Course Description:                 

“In this yearlong course, students study the major turning points in American history in the 20th century. After a review of the nation's beginnings and the impact of the Enlightenment on U.S. democratic ideals, students build upon the 10th grade study of global industrialization to understand the emergence and impact of new technology and a corporate economy, including the social and cultural effects. They trace the change in the ethnic composition of American society; the movement toward equal rights for racial minorities and women; and the role of the United States as a major world power. An emphasis is placed on the expanding role of the federal government and federal courts as well as the continuing tension between the individual and the state. Students consider the major social problems of our time and trace their causes in historical events” (excerpt from the California Department of Education).

Student Learning Objectives: (California State Standards)

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1.      Analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its attempts to realize the philosophy of government described in the Declaration of Independence.

2.      Analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

3.      Analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty.

4.      Trace the rise of the United States to its role as a world power in the twentieth century.

5.      Analyze the major political, social, economic, technological, and cultural developments of the 1920s.

6.      Analyze the different explanations for the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government.

7.      Analyze America's participation in World War II.

8.      Analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II America.

9.      Analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II.

10.  Analyze the development of federal civil rights and voting rights.

11.  Analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.

Common Core State Standards:

Key Ideas and Details:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.

Craft and Structure:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.5
Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.6
Evaluate authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8
Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9
Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.10
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Required Text:

            The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21^st Century by McDougall Littell

            Supplemental readings provided by instructor:

                        A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn