IB History of the Americas

Comprehensive Course Syllabus

Chapter 1: The Colonial Period 
 * political and economic relationship with the colonial powers: Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands
 * social and economic organization of the immigrant population
 * role of religion in the New World
 * treatment of indigenous peoples
 * the origins of slavery

Chapter 2: Movements of Independence
 * causes—political, economic, social, intellectual, religious—and conflicts leading to war
 * role of outside powers
 * roles of the social classes
 * role of leadership: Washington, Jefferson, Bolívar, San Martín
 * the Declaration of Independence
 * independence of Brazil
 * Haitian Revolution and the Republic: Toussaint L’Ouverture

Chapter 3: Evolution of New Governments and Confederation 
 * United States Constitution: Articles of Confederation, philosophical underpinnings, major compromises
 * emergence of political parties in USA to 1830
 * role of the executive and the emergence and rule of Caudillos
 * regionalism and definitions of authority
 * rebellions of 1837: the Durham Report and responsible government in Canada
 * Confederation Period in Canada
 * British North America Act 1867: compromises and unresolved issues, sectionalism, and effects

Chapter 4: Slavery in the Americas 
 * conditions of enslavement: adaptation and resistance
 * the pro-slavery arguments
 * insurrections and reactions
 * life of the free African–Americans
 * pro-abolition arguments

Chapter 5: United States Civil War: Causes, Course and Effects 
 * political, economic and social causes
 * the course of the war, the role of African–American soldiers, the role of women
 * the impact of the war on society
 * Abraham Lincoln and the role of leadership
 * political, economic and cultural effects
 * Reconstruction and the post-Reconstruction South

Chapter 6: Economic and Social Developments in the Americas from the mid-19th Century to 1919
 * economic modernization: policies, characteristics and effects
 * neocolonialism and dependency
 * industrial developments and their impact on the Americas
 * territorial expansion and evolution of the railroads
 * labour and agrarian movements
 * external and internal population movements: immigrants and indigenous peoples, economic and social effects
 * women and reform

Chapter 7: Political Developments in the Americas from the mid-19th Century to 1919
 * evolution of political institutions and ideological currents and movements
 * progressives
 * foreign and trade relations: Britain and France
 * domestic policies
 * involvement in the First World War
 * African–Americans: Booker T Washington and WEB Dubois
 * role of leadership: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, John A MacDonald, or a Latin American leader of the candidate’s choice

Chapter 8: Cultural and Intellectual Developments in the Americas from the mid-19th Century to the First World War 
 * liberalism, nationalism, positivism, romanticism, social Darwinism
 * the arts, music and literature
 * reform and increase of education
 * technological and scientific developments

Chapter 9: United States Foreign Policy in Latin America, 1898 to 1945
 * background of United States policy
 * the Monroe Doctrine and its redefinitions
 * establishment of spheres of influence, Spanish–American War, the big stick, dollar diplomacy
 * Good Neighbor Policy and wartime alliances, Franklin D Roosevelt
 * Central America, including Panama, Nicaragua and Cuba

Chapter 10: The Mexican Revolution, 1910 to 1940
 * causes and course of the revolution
 * aims and roles of the leaders, including Zapata and Pancho Villa
 * the Constitution of 1917
 * effects: immediate and long term; political, social, economic and cultural
 * role of the USA

Chapter 11: The Great Depression in the Americas
 * impact of the First World War in the Americas
 * economic growth in the 1920s
 * causes of the Depression: United States, Canada, and Latin America
 * impact on society: the changing view of government’s role in the economy; effects on minorities
 * nature and efficacy of solutions: Canada: Mackenzie King and RB Bennett; Latin America: Vargas of Brazil and Concordancia of Argentina; USA: Hoover, Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal
 * Import Substitution Industrialisation (ISI) in Latin America: causes and effects

Chapter 12: Canadian Politics in the First Half of the 20th Century
 * French–Canadian nationalism
 * impact of the world wars: conscription, nationalism, sovereignty
 * regionalism and minorities
 * relations with the United States and Britain
 * the Commonwealth of Nations

Chapter 13: Latin American Politics in the First Half of the 20th Century
 * evolution of nationalism, indigenism, and populism
 * role of the military
 * leaders, single-party states and populism: Vargas, Perón
 * nature and effectiveness of dissent

Chapter 14: The Second World War and the Americas
 * hemispheric cooperation or neutrality
 * the role of countries of the region: diplomatic and military
 * the impact of the war on countries of the region
 * the home front: the role of women, impact on minorities
 * treatment of Japanese–Americans and Japanese–Canadians
 * the Americas and the Holocaust
 * the beginning of the atomic age

Chapter 15: Latin American Foreign policy, 1945 to 1995; Canadian Foreign policy, 1945 to 1995
 * relations between the United States and Latin America: influence of ideologies and policies
 * relations between the United States and Canada: ideologies and policies
 * the impact of the Cold War in Latin America
 * the impact of the Cold War in Canada
 * foreign relations

Chapter 16: Political and Economic Developments in the United States After the Second World War
 * developments in the role of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches
 * presidential leadership: Truman to Bush
 * efforts at political and social reform
 * the impact of Vietnam and Watergate
 * economic trends
 * the new conservatism

Chapter 17: United States Foreign Policy, 1945 to 1995
 * origins of the Cold War: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Blockade and Airlift
 * NATO and the Korean War
 * Eisenhower and Dulles
 * Kennedy: Bay of Pigs, Berlin, Cuban Missile Crisis
 * Johnson, Nixon and Vietnam
 * Nixon–Kissinger policies, détente, relations with China
 * the USA and the Middle East
 * Reagan, Bush and the end of the Cold War

Chapter 18: The USA Civil Rights Movement, 1945 to 1995
 * the rise and expansion of the civil rights movement: causes, legal issues, tactics, Martin Luther King Jr, the March on Washington
 * the changing movement: the Black Panthers, Black Muslims, Black Power and Malcolm X
 * Native-Americans civil rights movement
 * Hispanic–American activism
 * the New Feminism
 * supreme court decisions, key congressional legislation, the response of the executive branch

Chapter 19: Political and Economic developments in Latin America After the Second World War
 * revolutions and their causes and effects: political, economic, social and ideological
 * role of leadership
 * the Cuban Revolution and Castro’s regime
 * economic changes
 * Guatemala, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Chile or a country of the candidate’s choice
 * military regimes: causes and effects
 * return to democracy
 * the role of the Catholic church

Chapter 20: Political and Economic Developments in Canada after the Second World War
 * the role of the government
 * domestic policies
 * resources and obstacles
 * urbanization, industrialization and sectionalism
 * changing trade patterns, the role of foreign investment and transnationals, place in the world economy
 * population growth, social legislation, education

Chapter 21: Changing Societies in the Americas in the 20th Century
 * rise to consciousness: native peoples, Québecois, minorities (ethnic, religious)
 * legal and constitutional remedies and effects
 * changing roles and conditions of women in different regions of the Americas
 * cultural developments: intellectual currents, literature, art, music
 * technology, communications, science and industry, impact on public and private life

Chapter 22: Hemispheric Relations, 1945 to 1995
 * international alliances and organizations, including the Organization of American States (OAS)
 * international development strategies: public and private
 * efforts at regional trade and commodity agreements, Pacto Andino, NAFTA, Mercosur
 * sources of tension, interventionism

Appendix 1: Bibliography

Additional Wikibooks

 * US History