AP United States History Summer Task: “Doing History”

1. Summary Flash Cards

This activity has two purposes. First, it is intended to provide a summary of early America and colonization. AP United States History covers from pre-Columbian times to the present. This is an almost impossible task especially since the AP test is early in May. Doing these over the summer will enable us to get a head start and greatly increase the chance that we will cover all that could be tested. You will be creating a set of summary flash cards for every unit so these are just the beginning. The second purpose is to provide a “fact data base” that will be used in Task #2. Instructions:

1. Read the handouts, “A New World,” The Collision of Cultures” and “Britain and Its Colonies.” A list of terms that may be new is included to help you decode the text. (ONLY part not on QO Website – see Counseling0

2. Use the focus questions and the review questions found with the maps to guide your understanding. 3. Create a summary flash card (on 3x5 index cards) for each of the items listed below.

a. For terms – define in the context of the text; how was it used b. For people/groups – Who were they? Give several important facts. c. For events – Who? What? When? Where? Why? Results? d. For laws/court cases/acts of government – What did it say/do? What was the intention of the

maker? What effect did it have? [Some terms may reoccur as you read. Add to the cards as you learn more.}

“Collision of Cultures”

Mesoamerica Mayans (Maya) Aztecs Quechuas (Inca) Adena-Hopewell (“mound builders”) Mississippian Pueblo-Hohokam (Anasazi) Norse Explorers/settlers Age of Discovery Art of Navigation Impact of urbanization, world trade, rise of nation-state and advances in knowledge, technology and firepower (by late 1400’s) Columbus Columbus’ voyages Treaty of Tordesillas Columbian (“great biological”) exchange John Cabot Cortes and the Aztecs Conquistadores Spanish Empire (expansion) Ecomienda Spanish relationship with Native Americans Horses and the Great Plains Protestant Reformation English Exploration

“Britain and Its Colonies”

English Liberties English Enterprise Oliver Cromwell “Glorious Revolution” Joint-stock company (enterprise) Virginia Company Pattern of English colonization Jamestown Powhatan Captain John Smith Shakespeare’s The Tempest “starving time” John Rolfe “headright” policy Sir William Berkeley Bacon’s Rebellion Maryland Plymouth Mayflower Compact Massachusetts Bay Separatists and Puritans John Winthrop “city upon a hill” Evolution of government in Massachusetts Bay Rhode Island

Roger Williams – Providence Anne Hutchinson – Portsmouth Connecticut Thomas Hooker New Hampshire and Maine English and Natives in New Engl. Pequot War – Mystic Massacre King Philip’s War Impact of English civil war Restoration Colonies - restoration of Charles II (NC & SC) Southern Indian trade Acquiring New York – Dutch influ. Iroquois League New Jersey Pennsylvania and Delaware Quakers William Penn Georgia “British America had become the most populous, prosperous and powerful region on the continent.” (Provide evidence)

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2. How the Historian Classifies Information Writing history requires that information be collected from a variety of sources and that information be organized in a way that makes sense to the reader. Most historical writing tries to answer a question. The more complicated the question, the longer the written work. In any case, to effectively transmit his findings, the historian must arrange the facts in a way that answers the question. What determines the evidence the historian takes down in the first place? Will all historians doing research on the same subject take the same notes? Historians often select and arrange facts on the basis of categories. Suppose a historian had uncovered two facts: first, that King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 and second, the Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. He might classify each fact according to historical periods, placing King John in the Middle Ages and Eli Whitney in the modern period. Or, the historian might categorize them according to aspects of human life, classifying the Magna Carta as a political event and the cotton gin as a contribution to economic development. [Bartlett, et.al.] Okay. Let’s do an exercise that demonstrates the many possible ways that information can be classified. Please note that there is really no “wrong” way. Instructions:

1. Using the flash cards created from “The Collision of Cultures,” determine categories under which the cards could be divided.

2. Arrange the cards into the categories. 3. If there are many ways to arrange the “facts,” what implications does this activity have for

studying history? 4. Create a chart that shows the terms/events from the flash cards using the set of categories (not

including chronological) you have determined to be the most useful. Come to class in August prepared to discuss your classifications, any conclusions you made as a result of this exercise and the implications of this classification reality for the study of history.

Modified from:

Bartlett, I., Fenton, E., Fowler, D., & Mandelbaum, S. (1969). An introduction to the

study of history. In A new history of the United States (pp. 1 - 16) [Introduction].

