Welcome to AP US history

If you are accessing this site, it is likely that you are an AP US history student or teacher. Welcome!

I retired in 2014 after teaching APUSH for 14 years. I have maintained this site for several years now, and I am happy to keep this site available for APUSH students and teachers. I myself will now be attending graduate school, but I hope to continue to help those of you taking on the challenge of mastering this curriculum.

Here’s how to best utilize this site now that I am no longer actively teaching….

1. How to find posts on documents mentioned or on questions you may have:
If you look to the right, you will see several blocks to aid navigation of this site. Probably the one that allows you to control your access to what you need is the one entitled “Categories.” At PHS, we used The American Pageant, 14th edition, as our textbook. But you can still use this site even if you use a different text. Each post– and there are about 1,000 posts on this site– has several tags or categories assigned to it. For instance, if you want information about Christopher Columbus, you could look under “Exploration,” or “Native Americans,” as well as “Chapter 1.” You can also use the “Search this Blog” feature at the top right of the main page. Remember to use good searching skills.

2. How can I find some terms that might show up on tests, and/or build up a glossary of specific terms?
If you look along the top of the main page, you will see a list of terms for each chapter in the American Pageant, divided by “Semester 1” and “Semester 2.” These were terms I used before the American Pageant started boldfacing some important terms. Even after they started that, I noticed that sometimes they omitted some terms I thought useful. So there are two pages with these kinds of terms on them.

3. I was absent during a class. How can I get a audio or visual update?
If you look at the category entitled “Audiovisual and video,” it often has videos like “Crash Course” and other resources that you can use for both reinforcement or to recover if you missed class, or for review before tests. They are also cross-posted under the applicable categories.

4. I need help with study skills. Help!
—My handy-dandy tips of how to study and how to prepare for and take multiple choise tests can be found here: Part A: Preparing; Part B: Test-Taking Strategies; Part C: Tricks of the Test-Writing Demons. You can also download the whole thing, and you are welcome to use it as a teacher, but please attribute your source if you do.
—There are also several categories to help: “AP Review,” “MC practice,” “Study Skills,” and “Test Preparation,” among others.
—There are also several links to other resources under the “Blogroll” block on the right below the Categories block.

5. I just don’t understand something. Help!
—Once again, try the categories or the search bar at the top right.
—Then try the “Links for more information page” which is located via a tab at the top of the main page. There are links for nearly every chapter in the American Pageant, although you can certainly still use these with any book.
—Then, you can try the Blogroll to the right under the “Categories” block.
—If your textbook has a website, use it!
—The College Board has all kinds of helpful info on their site. Go there!
—Form a study group with your friends! Create a Quizlet site, or something similar.
—Ask your teacher for help! Arrange a time to get help AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
—If all else fails, get some test prep materials like “5 Steps to a 5,” etc.

—Seriously– READ the textbook with an open notebook next to you to write down questions you have, make sure you are concentrating on what you are doing and not distracting yourself. Make sure you write down questions, and then ASK about them in class or in study group! Use your computer to look up information rather than just give up if you can’t find it in the book or in your notes. Don’t put mental blockers into your head like “I’m not good at tests,” or “I don’t like reading.” You can change both of those things!

Have a great year!

Welcome to APUSH, 2013-2014

The school year is almost here! I hope you are as eager to get started as I am!

First, some housekeeping.

1. Do not worry about bringing your book to class unless I specifically tell you to, or unless you have a specific question. I would suggest that you bring them with you on days in which we have tests, so that you can start on the reading the text and doing the assignment for the next chapter as soon as you finish your test.

2. DO bring a notebook of some sort in which you will keep your class notes. This needs to be a spiral or neatbook, or a section in a binder. Keep those notes in order (I suggest you date and title them each day). IF YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE NOTES ON THE COMPUTER, BE AWARE THAT THIS PRIVILEGE WILL BE RESCINDED IF YOU ARE SURFING THE WEB OR DOING OTHER ACTIVITIES WHILE CLASS DISCUSSION IS GOING ON– NO WARNINGS.

