AP European History
SYLLABUS
Goals
The study of European history since 1450 introduces students to cultural, economic, political, and social developments that played a fundamental role in shaping the world in which we live. Without this knowledge, we could lack the content for understanding the development of contemporary institutions, the role of continuity and change in present-day society and politics, and the evolution of current forms of artistic expression and intellectual discourse.
In addition to providing a basic narrative of events and movements, the goals of AP European History are to develop (a) an understanding of some of the principal themes in modern European history, (b) an ability to analyze historical evidence and historical interpretation, and (c) an ability to express historical understanding in writing.
Students
Admission to an Advanced Placement course should depend upon a student’s commitment to the subject as well as such formal credentials as high aptitude scores or outstanding grade records.
Many students lacking outstanding credential have successfully completed Advanced Placement courses and obtained college credit or Advanced Placement through the Advanced Placement Examination. The aim of an Advanced Placement course should be to provide the student with a learning experience equivalent to that obtained in most college introductory Western Civilization History courses.
All students should develop an impeccable work ethic and become responsible for his or her success in the course. Time should be set aside daily to review course information and prepare course material.
The Advanced Placement Course
Although there is little to be gained by rote memorization of names and dates in an encyclopedic manner, a student must be able to draw upon a reservoir of systematic factual knowledge in order to exercise analytic skills intelligently. Striking a balance between teaching factual knowledge and critical analysis is a demanding but crucial task in the design of a successful AP course in history.
Students will be assessed by a series of
· Document-Based Questions (DBQs)
A quarterly DBQ is required. (Student choice is from one of the quarter units.)
· Analytical Essays: One thematic essay is required per unit. It may be one of the essential content questions or based on other thematic content.
· Multiple Choice questions: Each unit will be assessed by 33 MC items, five choices each.
· Group Presentation Projects: All groups will be assessed according to the criteria rubric that is presented with the assigned projects. Projects include Art
Appreciation, Biographical Profiles, Cultural Literacy, Debate Issues and other areas of interest deemed by the instructor.
· Reading Assignments:
Reading assignments are assigned from primary and secondary sources, handout excerpts, and various reader text and internet sources.
· Each Student will turn in one Conceptual Assessment Portfolio per semester. The “Portfolio Packet” will be received at the beginning of each semester and due at its end. Only quality work will be accepted!
1st semester, The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason
2nd semester, Imperialism and World War I
· Note: Each assignment will be accompanied by an in-depth rubric that describes the detailed explanations of the assignment’s format and grading scale.
· Note: All projects, portfolios debate issues, etc., MUST be approved by the Instructor before any work is initiated.
Textbooks
One textbook is furnished to the students.
· Civilizations of the West (The Human Adventure) – Publisher Longman
(ISBN 0-673-99849-5)
Students can check out supplemental textbooks for additional home and classroom support including:
· Traditional Encounters – McGraw Hill
· Various AP Review Support Books by - Barber, Eder, Pearl, etc.
· Various Source Books of Original Documents
Course Units of Study include:
- The Transition from the Middle Ages to Renaissance
- The Renaissance
- The Reformation
- The Rise of Nation States and the Age of Exploration
- The Age of Absolute Monarchs
- The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Reason
- The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era
- The Agricultural and Industrial Revolution
- Democratic and Socialist Response
- Unification Movements and Multi-National Empires
- Imperialism and WW I and the Russian Revolution
- In Between the Wars / WWII
- The Cold War
- Contemporary Europe
Course Outline
Unit 1: Transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance (2 Weeks)
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 8, 9, 10
Supplemental Document Excerpts: The Rights of a French Town, Gregory VII on Papal Authority, Magna Carta, Pope Urban II - A Call to Crusaders,
A Muslim’s View of the Crusades
Themes:
· Disintegration and Invasion of the Roman Empire
· Feudal Society; the Aristocracy and Medieval Peasantry
· Urban Development and Town Life
· The Growth of the Monarchy
· The Holy Roman Empire and the Church
· The Crusades and the Diminishing Byzantine Empire
· The Iberian Peninsula and the Reconquista
· Russia and the Mongol Conquest
· The Medieval Church
· Scholarship - Law, Science, Medicine, Art, Architecture
· Famine and the Black Death
· The Hundred Years’ War
· The Demise of Church Prestige
Essential Content Questions:
· Analyze the effects of the Hundred Years’ War on early European nationalism and the rise of monarchs.
