Mr. McCort A.P. U.S. History

Summer Reading Guide A Short History of the United States By Robert V. Remini

If you have any questions over the summer, please e-mail me at [email protected]

This assignment is designed to introduce the student to the story that makes our history. While definitively not exhaustive, this book serves as a solid foundational introduction to United States History from which we will reexamine and add to throughout the course. Understanding the core concepts of this book serves as the beginning from which we will begin to analyze the core political, social, economic, diplomatic, and religious factors that have shaped the United States.

Assignment: Read the book A Short History of the United States by Robert Remini and be prepared to take a multiple choice exam on each the first two full class days at the beginning of the 2017-2017 school year. The following is a reading guide to help the student identify critical concepts, questions, events, and people.

1. Discovery and Settlement of the New World 1. Describe the manner in which the Native Americans settled in the New World and what limitations they faced in regards to development and unification 2. What events, discoveries, inventions, or changes inspired Europeans to explore beyond their country? 3. Modern Europe was created through what three factors? 4. Explain the various colonizing patterns of the European powers in the New World) (think who, what, when, where, and why) 5. Characterize the Indian/European relations through early settlement 6. Know the different types of English settlement displayed though the English colonies specifically paying attention to how and why each colony was settled. 7. Explain the similarities and differences that emerged between the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. 8. Define and understand mercantilism 9. In what ways did religion influence the formation and operation of the colonies; The Great Awakening? 10. What problems were faced by the colonial settlers at the outset and how did they deal with them? 2. Independence and Nation Building 1. What problems arose from the conclusion of the French and Indian War? 2. Trace the cause and effect relationship of events that led to the colonies declaring independence from Great Britain. 3. Upon winning independence, what issues did the newly formed United States, under the Articles of Confederation, have and to what extent were the Articles of Confederation successful? 4. Understand the necessities for, and compromises that had to be made, to create the Constitution of the United States. 5. What tasks did the newly created Congress complete in their first term? 6. What problems or issues faced America in Washington’s first term? 7. Understand Hamilton’s early proposals to stabilize the United States economically. 8. Know the issues and ideas that created the first two political parties. 3. An Emerging Identity 1. What impact did the Quasi War and the Alien and Sedition Acts have on the United States? 2. Understand what happened in the election of 1800. (procedure, outcome, significance) 3. In what ways did Jefferson’s presidency illustrate the battle between the executive 4. How did Thomas Jefferson and James Madison try to avoid war with England? How successful were they? 5. What was the Hartford Convention and how did it impact politics? 6. How did the War of 1812 impact the United States nationally? 7. How did the views of James Madison and Henry Clay reflect the changing role of the federal government? 8. What was James Monroe’s focus for his presidency, what did he do to foster that focus, and how did he deal with foreign affairs? 9. What were the basic components of the Monroe Doctrine? 10. What advancements were made in democracy and how did the labor situation improve post War of 1812? 11. How and why was the election of 1824 settled like it was? 12. What issues split the Jacksonians and the nationalist minded Adams administration? 13. What was, and why was the South Carolina Exposition and Protest written? 4. The Jacksonian Era 1. What significant political changes happened in the Jackson era? 2. What goals did Jackson hope to accomplish while in office? Was he successful? 3. What was the major issue of the election of 1832 between Jackson and Clay and how was it resolved? 4. How did Jackson’s veto of the bank bill differ from past presidential vetoes? How did this change the executive/legislative relationship? 5. Who are the Whigs and what did they stand for? 6. What event(s) shaped the Martin Van Buren administration and what actions did he take to deal with it? 7. Understand the nature of the varying reform movements that were taking place alongside of the religious changes that were happening. What Emerson called, “the demon of reform.” 8. How did the Great Awakening and the reform nature of society impact slavery? How did the Gag Rule impact slavery? 9. How did Manifest Destiny positively affect the United States? 5. The Dispute over Slavery, Secession, and the Civil War. 1. In what ways did manifest destiny hurt the United States? 2. What particular events from 1849-1860 inflamed the slave issue between the North and the South. 