AP United States History, Semester A

Course Description

Advanced Placement® (AP) U.S. History A is the first in a two-semester series that explores the significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods from approximately 1491 to the present. Throughout the course, students will develop and use the same skills employed by historians including analyzing primary and secondary sources, developing historical arguments, and making historical connections from multiple thematic perspectives. In AP U.S. History A, students will track the development of the British colonies in North America and the ideas and events that inspired the American Revolution. Additionally, students will analyze the early era of the American Republic and the events that led to the Civil War. 

About AP® Courses 

Advanced Placement (AP®) courses are equivalent to college-level courses. We highly recommend that you review the College Board’s AP US History Course Information page before beginning this course. Students are required to take the UTHS final exam for each semester course to earn high school credit. Students wanting to earn college credit may take the AP® exam offered by the College Board after completing the semester B course; however, it is not required to receive credit for the course from UT High School. 

Semester Topics

• Unit 1: Period 1 - 1491-1607 
• Unit 2: Period 2 - 1607-1754 
• Unit 3: Period 3 - 1754-1800 
• Unit 4: Period 4 - 1800-1848 
• Unit 5: Period 5 - 1844-1877 

Course Objectives

Upon completing this course, you will be able to—

• analyze primary and secondary sources ;
• develop historical arguments;
• make historical connections;
• utilize reasoning about comparison, causation, and continuity and change over time.

Required Course Materials

Please visit the Computer Requirements page to view minimum device, internet, and application requirements for all UT High School courses. Generally, a desktop or laptop device five (5) years or newer with access to an office suite, such as Microsoft Office or Google Workspace, will be adequate to participate in most UTHS courses.

Unless otherwise noted, students are responsible for purchasing or securing all the following course materials:

• Textbook (Free Resource): The American YAWP - A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook 
  • Publisher: Stanford University, 2022-2023
• Interactive Notebook: A paper or digital composition book is acceptable. For paper composition books, please also have the following items on hand: 
  • Pens or Pencils
  • Tape or Glue

Course Organization

Students must complete the course in sequence: You will not be able to access the next unit until all work in the preceding unit is completed. You may take your final exam only after completing all units and submitting all graded assignments.  

• Units: Each unit includes multiple lessons and graded assignments as well as ungraded practice quizzes to help you check your understanding of the material.
  
  
• Summative Assessments: Each course includes two online, virtually proctored summative assessments testing your understanding of the material presented in the preceding 2-3 Units.
  • Format: Online, Multiple-choice
  • Time Allowed: 1 hr 30 min
    
    
• Final Exam: Each course includes an online, virtually proctored final exam testing your knowledge of all material presented in the course.
  • Format: Online, Multiple-choice and free response
  • Time Allowed: 3 hrs 20 min

Course Grade Weighting

Your final course grade is calculated by weighting the three assignment groups displayed in the table below:

Online Proctored Exams

All course exams, including both summative assessments and the final exam, must be completed online. Students must test online with Proctorio and are required to add the Proctorio extension to either their Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome browser—installation instructions are provided in the student's course. Proctorio uses a student's computer, web camera, and microphone to record video of both the student and their desktop during the exam. Then, UTHS instructors review the student's exam video data collected by Proctorio. Only authorized UTHS staff and instructors can view the exam recordings. Student data is not shared with any persons or organizations outside of UTHS and are deleted after one year. We encourage you to visit Proctorio's Data Security and Privacy site pages to learn more about how we protect student date.