The AP program in United States History is designed to provide students with the analytical skills and enduring understandings necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in United States history. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students should learn to assess historical materials—their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance—and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. An AP United States History course should thus develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in an essay format.  The coursework, reading, and effort required to succeed on the AP exam and in the class is difficult and requires a tremendous commitment by the student to succeed.  Students are expected to become advocates for their own success and are responsible for their own learning. 

This course will detail the entirety of United States history, from the earliest American civilizations to the beginnings of our republic to present day issues.  The class is organized chronologically, but consistent themes will direct our discussions, investigations and applications of our knowledge.  The focus of the course will center upon the political, economic, social, cultural and diplomatic history of the United States, while using primary and secondary sources to understand the issues of the time.  Therefore the students will need to become "historical investigators," using the information presented to them to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate documents, while also using factual support for their opinions.  Students in this course must be able to complete a high volume of out-of-class reading in order to participate fully in class discussion and succeed on assessments.   

additional info: Writing a DBQ: AP U.S. History (PDF)