Assignment #3

Good Day Folks,

This will be the last summer assignment before school starts next week.  It will again be in two parts. Please finish and post your answers BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS ON 8/26/2015.

Part One: Reading Brinkley pp. 23-31. 
While you considered the causes for European exploration and settlement in the New World, we need to focus more specifically on England(to become Great Britain after 1707) as their explorations and settlements became the United States.  Using the information from the reading, explain the specific causes that led England to begin to establish colonies along the Atlantic seaboard of North America at the beginning the 17th century.

Part Two:  Reading Brinkley Where Historians Disagree pp. 6-7 and 8-10, as well as pp. 18-20 "Biological and Cultural Exchanges"

After completing the readings, Explain the reasons that historians interpret the past differently.  Then examine the arguments about the population of Native Americans in the Americas pre-contact.  Why has there been a debate about this issue, and what does it tell us about historical arguments?

Have a great final week, I will be in my room during the week, mainly in the mornings so stop by if you have a chance.  See you next week.

Mr. Predmore

Assignment #2

Assignment 2: Read pages 9-18

Two part Assignment

Part A: Analyze the reasons that the Europeans began to look outward and explore in the 14th to 18th centuries.

Part B: Describe the key features of the empire that the Spanish built in the Americas. These features would include governance, social structure and economic development.

Due:  Post on the Blog by Friday July 31, 2015 at 10 p.m.

Congratulations and Recap

Folks,
 I want to congratulate you on completing the first assignment.  The answers were good.  As a recap, strongly consider the role that environmental factors played in creating the various and complex Native American societies of the Americas.  When the Europeans arrived in the 15th century, they found lands filled with many different peoples who had created successful and vibrant cultures.

As a review activity to do throughout the upcoming year, use the Internet to search for images of different Native American tribes and then analyze the image to find the environmental factors that contributed to that creation. 

For Example:  The image above is an Iroquois longhouse.  It is made of wood because the Iroquois nations lived the Northeastern woodlands where wood was the abundant resource for construction.  The longhouse was home to many families.  This type of living arrangement worked in the matriarchal culture and society of the Iroquois where women had significant power, particularly over the home.  It is of study construction to weather the cold winter that one finds in the Northeast. 

The Next Assignment is in the following post.

Assignment 1

Good Day folks,

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful summer so far, and that the Fourth of July was a fun time for you and your families.  As we move post the July 4th, it is time to start our summer AP program.  We will be complete our first unit online before the start of school to get a head start on the year.

When does American history begin? 

This seems a simple question, yet it creates much debate among historians.  Traditional American history began with the arrival of the English settlers at Jamestown in the early 1600s. However, in recent decades scholars have begun to view American history as beginning with the first inhabitants of North and South American, the Native Americans.  These peoples were not the silent victims of European settlement and expansion.  Especially in the 15th to 18th centuries, the interactions between the Native peoples and the various European settlers created the unique societies of the Americas including the one that eventually became the United States of America.

The learning objective for the first few lessons will be the following: Explain the development of a wide variety of Native American societies due to the interaction with the environment and each other prior to the arrival of the Europeans.

Assignment#1:

Read Chapter 1 pages 4-9.  Identify at least three similarities and three differences between the peoples of the future U.S.A.  to the peoples of Central and South America.  Be sure to have specific pieces of evidence to support your answers.  Also, demonstrate which differences were the most important and the less important.

Answer in the comments sections by Monday July 20, 2015.  If you have problems answering in the comment section let me know by e-mail @predmorea@grahamlocalschools.org.

WELCOME

Welcome to AP US History at GHS for the 2015-2016 school year.  I am excited about this coming year's American History course.  I am looking forward to our journey through United States History over the course the school year.  It will be challenging, but it will also be rewarding as well.