WRITING

In each history class, from ninth grade through the senior year, teachers focus on writing. Although teachers may require students to write in more than one style in any given class, the formal or analytical essay is emphasized at every grade level. What follows is an outline of the skills that are taught in grades nine through twelve to help students develop a strong clear prose style.

Ninth Grade:

Early in the ninth grade the analytical essay is introduced to students. Although teachers use various approaches to teach this crucial skill, certain key features are emphasized:

Tenth Grade:

In addition to the skills introduced in the ninth grade, the following skills are reinforced, developed, and refined:

Eleventh and Twelfth Grades:

The junior/senior history courses try to maximize every student's writing potential in preparation for the demands of college-level work:

Instruction:

Each teacher approaches essay writing in a way that suits his/her individual style and course-specific expectations. Methods may include:

Assessment:

Teachers assess students' development of essay writing skills in a variety of ways including:

EXPECTATIONS OF ALL STUDENTS

There are certain basic expectations which all students should meet. These expectations apply to all courses offered by the department.

All students in all courses are expected to meet or learn to meet the expectations outlined above. Also, each course description contains a section on expectations which outlines those expectations emphasized in that particular course or which may be unique to it.

Course expectations and methods will be coordinated with the Individual Educational Plans of students who have them.

COURSE OVERVIEW AND THE SELECTION PROCESS

Every subject, object, and person has a history. There are even histories of history. Within a very small subdivision of history, such as the American Civil War, there are more facts and interpretations than an expert can master in a lifetime. Thus, the study of history must be a life's task and recursive. The department can neither teach nor introduce it all in four years.

Also history has no absolute sequence. The order of historical events is frequently imposed by the historian. Along with history the department covers other disciplines. Therefore, in designing a program no attempt has been made to cover everything, nor has an absolute sequence of courses been imposed. As outlined above, skills are developed logically across the four years, and provide
the necessary structure for the growth of secondary students.

This does not imply a random offering of courses. The department has carefully considered appropriate courses for each grade level. For example, Western Civilization - the Arts and History requires the maturity to look at the portrayal of nudity which many ninth and tenth graders lack. Certain courses are better suited to teaching more basic skills. Thus we offer Modern America to sophomores, as opposed to Psychology or Asian Cultures. Other courses follow more logically from one another. Post War America, for example, requires that a student have a previous course in United States history.

Since the department thinks that teachers teach best in their areas of expertise, the strengths of the individual department members as well as the needs of the students influence the curriculum. If history is to be a life long study, then an enthusiasm for the subject and a love of learning are the most important gifts the department can try to give to students.

The curriculum is shaped by members of the department based on the preceding and an understanding of the content areas which are most critical for students. The department keeps abreast of curriculum development through professional journals, conferences, courses, and contacts with other secondary schools and colleges.

Courses in the department are designed for a range of students. While we want to have classes which are heterogeneous, care is taken not to make the spectrum in any one course too broad or too restricted. Other than courses whose descriptions clearly indicate that they are for students with weaker skills, all courses offer open enrollment subject to the guidance of parents and faculty members.

To graduate from Lincoln-Sudbury, a student must have earned a minimum of twelve credits in the department. However, over ninety percent of Lincoln-Sudbury graduates take four years of history, and more and more colleges are expecting this. Four of the credits earned must be in a course which satisfies the state requirement in United States history. A very limited number of double enrollments and auditing are possible when space is available, allowing a few interested students to take more than one history course at a time.

In the ninth grade student choice is restricted to either Modern European History or Contemporary World Cultures, which are equally demanding courses. There are lab sections for students with weaker skills. In the sophomore year nearly all students enroll in a course which satisfies the state requirement in United States history. Most will take Modern America. Others will take Great Trials in American History, Trends in Twentieth Century United States History, Twentieth Century American History, or Advanced Placement United States History.

The sequence of courses in the first two years guarantees that all students are grounded in the study of both their own nation and part of the rest of the world by the end of the tenth grade.

Juniors and seniors select courses from a wide range of electives. Based on a student's interests and abilities, teachers and house staff will help him / her choose appropriate courses in the last two years. Students are encouraged to take a course from at least three of the following subdivisions of the department's curriculum: American History, European Studies, Area Studies, and the Social Sciences.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

The following section of this booklet consists of a fairly detailed description of all the courses offered in recent years. Due to financial and staff limitations, it may not be possible to offer all these courses every year. The framework of the State Department of Education may require the modification of some or all of our courses, potentially causing some to be dropped altogether, or even forcing us to implement an antithetical curriculum imposed by the state.

The courses are grouped into four large categories: American History, European History, Area Studies, and Social Sciences, following the order in which they appear in Lincoln-Sudbury's Program of Studies. Each course description includes the following:

Title
Number
Length and Credits
Date of Revision and the Name(s) of the Author(s)
Course Description as it Appears in the Program of Studies
Rationale
Course Outline
Methods
Expectations of Students
Skills to Be Developed
Textbooks
Supplementary Reading
Other Materials
Sample Assignments
Additional Items
Assessment of Students

Every teacher in the department follows the descriptions outlined here.

However, in order to take advantage of the special skills and knowledge of different staff members, and to provide a diversity of points of view, each teacher is free to create his or her own variations on the themes set. For this reason, each teacher issues a syllabus for each course he or she teaches. These syllabi are designed for the use of the students in each section of each course. Copies of these syllabi are available from the teacher or the Department Coordinator.

All course descriptions include an indication of the level of difficulty, with a 1 indicating the greatest difficulty and a 5 the least. Courses are always described as covering a range, such as 1-3 or 2-4. The nature of our disciplines makes it possible to include students of varying abilities in the same class. All courses have been designed to accommodate such heterogeneity; however, as a student's ability must be adequate to meet a course's expectations with a reasonable amount of effort, the ranges are restricted. All History Department courses require essay writing, reading, and participation in class discussion. The "Skills Development" section of this book describes in detail those skills that are integral to our program. Each course description contains specific details which will also aid in assessing the relative difficulty of our various courses.

1-3 Grade 10: Advanced Placement US History and Twentieth Century American History
Grades 11 & 12: Post War America, Ancient Greece and Rome, Philosophy and History, Western Civilization: The Arts & History, Asian Studies, A History of Africa, and World Crises in Historical Perspective

1. The emphasis in these classes is on conceptual and abstract thinking. Students are already able to master historical details without losing track of the larger themes, and are able to understand and to make connections between various facts and interpretations.

2. Reading assignments are quite substantial and involve sophisticated style, higher order vocabulary, and abstract concepts. Reading involves the analysis of opposing interpretations in secondary and primary sources. A significant proportion of the reading must be done independently, and is not reviewed in class.

3. Writing assignments are done independently and are a minimum of three pages in length. Writing instruction focuses on the refinement of advanced skills, and help is given only in individual conferences. It is assumed that students have mastered all basic writing skills.

4. The pace of the course is rapid, and students are expected to pace themselves accordingly.

5. Students should have already mastered note taking from both oral and written sources.

6. Independent research and projects are part of the curriculum.

7. Assignments are managed independently without significant adult supervision or intervention.

8. The primary format of the classes is discussion and lecture.

9. Generally, little or no class time is spent on review. Student generated review packets are sometimes required. However, in A.P. U.S. History some class time is devoted to review for both the mid-year and national exams.

2-4 Grades 11 & 12: The Promised Land, Dictators, Psychology, Global Issues, Economics and Business, and Law and American Society

All comparisons refer to 1-3 courses.

1. These courses place a greater emphasis on skills development and introduce students gradually to analysis and abstraction. Students are aided in keeping facts and themes in balance, in making connections, and in developing basic analytical skills.

2. Reading assignments are shorter, and chosen for accessibility. Primary sources are often edited.

3. Short writing assignments and the analysis of historical material are frequently incorporated into class work.

4. The pace of the course is moderate, and assignments are shorter and more frequent. However, the work load remains challenging.

5. Some guidance is given in taking notes. Some students engage in additional skills work in individual or small group sessions.

