Summer Reading Assignment AP U.S. History and AP U.S. Government 2013
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The summer assignment is because of the time constraints placed in covering the immense content in APUSH over nine months and AP Government in one semester. To allow for more of an in depth study of the various periods of American history/ government, it is necessary to cover the first part during the summer. You will be tested over the material covered in the American Colonies when you return to school in August. This assignment is due the second day of school after the summer break.
The assigned reading is:
*Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. Joseph Ellis. 2000.
Read the book carefully. As you read the book, answer the following questions. You can type or handwrite your answers but YOU must include answers to ALL PARTS of the questions and you must use complete sentences. Answers must be thoughtful and complete. Do not share your work with other students—I will check and grade accordingly. The assignment is available on the Engineering School website also.
Essential Questions
Founding Brothers
Preface
Founding Brothers: The Generation
1. What “founding brothers” does the author focus his book on?
2. Which “founding brother” instructed his wife to start saving all his letters in order to record “the great events which are pressed, and those greater which are rapidly advancing”?
3. Was the creation of a separate American nation revolutionary or evolutionary?
4. What has become the political norm in the 20th century?
5. To fully understand the revolutionary generation Ellis says we need to be both nearsighted and far sighted. What was the key farsighted insight?
6. What was the one argument used to discredit the authority of Parliament and the British monarch?
7. Name at least one of the “unseemly features” of the Constitutional Convention?
8. Some call the