AP US History Ultimate Study Guide Notes

Period 1: 1491-1607

1.1 Context: European Encounters in the Americas

• Christopher Columbus Arrival
  • Arrived in 1492
  • Marked beginning of Contact Period
  • Ends in 1607 (first English settlement)
• Bering Land Bridge
  • Connected Eurasia and North America
  • Ancestors of Native Americans crossed into Alaska
  • Bridge submerged, forming the Bering Strait
• Culture clash and conflicts
  • European settlers brought different culture and technology
  • Conflicts with Native Americans
  • Enslaved Africans arrived in 1501

1.2 Native American Societies Before European Contact

• Permanent Settlements
  • Spread of maize cultivation
  • Tribes along coasts
• Nomadic Tribes
  • Great Plains and Southwest

1.3 European Exploration in the Americas

• Columbus Sails Circa 1492
• Age of Exploration
  • European explorers in search of gold, glory, God

1.4 Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest

• Columbian Exchange
  • Exchange of plants, animals, foods, diseases
• Colonization and Spanish power
  • Conquistadors and wealth export

1.5 Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System

• Introduction of Slavery
  • Enslaved Africans, labor needs in Carolinas

1.6 Cultural Interactions Between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans

• Encomienda System
  • Spanish authority over natives

Period 2: 1607-1754

2.1 Colonization

• British Treatment of the Colonies
• English Regulation of Colonial Trade
  • Mercantilism and Navigation Acts

2.2 The Regions of the British Colonies

• Differences between New England and Chesapeake
• Other Early Colonies
  • Proprietorships, Connecticut, Maryland

2.3 Diversity in the Colonies

• Population Growth
  • Increase and diversity

2.4 Major Events in the Period

• Bacon's Rebellion
• Stono Uprising
• Salem Witch Trials

Period 3: 1754-1800

3.1 The Seven Years War (1754-1763)

• Consequences
  • British debt, colonial resentment

3.2 Taxation without Representation

• The Sugar Act, the Stamp Act
  • Colonial discontent

3.3 Congress and the Revolution

• The First Continental Congress
• The Declaration of Independence

3.4 The Pre-Revolutionary War Era

• Loyalists vs. Patriots

3.5 The Articles of Confederation

• Limitations

3.6 A New Constitution

• Constitutional Convention
• Ratification

3.7 The Washington Presidency

• George Washington as First President

3.8 Origins of Two-Party System

• Differences between Hamilton and Jefferson

Period 4: 1800-1848

4.1 The Revolution of 1800

• Jefferson's Presidency

4.2 Madisons Presidency and the War of 1812

• Macon's Bill No. 2 and War of 1812

4.3 Political Events and Social Developments

• The Election of 1824

4.4 The Jackson Presidency

• Jacksonian Democracy

4.5 Westward Expansion

• Manifest Destiny

Period 5: 1844-1877

5.1 Political and Judicial activity before the war

• Polk Presidency

5.2 The Compromise of 1850

• Main Players
  • Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Douglas

5.3 The Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1877)

• Civil War Outcome and Reconstruction

Period 6: 1865-1898

6.1 The age of invention and economic growth

• Industrialization
  • Introduction of fast machines and production

6.2 Jim Crow Laws and Other Developments in the South

• Discriminatory Laws

6.3 The Silver Issue and the Populist Movement

• Grange Movement and People's Party

6.4 Foreign Policy: The Tariff and Imperialism

• Spanish-American War

Period 7: 1890-1945

7.1 The Progressive Era and World War 1

• Progressive Movements

7.2 Foreign Policy and U.S. Entry into World War I

• Espionage Act and Sedition Act

7.3 The Jazz Age and The Great Depression

• Prohibition and New Deal

7.4 The New Deal and World War II

• Roosevelt's Policies

7.5 Foreign Policy Leading up to World War II

• Neutrality Acts and Lend-Lease

Period 8: 1945-1980

8.1 Truman and the beginning of The Cold War

• Containment Policy

8.2 McCarthyism

• Red Scare and McCarthy

8.3 Trumans Domestic Policy

• Fair Deal

8.4 The Korean War

8.5 The Eisenhower years

8.6 Third World Politics

• US Influence

8.7 The 1960 Presidential Election

8.8 Kennedy and Domestic Policy

• Civil Rights Movement

8.9 The Civil Rights Movement

8.10 The New Left, Feminism, and the Counterculture

8.11 The Counter Counterculture

Period 9: 1980-Present

9.1 Ronald Reagan

• Supply-Side Economics

9.2 George H.W. Bush

• Persian Gulf War

9.3 Changing Demographics

• Immigration Trends

9.4 The Clinton Presidency (1993-2001)

9.5 The 2000 Election

• Bush vs. Gore

9.6 Recent Trends

• Trump Presidency & 2020 Election