6. Research and projects are completed with teacher guidance at various stages in the process.

7. The range of assignments includes more alternatives to standard reading and writing. There are fewer long range assignments. Progress on these assignments is monitored by the teacher.

8. Greater provision is made for activity based instruction, though discussion and lecture do occur.

9. Review in class precedes every test. Review sheets are used.

1-4 Grade 9: Modern European History and Contemporary World Cultures
Grade 10: Modern America, 1865 - 1985

All comparisons refer to 1-3 courses.

1. The curricula and methodology are designed for a wide range of students. The emphasis is more concrete, though some abstraction is included. Students are aided in keeping facts and themes in balance and in making connections.

2. Reading assignments are shorter, and chosen for accessibility. Primary sources may be edited.

3. Writing assignments are shorter and more frequent, and class time is spent on the development of writing skills.

4. The pace of the course is moderate, and students are aided in pacing themselves.

5. The teaching of skills is incorporated into class work, especially in the areas of note taking, writing, and analysis of historical material.

6. Research assignments are limited in scope.

7. Homework assignments are shorter and more frequent, and involve less lengthy and sophisticated reading. The range of assignments includes alternatives to standard reading and writing.

8. Class time involves activity based instruction, discussion, and lecture.

9. Class time is spent reviewing for tests, and review sheets are often used.

3-5 Grade 10: Great Trials and Issues in US History

All comparisons refer to 1-3 courses.

1. The emphasis of this course is on class participation and skills development.
The content of the class is primarily concrete. Simulations frequently engage the class, but content remains substantial.

2. Reading assignments are shorter, chosen for accessibility. Primary sources are usually edited.

3. Writing assignments are frequent and shorter, and are designed to build
both writing and historical skills.

4. The pace of the course is moderate, with nightly assignments that are reinforced in class.

5. Note taking is developed as a skill, but extensive lecturing is accompanied by teacher generated notes.

6. Research projects are student selected. Library research time is teacher supervised and supported.

7. There are fewer long range assignments. Progress is monitored by devoting class time to work on the assignments. The range of assignments includes frequent alternatives to standard reading and writing.

8. Greater provision is made for activity based instruction such as trials and debates.

9. Preparation for tests is supported by review sheets and clear direction on test content. Some class time is used for review.

4-5 Grade 9: Ninth Grade History Lab
Grade 10: Trends in Twentieth Century US History

All comparisons refer to 1-3 courses.

1. The primary emphasis of these courses is on the development and reinforcement of basic skills in reading, writing, note taking, and organization. Content is substantial, but is used primarily as a vehicle to teach skills. Classes are kept small to permit individual instruction in skills.

2. Reading material is chosen to meet the needs of the population. Primary sources are edited, and may be read in class.

3. Writing assignments are short, and focus on paragraph development. Short essays are assigned, but students are given substantial guidelines and aid during the writing process.

4. The pace of the class is deliberate, and is designed to keep the students
progressing as skills develop.

5. Students learn to take notes from the board or to use specially designed note taking worksheets. Sometimes teacher generated notes are used.

6. Short research projects are undertaken. The topics are selected by the
teacher, and limited resources are provided on which the research is
based.

7. Short homework assignments are given daily. These are always the basis
of the next day's class, where the homework is reviewed.

8. Content is covered through reading, videos, brief lectures, and discussion.

9. Open note tests are often given. There is frequent review, particularly before
tests.

AMERICAN HISTORY

The largest subdivision of courses offered by the Department directly concerns the American experience. It should be understood that every effort is made to study the United States in a world-wide context, and that in courses in other subdivisions reference is frequently made to the American scene, both past and present.
Most of our students take some course in United States history as sophomores. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires every high school student take and pass one such course. We offer several which satisfy this legal requirement. The reason we offer such a diversity of courses in this area is to address the varying needs of students, and to provide differing perspectives on the development of the United States.
In 2000 - 2001 we stopped teaching earlier United State history because the Sudbury system was teaching that material in grade eight as required by the state framework, and we considered that there would be too much repetition if we continued to offer survey courses in grade ten. Lincoln is now also teaching earlier U.S. history in grade eight. So, with the exception of Great Trials and the advanced placement course, we not only cover the United States before 1865.

Sometime in the future, probably in 2008, sophomores will have to take and pass the MCAS text in United States history. At the time of publication the framework for this subject has been released, and in concert with our middle school colleagues, we have decided to continue to offer United States history to 1865 in grade eight and 1865 to the present in grade ten. (Great Trials and the advanced placement course are exceptions.) The results of trial tests in the years preceding 2008 will be closely examined, and changes to our curriculum may be required in order to ensure that students are able to pass this "high stakes" exam.
The courses currently offered by the Department in United States history are:

Modern America
Advanced Placement United States History
Twentieth Century American History
Trends in Twentieth Century American History
Post War America: The 50's and 60's*
Great Trials and Issues in United States History
Immigration/Ethnic American History*

*Does not satisfy U.S. History requirement.

While such a diversity of offerings might mean that after the ninth grade year a student might take only United States history courses, the course selection process, which is carefully monitored by the teachers, house staff, and parents, prevents such occurrences. Frequent studies by the Department show that students take a broad diversity of courses, and that no student becomes a United States history major in high school.
.
MODERN AMERICA 1865 TO 1985

104 Full year course: four credits

Revised 2003 by Deborah Grace, Caroline Han, Phillip James, Melisa Nasella, and Andrew Shen

FROM THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES:

After a review of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, this course begins with Reconstruction and then explores the economic, political, and social developments of the late nineteenth century that facilitated the country's rise to power in the twentieth century. Among these topics are: expansion, industrialization, urbanization, and immigration. In the twentieth century the course explores the Progressive Era, the "Great War," the affluence and anxieties of the 1920's, the Depression, World War II, post war growth and social change, Cold War America, the turbulence of the 1960's and the movements for social change, Vietnam, and the post-Watergate era.

Students are expected to use a textbook, to read from additional sources, and to be positive, active participants in the classroom. A variety of assignments will be given, with particular attention paid to essay writing. Emphasis will be placed on critical analysis and varying interpretations of the past. (1-4)

RATIONALE:

This course has three basic goals: to give students a basic knowledge of United States history and government, to make them critical evaluators of the past and present, and to encourage them to be active thoughtful citizens of an evolving democracy.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Note: This course has twelve units which are outlined below. It should be noted that while all of the following units will be covered by every section, content, methods, materials, and emphasis will vary based on student needs and the special interests of the teacher.

I. Declaration of Independence and Constitution

II. Reconstruction
A. Roots in the Civil War
B. Reconstruction politics and Government
C. Origins of Civil Rights
D. Reconstruction Abandoned

III. Late Nineteenth Century
A. Rise of Industrial America
B. Labor Unions / Industrial Conflict
C. Daily Life and Culture
D. Surge of Immigration
E. Imperialism
F. Rise and Fall of Populism

IV. Progressive Era
A. Origins of Progressivism
B. State Progressivism
C. African-Americans and Women Organize
D. National Progressivism
1. Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft
2. Woodrow Wilson

V. World War I
A. Causes of the War
B. American Involvement
C. Consequences for the U.S.

VI. The Twenties
A. The Business / Government Partnership
B. A New National Culture
C. A Society in Conflict
D. Demographic Changes

VII. Great Depression and the New Deal
A. Crash and Depression
1. Causes of the Depression
2. Hard Times
B. The New Deal Begins
C. The Second New Deal
D. The New Deal's Impact on Society

VIII. World War II and the Early Post War Period
A. The Road to War
B. Life on the Home Front
C. Fighting and Winning the War
D. Origins of the Cold War
E. Postwar Domestic Politics

IX. America at Mid-Century
A. The Mood of the 1950's
B. Eisenhower Republicanism
C. The Other America: Civil Rights, Minorities, and Poverty

X. The Sixties
A. New Frontier and the Great Society
B. The Other America continued
C. The Vietnam War and American Society

XI. The Country in Transition
A. Modern Feminism
B. The Nixon Years and Watergate
C. Post-Watergate Politics and Diplomacy
D. Limits on the American Dream

XII. The Reagan Revolution to the Millennium
A. The New Conservatism
B. The End of the Cold War and Beyond
C. Wealth, Technology and the Widening Economic Gap
D. The Clinton Era

METHODS:

A variety of teaching methods are used, including lecture, discussion, group work, role playing, simulations, technology, and student presentations. They are selected by the teacher to best match the needs of the students and the nature of the material being studied. Individual meetings with students are used for extra help, skills development, and enrichment.

EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

Students are expected to:

SKILLS TO BE DEVELOPED:

At the end of the course a student should:

TEXTBOOK:

Andrew Cayton, Elizabeth Israels Perry, and Allan M. Winkler - America: Pathways to the Present

SUPPLEMENTARY READING:

Many primary and secondary sources are used to enrich the reading in the course. These include selections from anthologies, magazines, and newspapers.

OTHER MATERIALS:

A variety of audiovisual materials are used in the course. These include slides, tapes, and videotapes. Field trips are sometimes taken to places such as New York City.
SAMPLE ASSIGNMENTS:

Assignments include the following:

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS:

Student evaluation is based on tests, essays, classroom participation, and homework.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY

105 Full year course: four credits

Revised 2003 Lisa Peck

FROM THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES:

Advanced Placement United States History is designed for students who want to study the entire chronological breadth of US History and who wish to prepare for the Advanced Placement Examination in United States History. The course will acquaint students with the writings of major American historians as well as important schools of American historiography.
Students will be required to do extensive reading. Important historical works as well as significant journal articles will supplement a college level American history textbook, Davidson's Nation of Nations. The textbook will be issued during the preceding June. Students will be required to independently master the first five chapters and write one essay during the summer break.
In preparation for the Advanced Placement Examination, students will also be expected to learn a great deal of factual material. Only students who are seriously considering taking the Advanced Placement Examination should take this course. (1-3)

RATIONALE:

Advanced Placement United States History is designed to prepare students for the three hour national Advanced Placement exam, given in May of each year. To meet the demands of the exam, the course provides a detailed survey of American history from the Colonial period through the 1980's. Students completing the course have a strong chronological overview of American history. The course also teaches students to analyze a wide range of primary documents. Information from the documents as well as a student's knowledge of the time period must then be synthesized into a coherent essay. Formal essay writing is a very strong component of the course. Beyond studying a wide range of primary and secondary sources, students spend significant time studying current events as a window into how history has influenced US culture, politics, diplomacy, and economics. After successful completion of the course, students are prepared to take the Advanced Placement exam in May and the SAT II.
COURSE OUTLINE:

Note: The following detailed outline was prepared by the College Board as a guide for Advanced Placement teachers. It is an accurate reflection of the material covered by the course.

I. Discovery and Settlement of the New World, 1492-1650
A. Europe in the sixteenth century
B. Spanish, English, and French exploration
C. First English settlements
1. Jamestown
2. Plymouth
D. Spanish and French settlements and long-term influence
E. American Indians

II. America and the British Empire, 1650-1754
A. Chesapeake country
B. Growth of New England
C. Restoration colonies
D. Mercantilism; the Dominion of New England
E. Origins of slavery

III. Colonial Society in the Mid-Eighteenth Century
A. Social Structure
1. Family
2. Farm and town life; the economy
B. Culture
1. Great Awakening
2. The American mind
3. "Folkways"
C. New immigrants

IV. Road to Revolution, 1754-1775
A. Anglo-French rivalries and Seven Years' War
B. Imperial reorganization of 1763
1. Stamp Act
2. Declaratory Act
3. Townshend Acts
4. Boston Tea Party
C. Philosophy of the American Revolution

V. The American Revolution, 1775-1783
A. Continental Congress
B. Declaration of Independence
C. The war
1. French alliance
2. War and society; Loyalists
3. War economy
D. Articles of Confederation
E. Peace of Paris
F. Creating state governments
1. Political organization
2. Social reform: women and slavery

VI. Constitution and New Republic, 1776-1800
A. Philadelphia Convention: drafting the Constitution
B. Federalists versus Anti-Federalists
C. Bill of Rights
D. Washington's presidency
1. Hamilton's financial program
2. Foreign and domestic difficulties
3. Beginnings of political parties
E. John Adams's presidency
1. Alien and Sedition Acts
2. XYZ Affair
3. Election of 1800

VII. The Age of Jefferson, 1800-1816
A. Jefferson's presidency
1. Louisiana Purchase
2. Burr conspiracy
3. The Supreme Court under John Marshall
4. Neutral rights, impressment, embargo
B. Madison
C. War of 1812
1. Causes
2. Invasion of Canada
3. Hartford Convention
4. Conduct of the war
5. Treaty of Ghent
6. New Orleans

VIII. Nationalism and Economic Expansion
A. James Monroe; Era of Good Feelings
B. Panic of 1819
C. Settlement of the West
D. Missouri Compromise
E. Foreign affairs: Canada, Florida, and the Monroe Doctrine
F. Election of 1824: end of Virginia dynasty
G. Economic revolution
1. Early railroads and canals
2. Expansion of business
a. Beginnings of factory system
b. Early labor movement; women
c. Social mobility; extremes of wealth
3. The cotton revolution in the South
4. Commercial agriculture

IX. Sectionalism
A. The South
1. Cotton Kingdom
2. Southern trade and industry
3. Southern society and culture
a. Gradations of White society
b. Nature of slavery: "peculiar institution"
c. The mind of the South
B. The North
1. Northeast industry
a. Labor
b. Immigration
c. Urban slums
2. Northwest agriculture
C. Westward expansion
1. Advance of agricultural frontier
2. Significance of the frontier
3. Life on the frontier; squatters
4. Removal of the American Indians

X. Age of Jackson, 1828 - 1848
A. Democracy and the "common man"
1. Expansion of suffrage
2. Rotation in office
B. Second party system
1. Democratic party
2. Whig party
C. Internal improvements and states' rights: The Maysville Road veto
D. The Nullification crisis
1. Tariff issue
2. The Union: Calhoun and Jackson
E. The bank war: Jackson and Biddle
F. Martin Van Buren
1. Independent treasury system
2. Panic of 1837

XI. Territorial Expansion and Sectional Crisis
A. Manifest Destiny and mission
B. Texas annexation, the Oregon boundary, and California
C. James K. Polk and the Mexican War; slavery and the Wilmot Proviso
D. Later expansionist efforts

XII. Creating an American Culture
A. Cultural nationalism
B. Educational reform and professionalism
C. Religion; revivalism
D. Utopian experiments: Mormons, and the Oneida Community
E. Transcendentalists
F. National literature, art, and architecture
G. Reform crusades
1. Feminism; roles of women in the nineteenth century
2. Abolitionism
3. Temperance
4. Criminals and the insane

XIII. The 1850s: Decade of Crisis
A. Compromise of 1850
B. Fugitive Slave Act and Uncle Tom's Cabin
C. Kansas-Nebraska Act and realignment of parties
1. Demise of the Whig Party
2. Emergence of the Republican Party
D. Dred Scott Decision and Lecompton crisis
E. Lincoln-Douglas debates, 1858
F. John Brown's raid
G. The election of 1860; Abraham Lincoln
H. The secession crisis

XIV. Civil War
A. The Union
1. Mobilization and finance
2. Civil liberties
3. Election of 1864
B. The South
1. Confederate constitution
2. Mobilization and finance
3. States' rights and the Confederacy
C. Foreign affairs and diplomacy
D. Military strategy, campaigns, and battles
E. The abolition of slavery
1. Confiscation Acts
2. Emancipation Proclamation
3. Freedmen's Bureau
4. Thirteenth Amendment
F. Effects of war on society
1. Inflation and public debt
2. Role of women
3. Devastation of the south
4. Changing labor patterns

