MR. DECKER / RED HOOK HIGH SCHOOL

Course Syllabus and Writing Assignments

     Red Hook High School 
              AP European History


Room #258
Mr. Decker

Descriptive Overview

This AP course is an introductory college course; It is not easy, but neither is it impossibly difficult. Compared with Level 2 high school courses, AP European History will be more demanding, but also more rewarding. AP courses require more work, but they allow greater opportunity to master the subject and to explore it in greater depth. Graduating seniors with an AP score of 3 or higher will have an opportunity to receive college credit. The course is a logical culmination for those gifted and hard working students seeking preparation for those colleges and universities cited as more competitive. The course follows a basically chronological approach emphasizing the relevance of history to today’s world, with an added emphasis on developing study habits. All historical issues are examined by a multi-causal approach revolving around the following three broad themes :  (1) Social / Economic  (2) Political / Diplomatic
and (3) Cultural / Intellectual. The course also refocuses on the changing views of humans, God, science, and politics from the Renaissance to the present.

Assessments 

The course grades will be derived from two sources :
 
       (1)  AP - Style exams, administered monthly

       (2)  Multiple  300 word write-ups of the Italicized Questions 
             contained in each unit’s outline. These written responses will
             be handed in the day of the unit exam they apply to. If the 
             written responses are not complete and brought to the exam
             then the student will not be able to take the exam or receive 
             the necessary credit to pass the course.

   
    **** .   ALL REQUIRED WRITING RESPONSES ARE IN YELLOW

Topic / Unit Outlines

   
UNIT  ONE The Breakdown of Feudal Society
                                                                                            &
                                                           The Rise of Humanism and the Renaissance 

    Required Reading :     A History of Western Society , McKay, et al  
                                           10th Edition :  pages 338-405  (CHAPTERS 12 and 13)
                                           11th Edition :  pages 322-389  (CHAPTERS 11 and 12)
                                        Petrarch, “The Father of Humanism”
                                        Leonardo Bruni, “The Study of Greek
                                            Literature and a Humanist Education”
                                        Pico della Mirandola, “Oration on the Dignity
                                            of Man”
                                        Niccolo Machiavelli, “The Prince”


              I.  Why were the Medieval Years relatively stable, and which factors lead to the breakdown of Medieval Society?

                     A) What were the social, political, and economic effects of the Black Death (1347-1500)?
                     B) The emergence of the Italian City States
                     C) The “New Monarchies” in Northern Europe : How do
                          we measure power in the 1500s ?
                              1. Tudors in England
                              2. Valois family in France
                              3. Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain
                              4. The Holy Roman Empire
                     D) Renaissance Humanism : To what extent was 
                         Humanism a strength and threat to the Catholic 
                         Church ?

                               1. Compare and contrast Italian and Northern 
                                   Humanism
                               2. Humanism and Renaissance Art
                      E) Italy’s “Time of Troubles”
                               1. Realpolitik in European diplomacy
                               2. Analysis & Significance of Machiavelli’s, The 
                                   Prince   
                        F) The Renaissance Papacy
                               1. A series of crises:
                                      a) Babylonian Captivity
                                      b) Great Schism
                                      c) Conciliar Movement
                                2. The Pope as Renaissance Despot
                                3. The Pope as Humanist
                                4. Papal Abuse :  The Borgias

                         G) What were the causes of the Renaissance and what about this period was so new and innovative ?
====================================================


           ​UNIT TWO   Reformation and Religious Wars

           Required Reading :      10th Edition  McKay, pages 406-438 (CHAPTER 14)
                                                   11th Edition  McKay, pages 390-423 (CHAPTER 13)
​
                                                Martin Luther, “On Papal Power, 
                                                Justification by Faith, The Interpretation
                                                of the Bible, and The Nature of the 
                                                Clergy”

                            Film:  Age of Empires Series (PBS)
                                      “Martin Luther: Reluctant Revolutionary”


                       The Protestant Reformation: progressive and modern ?   


