• Wappingers Central School District

    Social Studies Department

    Course Syllabus

     

    Course Name

    U.S. HISTORY & GOVERNMENT - REGENTS

     

     

    Course Code

    D547

     

     

    Duration

    Full Year

     

     

    Grade

    11

     

     

    Credit

    1.0

     

     

    Rank

    1.00

     

     

    Prerequisite

    Must have passed Global History and Geography II

     

     

    Assessment

    All students take the NYS U.S. History and Government Regents examination in June.  The Regents exam is also the final exam for the course and counts as 20% of the final course average.  Students must pass this course and the U.S. History and Government Regents exam in order to graduate.

     

     

    Textbook

    America, Pathways to Present (Prentice Hall, 2000)

     

     

    Areas of Study

    I.                   Geography

    A.    The physical and cultural setting in the Americas

    B.     The role and influence of geography on historical & cultural developments

     

    II.                The Constitution as the Foundation of American Society

    A.    Origins of the Constitution

    1.      Enlightenment Thought

    2.      The Colonial Experience

    3.      The War for Independence & The Declaration

    4.      The Articles of Confederation

    B.     The Constitutional Convention

    C.     The Ratification Debate

    D.    The Bill of Rights

    E.     Basic Constitutional Principles

    F.      Basic Structure and Function: the three branches and their operation

     

    III.             The Constitution Tested

    A.    The Unwritten Constitution

    1.      The Origin of the Two Party System

    2.      Foreign Policy in the New Nation Period

    3.      The Marshall Court

    B.     The Growth of Sectionalism

    C.     Slavery & Abolitionism

    D.    Territorial Expansion

    E.     Civil War & Reconstruction

     

    IV.             The Rise of American Business, Industry, and Labor

    A.    Major Areas of Growth in Business & Industry

    B.     New Business & Government Practices

    C.     Labor’s Response to Economic Change

    D.    Immigration & Urbanization

    E.     The Frontier Experience

    F.      The Populist Movement

     

    V.                The Age of Reform

    A.    An Emerging Global Involvement

    B.     The Spanish-American War & Imperialism

    C.     The Progressive Movement

    1.      Theodore Roosevelt & the Square Deal

    2.      Woodrow Wilson & the New Freedom

    D.    America’s Involvement in World War 1

     

    VI.             Prosperity, Depression and War

    A.    Business Boom or False Prosperity

    B.     Shifting Cultural Values

    C.     Herbert Hoover & the Depression

    D.    FDR and the New Deal

    E.     The Culture of Depression

    F.      Foreign Policy Between the Wars

    G.    The United States in World War II

     

    VII.          A World in Uncertain Times

    A.    Containment and the Beginning of the Cold War

    B.     The Cold War at Home

    C.     Post War Society & Culture

    D.    The Kennedy & Johnson Years

    1.      The New Frontier

    2.      The Modern Civil Rights Movement

    3.      Johnson & the Great Society

    4.      Vietnam

     

    VIII.       The Trend Toward Conservatism

    A.    Nixon as President

    1.      The Presidency in Crisis

    2.      Foreign & Domestics Policies

    B.     The Ford & Carter Presidencies

    C.     Reagan, Bush and the New Federalism

    D.    The Clinton Presidency

    Contemporary Issues – Domestic & Foreign

     

     

    For Information

    For a complete review of the NYS Social Studies Learning Standards, see

    http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/pub/sslearn.pdf

    For the complete NYS core curriculum for U.S. History and Government, see

    http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/pub/sscore2.pdf (pp. 121-155)

     

    Teachers:  Mr. McIlwee

     

    Contact: 897-6700 McIlwee (ext. 30107) 

     

    Grading: 

     

    Tests:   60%

     

    Homework:  30%  (half credit will be given for homework turned in one

                                   day late, no credit given beyond that point.)

     

    Class Participation:  10%

     

     

     

    All district and school rules of conduct apply to this class. 

     

     

     

     

    Student:__________________________________________________________

     

     

    Parent/Guardian:_____________________________________________________