New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

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How the Historian Inquires into the Past Paul L. Ward, a past executive secretary of the American Historical Association, said history is “… inquiry, examining a piece of the past systematically in hopes of getting an answer to questions which honestly matter to us.” But how would this be done? Most historians start with a question on a topic of interest to themselves. Frequently, these questions are influenced by the personal experiences of the historian. They then proceed to seek out the answers to their questions in a systematic way. In this, the historian is little different from the scientist. They first must develop a hypothesis and find the evidence that validates it or causes it to be further revised. The process involves a number of steps:

Formulate the hypotheses (a tentative answer to a question)

Seek out and accumulate data to provide evidence

Interpret the data – How does the data “answer” the question? How does the historian know what data to look for? How will they know that they have not overlooked something vital? How will they relate one fact to other facts? These are the issues involved in forming hypotheses. These issues are the focus of the essay “Social Science Concepts and Analytical Questions”. While you are reading, ask yourself the following questions [these do not need to be answered as part of the graded task]:

1. What are concepts? What are analytical questions? How are concepts and analytical questions related? 2. Why do investigators ask analytical questions? 3. Restate, in your own words, the concepts listed in the essay. What other questions do these concepts

suggest? 4. If you were to study the laws of an ancient kingdom, how would you apply the analytical questions

listed in this reading?

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Social Science Concepts and Analytical Questions

[Source: Bartlett, pp. 4 – 5; information in brackets updated original text] How would you go about answering the question: “Why did the Roman Empire decline?” The problem is so complex that it is difficult to know where to begin. Some obvious questions will occur to you. Did the government weaken? Did the economy collapse? Did something disrupt the social structure? Most of us can think in terms of major divisions of a society – government, the economy and social structure. In the case of Rome, the government had indeed become weak. It could no longer enforce its own laws. The economy had collapsed. Food production had fallen to alarmingly low levels. The social structure had been disrupted. Small farmers, unable to compete with the large landowners, had flocked to Rome seeking relief and reform. But such simple answers would not satisfy most historians. Why had the government weakened? What brought the collapse of the economy? What caused the social disorder within the Roman Empire? To investigate these questions, historians often use concepts from social science disciplines as tools for analysis. These social science concepts help historians to isolate the facts they need to develop hypotheses. Although all societies have unique features, certain activities and forces exist in every society. Investigators classify these common activities and develop concepts around them. Then they use these concepts to analyze events or social conditions. Take the concept “leadership” from political science, for example. A political scientist knows that all societies have people who make decisions for the entire community. What these people are like, how they became leaders and how they maintain their support are important considerations in the study of a political system. You could develop some interesting hypotheses by asking questions about leadership in Rome during its declining years. You would discover that many of Rome’s leaders had been generals interested primarily in selfish gains. By focusing on the concept of leadership in Rome, it is possible to discover some of the reasons why the government had weakened. Concepts suggest a number of analytical questions the investigator can ask of data to make facts come to life. The fact that [Ben Roethlisberger has an 8-year, $102 million dollar contract for playing football] is only a passing, if awe-inspiring, curiosity. However, when the investigator asks how values influence the distribution of income in American society, *Ben Roethlisberger’s+ salary becomes important evidence. The following list of concepts and analytical questions contains only a few of the categories investigators use to analyze a society. These concepts and questions should help you formulate hypotheses about western society. This list does not even attempt to suggest all possible concepts and questions. Decision-Making – the process by which a political system makes, interprets and enforces its rulings

Questions: What are the rules for making decisions? In what institutions are decisions made? Who determines which decisions will be made? How does information reach the decision makers? How do they see that their decisions are enforced?

Citizenship – the role an individual plays in the political system Questions: How does a citizen influence the use of public power? To what degree can a citizen influence the government? How does he gain access to decision-makers? What are a citizen’s obligations? How does government regulate a citizen’s life?

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Resources – the supply of raw materials, capital goods and human skills available to a society Questions: What natural resources are available? What capital resources are available? What human resources are available? How are the resources used to produce goods and services?

Distribution – the process by which consumers in a community receive goods and services Questions: Who are the consumers in a society? How do they obtain goods? What institutions distribute goods? Who in the society obtains the most goods? Who obtains the least?

Norms – the standards of behavior expected of people in their social relationships with other members of the society

Questions: What norms are assigned to given roles? (How are fathers expected to behave toward their children? Toward their wives?) How are people with lower status expected to treat people with higher status, and vice versa? (What behavior is expected of employees toward their supervisors? Of supervisors toward their employees?)

Social Class – a broad group of people who share the same general status and social position and who are classified by others in the society as belonging to the same group

Questions: What are the various social classes in a community? What criteria are used to place people in different social classes? What privileges are given to each social class? Can membership in a social class be earned or must one be born into a class?

Instructions:

1. Think about how you might apply the concepts and analytical questions to understanding the Puritans. Choose THREE of the concepts from the article you just read, Social Science Concepts and Analytical Questions.

2. For each concept, what questions could you ask regarding the Puritans that may lead to a better understanding of them as a historical group?

3. To which of the College Board themes (below) would studying the Puritans relate? Which one do you think has the strongest connection? WHY?