                          A) Martin Luther:  Conservative or Radical?
                                 1. Why was Luther successful?
                                 2. Luther’s Belief System: political, economic and 
                                     social
                          B) The varieties of Protestantism and their impact on 
                              European society
                                 1. Anglicanism
                                 2. Calvinism
                                 3. Anabaptists

                           C) How significant was the Protestant Reformation in 
                               the development of capitalism and democracy in
                               Western Europe?   

                          
                          D) Reformation, impact on:
                                 1. Intellectual freedom
                                 2. Catholicism
                                 3. Literacy
                                 4. Colonization
                                 5. Nationalism
                                 6. Women
                          E) The Catholic Counter Reformation

                          F) What were the major factors accounting for the
                              subordination of women in western culture?

                                 1. Biological and Anthropological factors
                                 2. Greek and Roman tradition
                                 3. Hebraic tradition
                                 4. Celtic / German tradition
                                 5. Christian Tradition
                                 6. Legacy of Renaissance and Reformation
                                 7. “Querelles des Femmes” 
                                         (‘The Debate over Women’)


===================================================

             UNIT THREE   Exploration and Conquest

            Required reading:    McKay / 10th Edition : 442-475
                                               McKay / 11th Edition : pages 426-461
                    
                                Film:   National Geographic, Jared Diamond 
                                              “Guns, Germs and Steel”

                              
                       The Rise and Fall of Nations :  The 1500s

 
                          Are there recurring patterns in the rise and decline
                          in world powers?


                          
                        How does art reflect the political, social, and cultural
                        characteristics of a people and nation?


                        Universalism vs. Raison D’etat:
​                                Is there room for 
                        principles in foreign affairs?


                        How do you account for the decline and collapse of 
                        the Spanish economy while the Dutch and English
                        economies prospered?


           A) The Rise and Decline of the Spanish dynastic state
                     1. Domestic strengths and weaknesses
                     2. Philip II’s foreign policy
                     3. The Price Revolution
           B) The Dutch Republic
           C) Dutch contributions to European art
           D) Elizabeth I of England Order - Harmony -Nationalism
           E) The Religious Wars in France
           F) The Thirty Years War and the Treaty of Westphalia


==============================================

         UNIT FOUR Absolutism and Constitutionalism

     Required Reading:    10th Edition McKay, pages 478--517
                                          11th Edition McKay, pages 462-501

                                  Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan chp. 1
                                  Bishop Bossuet, “Politics Drawn From
                                          The Very Words of Holy Scripture”
                                  The ENGLISH DECLARATION of RIGHTS   

        Royal Absolutism


            How can we assess the reasons for the failure of royal 
            absolutism in England and its success in France?   
                   
   
           Was royal absolutism the best form of government
           for the 17th century?


            Discuss and Analyze the development of 17th century governments in
            Russia, Austria, and the Netherlands.
​

     A)  Parliament vs. the Crown in England
            1. Stuart England
            2. Civil War and Commonwealth
            3. Restoration and Glorious Revolution
            4. Anatomy of Revolution : Craine Brinton’s Theory of Rev.
     B)  French Absolutism Triumphs
            1. Raison d’état of Cardinal Richelieu
            2. Mercantilism of Jean-Baptiste Colbert
            3. The Absolutism of Louis XIV
            4. The Wars of Louis XIV


==============================================

  UNIT FIVE  A New World View
     
     Required Reading :   Edition 10 McKay, pages 518-550
                                         Edition 11  McKay, pages 502-537
 
                                      Nicolaus Copernicus, “On the 
                                         Revolutions of the Heavenly 
                                         Spheres”
                                      Cardinal Bellarmine, “Attack on the
                                         Copernican Theory”
                                      Galileo Galilei, “Letter to the Grand
                                         Duchess Christina” and “Dialogue
                                         Concerning the Two Chief Systems -
                                         Ptolemaic and Copernican”
                                      Francis Bacon, “ Attack on Authority 
                                         and Advocacy of Experimental 
                                         Science”
                                      Rene’ Descartes, “Discourse on 
                                          Method”


  Describe the intellectual and social changes that occurred as a result of the Scientific Revolution.