3. You need a separate section for your assignments– this can be another spiral or neatbook, or a separate section of a binder.

4. Plagiarism, sharing assignments, etc. will harm your ability to learn the material and will not be tolerated. If your work is copied by or is the copy of someone else’s or taken from a different source, you will receive a zero.

5. All homework assignments must be hand written in either blue or black or ink or in pencil.

6. You will be allowed to turn in only TWO assignments late each semester. Late work must be complete. Other late assignments will earn 1 point. You may not do extra credit unless all regular work is turned in.

7. Please come to class prepared. As you are doing your reading, if you have questions, write them down (with page number) and ask them in class.

8. When the bell rings to start class, it is expected that you have read the agenda on the board and have your materials out to begin to ask questions, discuss, and take notes.

9. Please have your computer charged before class. If your battery dies, switch to paper and pencil, and have that available.

10. All cell phones will be silenced and put away during class.

Look forward to seeing you on Monday! If you have any questions about the summer assignment, please talk to me about it in class on Monday.

AP Summer assignment- Extra Credit but NECESSARY

Welcome to Advanced Placement United States History! In order to help us get the most out of this class and to provide a cushion for your grade as you transition from covering ONE semester of college level material (as you covered if you took AP European history or regular World History), to covering TWO semesters worth of material, I have created this summer assignment for some sizeable EXTRA CREDIT.

I’ll say it again, this is EXTRA CREDIT, but NECESSARY, and will raise your semester 1 grade approximately 3 percentage points. This is a LOT of extra credit. You seriously want to do it.

The purposes are many: First, it will make you familiar with the textbook. Second, it will allow you to raise your grade. Third, it will make you ready for the first test of the year over chapters 1-4 in the second week of school. Fourth, we will be glad to have covered this material quickly after our sixth snow day hits next year. This assignment helps us to avoid that problem. Fifth, did I mention it will raise your grade????? I thought so.

In 2011, the Document Based Essay on the AP US history exam was about Richard Nixon, whose presidency was from 1968-1974. MANY AP teachers and students were upset because they did not manage to cover this material in class. We here at PHS did not have that concern, even with the snow days and the tornado, thanks to this assignment and diligent work on everyone’s part.

Now, I am not just tossing you out there to learn this material on your own. First of all, I have a classroom blog, and it is obvious that you were wise and bookmarked it since you are reading this here. Good job! Visit it this site OFTEN! You can use the comments section to study together or ask questions. This blog has categories for each chapter as well as for subtopics and links to review websites. It is designed to help your comprehension and expand my ability to help you on your way to a solid classroom experience and a 5 on the AP exam.

If you look to the right, you will see a box below the quote of the week that lists the last five posts. Below that you will see another box entitled “categories.” You want to use the categories “Beginning of Year” and for Chapters 1-4 right now. I will post things here over the summer to help you get this assignment done.

So this extra credit assignment is due on the third day of school next fall. It needs to be handwritten neatly and legibly, and make sure you do your own work. You are welcome to work together on this assignment, but you cannot copy from your friends. This assignment will not help you if you yourself do not do it.

So please make sure you checked out a book from me before you leave for the summer.

I look forward to seeing you next year!

Leslie Scoopmire, AP US history teacher

 

 

Define the terms, explain the significance of the terms, and answer the questions FULLY. This is extra credit, but is necessary.

Here is an example of how to define a term:

Iroquois Confederacy- AKA the Six Nations, a league of related Native tribes (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca originally, with the Tuscarora moving into the area from the Carolinas and joining the Confederacy in the 1700s) united by Algonquian language and longhouse religion. They suffered under the competition between their English trading partners and the French and their Indian allies, although officially they attempted to maintain neutrality. At their greatest point they occupied land from Kentucky to Michigan but were most concentrated in upper New York state.

