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AP United States History
Course and Exam Description
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00643-003 160081395
AP
®
United States
History
COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTION
Effective
Fall 2017
INCLUDING:
Course framework with
contextual information
Instructional section
A practice exam
About the College Board
The College Board is a mission-driven not-for-prot organization that connects students to
college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board was created to expand
access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of over 6,000 of the
world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity
in education. Each year, the College Board helps more than seven million students prepare
for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness
and college success—including the SAT
®
and the Advanced Placement Program
®
. The
organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy on behalf of
students, educators, and schools. For further information, visit www.collegeboard.org.
AP
®
Equity and Access Policy
The College Board strongly encourages educators to make equitable access a guiding
principle for their AP programs by giving all willing and academically prepared students the
opportunity to participate in AP. We encourage the elimination of barriers that restrict access
to AP for students from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally
underrepresented. Schools should make every eort to ensure their AP classes reect the
diversity of their student population. The College Board also believes that all students should
have access to academically challenging course work before they enroll in AP classes, which
can prepare them for AP success. It is only through a commitment to equitable preparation
and access that true equity and excellence can be achieved.
© 2017 The College Board. College Board, Advanced Placement Program, AP, AP Central, and the acorn
logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. All other products and services may be trademarks of
their respective owners. Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
Contents
Changes in this Edition of the Course and Exam Description v
Acknowledgments vi
About AP 1
Oering AP Courses and Enrolling Students 2
How AP Courses and Exams Are Developed 2
How AP Exams Are Scored 3
Using and Interpreting AP Scores 3
Additional Resources 3
About the AP U.S. History Course 4
Participating in the AP Course Audit 5
AP U.S. History Course Framework 7
Overview 7
I. AP History Disciplinary Practices and Reasoning Skills 8
II. Thematic Learning Objectives 10
Theme 1: American and National Identity 12
Theme 2: Politics and Power 13
Theme 3: Work, Exchange, and Technology 14
Theme 4: Culture and Society 15
Theme 5: Migration and Settlement 16
Theme 6: Geography and the Environment 17
Theme 7: America in the World 18
III. Concept Outline 19
Historical Periods 19
A Note About Periodization 20
The Founding Documents 20
Using the Concept Outline to Plan Instruction 20
Period 1: 1491–1607 21
Period 2: 1607–1754 27
Period 3: 1754–1800 35
Period 4: 1800–1848 47
Period 5: 1844–1877 57
Period 6: 1865–1898 65
Period 7: 1890–1945 73
Period 8: 1945–1980 83
Period 9: 1980–Present 93
AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches 99
Organizational Approaches 99
Selecting and Using Course Materials 100
Developing the Disciplinary Practices and Reasoning Skills 103
Increasing Depth and Managing Breadth Through Instructional Choices 117
Strategies for Instruction 119
AP U.S. History Exam 129
Exam Overview 129
How Student Learning Is Assessed on the AP Exam 130
Exam Components 131
Practice Exam 133
Answer Key and Question Alignment to Course Framework 163
Contact Us 166
Changes in this Edition of the
Course and Exam Description
This edition of the course and exam description updates the 2015 edition with the following
changes, which respond to teachers' concerns and promote the goals of exibility and
in-depth instruction that are critical to college-level history courses.
n
The practices and skills assessed on the exam have been reduced and streamlined, with the
skills of periodization and synthesis removed.
n
The exam design has been reconceived to allow more time for in-depth student responses
on free-response questions and increase the amount of choice and exibility on the exam to
support local institutional curricular focus. The changes include:
w The document-based question will be limited to topics from periods 3 to 8 in the
course.
w The long essay question choices will continue to focus on the same theme and
skill, now allowing for students to select among three options, each focusing on
a dierent time period in the course.
w The number of required short-answer questions has been reduced to three.
Students will be given a choice among two options for the nal required short-
answer question, each one focusing on a dierent time period.
w 10 minutes have been added to Section II (the document-based question and the
long essay question).
w The rubrics for the document-based question and the long essay questions have
been streamlined. Both are available on AP Central.
There have been no changes to the themes, learning objectives, or concept outline material for
this course since the 2015 edition.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
Changes in this Edition of the Course and Exam Description
v
Acknowledgments
The College Board would like to acknowledge the following committee members,
consultants, and reviewers for their assistance with and commitment to the development
of this curriculum and assessment. All individuals and their aliations were current at the
time of contribution.