FYI - The College Board has concepts they refer to as “themes” that they believe, in analyzing United States history, it is important that

students are able to identify. The following are the AP United States History themes:

American Diversity – diversity of the American people and the relationships among different groups; roles of race, class, ethnicity and gender

American Identity – views of the American national character and ideas about American exceptionalism; recognizing regional differences within the context of what it means to be an American

Culture – literature, art, philosophy, music, theatre and film; popular culture

Demographic Changes – changes in birth, marriage and death rates, life expectancy, family patterns, population size and density; economic, social and political effects of immigration, internal migration and migration networks

Economic Transformations – changes in trade, commerce and technology over time; effects of capitalist development, labor and unions and consumerism

Environment – consumption and conservation of natural resources; impact of population growth, industrialization, pollution and urban/suburban expansion

Globalization – interaction with the world from the 1400’s to the present; colonialism, mercantilism, global hegemony, development of markets, imperialism, cultural exchange

Politics and Citizenship – colonial and revolutionary legacies, American political traditions, growth of democracy and the development of the modern state; defining citizenship, struggling for civil rights

Reform – various movements including antislavery, education, labor, temperance, women’s rights, civil rights, gay rights, war, public health and government

Religion – variety of religious beliefs and practices from prehistory to the 21st century; influences of religion on politics, economics and society

Slavery and Its Legacies in North America – systems of slave labor and other forms of unfree labor such and indentured servitude and contract labor in Native American societies, the Atlantic World and the American South and West; economics of slavery and its racial dimensions; patterns of resistance and the long-term economic, political and social effects of slavery

War and Diplomacy – armed conflict from precolonial to the 21st century; impact of war on American foreign policy and on politics, economy and society

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4. How the Historian Decides What Is Fact Historians use facts to validate hypotheses. But, historical scholars often disagree about what is fact and what is not. Because of differences in their frames of reference, some historians accept a statement as fact while others reject it. Sometimes historians have only one source to use as evidence. In most cases, however, they will have two or more. The problem is these sources may disagree. Even an eyewitness author has a frame of reference from which he views events. He will record some things and fail to record others. Another eyewitness will note different events or interpret the same events differently. This presents a dilemma for historians trying to understand an event similar to the dilemma law enforcement face when trying to piece together the facts in a crime investigation. Eyewitnesses each may give a different description of the suspect. These descriptions are used to create a “composite sketch”. What the artist does is what historians do; they look for the common characteristics and create a drawing based on what all of the descriptions seemed to agree upon. As students of history, we also have depended on textbooks. Past and present, students have accepted what their textbooks have told them as fact, never questioning what the “expert” is telling them. We should look at textbooks “historiograpically.” Students of history need to understand that an event took place with real characters, all of whom had their own biases and perspectives. They also must appreciate that events have been studied and analyzed by historians, often writing years after the fact. In order to truly grasp the nuances of history, one needs to understand that while these authors were doing their research and writing, they were influenced by the current social, political, economic and cultural events taking place in what they considered the “present.” In the following activity, you will be given an opportunity to consider a couple of sources on the same event (from textbooks written at different times) and decide which facts can be accepted. While you are reading, ask yourself the following questions [these do not need to be answered as part of the graded task]:

1. Which of these accounts, if either, do you accept? Why? Do you think each might be right in parts and wrong in other parts?

2. Do the two accounts agree about something? If so, are you willing to accept it as fact? Why or why not?

3. What are some of the issues on which the accounts differ? 4. What further information would you have to find in order to decide which, if either, is correct?

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Ward, K. (2006). History in the making. USA: The New Press.

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Instructions: 1. Use the following Venn Diagram to record “facts” that can be found in only one of the sources and

those that can be found in both.

Subject: Early Native Americans

1880 text

Similarities

1986 text

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2. Which of the facts included on the diagram would you accept as fact? Why? 3. What other information would you need to decide which, if either, is correct? 4. What does this activity suggest to people who are reading historical writing, including textbooks?

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Final Summer Task Check List& Grading Rubric To ensure you have completed all required activities for the summer task, use the following check list: _____ Summary Flash Cards “Collision of Cultures” and “Britain and Its Colonies” (Instructions on p. 1) [SUMMATIVE – 35 (1/2 point per card)] _____ Categorization Activity (Instructions on p. 1) [HW FOR COMPLETION – 10 POINTS] _____ Concepts and Questions: Puritans (Instructions on p. 4) [FORMATIVE – 30 POINTS] _____ “Facts” Venn diagram and analysis questions (Instructions on p. 11) [FORMATIVE – 20 POINTS] It is expected that ALL parts of this task will be completed before the first day of school. We will be using them on the first days of school. I will explain my grading policy (MCPS) at that time but for now understand that “HW for Completion” = 10%, Formative Assessments = 50% and Summative = 40%. Formatives are eligible for “re-do”. If you have questions at any point feel free to email me at Barbara_S_Benedict@mcpsmd.org .