AP U.S. History

Abstract:: This course is a survey of American History from the Age of Exploration and Discovery to the present. Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay writing, interpretation of original documents, and historiography. This history curriculum is assembled from UC college preparatory courses and students will demonstrate comprehension of a broad body of historical knowledge; express ideas clearly in writing; work with classmates to research an historical issue; interpret and apply data from original documents; identify underrepresented historical viewpoints; write to persuade with evidence; compare and contrast alternate interpretations of an historical figure, event, or trend; explain how an historical event connects to or causes a larger trend or theme; develop essay responses that include a clear, defensible thesis statement and supporting evidence; effectively argue a position on an historical issue; critique and respond to arguments made by others; raise and explore questions about policies, institutions, beliefs, and actions in an historical context; evaluate primary materials, such as historical documents, political cartoons, and first-person narratives; evaluate secondary materials, such as scholarly works or statistical analyses; and assess the historical significance and cultural impact of key literary works (e.g. Common Sense, Uncle Tom's Cabin).

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America on the Move

Abstract:: This activity guide accompanies the exhibition America on the Move. It delivers a variety of historical primary-source materials from the exhibition directly to your classroom. Through these documents and activities, students can build a deeper understanding of how transportation shaped American commerce, communities, landscapes, and population migrations.

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Abstract:: In this lesson students will study how social and economic changes in post–World War II America influenced arts and culture. Students will learn about the experience of African Americans in the postwar period, including the civil rights movement and desegregation, and the influence of these experiences on African-American culture. Students will study how competition with the Soviet Union during the Cold War contributed to the popularity of jazz around the world. They will learn about the musical characteristics of bebop, and be able to articulate the similarities and differences between earlier jazz styles (such as swing) and bebop. Students will identify important jazz innovators and soloists in the postwar period, and be able to identify characteristics of bebop, cool jazz, Latin jazz, and hard bop. Students will understand how different conceptions of artistry and the role of artists influenced the development, dissemination, and popularity of jazz in the 1940s and 1950s.

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Abstract:: This course is a survey of American History from the Age of Exploration and Discovery to the present. The material is designed to cover 2 semesters and content covers discovery and settlement of the New World, the formation of the nation, nationalism and expansion, Jeffersonian Republicanism, the Age of Jackson, the Civil War, Reconstruction, westward expansion, the Gilded Age, rise of unions, the Progressive Age, World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, and the Imperial Presidency.

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Abstract:: Voices of the Holocaust consists of oral history testimonies gathered from Jewish men and women who came to live in Britain during or after WWII. These testimonies are personal, individual, true stories, that describe the hardships of life during Hitler's reign.