Fred Anderson, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO
Juliana Barr, Duke University, Durham, NC
Julie Bell, James Madison School, Houston, TX
Kevin Byrne, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN
Christopher Capozzola, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Billie Jean Clemens, Swain County High School, Bryson City, NC
Ted Dickson, Providence Day School, Charlotte, NC
Rosemary Ennis, Sycamore High School, Cincinnati, OH
Geri Hastings, Catonsville High School, Baltimore, MD
Jason George, The Bryn Mawr School, Baltimore, MD
Christine Heyrman, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
John P. Irish, Carroll Senior High School, Southlake, TX
Kathleen Kean, Nicolet High School, Glendale, WI
David Kennedy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Elizabeth Kessel, Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, MD
Stuart Lade, Brainerd High School, Brainerd, MN
Emma Lapsansky, Haverford College, Haverford, PA
Mary Lopez, Schaumburg High School, Schaumburg, IL
Maria Montoya, New York University, New York, NY
Cassandra Osborne, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge, TN
E. Anthony Rotundo, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
James Sabathne, Hononegah Community High School, Rockton, IL
Daryl Michael Scott, Howard University, Washington, DC
Suzanne Sinke, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Timothy Thurber, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Lawrence Charap, Senior Director, AP Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
Acknowledgments
vi
About AP
The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program
®
(AP) enables students to pursue college-
level studies while still in high school. Through more than 30 courses, each culminating in a
rigorous exam, AP provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity
to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both. Taking AP courses also demonstrates
to college admission ocers that students have sought out the most rigorous course work
available to them.
Each AP course is modeled upon a comparable college course, and college and university
faculty play a vital role in ensuring that AP courses align with college-level standards.
Talented and dedicated AP teachers help AP students in classrooms around the world develop
and apply the content knowledge and skills they will need later in college.
Each AP course concludes with a college-level assessment developed and scored by college
and university faculty as well as experienced AP teachers. AP Exams are an essential
part of the AP experience, enabling students to demonstrate their mastery of college-level
course work. Most four-year colleges and universities in the United States and universities
in more than 60 countries recognize AP in the admission process and grant students credit,
placement, or both on the basis of successful AP Exam scores. Visit www.collegeboard.org/
apcreditpolicy to view AP credit and placement policies.
Performing well on an AP Exam means more than just the successful completion of a
course; it is a gateway to success in college. Research consistently shows that students who
receive a score of 3 or higher on AP Exams typically experience greater academic success in
college and have higher graduation rates than their non-AP peers.
1
Additional AP studies are
available at www.collegeboard.org/research.
1
See the following research studies for more details:
Linda Hargrove, Donn Godin, and Barbara Dodd, College Outcomes Comparisons by AP and Non-AP
High School Experiences (New York: The College Board, 2008).
Chrys Dougherty, Lynn Mellor, and Shuling Jian, The Relationship Between Advanced Placement and
College Graduation (Austin, Texas: National Center for Educational Accountability, 2006).
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
About AP
1
Oering AP Courses and Enrolling Students
Each AP course and exam description details objectives and expectations of an AP course.
The AP Program unequivocally supports the principle that each school develops and
implements its own curriculum that will enable students to develop the content knowledge
and skills described here.
Schools wishing to oer AP courses must participate in the AP Course Audit, a process
through which AP teachers’ syllabi are reviewed by college faculty. The AP Course Audit
was created at the request of College Board members who sought a means for the College
Board to provide teachers and administrators with clear guidelines on curricular and resource
requirements for AP courses and to help colleges and universities validate courses marked
“AP” on students’ transcripts. This process ensures that AP teachers’ syllabi meet or exceed
the curricular and resource expectations that college and secondary school faculty have
established for college-level courses. For more information on the AP Course Audit, visit
www.collegeboard.org/apcourseaudit.
The College Board strongly encourages educators to make equitable access a guiding
principle for their AP programs by giving all willing and academically prepared students the
opportunity to participate in AP. We encourage the elimination of barriers that restrict access
to AP for students from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally
underserved. Schools should make every eort to ensure their AP classes reect the diversity
of their student population. The College Board also believes that all students should have
access to academically challenging course work before they enroll in AP classes, which can
prepare them for AP success. It is only through a commitment to equitable preparation and
access that true equity and excellence can be achieved.