· Analyze the effects that the loss of Church prestige had toward creating a new sense of inquisitiveness in Europe.
· Examine how plagues, famine, war, and revolts favorably improved the condition of the peasants.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Migration and Transformation Project: Develop short presentation explaining one of the events below. All groups are to abide by the rubric criteria. (a) The Invasion of the Roman Empire (b) The Crusades (c) The Spanish Reconquista (d) The Mongol Conquest
DBQ Exercise:
Introduce DBQs / Documents
Introduce the DBQ Grading Rubric
Introduce Thematic Essays
Unit 2: The Renaissance
Readings:
Text, Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 11
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Petrarch - On Petrarch, - Castiglione - Aristocratic Women, Pizan - The Case for Educating Young Ladies, Machiavelli - Advice to a Renaissance Prince, Vasari - On the Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Themes:
· The Urban Setting of the Renaissance
· Secularism and Individualism
· The Advent of Humanism
· Women and the Renaissance Culture
· Machiavelli and the Culture of Power
· The Religious Based Northern Renaissance
· The Advent of the Printing Revolution
· The Fine Arts; Painting and Sculpture
· Architecture and Classical Influence
Essential Content Questions:
· Analyze the effects geography had on Italy as a major trade and banking center, and eventually the cultural center of Europe.
· Analyze and discuss the impact of the art of the Renaissance that typifies the values of leading thinkers of the time. Mention examples of art and artist of the time.
· Compare and contrast the Italian and Northern Renaissance.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Art Appreciation Project: Develop a PowerPoint Presentation on one of the categories below. All groups abide by the rubric criteria. (a) Paintings of the Italian Renaissance (b) Paintings of the Northern Renaissance (c) Sculptured Art
(d) Renaissance Architecture
DBQ Exercise: Document Interpretation
Developing a Thesis
Citing Documents in DBQ
Unit 3: The Reformation
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 12
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Erasmus-A Bible for the People, Luther- Justification by Faith, Luther-The Ninety -Five Thesis, Ignatius - On Obedience, Maleficarum - Women and Witchcraft
Themes:
· Institutional Decay and the Late Medieval Church
· Early Reformers and Lay Piety
· The Influence of the Humanist
· Luther and the German Reformation
· The Reform Movements and Spread of Calvinism
· The Radical Reformist
· The English Reformation
· The Catholic Response
· Reaction; Jews and Nonconformist
· The Thirty Years’ War
Essential Content Questions:
· Compare and contrast the views of the leaders of the Reformation toward secular and religious authority. Support your answer with specific examples.
· Analyze the influence of Calvinism as being radically different than the Roman Catholic Church or Lutheranism.
· To what extent did the Protestant Reformation change society, politics, and the economy of sixteen century Europe?
Major Assignments and Assessments: Biographical Presentation Project: Develop a biographical profile of one of the religious leaders from one of the categories below. Abide by the rubric criteria. (a) Early Reformers (b) Reformers of the Catholic Counter-Reformation (c) Leaders of the Thirty Years’ War.
DBQ Exercise: Reducing Documents to Excerpts
Utilizing the 15-Minute Reading Time
Unit 4: The Rise of Nation States and the Age of Exploration
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 13, 14
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Columbus - Description of the “well formed Indians,” Manucci - A Jesuit View of China, Mun - Trade as the Key to Wealth, Anonymous - The Sack of Antwerp (1576)
Themes:
· Europe on the Eve of Exploration
· The Search for New Trade Routes
· Europe in Africa and Asia
· The European Conquest of America
· Technological Advances
· The European Economy: The Commercial Revolution
· Philip II and Spanish Dominance
· The Slave Trade
· The Rise of the Dutch
· The Rise of France and England as Nation States
Essential Content Questions:
· Analyze Spain’s ascendancy as the most richest and powerful nation-state during the 16th century. Mention factors that contributed to its equally dramatic decline.
· Describe the process of exploration, discovery, and colonization during the 1400s and 1500s among the European Atlantic states.