Chapter Study Guides—Semester 1—Scoopmire

Chapter 1 New World Beginnings, 33,000 BC- AD 1769

Identify the historical significance of the following:

Mississippian culture____Anasazi____ Cahokia

Iroquois____L’Anse aux Meadows____Vinland

Ferdinand/Isabella____Christopher Columbus____“sugar revolution”

Taino ____ Treaty of Tordesillas____Tenochtitlan

encomienda____Giovanni Caboto____St. Augustine (FL)

Juan de Onate____Battle of Acoma____Pope’s Rebellion

conquistadores____mestizos____“three sister” agriculture

Juan Ponce de Leon____Moctezuma____Junipero Serra

Ferdinand Magellan____Hernan Cortes____mission Indians

Francisco Coronado____tidewater region____Franciscans

Hernando de Soto____Malinche____“Black Legend”

Vasco Nunez de Balboa____Quetzalcoatl____Hispaniola

Bartolome de Las Casas____maize____Robert La Salle

Mound Builders____Battle of Acoma____Alamo

Pueblo culture____Mound Builders____Norse

crusaders

Be able to explain the following fully:

— What kind of environmental impact did Native Americans have?  Why do you think this impact was significantly different from that of the Europeans?

— What was the impetus for European exploration in the 15^th and 16^th centuries?

— Describe the impact of interaction between Europe and the Americas, including the global effects of the Columbian exchange of plants, and of the introduction of European illnesses into the Americas.

— Describe the system of encomienda.  What was the ethical rationale for this system? What were the practical effects of this system?

Chapter 2 The Planting of English America, 1500-1733

Identify the historical significance of the following:

Sir Walter Raleigh____Roanoke Island____Virginia

“surplus population”____charter____Powhatan

“starving time”____“Irish tactics”____1^st Anglo-Powhatan War

2^nd Anglo-Powhatan War____“three Ds”____Powhatan’s Confederacy

Piedmont____Algonquians____“seminary of sedition”

Barbados Slave Code____Restoration period____Deganawidah

Tuscaroras____Iroquois Confederacy____“soil butchery”

John Smith____John Rolfe____indentured servant

Lord Baltimore____Charles II ____Hiawatha

Lords Proprietors____Savannah Indians____Lord de la Warr

Tuscaroras____Yamasees____James Oglethorpe

Handsome Lake ____John Wesley____House of Burgesses

primogeniture____joint-stock company____Act of Toleration

Virginia Company ____Iroquois Confederacy____proprietorship

Be able to explain the following fully:

–Trace the establishment of the five southeastern English colonies of Virginia, Maryland, Carolinas, and Georgia, outlining their similarities and differences.

— How did the Indians respond to English settlement? What factors prevented them from resisting effectively? What attempts were made by the Indians to overcome this?

— How did English land laws influence the English settlement of North America?

— Outline the beginning of the plantation system and its importation to America.  How did colonists deal with the need for labor before slavery became widespread?

— Go to http://www.virginiaplaces.org/regions/fallshape.html on the internet. What is the Fall Line? How did it influence Native American and English settlement?

Chapter 3 Settling the Northern Colonies, 1619-1700

Identify the historical significance of the following:

Anne Hutchinson____William Penn____Sir Edmund Andros

Roger Williams____John Winthrop____“the elect”

William Bradford____John Cotton____predestination

covenant____Separatists____Bible Commonwealth

Mayflower Compact____Puritans____Dominion of New England

Navigation Laws____freemen____antinomianism

Pilgrims____New England Confederation

Fundamental Orders____Quakers____King Philip’s War

“salutary neglect”____Middle Colonies____“bread colonies”

Eurocentrism____the Chesapeake____“Blue Laws”

“Protestant work ethic”____Metacom____“royal colony”

Be able to explain the following fully:

— Describe the three separate regions of English colonies.  How did each region differ from the others, and why?

— Describe the Puritan/Separatist drive to establish colonies.  How did religious beliefs inform their actions?

–Respond to the following: “Early America was a haven for religious dissidents.”

–Explain the relationship between the mother country and the English colonies, including an explanation of the era of “neglect” and its aftermath. Contrast the New England Confederation with the Dominion of New England.