How AP Courses and Exams Are Developed
AP courses and exams are designed by committees of college faculty and expert AP
teachers who ensure that each AP subject reects and assesses college-level expectations.
To nd a list of each subject’s current AP Development Committee members, please
visitcollegeboard.org/apcommittees. AP Development Committees dene the scope and
expectations of the course, articulating through a course framework what students should
know and be able to do upon completion of the AP course. Their work is informed by data
collected from a range of colleges and universities to ensure that AP coursework reects
scholarship and developments in the discipline.
The AP Development Committees are also responsible for drawing clear and well-articulated
connections between the AP course and AP Exam—work that includes designing and
approving exam specications and exam questions. The AP Exam development process is a
multiyear endeavor; all AP Exams undergo extensive review, revision, piloting, and analysis
to ensure that questions are high quality and fair and that there is an appropriate spread of
diculty across the questions.
Throughout AP course and exam development, the College Board gathers feedback from
various stakeholders in both secondary schools and higher education institutions. This
feedback is carefully considered to ensure that AP courses and exams are able to provide
students with a college-level learning experience and the opportunity to demonstrate their
qualications for advanced placement upon college entrance.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
About AP
2
How AP Exams Are Scored
The exam scoring process, like the course and exam development process, relies on the
expertise of both AP teachers and college faculty. While multiple-choice questions are scored
by machine, the free-response questions are scored by thousands of college faculty and expert
AP teachers at the annual AP Reading. AP Exam Readers are thoroughly trained, and their
work is monitored throughout the Reading for fairness and consistency. In each subject, a
highly respected college faculty member lls the role of Chief Reader, who, with the help of
AP Readers in leadership positions, maintains the accuracy of the scoring standards. Scores
on the free-response questions are weighted and combined with the results of the computer-
scored multiple-choice questions, and this raw score is converted into a composite AP score
of 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1.
The score-setting process is both precise and labor intensive, involving numerous
psychometric analyses of the results of a specic AP Exam in a specic year and of the
particular group of students who took that exam. Additionally, to ensure alignment with
college-level standards, part of the score-setting process involves comparing the performance
of AP students with the performance of students enrolled in comparable courses in colleges
throughout the United States. In general, the AP composite score points are set so that the
lowest raw score needed to earn an AP Exam score of 5 is equivalent to the average score
among college students earning grades of A in the college course. Similarly, AP Exam scores
of 4 are equivalent to college grades of A−, B+, and B. AP Exam scores of 3 are equivalent to
college grades of B−, C+, and C.
Using and Interpreting AP Scores
The extensive work done by college faculty and AP teachers in the development of the course
and the exam and throughout the scoring process ensures that AP Exam scores accurately
represent students’ achievement in the equivalent college course. While colleges and
universities are responsible for setting their own credit and placement policies, AP scores
signify how qualied students are to receive college credit or placement:
AP Score Qualication
5 Extremely well qualied
4 Well qualied
3 Qualied
2 Possibly qualied
1 No recommendation
Additional Resources
Visit apcentral.collegeboard.org for more information about the AP Program.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
About AP
3
About the AP U.S. History Course
AP U.S. History is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester introductory college or
university U.S. history course. In AP U.S. History students investigate signicant events,
individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods from approximately 1491
to the present. Students develop and use the same skills, practices, and methods employed
by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments;
making historical comparisons; and utilizing reasoning about contextualization, causation,
and continuity and change over time. The course also provides seven themes that students
explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments
in dierent times and places: American and national identity; migration and settlement;
politics and power; work, exchange, and technology; America in the world; geography and the
environment; and culture and society.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for AP U.S. History. Students should be able to read a college-level
textbook and write grammatically correct, complete sentences.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
About the AP U.S. History Course
4
Participating in the AP Course Audit
Schools wishing to oer AP courses must participate in the AP Course Audit. Participation
in the AP Course Audit requires the online submission of two documents: the AP Course
Audit form and the teacher’s syllabus. The AP Course Audit form is submitted by the AP
teacher and the school principal (or designated administrator) to conrm awareness and
understanding of the curricular and resource requirements. The syllabus, detailing how
requirements are met, is submitted by the AP teacher for review by college faculty.