3. What were the short and long term effects of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act? 4. What events during the Buchanan administration helped lead to the Civil War? 5. What domestic actions/legislations did Lincoln and congress take during the Civil War? 6. How did Lincoln and the Radicals differ during the Civil War? 6. Reconstruction and the Gilded Age 1. What did Johnson do to reconstruct the Union? How did the radicals react to Johnson’s plan? 2. What were black codes? 3. Know the major proposals towards reconstruction proposed by both Johnson and congress. Make sure to understand what these proposals were meant to accomplish. 4. What did the court case Ex Parte Milligan rule? What impact might this have? 5. What were the Force Acts and what were they a reaction to? 6. What does the term Gilded Age mean? What corruption was exposed during it? 7. How was the government, in part, responsible for industrialization? 8. What was the Panic of 1873 and how did Congress react? Include the coinage Act of 73 and the specie resumption act. 9. Know what happened in the election of 1876 10. What legislation was passed during the Gilded Age to combat corruption? 11. Who were the Grangers and what did they want? Know the ruling in Munn v. Illinois. 12. What were the issues and resolutions in Plessy v. Ferguson? 13. Understand the political battles, new parties formed, and political stances taken during the time period of 1876-1896. 7. Manifest Destiny, Progressivism, War, and the Roaring 20s. 1. Explain the continuation of manifest destiny in the late 1800s and early 1900s. 2. Define Progressivism- what legislative accomplishments were made under Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson? 3. What actions did Wilson take to fight WWI both at home and abroad? 4. What were the goals and realities to the end of World War I? 5. What were the major cultural and social changes of the 1920s? 8. The Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II. 1. What steps did Hoover take to alleviate the Great Depression? 2. What were the core components of FDR’s New Deal? How did he differ from Hoover? 3. How did the role of the presidency change during FDR’s terms in office? 4. What role did the Supreme Court play in the New Deal? How did FDR deal with the courts? 5. What events precipitated the start of World War II and how did FDR react? 6. What impact did WWII have domestically on minority groups such as Japanese, women, African Americans, and Mexicans? 9. The Cold War and Civil Rights 1. What domestic events happened to promote American fears of communist subversion at home? 2. What foreign events helped foster the idea of a “Cold War” between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.? 3. What were the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine? 4. How did Truman carry the 1948 election and what did he promise the American people? (know the components) 5. What events led to the Red Scare? 6. What kept Truman from running for re-election? 7. Understand the Eisenhower administration in terms of foreign and domestic policies. 8. Understand the importance of Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960 and 1964, the Little Rock incident, Freedom Riders, the Selma March, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 9. Know the significance of the arms and space race, Cuba, the Peace Corps, and the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. 10. What was Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society program? 10. Violence, Scandal, and the end of the Cold War. 1. What was the impact of the Tet Offensive? 2. How was the Vietnam War effected by the anti-war protests, the My Lai Massacre, Kent State Massacre, and the Pentagon Papers? 3. What was the Watergate scandal, who was involved, and how was it resolved? What results came from the scandal? 4. The Nixon administration has been nicknamed “the imperial presidency”; what evidence justifies that claim? 5. What was Roe v. Wade and what did it decide? 6. What foreign and domestic problems did the Carter administration face? What accomplishments did he achieve? 7. Identify the domestic goals of Ronald Reagan in his first term and measure his success in achieving them. 8. What impact did CSPAN have on the nature of politics? 9. How did Reagan deal with foreign policy and the Cold War? 10. What was the Iran-Contra affair? 11. What changes did Mikhail Gorbachev make in the Soviet Union? 12. What events indicated the Cold War was over and communism was declining? What new threat emerged in its place? 11. The Conservative Revolution 1. Summarize the George H. W. Bush presidency. 2. What was the result of the election of 1992 both in the presidency and congress? 3. What early mistakes and successes did the Clinton administration have? 4. How did the Contract with America impact the Republicans and Democrats and what impact did it have for the remainder of the Clinton presidency? 5. What events impacted the foreign policy of Bill Clinton? 6. Who and what comprised the Sun Belt Shift? 7. What social changes were happening from the 1970s to today?