  Identify the new ideas about society and human relations that emerged in the Enlightenment, and analyze the new     practices and institutions that enabled these to take hold.

 
   Discuss the impact that new ways of thinking had on political developments and monarchical absolutism.

  

     A) The Scientific Revolution: Know the significant impacts 
          of the following :
              1. Plato, Aristotle, and Ptolemy
              2. Scientific method of Bacon and Descartes
              3. Copernicus
              4. Brahe
              5. Kepler
              6. Bruno 
              7. Galileo
              8. Newton
  

   B) How did the Age of Genius affect the following:
              1. View of God
              2. View of Nature
              3. View of Man
              4. View of Politics (Hobbes and Locke)

    C) Understand the economic path from Manorialism, to the Guild 
        System of Mercantilism, to the Putting - out System 
       (Cottage Industry) to the early Factory System.


           STUDENT PRESENTATIONS :

                                                  * Powerpoint presentations are based on
                                                    social history :  10th Edition - pages 552-615
                                                                                 11th Edition - pages 540 -607
==============================================



UNIT SIX   The Revolution in Politics
                    
        Required Reading:   
                                        
                                      10th Edition   McKay, pages 618-651
                                      11th Edition   McKay, pages 610-647


  
                The 18th Century: An Enlightened Age?  Why?  Why not?
 

     Primary Document Analysis sheets:
      
               One for each reading :
                    1) Immanuel Kant, “What is Enlightenment?”
                    2) John Locke, “Second Treatise on Government”
                    3) Voltaire, “A Plea for Tolerance and Reason”
                    4) Thomas Paine, “The Age of Reason”
                    5) Baron d’Holbach, “Good Sense”
                    6) Denis Diderot, excerpts from ENCYLOPEDIA
                    7) Jean Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract”
                    

                The French Revolution & the Napoleonic Empire


                  A) What are the major causes of the French 
                      Revolution ?

                  B) French Revolution : Chronology of Events
                  C) Napoleon as Enlightened Despot ?
                  D) Analyze the major reasons for the fall of the
                      Napoleonic Empire: Are there lessons to be 
                      learned for future hegemonic powers?

                  E) The Congress of Vienna: results and legacy.
                      Is it a model for diplomacy today?

                  F) The Age of Metternich

=============================================


UNIT SEVEN     The Revolution in Industry

         Required reading:  McKay, Tenth Edition 654-683
                                          McKay,  Eleventh Edition 648-681

                                 Adam Smith, “The Division of Labor”
                                                        “The Wealth of Nations”
                                 Thomas Malthus, “Essay on Population”
                                 * The Sadler Commission Report
                                 Robert Owen, “A New View on Society”


   19th Century Economic Theory and the Industrial Revolution

         The common core of liberalism: “The proper government is to promote the liberty and well-being of individuals.”  How has modern concepts of liberalism changed since the 18th century?


          What roles do morality and character play in the construction of a fair and just society? How would the following philosophers answer this question :  Malthus, Bentham, Burke, Wollstoncraft, and John Stuart Mill?

             A) Major impact on political, military, social, economic, 
                 cultural, and intellectual development of Europe
                   1. Why was Britain the first great industrial power ?
                       Are the same factors necessary for all nations 
                       facing development?
                   2. Classical Liberalism and Adam Smith
                   3. The Dismal Science : Ricardo and Malthus
                   4. Utilitarianism and Jeremy Bentham
                   5. John Stuart Mill and Humanitarian Liberalism
                   6. The Utopian Socialists
                   7. Karl Marx and Scientific Socialism
                               a) Economic Determinism
                               b) Dialectic Materialism
                               c) Inevitability of Communism


           B) Romanticism: To what extent did Romanticism spark 
               Conservatism as well as revolution?
                   1) View of God
                   2) View of Nature
                   3) View of Humanity
                   4) View of Politics
                   5) Romanticism in the Arts

           C) Metternich and the Concert of Europe : Was 
               Metternich driven by pragmatism or principle?
                    1) Political Spectrum: 1820s-1848
                    2) What patterns or lessons can be learned from 
                        the revolutions of the 1820s and 30s?
                    3) 1848: Revolutions: What were the legacies of 

                        these revolutions for the future?

