 This week in AP US History, we’re tackling one of my favorite classroom paradoxes: was the "Era of Good Feelings" actually all that good? On paper, the post-War of 1812 years look like a period of complete political harmony—one-party rule, a burst of post-war pride, and a unified national identity. But as any AP teacher knows, the real fun begins when students look beneath the surface to find the deep economic, regional, and political fractures forming underneath. Our main goal this week is to get students debating our central prompt: To what extent can the period from 1815 to 1824 accurately be labeled an "Era of Good Feelings"?
To begin, students will take a minute to create Thin Slides defining nationalism and sectionalism. Then, we break down Henry Clay’s American System—looking closely at who really won and lost with the Tariff of 1816, internal improvements, and the Second Bank of the U.S. to figure out if these policies actually united the nation or just widened regional divides. From there, we jump straight into the intense arguments surrounding the Missouri Compromise, pitting Northern and Southern perspectives against each other to show how the expansion of slavery shattered the illusion of unity. We then pivot to foreign policy, starting with a deep dive into Andrew Jackson’s background—examining the events, obstacles, and personal motivations that shaped him, since he's about to become a major player in our upcoming units. That sets the stage for tracking his actions in Florida that led to the Adams-Onís Treaty, followed by an analysis of the Monroe Doctrine and its long-term impact on American foreign policy. Finally, students bring all these pieces together to write a thesis statement that wrestles with the true complexity of the era. Want to know more? Check out my APUSH Weekly Agendas and Pacing Calendar.
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 Even though I’m officially on Fall Break this week, my AP U.S. Government and AP U.S. History Weekly Agendas are still here if you’d like to take a peek at what’s happening in my classroom! You can use the links below to see our daily learning targets, find links to assignments and resources, and check out the closing activities I’m using with my students. One little disclaimer, though: these are my actual working agendas, not polished plans created after the fact, so they are always subject to change! Our school calendar—and especially our alternate schedule—can have a pretty big impact on what we accomplish. For example, Fridays are shortened class periods for us, so what looks like a five-day plan on the agenda may not always play out exactly that way. Think of the agendas as a window into my classroom rather than a perfectly predictable roadmap.
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My name is Angela Zorn. I work full-time as an educator at Bullitt Central High School in suburban Kentucky where I teach AP U.S. Government, AP U.S. History, & U.S. History. In addition, I provide training & consulting services throughout the United States.
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