Skip to main content

AP US Government and Politics/Contemporary World History (Period 1)

Course Description

 9 Foundational Documents
  • Federalist 10
  • Brutus 1
  • The Declaration of Independence
  • The Articles of Confederation
  • The Constitution of the United States (including the Bill of Rights and subsequent Amendments)
  • Federalist 51
  • Federalist 70
  • Federalist 78
  • Letter from a Birmingham Jail
 
15 Supreme Court Cases
  • McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - Established supremacy of the U.S. Constitution and federal laws over state laws
  • United States v. Lopez (1995) - Congress may not use the commerce clause to make possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime
  • Engel v. Vitale (1962) - School sponsorship of religious activities violates the establishment clause
  • Wisconsin v. Yoder  (1972) - Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free exercise clause
  • Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) - Public school students have the right to wear black armbands in school to protest the Vietnam War
  • New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) - Bolstered the freedom of the press, establishing a “heavy presumption against prior restraint” even in cases involving national security
  • Schenck v. United States (1919) - Speech creating a “clear and present danger” is not protected by the First Amendment
  • Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) - Guaranteed the right to an attorney for the poor or indigent in a state felony case
  • Roe v. Wade (1973) - Extended the right of privacy to a woman’s decision to have an abortion
  • McDonald v. Chicago (2010) - The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states
  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) - Race-based school segregation violates the equal protection clause
  • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) - Political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment
  • Baker v. Carr (1961) - Opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and the development of the “one person, one vote” doctrine by ruling that challenges to redistricting did not raise “political questions” that would keep federal courts from reviewing such challenges
  • Shaw v. Reno (1993) - Majority minority districts, created under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, may be constitutionally challenged by voters if race is the only factor used in creating the district
  • Marbury v. Madison (1803) - Established the principle of judicial review empowering the Supreme Court to nullify an act of the legislative or executive branch that violates the Constitution

Upcoming Assignments See all

Could not find any upcoming assignments due.

See all posted assignments for this class.