============================================

        
     UNIT EIGHT     Ideologies and Upheavals
                       
         Required Reading : 10th Edition  McKay  pages  684-715
                                            11th Edition  McKay  pages  682-715

                                          Metternich, “The Odious
                                              Ideas of the Philosophes”
                                          Giuseppe Mazzini, “Young Italy”
                                          Vissarion Belinsky, “The Poetry of 
                                              Reality”
                                           Charles Darwin, “Natural Selection”
                                           Herbert Spencer, “Man vs. the 
                                              State”
                                           Marx and Engels, “The Communist 
                                              Manifesto”

        FILM :   A&E Biography, Darwin: The Voice of Evolution



               
              Identify and analyze the factors causing the spread of democracy               
                  in France and Britain during the 19th century?

             What factors account for the rise of a welfare state in 
                 Britain (the home of Adam Smith’s laissez-faire 
                 capitalism!) by 1914?


             A) Great Britain
                   1) Years of Violence and Reaction
                   2) Reform Movement (1820-1832)
                   3) Chartist Movement
                   4) Repeal the Corn Laws and the rise of Liberalism
                   5) Gladstone and Disraeli: The Rise of Modern 
                       Political Parties
                   6) Formation of the Labour Party : 1900
                   7) The Revolution in British Politics: 1911-1914
       
             B) A Divided France Moves Towards Democracy
                   1) The Second Republic and Second Empire :
                            The Age of Louis Napoleon 
                   2) The Siege of Paris and the Paris Commune

                   3) The Crisis-torn Third Republic
                              a) Boulanger Crisis
                              b) Panama Crisis
                              c) Dreyfus Affair

==============================================

UNIT NINE  The Age of Nationalism & The New Imperialism
                     
       Required Reading     10th Edition McKay, pages 748 - 814
                                            11th Edition McKay, pages 752 - 821
  
                                       John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection  
                                          of Women”
                                       Emmeline Pankhurst, “Why We
                                          are Militant”
                                       Cecil Rhodes, “Confession of Faith”
                                       Edmund Morel, “The Black Man’s 
                                          Burden”

      Complete Paper 2A and Paper 2B at the end of your "Unification of Italy and Germany" handout.
                 (each should be about 300 words)


          Italy: 1815-1914
            
               A) The Risorgimento: Italian Unification (1848-1870)
                     1) Nationalist Movement to 1859
                     2) Cavour: A Study in Realpolitik (War of 1859)
                     3) Garibaldi’s Conquest of Southern Italy
                     4) Papal State 1860
                     5) Rome 1870
               B) Italian Domestic and Foreign Policies 1870-1914
               C) The Rise of a powerful Germany in Central Europe
                     1) Bismarck and the Unification of Germany
                     2) Domestic Policy 1870-1890
                     3) Evaluate the impact of Bismarck on German 
                           and European History
                     4) Evaluate the Domestic Policies of Kaiser

                          Wilhelm II  (1890-1914)  
                D) The Last Century of the Russian Empire: Could 
                         Revolution have been averted?

                     1) The Russian revolutionary tradition
                                      (1825-1914)
                     2) Reaction, Industrialization, and Reform
                                       (1825-1914)
                E) Science, Culture and Economics during the 
                    Victorian Age

                      1) How do scientific and philosophical ideas 
                          often become distorted to justify society’s 
                          goals and values?
  
