Advanced Placement United States History
The Covenant School
Charlottesville, Virginia
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APUSH (Advanced Placement United States History) is a fast-pased, college-level survey course focusing on the main themes of U.S. History, "from boats to Bush."  The course emphasizes key skills of document analysis and writing, and is intended to prepare students to take the A.P. U.S. History exam in May.

What makes AP US History at The Covenant School unique is our focus on decision-making.  Rather than seeing history as a series of dates and names, we focus instead on decisions made by people who are not very different from people today.  In fact, the consistency of human behavior is one of the key lessons of history, which bears out the Biblical truth that humans are fallen creatures in need of God's redemption through our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

We use our summer reading assignment, Robert F. Kennedy's Thirteen Days:  A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis to develop a five-step model for decision-making that we will apply throughout the school year. 
Human decisions tend to be made based on three motives: Power (the desire to influence other humans' behavior), Economics (the desire for wealth) and Ideology (a system of beliefs).  These factors work together to influence the behaviors of individuals and groups.  When we come to key decisions, we stop to analyze who these motives influence the behaviors of the people involved. 

We also assume that more than one of these factors can influence a person's behavior at any given moment; this is the Law of Multiple Causality.  Moreover, human decisions usually have Multiple Consequences, including Unintended Consequences. 
The Causal Loop Diagram ties together the laws of multiple causality and multiple consequences to show a common pattern of human behavior. 
Course Calendar
September:  Colonial America (1492 - 1775)
October:  Revolutionary America (1775 - 1815)
November:  Democratic America (1820 - 1860)
December:  Uniting America (1861 - 1885)
MIDTERM EXAMS
January:  Progressive America (1885 - 1920)
February:  Crisis America (1920 - 1945)
March:  Anticommunist America (1945 - 1968)
April:  Conservative America (1968 - 2001)
          Review for APUSH Exam
May:  AP US History Exam
          Economics
Some Helpful Links
Covenant School History
Covenant School History Main Page
History of the United States 11
How to write a DBQ
Student Resources
About the AP US History Exam
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
History Matters
10 Commandments of Historical Writing
UVA Summer Enrichment Program
UVA History Department
Each unit in APUSH includes several activities intended to help students better understand U.S. History:
-- Class discussions, including Friday morning early sessions
-- 2 Practice DBQs
-- Reading Assignments
-- Textbook Readings
-- Role-Playing Activities
-- Student Presentations
-- 2 Multiple-Choice Quizzes
-- A test combining multiple-choice, document analysis, and an essay.
The Covenant School is a non-denominational Christian school just outside Charlottesville, Virginia.  For twenty years, we have been dedicated to "Academic Excellence Under the Sovereignty of God."  The Covenant School's faculty are outstanding Christians who are dedicated to serving the LORD by teaching and setting examples for their students, and who combine this service with a passion for teaching. 
Mr. Matthew Davisson is a eighth-year teacher at The Covenant School, teaching AP US History (APUSH) and History of the United States 11 (HOUSE).  He has served as a reader for the College Board's AP US History Exams for four years.  During the summers, he teaches two-week seminars called "Studies in Decision-Making" for the University of Virginia's Summer Enrichment Program.

Mr. Davisson graduated from West Virginia University in 1998 with degrees in Computer Science and in History.  In July of 1999, he followed the LORD's calling to central Virginia, where he became a member of Jefferson Park Baptist Church.  The next year, he started as a substitute at The Covenant School, and in the fall of 2000, began teaching full-time. 

Mr. Davisson currently lives in Waynesboro, Virginia, with his wife, Gretchen, and their children, Ginny, Michael, and Christopher
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