XV. Reconstruction to 1877
A. Presidential plans: Lincoln and Johnson
B. Radical (congressional) plans
1. Civil rights and the Fourteenth Amendment
2. Military reconstruction
3. Impeachment of Johnson
4. African American suffrage: the Fifteenth Amendment
C. Southern state governments: problems, achievements, and weaknesses
D. Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction

XVI. New South and the Last West
A. Politics in the New South
1. The Redeemers
2. White and African Americans in the New South
3. Subordination of freed slaves: Jim Crow
B. Southern economy; colonial status of the South
1. Sharecropping
2. Industrial stirrings
C. Cattle kingdom
1. Open-range ranching
2. Day of the cowboy
D. Building the Western railroad
E. Subordination of the American Indians: dispersal of tribes
F. Farming the plains; problems in agriculture
G. Mining bonanza

XVII. Industrialization and Corporate Consolidation
A. Industrial growth: railroads, iron, coal, electricity, steel, oil, and banks
B. Laissez-faire conservatism
1. Gospel of Wealth
2. Myth of "self-made man"
3. Social Darwinism; survival of the fittest
4. Social critics and dissenters
C. Effects of technological development on the worker / workplace

D. Union movement
1. Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor
2. Haymarket, Homestead, and Pullman

XVIII. Urban Society
A. Lure of the city
B. Immigration
C. City problems
1. Slums
2. Machine politics
D. Awakening conscience; reforms
1. Social legislation
2. Settlement houses: Jane Addams and Lillian Wald
3. Structural reforms in government

XIX. Intellectual and Cultural Movements
A. Education
1. Colleges and universities
2. Scientific advances
B. Professionalism and the social sciences
C. Realism in literature and art
D. Mass culture
1. Use of leisure
2. Publishing and journalism

XX. National Politics, 1877-1896: The Gilded Age
A. A Conservative presidency
B. Issues
1. Tariff controversy
2. Railroad regulation
3. Trusts
C. Agrarian discontent
D. Crisis of 1890s
1. Populism
2. Silver question
3. Election of 1896: McKinley versus Bryan

XXI. Foreign Policy, 1865-1914
A. Seward and the purchase of Alaska
B. The New imperialism
1. Blaine and Latin America
2. International Darwinism: missionaries, politicians, and naval expansionists

3. Spanish-American War
a. Cuban independence
b. Debate on Philippines
C. The Far East: John Hay and the Open Door
D. Theodore Roosevelt
1. The Panama Canal
2. Roosevelt Corollary
3. Far East
E. Taft and dollar diplomacy
F. Wilson and moral diplomacy

XXII. Progressive Era
A. Origins of Progressivism
1. Progressive attitudes and motives
2. Muckrakers
3. Social Gospel
B. Municipal, state, and national reforms
1. Political: suffrage
2. Social and economic: regulation
C. Socialism: alternatives
D. Black America
1. Washington, DuBois, and Garvey
2. Urban migration
3. Civil rights organizations
E. Women's role: family, work, education, unionization, and suffrage
F. Roosevelt's Square Deal
1. Managing the trusts
2. Conservation
G. Taft
1. Pinchot-Ballinger controversy
2. Payne-Aldrich Tariff
H. Wilson's New Freedom
1. Tariffs
2. Banking reform
3. Anti-Trust Act of 1914

XXIII. The First World War
A. Problems of neutrality
1. Submarines
2. Economic ties
3. Psychological and ethnic ties
B. Preparedness and pacifism

C. Mobilization
1. Fighting the war
2. Financing the war
3. War boards
4. Propaganda, public opinion, and civil liberties
D. Wilson's Fourteen Points
1. Treaty of Versailles
2. Ratification fight
E. Postwar demobilization
1. Red scare
2. Labor strife

XXIV. New Era: The 1920s
A. Republican governments
1. Business creed
2. Harding scandals
B. Economic development
1. Prosperity and wealth
2. Farm and labor problems
C. New Culture
1. Consumerism: automobile, radio, and movies
2. Women and the family
3. Modern religion
4. Literature of alienation
5. Jazz age
6. Harlem Renaissance
D. Conflict of Cultures
1. Prohibition and bootlegging
2. Nativism
3. Ku Klux Klan
4. Religious fundamentalism versus modernists
E. Myth of isolation
1. Replacing the League of Nations
2. Business and diplomacy

XXV. Depression, 1929-l933
A. Wall Street crash
B. Depression economy
C. Moods of despair
1. Agrarian unrest
2. Bonus march
D. Hoover-Stimson diplomacy; Japan

XXVI. New Deal
A. Franklin D. Roosevelt
1. Background, ideas
2. Philosophy of New Deal
B. 100 Days; "alphabet agencies"
C. Second New Deal
D. Critics, left and right
E. Rise of CIO; labor strikes
F. Supreme Court fight
G. Recession of 1938
H. American people in the Depression
1. Social values, women, and ethnic groups
2. Indian Reorganization Act
3. Mexican-American deportation
4. The racial issue

XXVII. Diplomacy in the 1930s
A. Good Neighbor Policy: Montevideo, Buenos Aires
B. London Economic Conference
C. Disarmament
D. Isolationism: neutrality legislation
E. Aggressors: Japan, Italy, and Germany
F. Appeasement
G. Rearmament; Blitzkrieg; Lend-Lease
H. Atlantic Charter
I. Pearl Harbor

XXVIII. The Second World War
A. Organizing for war
1. Mobilizing production
2. Propaganda
3. Internment of Japanese-Americans
B. The war in Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean; D Day
C. The war in the Pacific: Hiroshima, Nagasaki
D. Diplomacy
1. War aims
2. War-time conferences: Teheran, Yalta, and Potsdam
E. Postwar atmosphere; the United Nations

XXIX. Truman and the Cold War
A. Postwar domestic adjustments
B. The Taft-Hartley Act
C. Civil Rights and the election of 1948

D. Containment in Europe and the Middle East
1. Truman Doctrine
2. Marshall Plan
3. Berlin Crisis
4. NATO
E. Revolution in China
F. Limited War: Korea, MacArthur

XXX. Eisenhower and Modern Republicanism
A. Domestic frustrations; McCarthyism
B. Civil rights movement
1. The Warren Court and Brown v. the Board of Education
2. Montgomery bus boycott
3. Greensboro sit-in
C. John Foster Dulles's foreign policy
1. Crisis in Southeast Asia
2. Massive retaliation
3. Nationalism in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America
4. Khrushchev and Berlin
D. American people: homogenized society
1. Prosperity: economic consolidation
2. Consumer culture
3. Consensus of values
E. Space race

XXI. Kennedy's New Frontier; Johnson's Great Society
A. New Domestic Programs
1. Tax cut
2. War on poverty
3. Affirmative action
B. Civil rights and civil liberties
1. African Americans: political, cultural, and economic roles
2. The leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. Resurgence of feminism
4. The New Left and the counterculture
5. Emergence of the Republican Party in the South
6. The Supreme Court and the Miranda decision
C. Foreign Policy
1. Bay of Pigs
2. Cuban missile crisis
3. Vietnam quagmire

XXII. Nixon
A. Election of 1968
B. Nixon-Kissinger foreign policy
1. Vietnam: escalation and pullout
2. China: restoring relations
3. Soviet Union: detente
C. New Federalism
D. Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade
E. Watergate crisis and resignation

XXIII. The United States since 1974
A. The New Right and the conservative social agenda
B. Ford and Rockefeller
C. Carter
1. Deregulation
2. Energy and inflation
3. Camp David accords
4. Iranian Hostage crisis
D. Reagan
1. Tax cuts and budget deficits
2. Defense buildup
3. New disarmament treaties
4. Foreign crises: the Persian Gulf and Central America
E. Society
1. Old and new urban problems
2. Asian and Hispanic immigrants
3. Resurgent fundamentalism
4. African Americans and local, state, and national politics

METHODS:

During the summer, students are expected to master material from 1600 to 1775 and complete a four to six page essay. Once the school year begins, most classes are student guided discussions with occasional lecturing. The focus of coverage is largely suggested by the broad themes and specific developments covered in the textbook, John Davidson's Nation of Nations. Students are given a range of study aids to help them recognize and organize the vast amount of information this course requires students to synthesize. Teachers generally respond to student requests for clarification and then the teacher guides discussion to bring out salient points raised in the readings. For most of the year, part of each long block is given over to student led discussion of current events. The mid year exam is a simulated Advanced Placement Exam. Once students take the College Board exam, the remainder of the year is devoted to a critical exploration of how "Hollywood does History" and to independent research projects.
Significant time is devoted to improving the students' writing. The 130 minute free response section of the exam requires students to answer a Document Based Question as well as two Standard Essay questions. In the Standard Essays, students may be required to relate developments in different areas, to analyze common themes in different time periods, or to compare individual or group experiences that reflect socioeconomic, ethnic, racial, or gender differences. Students are also expected to have a general understanding of key interpretations of major historical events. The Document Based Question requires students to analyze and synthesize historical data and assess verbal, quantitative, or visual materials as historical evidence. Both essays are judged on the basis of thesis and argument.
Many students enter the course with weak writing skills. To improve writing skills, all students write examination essays in class and a bimonthly essay at home. The later are usually Standard Essays or Document Based Questions from previous national exams. With permission of the student authors, exemplary student essays are also Xeroxed and shared as models. There is so much objective material to absorb and integrate into one's understanding of US History that students spend significant time defining key terms and creating a means of organizing this information so students are adept with thematic aspects of US History and can recognize change over time.
As enrichment, the class usually takes an overnight trip to Washington, DC. Highlights of the trip include visits to Congress, the Supreme Court Building, various Smithsonian Museums, the monuments, the Spy Museum, the Newseum, and the Holocaust Museum

EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

SKILLS TO BE DEVELOPED:

Writing

Reading

TEXTBOOKS:

John West Davidson's Nation of Nations

SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS:

Bernstein, Twentieth Century America
Binder, The Way We Lived, Volumes I and II
Blum, The National Experience
Cary, The Social Fabric, Volumes I and II
Fine and Brown, The American Past, Volumes I and II
Garraty, Historical Viewpoints, Volumes I and II
Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition
Maddox, American History, Annual Editions
Madras and Sokelle, Taking Sides, Volumes I and II
McClellan, Changing Interpretations of America's Past
Nash, The American People
Nash, Retracing the Past, Volumes I and II
Oates, Portrait of America, Volumes I and II
Roberts, American Experience, Volumes I and II
Youngs, American Realities, Volumes I and II

An extensive collection of Xeroxed readings are handed out with each essay assignment.
SAMPLE ASSIGNMENTS:

Standard Essay

"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States." Evaluate this accusation made against George III in the Declaration of Independence.

"American reform movements between 1820 and 1860 reflected both optimistic and pessimistic views of human nature and society." Assess the validity of this statement in reference to reform movements in THREE of the following areas: Education, Temperance, Women's Rights, Utopian Experiments, and Penal Institutions.

"I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races." How can this 1858 statement of Abraham Lincoln be reconciled with his 1862 Emancipation Proclamation?

"Although the economic growth of the United States between 1860 and l900 has been attributed to a governmental policy of laissez-faire, it was in fact encouraged and sustained by direct governmental intervention." Assess the validity of this statement.

"Reform movements of the twentieth century have shown continuity in their goals and strategies." Assess the validity of this statement for ONE of the following pairs of reform movements: Progressivism and the New Deal, Woman's suffrage and post-Second World War Feminism, The New Deal and the Great Society.

Document-Based Essay Question (DBQ)

Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that integrates your interpretation of Documents A-I and your knowledge of the period referred to in the question. High scores will be earned only by essays that both cite key pieces of evidence from the documents and draw on your knowledge of the period.

The 1920s were a period of tension between new and changing attitudes on the one hand and traditional values and nostalgia on the other. What led to the tension between old and new and in what ways was the tension manifested?

Document A

Just as he was an Elk, a Booster, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, just as the priests of the Presbyterian Church determined his every religious belief and the senators who controlled the Republican Party decided in little smoky rooms in Washington what he should think about disarmament, tariff, and Germany, so did the large national advertisers fix the surface of his life, fix what he believed to be his individuality. These standard advertised wares Ñ toothpastes, socks, tires, cameras, instantaneous hot-water heaters Ñ were his symbols and proofs of excellence; at first the signs, then the substitutes, for joy and passion and wisdom.

Source: Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, 1922

Document B

The Bridge by Joseph Stella, 1922
A reproduction of this painting of the Brooklyn Bridge was provided.

Document C

Mr. Darrow: Do you claim that everything in the Bible should be literally interpreted?

Mr. Bryan: I believe everything in the Bible should be accepted as it is given there; some of the Bible is given illustratively. For instance: "Ye are the salt of the earth." I would not insist that man was actually salt, or he had flesh of salt, but it is used in the sense of salt as saving God's people.

Mr. Darrow: But when you read that Jonah swallowed the whale Ñ or that the whale swallowed Jonah Ñ excuse me please Ñ how do you literally interpret that?

Mr. Bryan: One miracle is just as easy to believe as another ....

Mr. Darrow: Perfectly easy to believe that Jonah swallowed the whale?

Mr. Bryan: Your honor. I think I can shorten this testimony. The only purpose Mr. Darrow has is to slur at the Bible, but I will answer his question. I will answer it all at once, and I have no objection in the world, I want the world to know that this man, who does not believe in God, is trying to use a court in Tennessee Ñ

Mr. Darrow: I object to that.
Mr. Bryan: (Continuing) to slur at it, and while it will require time, I am willing to take it.
Mr. Darrow: I object to your statement. I am examining you on your fool ideas that no intelligent Christian on earth believes.

Source: The World's Most Famous Trial: Tennessee Evolution Case, 1925

Document D

We are a movement of the plain people, very weak in the matter of culture, intellectual support, and trained leadership. We are demanding, and we expect to win, a return of power into the hands of the everyday, not highly cultured, not overly intellectualized, but entirely unspoiled and not de-Americanized, average citizen of the old stock. Our members and leaders are all of this classÑ the opposition of the intellectuals and liberals who held the leadership, betrayed Americanism, and from whom we expect to wrest control, is almost automatic.
This is undoubtedly a weakness. It lays us open to the charge of being "hicks" and "rubes" all ''drivers of second-hand Fords." We admit it. Far worse, it makes it hard for us to state our case and advocate our crusade in the most effective way, for most of us lack skill in language.
The Klan, therefore, has now come to speak for the great mass of Americans of the old pioneer stock. We believe that it does fairly and faithfully represent them, and our proof lies in their support. To understand the Klan, then, it is necessary to understand the character and present mind of the mass of old-stock Americans. The mass, it must be remembered, as distinguished from the intellectually mongrelized "Liberals."
These are, in the first place, a blend of various peoples of the so-called Nordic race, the race which, with all its faults, has given the world almost the whole of modern civilization. The Klan does not try to represent any people but these.

Source: Hiram Wesley Evans, "The Klan's Fight for Americanism," North American Review, March 1926

Document E

Jazz to me is one of the inherent expressions of Negro life in America: the eternal tom-tom beating in the Negro soul Ñ the tom-tom of revolt against weariness in a white world, a world of subway trains, and work, work, work; the tom-tom of joy and laughter, and pain swallowed in a smile. Yet the Philadelphia clubwoman ... turns up her nose at jazz and all its manifestations Ñ likewise almost anything else distinctly racial.... She wants the artist to flatter her, to make the white world believe that all Negroes are as smug and as near white in soul as she wants to be. But, to my mind, it is the duty of the younger Negro artist ... to change through the force of his art that old whispering "I want to be white," hidden in the aspirations of his people, to "Why should I want to be white?" I am Negro Ñ and beautiful."
Source: Langston Hughes, "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," The Nation, 1926

Document F

When, because of what we believe him to be, we gave Lindbergh the greatest ovation in history, we convicted ourselves of having told a lie about ourselves. For we proved that the "things of good report'' are the same today as they were nineteen hundred years ago.
We shouted ourselves hoarse. Not because a man had flown across the Atlantic! Not even because he was all American! But because he was as clean in character as he was strong and fine in body; because he put "ethics" above any desire for wealth; because he was as modest as he was courageous; and because Ñ as we now know, beyond any shadow of doubt Ñ these are the things which we honor most in life.
To have shown us this truth about ourselves is the biggest thing that Lindbergh has done.