                      2) The Evolutionary World
                           a) Charles Darwin
                           b) Impact of Darwin’s Theories on Society:
                                  Social Darwinism
                                  Racism and Ethnocentrism
                                  War and Extermination
                                  Religion
                                  Impact on Fascism - Capitalism - Communism
                                  c) Significance of Friedrich Nietzsche on 
                               European Culture and Arts
                           d) Sigmund Freud and his world


                    Consider this question when preparing for the Unit Nine Exam:
                 The Age of European Imperialism: How was the “new 
                 imperialism” of the 19th century that different from
                 the imperialism of the 15th -18th centuries? 

  


                       A) John Hobson’s Theory of Imperialism
                       B) Justifications for Imperialism
                             1) Kipling’s “White Man’s Burden”
                             2) Alfred T. Mahon - Looking Outward
                             3) U.S. Senator Beveridge’s speech 
                                    before Congress
                       C) 19th century Feminist Movement in 
                             Western Europe
                              1) Victorian Views of Family, Marriage & Sex 
                              2) Discrimination of Women in Victorian Age
                              3) The fight for Suffrage

==============================================


UNIT TEN   The Coming of the Great War  (1914-1918)
                                                                                    and the Age of Anxiety (1918-1938)
                      
    Required Reading :    McKay, pages 814-885  10th Edition
​                                         McKay, pages 822-895  11th Edition
 
                                    Nietzsche, “The Will to Power and 
                                          the Antichrist”    
                                    Freud, “A note on the Unconscious”
                                    Filippo Marinetti, “Manifest of Futurism”
     
                                    Novel:  Erich Remarque, All Quiet on 
                                                        the Western Front
                                    Georges Clemenceau, “French
                                         Demands for Security and Revenge”
                                    Key text excerpt : Individuals in Society:
                                               Gustav Stressemann (pg.884)



    Causes and Effects of World War I

                 A) Major long term and immediate causes of 
                      World War I (1878-1914) : Who was
                      responsible?

                 B) the Impact of World War I on Western Civilization 
                 C) Evaluation of Versailles Treaty: Was it really that 
                     bad?

                 D) The Russian Revolution : “Dark horse victory”
                      What were the critical factors which enabled the 
                      Bolsheviks to seize and maintain power?

                 E) Evaluation of Josef Stalin’s Rule

      The Age of Anxiety (The inter-war years and the 
                                            coming of WWII)

                  A) The philosophical basis for 20th century 
                      Fascism?
                  B) The Rise to power of Benito Mussolini
                  C) The Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler
                  D) Analyze the similarities and differences of the 
                     20th century dictators: Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin.
                     Do the differences outweigh the similarities?

                  E) France and Britain between the wars
                  F) Art, Science and Entertainment between the 
                      wars  (Great Strides or more Anxiety?)

==============================================



UNIT ELEVEN   The Rise of Fascism and World War II
  
       Required reading :    10th Edition, McKay  pages  886-919
                                            11th Edition, McKay  pages 896-931

                                      Thomas Mann, “An Appeal to Reason”
                                      David Buffum, “Kristallnacht”
                                      Neville Chamberlain, “In Defense of
                                         Appeasement”
                                      Winston Churchill, “A Disaster of the 
                                         First Magnitude”
                                      Adolf Hitler, “Poland will be 
                                         depopulated and settled with

                                         Germans”
                                      William Hoffman, “Diary of a German 
                                          Soldier” (account of Stalingrad)

         World War II

              A) The chronological march towards war : 1931-1939

              B) Why did the Allies win World War II?
              C) The impact of World War II on the postwar world
              D) “Third World” Nationalism and the end of 
                    European Imperialism

==============================================


    UNIT TWELVE  Cold War Conflict and Consensus

         Required Reading :  10th Edition McKay, pages 922-993
                                             11th Edition McKay , pages 934-1005

                                          Supplemental readings will be
                                          announced / assigned ***

 
     The Cold War and Challenges


          A) The Cold War: Was it inevitable? 
                Where does the blame lie?