· Analyze the motives for colonization of the Americas by the Spanish, English and French.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Exploration Project: Develop a short PowerPoint presentation on one of the categories below. Abide by the rubric criteria. (a) Technological Advances (b) Mercantilism and Triangular Trade (c) The Slave Trade
DBQ Exercise: Students chose from units periods listed below and write first quarter DBQ.
The Renaissance
Reformation
Age of Exploration
Unit 5: The Age of Absolutes and the Contrasting European Society
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 14, 15,
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Bossuet - On the Nature of Majesty, Pososhkov - Law and Justice under Peter the Great, Locke - The Right to Alter Government, Comenius - Who Should Be Educated?
Themes:
· France Under Louis XIV
· The Wars of Louis XIV
· Peter the Great and Westernization
· The Rise of Austria and Prussia
· England and the Triumph of Parliamentary Government
· European Social Society
· Family and Marriage and the Status of Women
· Literacy and Education
· Poverty, Crime, and Social Conditions
Essential Content Questions:
· Analyze the development of absolutism in France.
· Assess the rise of absolutism in England.
· Compare and contrast the development of absolutism in Russia and Prussia
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Cultural Literacy Project: Develop an informative presentation on one of the early modern European social topics listed below. Abide by rubric criteria. (a) Literacy and Education (b) Crime and Poverty (c) Food and Medical Care (d) popular pastimes and culture
DBQ Exercise:
Summary Readings
Analyze Documents
Avoiding “Laundry Listing” Documents
Unit 6: The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Reason
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 17, 18, 19
Supplemental Documents Excerpts: Bruno - On the Infinity of the Universe, Pascal - On Humankind’s Place in the Universe, Bacon - The Scientific Method, Hobbes - On the Institution of the Common Wealth, Rousseau - On the Social Contract, Frederick the Great - On the Enlightened Despot
Themes:
· From Ancient Science to the Copernican Universe
· On the Shoulders of Giants - The Newtonian Synthesis and the Scientific Method
· Inductive Bacon and Deductive Descartes - The Philosophies of Reasoning
· Other Scientific Advances
· The Contrasting States of Nature of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
· Deism - the Religion of Reason
· The French Philosophes - Voltaire and Rousseau
· The Enlightened Despots
· Enlightened Windfall - Jewish Emancipation, the Abolitionist Movement, and the Rights of Women
Essential Content Questions:
· Compare the relationship between the Newtonian Revolution and the Enlightenment.
· Compare and contrast the states of nature as perceived by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.
· Discuss how Deism is a logical “offshoot’ of the Enlightenment as opposed to an alternative to Protestantism or Catholicism.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
Group Debate Project: Prepare for a classroom debate. Students will draw to be on one side or the other debating the below issues. Abide by classroom debate rubric. (a) The Best of all Possible Worlds vs. Cultivate Ones Own Garden, Inductive Reasoning vs. Inductive Reasoning, Man is born Good vs. Man is Born Bad, vs. Man is born Good but is Corrupted by Society
Conceptual Assessment Portfolio Project: Can be substituted for the Debate
DBQ Exercises:
Summary Readings
Analyze Documents
Using Quotes in DBQs
Unit 7: The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era
Readings:
Text: Civilizations of the West, Chapter(s) 20
Supplemental Document Excerpts: Humbert - Eyewitness Account of the fall of the Bastille, Robespierre - On the Principles of Revolutionary Government, Gourges - Declaration of the Right of Women, Napoleon - On Napoleon,
Burke - Reflections on the Revolution in France
Themes:
· Crisis and the Old Regime in France
· The Revolution of 1789
· The Bourgeoisie in Power - Church and State Reorganization
· The Impact of the Revolution in Europe
· The Radical Revolution and the Reign of Terror
· The Thermidorian Reaction
· Women and the French Revolution
· The Napoleonic Era
· The Bourbon Restoration
· The Congress of Vienna
· The Age of Metternich
· Liberalism and the French Revolution of 1830
· The Liberalistic and Nationalistic Revolutions of 1848
Essential Content Questions
· Analyze how the Third Estate “became something.”
· Compare and contrast the stages of the French Revolution.
· “Napoleon’s successes in battle awakened the nationalistic forces that defeated him.” Assess the validity of this statement.
· Analyze and discuss the extent to which European rulers attempted to suppress nationalism and liberalism between 1815 and 1848.