Source: Mary B. Mullett, "The Biggest Thing That Lindbergh Has Done," The American Magazine, October, 1927

Document G

Be it resolved, that the National W.C.T.U. [Women's Christian Temperance Union] encourages further scientific research into the effects of nicotine and urges all public and private school teachers and Sunday school workers, both by precept and example, to assist in an educational campaign to make these effects known with a view to instructing the youth as to the well-proven facts of science; and
Be it further resolved, that the national W.C.T.U. brands as untrue the charge made by the Association Opposed to National Prohibition that we are engaged in a secret campaign for an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting tobacco....

[Mrs. Ella A. Boole, President of the New York State organization says:]

"We are working on this question from a scientific standpoint and from an educational standpoint. After all, the duty of motherhood is still relegated to the women of the nation. Just as long as that is true we must protect the coming generation by teaching the present one the effects of the habit of smoking on the unborn...."

Source: "Women Smokers," The New York Times, February 29, 1928

Document H

Document H was a graph showing the numbers of marriages and divorces in the United States between 1890 and 1930.

Document I

. . . Sister substituted the Gospel of Love for the Gospel of Fear. This doctrine was as strange in Southern California as it is elsewhere in Christendom....
Sister substituted the cheerfulness of the play-room for the gloom of the morgue. She threw out the dirges and threats of Hell, replacing them with jazz hymns and promises of Glory. The gospel she created was and is an ideal bed-time story. It has a pretty color, a sweet taste, and is easy.
Mrs. McPherson describes the Holy City literally Ñ the jeweled walls, pearly gates, golden streets, milk and honey. She says she is not sure Ñ she is not sure, mind you Ñ but she has a pretty good idea that Heaven will resemble a cross between Pasadena, California, and Washington, D.C. That will give an idea of what may be expected at Angelus Temple. The atmosphere bubbles over with love, joy, enthusiasm; the Temple is full of flowers, music, golden trumpets, red robes, angels, incense, nonsense and sex appeal. The service may be described as supernatural whoopee.

Source: Morrow Mayo, "Aimee Rises from the Sea," The New Republic, December 25, 1929

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS:

This is based on:

107 Full year course: four credits

Revised 2003 by Phillip James, Melisa Nasella, and William Schechter

FROM THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES:

Twentieth Century American History is a detailed survey course which proceeds by decades, and examines the relationships of major events during each period of modern American history. While conventional political topics are discussed, social history, and important cultural events are also emphasized. Students are encouraged to consider different interpretations of the same event. Students will be required to do an extensive amount of reading from a college level text, Nash's The American People, and also from supplementary sources. Classes will mix lecture with discussion. There will be regular homework assignments, and at least one research paper. This course requires good organizational skills. (1-3)


RATIONALE:

This course seeks to give students an understanding of major developments in modern American history in a manner which allows them to develop conceptual and analytical skills, and an appreciation of the complexity of history. Apart from emphasizing writing skills, the course encourages students to see history as a clash of interpretations requiring analysis and an understanding of the interconnections between people and events. In this sense, the course is always informed by historiographical questions: What is history? What are facts? What is bias? What is truth? The material is made more complex in another manner, as political history is supplemented by social and cultural perspectives. Students study the commanding heights, but also the grass roots, the wealthy and powerful, but also the poor and dispossessed. They will see people like themselves as actors in our collective story. This is more a history course of the American people than of the American government. A fundamental goal of the course is to encourage students to understand the continuity of historical issues and the roots of current issues in the past. Hopefully students will leave the course with a love of the subject and also a conviction that while history is hard to know, it is essential to make the effort. "History is not the light and truth, but the search therefore...."

COURSE OUTLINE:

Note: The inclusion of specific units and topics are at the discretion of the instructor and are determined by the needs of the students and by time available. This is particularly the case in determining the course's ending point.

Each unit is preceded by a review of the period's basic chronology.

I. Declaration of Independence and the Constitution

II. Background
A. Historiography: Major Questions
B. Industrialization
C. How the U.S. Industrialized
D. Immigrants
E. Farmers
F. The Closing of the Frontier
G. The 1890's: Gay 90's or Great Depression?
H. The Status of Minorities
I. The "Crisis of the 90's"
J. The Spanish-American War: America Emerges as a World Power
K. The Debate over Imperialism

III. The Progressive Era
A. Meaning of Progressivism: What It Was and Wasn't
B. Robert LaFollette: Case Study in Local & State Progressivism
C. National Progressivism: Roosevelt through Wilson
D. Evaluating Progressivism: Traditional vs. Revisionist Interpretations
E. The Underside of the Progressive Era (Social Movements)
F. Impact on Social Groups

IV. World War I & 1919
A. Causes of the War: Immediate vs. Underlying Causes
B. The New Nature of Warfare: The Industrialized Battlefield
C. How the U.S. Got into the War:
1. Shifts in Public Opinion from the Election of 1916
2. Traditional and Revisionist Views of U.S. Entry
D. The U.S. Enters the War: Different Interpretations
E. The Homefront
F. Post-War Controversies
G. The Red Scare Year of 1919

V. The Twenties
A. The "Zeitgeist" or Theme of the Period: Cultural Change or Cultural Conflict?
B. An Economic and Social Overview
C. Politics of the Twenties
D. Arenas of Cultural Conflict:
1. Revolution in Manners and Morals
2. Prohibition
3. Nativism
4. Scopes Trial
5. Sacco and Vanzetti Trial
E. Key Personalities of the 20's
F. Developments in the African-American Community
G. The State of the Minorities

VI. The Thirties
A. Causes of the Great Depression
B. Hoover's Response
C. The Crisis of 1932: Hardship and Social Conflict
D. The Election of 1932
E. The First New Deal
F. The Election of 1936
G. The Second New Deal
H. Evaluating the New Deal: Effectiveness and Impact

VII. The Forties
A. Background to the War from the Late 20's On
B. Public Opinion in the U.S.
C. The U.S. Enters the War
D. Major War-Time Campaigns
E. The Homefront
F. War as Social Change: Impact on Various Groups
G. The War Ends, and the Roots of the Cold War

VIII. The Fifties
A. The New Post-War Landscape
B. "Cracks in the Picture Window"
1. Cold War: Foreign and Domestic
2. Teen Rebellion and the Emergence of Rock and Roll
C. A Legacy of Affluence and Apathy
D. Roots of the Modern Civil Rights Movement

IX. The Sixties
A. JFK and LBJ: The New Frontier and the Great Society
B. Civil Rights Movement
C. Vietnam War
D. Student Activism and other Social Movements
E. Crisis of 1968

X. Seventies and Eighties
A. Watergate and Post-Watergate Politics
B. Energy Crisis and American Self-Doubt
C. Growth of Conservatism and the Reagan Revolution
D. Iran-Contra and New Initiatives in American Foreign Policy
E. Social and Economic Changes

METHODS:

Classes are conducted in a modified lecture style, which mixes presentation, questioning, and discussion. Dialogue is encouraged between teacher and students, and opportunities for spontaneous discussions are welcomed. There are also specific class periods set aside for planned and organized discussion, and / or group work, simulations, and debates. Students are expected to take notes and participate in discussions


EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

Students are expected to:

Note: Course expectations and methods will be coordinated with the Individual Educational Plans of students who have them.

