Overview
This textbook provides comprehensive content, skills, and test preparation for students studying AP United States History, covering key developments, periods, themes, and exam strategies from pre-Columbian times to the present.
AP U.S. History Course Structure & Themes
- AP U.S. History is organized into 9 chronological periods from 1491 to today.
- Emphasizes 8 major themes: national identity, work/tech, geography, migration, politics, America in the world, culture, and social structures.
- Focuses on historical thinking skills: analyzing evidence, contextualization, making connections (comparison, causation, continuity/change), argumentation, and writing.
Key Strategies for the AP Exam
- The AP exam includes: 55 MCQs (40%), 3 SAQs (20%), 1 DBQ (25%), 1 LEQ (15%).
- DBQs require analysis of primary/secondary source documents with historical context and a thesis-driven argument.
- LEQs demand a defensible thesis, context, specific evidence, and historical reasoning.
- The rubrics award points for thesis, context, evidence, use of sources, reasoning, and complexity.
Historical Periods & Content Overview
- Period 1 (1491-1607): Native societies, European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, and early contact.
- Period 2 (1607-1754): Colonial development, regional differences, slavery, transatlantic trade, and society/culture.
- Period 3 (1754-1800): Seven Years War, Revolution, new government, Constitution, and early republic.
- Period 4 (1800-1848): Expansion, market revolution, Jacksonian democracy, reform, and slavery debates.
- Period 5 (1844-1877): Manifest Destiny, Civil War causes, war, and Reconstruction.
- Period 6 (1865-1898): Industrialization, urbanization, immigration, labor, politics, and the "New South/West".
- Period 7 (1890-1945): Progressivism, imperialism, World Wars, Great Depression, and New Deal.
- Period 8 (1945-1980): Cold War, civil rights, Vietnam War, and social/political change.
- Period 9 (1980-present): Conservative resurgence, globalization, new economic/immigration challenges, and contemporary issues.
Historical Thinking & Writing Skills
- Analyze primary and secondary sources by considering author, audience, purpose, and context.
- Construct clear, defensible theses and organize essays logically by argument.
- Use specific, relevant historical evidence to support arguments, explaining its significance.
- Demonstrate complexity by considering multiple causes, perspectives, and connections across periods and regions.
- Practice writing short and long responses, self-evaluating using AP rubrics.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Columbian Exchange — Exchange of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Americas and Europe post-1492.
- Encomienda System — Spanish labor system using Native Americans for agriculture/mining.
- Salutary Neglect — British policy of loose enforcement of colonial regulations before 1750.
- Mercantilism — Economic policy emphasizing colonies' role in enriching the mother country.
- Manifest Destiny — Belief in U.S. expansion across the continent as divine right.
- Popular Sovereignty — Idea that residents of a territory decide slavery status themselves.
- Nativism — Anti-immigrant sentiment, especially strong in periods of high immigration.
- Progressivism — Early 20th-century reform movement for government, economic, and social change.
- Containment — U.S. Cold War strategy to stop the spread of communism.
- Great Society — 1960s LBJ programs for civil rights, war on poverty, and social transformation.
- Reaganomics — 1980s economic policy of tax cuts, deregulation, and reduced government spending.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review each unit and topic for content and practice questions.
- Practice MCQs, SAQs, LEQs, and DBQs with self-evaluation using AP rubrics.
- Create timelines and charts comparing periods, themes, and regions.
- Review key terms/themes before the AP exam.
- Read assigned textbook chapters and complete practice tests as scheduled.