              1) The Superpowers : 1943-1980s
                    a) Allies to enemies 1941-1945
                    b) post-war issues and crises
              2) The containment policy: Eisenhower/Khrushchev/
                     Kennedy years
              3) Detente: Causes, Examples, Impact
              4) end of Detente and Renewal of Cold War: 1980s
                     a) Soviet v. American interpretations of Detente
                     b) emergence of Mikhail Gorbachev

              5) Analyze the major factors causing the fall of the 
                  Soviet Union :1985-1991. To what extent were they
                  historical? To what extent did personalities play a 
                  role? Would the Soviet Union have collapsed 
                  without the impact of Gorbachev? Reagan?

            
          B) Domestic Trends in Europe:

               1945-1990s:  Are there common trends or patterns 
                that affected Eastern as well as Western Europe?

 

                    1) Great Britain
                    2) France
                    3) Germany 
                    4) Italy
                    5) Soviet Union and Boris Yeltsin’s Russia
           
          C) Intellectual Movements in Europe after World War II

                Are there absolute values or is everything relative?

                1)   How did Modernism affect the following?
                          a) God
                          b) Universe
                         c) Man
                         d) politics
               2) Modern Art after World War II: “Shock of the New”
               3) Relevant Intellectual Theories
                          a) Relativism
                          b) Behaviorism
                          c) Existentialism
                          d) net-orthodoxy of the 1950s
                          e) New Radicalism of the 1960s
                          f) post-modern and deconstruction

             
              D) Feminism: Has Feminism brought women equality?
                   Has there been a backlash against women in 
                   contemporary society?

              E) Are women still defined by western culture rather 
                   than by themselves?

==============================================

  UNIT THIRTEEN    Globalization

                      
                              Into the 21st Century

           Required Reading :    10th Edition  MCKay , 970-1039
                                                 11th Edition McKay, 958-1026
 
                                              * current events assigned

                     A) Globalism: A threat or a panacea? Hasn’t 
                         Globalism always been with us since the 18th
                         century? What’s different now?

                     B)
European unification? What does history say?
                            1) Can east and west become one?
                            2) Could a unified Europe become a super 
                                 power in the 21st century?

                      C) Has the recent rise of Fascism changed the
                           future or is it merely a backlash? 
 
     

         AP EXAM :            Friday May 5th       AM Session  (8:00 - HS Gymnasium)
                                        😃                            

        "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. "
​                                                                               -- Thomas Jefferson      

       
==============================================

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

 Read purposefully - demonstrated by:
 
  *  Identifying and extrapolating significant material from a variety of printed sources  
   *  Recognizing arguments for and against an issue
   *  Identifying and using knowledge from common graphic features (charts, graphs, maps)
   *  Recognizing bias and point of view
   *  Reading and analyzing primary source material


    Write effectively - demonstrated  by:

     *  Well written and multi paragraph compositions that have clear topic development and organization
     *  Research reports based on standard endnote and bibliographical format (MLA-style)
     *  Document-based questions requiring analysis of primary sources
     *  Identifications stressing clear definitions and significance of terminology


     Communicate effectively - demonstrated by:

   *  Oral presentations and debates
    *. Media presentations and projects
    *  Interaction with peers in student-centered activities
    *  Analyzing and expressing ideas in the arts in historical context
    *  Following instructions 
    *. Effective note-taking skills in the form of answering complex historical questions
    *  Using technology to express historical concepts


      Demonstrate self-respect and respect for others - 
    demonstrated by:
 
    * Displaying academic integrity  (includes an understanding of plagiarism)
    *  Showing curiosity, respect and appreciation for cultural diversity in the world and knowledge of the contributions of other cultures outside your own
    *  A tolerance for other’s opinions and points-of-view
    *  Participating constructively in group activities
    *. An awareness of academic responsibilities
    *  An ability to make informed decisions on global issues
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Course Syllabus and Writing Assginments
  • Contact
  • Slide Shows
  • Articles
  • Videos
  • Quizzes
  • Home
  • Course Syllabus and Writing Assginments
  • Contact
  • Slide Shows
  • Articles
  • Videos
  • Quizzes