SKILLS TO BE DEVELOPED:

The following skills are emphasized:
To learn to...

Mechanical:

Social:

Cognitive:

TEXTBOOK:

Gary Nash, Julie Jeffrey, et. al., The American People: Creating a Nation and Society

SUPPLEMENTARY READING:

Supplementary readings include primary documents, articles by historians and journalists, and selected works of fiction.
OTHER MATERIALS:

SAMPLE ASSIGNMENTS:

Homework is based on the followings kinds of assignments:

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS:

This is based on:

TRENDS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICAN HISTORY

108 Full year course: four credits

Revised in 2002 by Deborah Grace

FROM THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES:

Trends in Twentieth Century American History is a full year course based on Twentieth Century American History (107), and appropriately scaled for students who need skills work. The course will emphasize both skills development and historical content. (4-5)

RATIONALE:

Trends in Twentieth Century American History is designed to help students examine critical events that shaped the world they live in. This year long course attempts to show students patterns in United States history and aids them in establishing links between the past and the present.
A major goal of the course is to excite students about history and to help them achieve success in an academic area where they have often experienced failure. This requires a careful selection of materials that will excite rather than frustrate them and the development of classroom activities that will keep them focused and interested. It is hoped that the students will develop an increased understanding of our political system while improving their writing skills and studying techniques.

COURSE OUTLINE:

I. Declaration of Independence and the Constitution

II. Reconstruction
A. Post-war Problems
B. Origins of Civil Rights
C. Reconstruction Abandoned

III. Late Nineteenth Century
A. Rise of Industrial America
B. Labor Unions/Industrial Conflict
C. Daily Life and Culture
D. Imperialism

IV. Progressive Era
A. Origins of Progressivism
B. African-Americans and Women Organize
C. National Progressivism
1. Theodore Roosevelt and Taft
2. Woodrow Wilson

V. World War I
A. Causes of the War
B. American Involvement
C. Consequences for the U.S.

VI. The Twenties
A. Social Changes
B. Intolerance
C. Black Migration

VII. Great Depression and the New Deal
A. Crash and Depression
1. Causes of the Depression
2. Hard Times
B. The New Deal
C. Evaluation of the New Deal

VIII. World War II and the Aftermath
A. The Road to War
B. Life on the Home Front
C. Dropping the Bomb
D. The Spoils of War: Economic, Political, and Social

IX. The Fifties
A. The Red Scare
B. The Mood of the 1950's
C. The Other America: Civil Rights and Poverty

X. The Sixties and Seventies
A. The Civil Rights Movement
B. The Vietnam War
C. Student Protest and the Counterculture
D. Watergate

METHODS:

To meet the needs of the students, the course employs a wide variety of teaching techniques. These include lecture and discussion, movies, games, simulations, map work, and an adventure series where the students choose their way through a specific event in American history.
Students are always given a term guide sheet to help them take notes during a lecture / discussion. When movies are used, the students are given a detailed question guide to accompany the movie. Documentary movies are stopped every ten minutes and the questions are answered and the material is discussed. Games and simulations are always debriefed as to their historical relevance.

EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

Students are expected to:

Note: Course expectations and methods will be coordinated with the Individual
Educational Plans of students who have them.

SKILLS TO BE DEVELOPED:

Students will develop the ability to

TEXTBOOKS:

Joy Hakim, A History of Us, Books 6-10
People's Publishing Group, For the People, By the People

SUPPLEMENTARY READING:

Although the majority of reading is taken from the two textbooks supplementary readings include excerpts from:

OTHER MATERIALS:

Games:

Movies:

SAMPLE ASSIGNMENTS:

Students are given a very detailed question packets that accompany each reading assignment. Some of the questions are factual while others expect them to draw conclusions from the reading. Those are always the most difficult, and are often discussed in class. All homework questions are graded and then put in the students' notebooks. On examinations, they may refer to the answers to their homework questions.
Most of the students are incapable of writing an essay if they are only given a question. They have serious organizational difficulties. Even the pre-writing step of an outline is not enough for some of them. To get them writing longer and more effective essays, they are given a detailed template, enabling them to write effective essays. Below is a sample of such a template:

The Jungle Essay:

The following excerpt was taken from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Sinclair was part of a group of novelists who Teddy Roosevelt had named the muckrakers. These writers devoted their writings to investigating and exposing political misrule and business corruption. Published in 1906, The Jungle was a savage attack on the labor and sanitary conditions in the Chicago Stockyards. The timing was right for the publication of such a book. Still fresh in the public's memory was the "embalmed beef" scandal of the Spanish American War. Sinclair himself had spent seven weeks living with the workers in "Packingtown" and all the information proved authentic. The book itself hit the public where they were most sensitive, in their stomachs. Within a year, Congress had passed both a Meat Inspection Act and a Pure Food and Drug Act.

Read the excerpts and then write the following essay.
DUE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 4TH
Double Space
Size 16 Font

Use this as your opening paragraph:
When Doubleday first published The Jungle, it created a sensation in both the United States and Europe. An advance copy had also been sent to President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was so impressed with the book that he wired Sinclair to visit him to discuss the matter.

Particularly upsetting was the quality of animals being slaughtered. (Finish paragraph)

Equally upsetting was the contents of the canned goods that the public was buying. (Finish this paragraph)

Despite these incriminating facts, it was the workers who suffered the most. (Write TWO paragraphs about the various problems suffered by the workers.)

Write a final paragraph explaining how you personally would have reacted if you had read this book in 1906.

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS:

Students are evaluated based on homework questions, essays, unit examinations, oral presentations, and class participation. Grades are always discussed with the students before being submitted.

POST WAR AMERICA

109 Full year course: four credits

Revised 2002 by William Schechter

FROM THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES:

Prerequisite: Modern America, 1865 - 1985; Advanced Placement US History or Twentieth Century American History

This course concerns the two decades immediately following WW II: the "Fabulous Fifties" and the "Turbulent Sixties." The curriculum involves facts, but also the exploration of themes, issues, and conflicts. A major focus of the course is to understand how the dramatic sixties emerged out of the quiet, complacent fifties. Topics include the 50's boom, the Cold War, the emerging beat counterculture, the history of rock and roll, the civil rights movement, the Kennedy presidency, the Vietnam war, the student and anti-war movements, and the counterculture of the 60's. Reading and writing requirements are demanding. The course is designed for students interested in social and political issues. (1-3)

Note: This course does not satisfy the United States history requirement.

RATIONALE:

This course gives students the opportunity to study a dramatic period of time in considerable depth. Students are interested in learning about the world of their parents, though it is often this material that many history courses are never quite able to reach. The goals of the course are two: to teach students the chronological structure and vocabulary that are prerequisite to understanding the periods; and to give students the opportunity to clarify their own moral, cultural, and political values by studying the tensions and dilemmas of the postwar world. Thus students learn about the McCarthy hearings, but they also consider the problem of balancing constitutional rights in a time of national insecurity. Students study the events of the civil rights movements, but they also reflect on the degree to which racism still persists and the controversial policy choices which may (or may not) solve the problem. Students study the Vietnam war, but also have an opportunity to consider the role of ethics on and off the battlefield.

COURSE OUTLINE:

I. The Fifties: Many Faces of a Decade
A. Conflicting Images of the 50's and How Americans Remember Them
B. The "Fabulous Fifties" and the Great Post-War Economic Boom
C. The New American Landscape: Values, Media, Culture, and Suburbs
D. The Age of Anxiety and the Silent Generation
1. Causes of Anxiety
2. The Cold War Abroad
3. The Cold War at Home
4. Focus: The Dilemmas of a HUAC Hearing
5. Focus: The Rosenberg Case
E. The Age of the Great Postponement
1. Social Critics and Their Criticisms
2. Holden Caulfield, a Rebel without a Cause?
3. Teens, JD's, and Rock 'n Roll
4. The Beat Culture: Prophets of a New Age?

