AP Government and Politics Summer Assignment
Course Description from AP College Board

“AP U.S. Government and Politics is an introductory college-level course in U.S. government and politics. Students cultivate their understanding of U.S. government and politics through analysis of data and text- based sources as they explore topics like constitutionalism, liberty and order, civic participation in a representative democracy, competing policy-making interests, and methods of political analysis.”
The 9 Foundational Documents 
The AP U.S. Government and Politics course features nine required foundational documents to help students understand the philosophies of the founders and their critics.  All students are required to know these documents.  They will be used throughout the course and they are all on the AP exam.  Students need to read these documents over the summer.  All FRQs on the AP exam use these documents as well as 15 landmark Supreme Court cases.  All documents can be found through the links below.
These Documents are:

1. The Declaration of Independence (www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html)
2. The Constitution of the United States  (constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution)
3. The Articles of Confederation (www.ushistory.org/documents/confederation.htm)
4. Federalist No. 10 (teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/federalist-no-10/)
5. Brutus No. 1 (teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/brutus-i/)
6. Federalist No. 70 (teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/federalist-no-70/)
7. Federalist No. 78 (teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/federalist-no-78/)
8. Federalist No. 51 (teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/federalist-no-51/)
9. “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” (By Martin Luther King, Jr) (web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Letter_Birmingham_Jail.pdf)

15 Must Know Supreme Court Cases – all cases can be found on Oyez.com

1. Marbury v. Madison
2. Engle V. Vitale
3. Wisconsin v. Yoder
4. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent community School District
5. McCulloch v. Maryland
6. United States v. Lopez
7. New York Times Co. v. United States
8. Schenk v. United States
9. Gideon v. Wainwright
10. Roe v. Wade
11. McDonald v. Chicago
12. Brown v. Board of Education
13. Citizens United v. Federal election Commission
14. Baker v. Carr
15. Shaw v. Reno

Assignment:

1. Read all 9 foundational documents
2. Close read and annotate the Declaration of Independence
3. Close read and annotate the Constitution.
4. Read the 15 required Supreme Court cases and familiarize yourself with the constitutional arguments from each.
5. Answer the following FRQ.  This FRQ will the the first test grade of the school year.  Plagiarism, copying, or cheating in any form will not be tolerated and will result in an automatic zero for all parties involved.

Annotation, reading guide, and FRQ are due the first week of school.   There will be a test on the summer assignment in the first full week of school.

FRQ:
Develop an argument that explains why the Bill of Rights needed to be added to the U.S. Constitution.  In your essay you must do the following:

1. Articulate a defensible claim or thesis clearly stating your position
2. Support your claim with at les TWO pieces of accurate and relevant information: at least ONE piece of the information must be from one of the following foundational documents:
1. The Declaration of Independence
2. Brutus No. I
3. Use a second piece of evidence from the other document in the list about or from the Articles of Confederation
4. Use reasoning to organize and analyze evidence, explaining its significance to justify your claim or thesis
5. Address opposing or alternative perspectives through refutation, concession, and rebuttal.