— Describe the interaction between the English and the Native Americans. How were the Puritans and Quakers different in their relations with natives?  Compare English actions with those of the Spanish.

Chapter 4 American Life in the Seventeenth Century, 1607-1692

Identify the historical significance of the following:

William Berkeley____Nathaniel Bacon____headright system

middle passage____Bacon’s Rebellion____“freedom dues”

Royal African Company____Gullah____midwifery

Salem Witch Trials____Halfway Covenant____gentry

the Chesapeake____ “white slaves”____“freedom dues”

House of Burgesses____“Yankee ingenuity”

Be able to explain the following fully:

— Describe the abuses of the indentured servant system.  How did the conditions freedmen faced become potentially explosive?  How did the headright system exacerbate the frustrations of the freedmen? Why do you think “No slave uprising in American history matched the scale of Bacon’s Rebellion?”

— List the pros and cons of being a woman in the Chesapeake during the 17th century.  Why would so few women live to be forty years old?  What were the challenges faced by early American families? Explain the statement that “New England invented grandparents.”

— List the factors that made importing African slaves more appealing after 1680. Why did so many slaves have to be imported during the years before 1720?  What caused the decline of importation?  Describe how cultural interaction influenced both the colonists and the slaves.

— Why did the Puritans face a crisis of faith in the mid-17^th century?  How did they attempt to deal with this? Evaluate the efficacy of this transition.

The College Board’s APUSH topic outline

You can click on the hyperlinks to see more details… http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/history_us/topic.html

Historians on themes of US history from 1865- present

From the University of Minnesota. A nice way to wrap your mind around themes in US history after the Civil War.

European Exploration maps: video

Overview of explorers and early exploration.

Online review tools

Practice Quizzes!: http://www.advancedplacementhistory.com/US%20quizzes.html

Practice on Andrew Jackson, which seems a particular weak spot: http://quizlet.com/272518/andrew-jackson-ap-us-history-review-by-president-flash-cards/

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Matching game: click on a term in the right hand column and then click on its matching definition in the right column. Includes a timer if you want to add that extra little bit of stress– I mean, fun– to your studying: http://www.studystack.com/matching-82856

Flashcard game: http://www.studystack.com/flashcard-82856

Study table: either blacks out the terms or the definitions: http://www.studystack.com/studytable-82856

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The ULTIMATE STUDY GUIDE!: http://www.scribd.com/doc/89392/AP-US-HISTORY-Ultimate-Study-Guide

Powerpoints for review: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/bihlerja-240336-ap-us-history-unit-1-review-game-09-10-education-ppt-powerpoint/

Flashcards from Quizlet, including audio: http://quizlet.com/593689/ap-us-history-review-for-fall-final-exam-flash-cards/

More flashcards but you have to create an account: http://www.funnelbrain.com/category.php?sid=25

Welcome to my blog

This is Mrs. Scoop’s blog for the AP US history kids at PHS. Although it is designed for my students’ needs, anyone is welcome to use it. If you look to the right, you will see a list of category tags. There is a category for each chapter in our textbook, The American Pageant. In addition, there are subject categories, such as “Native Americans” or “assignments” Most posts are located in at least two categories, like “Chapter 1” and “Native Americans” or “Colonization.”

Under each chapter category, I have provided primary source documents that will help expand your understanding of the chapter, as well as other materials such as practice test items, historical essays or explanations. I strongly urge you to use this information to aid your comprehension and to prepare yourself for not only my tests and quizzes but for the AP exam as well.You are welcome to leave comments– I would suggest you use a pseudonym rather than your real name for security purposes. The comments need to be appropriate– that’s directed more at outside visitors than my students. If you have a question, post it in the comments and someone will probably answer it.

Welcome! Let’s take off!

Photo by Randy Pollock of a shuttle launch at dawn, 2007

Columbus and the “New World”

This is a pretty informative slide presentation on Columbus.

You can also access this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT5cIeHPR-c