II. The Civil Rights Movement
A. Historical Background beginning in 1870
B. The Inner Life of Jim Crow
1. Theories of Racism
2. Psychological Impact of Jim Crow
3. Is There Jim Crow at L-S?
4. Are You Still Prejudiced?
C. Main Events and Organizations
D. Differences within the Movement: Malcolm X
E. Focus: The Issue of Violence vs. Civil Disobedience
F. Victories of the Movement and Problems Remaining
G. Possible Solutions to Racism: Affirmative Action

III. The Kennedy Presidency
A. What is a Hero?
B. Personalities and Background to Election
C. The Inaugural Speech
D. The "Camelot" Mystique
E. Three Crises: Bay of Pigs, Berlin, and Cuban Missiles
F. The Domestic Agenda
G. Was Kennedy Changing?
H. The Assassination: Impact and Theories
I. Assessment: A Hero of Our Time?

IV. The Birth of the New Left
A. Various Causes of Radicalization
B. Berkeley Free Speech Movement: It All Comes Together
C. The Port Huron Statement: Manifesto of a New Generation

V. Vietnam
A. The Problem of Language and Media in Wartime
B. Historical Background
C. Stages of U.S. Involvement
D. A Different Kind of War and a New War Technology
E. The Debate at Home: "Hawks vs. Doves"
F. The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the War
G. Morals on the Battlefield: A Case Study Ñ My Lai
H. Enduring Legacies

VI. The Anti-War and Other Social Movements
A. Major Events and Impact
B. Differences within the Movement
C. The Ethics of Protest: Draft Resistance, Violence, Civil Disobedience, etc.
D. Focus: A Dow Demonstration
E. The Emergence of the Women's Movement
F. Legacies

VII. The Counterculture
A. Historical Background
B. The Counterculture through Its Own Words and Songs
C. The Variety of the Counterculture
D. How "Counter" Was the Counterculture?
E. Legacies
F. The Big Picture: "Making Sense of the Sixties"Ñ the Continuing Debate

METHODS:

This course utilizes three different pedagogical approaches: lecture, discussion, and simulations. Students are expected to take notes, and are tested on the historical material in each unit. Discussions focus on the issues underlying the historical material. These may involve conflicts over interpretation or varying ethical perspectives. Simulations attempt to recreate experiences of the 60's which provide useful contexts for clarifying moral and legal issues (and sometimes dilemmas). The simulations often take the form of trials and government hearings.

EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

Students are expected to

Note: Course expectations and methods will be coordinated with the Independent Educational Plans of students who have them.

SKILLS TO BE DEVELOPED:

Students should develop the ability to:

TEXTBOOK:

The Age of Great Dreams by David Farber

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS:

Students are given an extensive number of handouts: primary documents, poems, newspaper clippings, and an array of conflicting analyses. These are to be kept in a looseleaf notebook, which serves as an alternative textbook.

The following are read in whole or in part, though not every year:
J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Jack Kerouac, On The Road
Ann Moody, Coming of Age In Mississippi
Robert Kennedy, Thirteen Days
Mark Lane, Rush To Judgment
Mark Baker, Nam
Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
Indochina Curriculum Group, Frontlines

OTHER MATERIALS:

Songs are used throughout the course as social documents to be listened to, sung, and analyzed. The school also has an incomparable collection of video tapes about the sixties which, along with slides, serve as the visual archives. We have also been very fortunate to have a range of speakers willing to discuss their personal experiences with students.

SAMPLE ASSIGNMENTS:

Assignments include essays focused on moral, political, and legal issues; book discussions; reactions to discussions and videos; and research papers. Students might be asked to analyze the bias of an article or film, to state their position on civil disobedience before and after readings and simulations, in order to encourage reflections on their own changing perceptions and thoughts.

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS:

This is based on:

GREAT TRIALS AND ISSUES IN UNITED STATES HISTORY

110 Full year course: four credits

Revised 2003 by Lisa Peck

FROM THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES:

This course surveys the American historical experience by focusing on critical political and social issues as well as on some of the great trials that reflect US society in transition and at moments of crisis. Students will examine how much of United States history relates to the full realization of the ideas and principles of the critical founding documents of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Topics students will explore are the Salem Witch Trials, the Boston Massacre, Cherokee Removal, the reform movements of the 1830's, the centrality of race during the Civil War, the rise of industrialization and the Haymarket Trial, the Progressive Movement, US decision making on Japanese American Internment and the dropping of the atomic bombs, the Civil Rights movements, and the tragedy of Vietnam. Basic skills such as organization, research, note taking, writing essays, vocabulary development, and oral expression are emphasized. (3-5)

RATIONALE:

This course is designed for students who benefit from a more interactive, student and group-oriented approach. By building the curriculum around a selection of great trials and issues in American history, the course seeks to intrigue less successful students into involvement with history, while placing a strong emphasis on skills development, and introducing the rudiments of government and law.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Note: The following is a list of possible units, trials, and activities from which teachers choose when their planning their curriculum.

I. Colonial America and The Salem Witch Trials
A. Background of Colonization
B. Settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
C. Role of Religion in Early Settlement
D. Beginnings of Salem
E. Witchcraft
F. Events Leading up to the Trials
G. The Trials
H. Interpretations and Explanations

II. The American Revolution and the Boston Massacre Case
A. Events Leading to the Massacre
1. Massachusetts's Dissatisfaction with British Rule since 1763
2. Colonial Authority and Taxation
3. Unrest in Boston Prior to the Massacre
B. The Massacre and Resulting Trial
1. Different Perspectives on the Event
2. The Trial
C. Aftermath
1. The Effect of the Massacre
2. Events Leading to the Outbreak of War
3. The Declaration of Independence
4. The War for Independence

III. The Constitution
A. The Articles of Confederation and the Need for a New Constitution
B. The Constitutional Convention
C. Close Examination of the Constitution and Bill of Rights
D. "Living Constitution" Research Project

IV. Antebellum America
A. Cherokee Removal
B. Jacksonian America
C. Utopian Communities
D. Reformers' Convention Enactment

V. Slavery and Resistance to Slavery
A. Background of America in the 1850's
1. Slavery, Rebellions, and the Case of Dred Scott
2. The Abolition Movement
3. Sectional Tensions
B. John Brown
1. His Beliefs
2. Actions in Kansas
C. The Raid on Harper's Ferry
1. Preceding Events
2. The Plan
3. The Results

VI. Civil War and Reconstruction
A. The War
B. Abraham Lincoln and His Role in Winning the War
C. Glory as History and the Special Role of the 54th Massachusetts
D. Reality of Reconstruction
E. The Rise of Jim Crow and Plessy v. Ferguson

VII. Industrialization, Immigration, and the Haymarket Trial
A. Background of Nineteenth Century Immigration
B. The Rise of Industrial America
C. Study of Political Ideologies
1. Socialism
2. Communism
3. Anarchism
D. The Trial
E. Aftermath

VIII. The Progressive Era
A. Roots of Progressivism
B. Changing role of Government
C. Progressive Era Amendments
D. Role of Muckrakers
1. Ida B. Wells
2. Upton Sinclair
3. Margaret Sanger
E. Modern-day Muckraking Projects

IX. The Great Depression and the New Deal
A. Causes of the Depression
B. Hoover's Response to the Depression
C. Franklin D. Roosevelt
D. The New Deal
E. Economic and Social Life During the 1930's

X. World War II, Civil Liberties, and Japanese Internment
A. Introduction to WW II
B. Homefront Ñ Japanese American Internment
C. War Strategies Ñ Dropping the Atomic Bomb
XI. Civil Rights Movement
A. Overview
B. Comparison of leadership and movements
1. Martin Luther King
2. Malcolm X

XII. Vietnam
A. Overview
B. My Lai Massacre and Trial of Lieutenant William Calley

METHODS:

A variety of teaching styles are used to help students understand the peoples and issues of different historical periods and to help them prepare for their roles. Lecture and discussion are employed, but the most crucial techniques in a class of this nature are gr