Advanced Placement United States History Summer Assignment for the 2016-2017 School Year

Advanced Placement United States History Summer Assignment for the 2016-2017 School Year

Welcome to AP US History! AP United States History is a course that is meant to emulate an entry-level course in its content and is meant to help prepare you for college.

The class is very fast paced so that we can cover everything in order to prepare you to take the AP Exam in May of 2017. Because we have so little time a summer assignment is required as a “slow start” to help you get a handle on things and help prepare for the class. The goal of this assignment will be to introduce students to the pace of the class, the level of work that will be expected, and keep your minds fresh with historical thought.

This assignment may be emailed to me at [e-mail] or dropped off at the school office but it must be turned in by July 8^th. Anything turned in late will automatically be docked points. If you have any questions about the summer assignment, please email me. Be sure you include the following information at the top of your work:

* Your Full Name

* Course Name & Assignment: “APUSH Summer Assignment”

DUE July 8^th: Chapter 1 Skim and Howard Zinn Comparison

1. Read pages 14-16 of The American Pageant (attached to the back of the

assignment if you have the paper copy) from “Columbus Comes upon a New

World” to “The Spanish

Conquistadors”.
2. Find Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States online (Google it). Read

Chapter 1: Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress. Preview the questions you

will have to answer. It is wise to print a copy and ‘talk to the text’ or highlight the

reading.

3. Answer the following questions:

1. 
   According to Zinn, what is his main purpose for writing A People’s History of the United States?
   
2. 
   What is Zinn’s thesis for this chapter?
   
3. 
   According to Zinn, how is Columbus portrayed in traditional history books?
   
4. 
   What is Zinn’s basic criticism of historian Samuel Eliot Morison’s book, Christopher Columbus, Mariner?
   
5. 
   Identify one early and one subsequent motive that drove Columbus to oppress indigenous peoples.
   

4. In a short paragraph, compare and contrast the way that your textbook and

Howard Zinn describe Christopher Columbus. In what ways are they similar?

Different? What is the danger of reading only one source for historical

information?