Please visit www.collegeboard.com/html/apcourseaudit/courses/us_history.html forthe
Curricular and Resource Requirements that identify the set of curricular and resource
expectations that college faculty nationwide have established for a college-level course, as
well as for more information to support syllabus development including:
n
Annotated Sample Syllabi — Provide examples of how the curricular requirements can be
demonstrated within the context of actual syllabi.
n
Example Textbook List — Includes a sample of AP college-level textbooks that meet the
content requirements of the AP course.
n
Syllabus Development Guide — Includes the guidelines reviewers use to evaluate syllabi
along with three samples of evidence for each requirement. This guide also species the
level of detail required in the syllabus to receive course authorization.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
Participating in the AP Course Audit
5
AP U.S. History Course Framework
The AP U.S. History course outlined in this framework reects a commitment to what
history teachers, professors, and researchers have agreed is the main goal of a college-level
U.S. history survey course: learning to analyze and interpret historical facts and evidence to
achieve understanding of major developments in U.S. history.
To accomplish this goal, the AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description denes concepts,
skills, and understandings required by representative colleges and universities for granting
college credit and placement. Students practice the reasoning skills used by historians by
studying primary and secondary source evidence, analyzing a wide array of historical facts
and perspectives, and expressing historical arguments in writing.
This document is not a complete curriculum. Teachers create their own curriculum by
selecting, for each concept, content that enables students to explore the course learning
objectives and that meets state or local requirements. The result is a course that prepares
students for college credit and placement while relieving the pressure on AP teachers to
supercially cover all possible details of U.S. history.
Overview
I. AP History Disciplinary Practices and Reasoning Skills
The AP history disciplinary practices and reasoning skills are central to the study and
practice of history. Teachers should help students develop and apply the described practices
and skills on a regular basis over the span of the course.
II. Thematic Learning Objectives
The thematic learning objectives, organized into seven major themes, describe what students
must be able to do by the end of the AP U.S. History course. These learning objectives are the
targets of AP Exam questions.
III. Concept Outline
The concept outline details key concepts that colleges and universities typically expect
students to understand in order to qualify for college credit and/or placement.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
7
I. A P History Disciplinary Practices
and Reasoning Skills
The AP history courses seek to apprentice students to the practice of history by emphasizing
the development of disciplinary practices and skills while learning historical content.
Students best develop these practices and skills by investigating the past through the
exploration and interpretation of a rich array of primary sources and secondary texts and
through the regular development of historical argumentation in writing. This section presents
the disciplinary practices and reasoning skills that students should develop in all AP history
courses. The tables describe what students should be able to do with each practice or skill.
Every AP Exam question will assess one or more of these practices and skills.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
8
AP History Disciplinary Practices and Reasoning Skills
AP History Disciplinary Practices
Practice 1: Analyzing Historical Evidence Practice 2: Argument Development
Students will be assessed on their ability to ...
Primary Sources
w
Describe historically relevant information and/or arguments within a
source.
w
Explain how a source provides information about the broader historical
setting within which it was created.
w
Explain how a source’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or
audience might aect a source’s meaning.
w
Explain the relative historical signicance of a source’s point of view,
purpose, historical situation, and/or audience.
w
Evaluate a source’s credibility and/or limitations.
Secondary Sources
w
Describe the claim or argument of a secondary source, as well as the
evidence used.
w
Describe a pattern or trend in quantitative data in non-text-based sources.
w
Explain how a historian’s claim or argument is supported with evidence.
w
Explain how a historian’s context inuences the claim or argument.
w
Analyze patterns and trends in quantitative data in non-text-based sources.
w
Evaluate the eectiveness of a historical claim or argument.
w
Make a historically defensible
claim in the form of an evaluative
thesis.
w
Support an argument using
specic and relevant evidence.
w
Use historical reasoning to
explain relationships among
pieces of historical evidence.
w
Consider ways that diverse or
alternative evidence could be used
to qualify or modify an argument.
AP History Reasoning Skills
Skill 1:
Contextualization
Skill 2:
Comparison
Skill 3:
Causation
Skill 4:
Continuity and
Change over Time
Describe an accurate
historical context for
a specic historical
development or
process.
Describe similarities and/or
dierences between dierent
historical developments or
processes.
Describe causes or eects
of a specic historical
development or process.
Describe patterns
of continuity and/or
change over time.
Explain how a relevant
context inuenced
a specic historical
development or
process.
Explain relevant similarities
and/or dierences
between specic historical
developments and processes.
Explain the relationship
between causes and eects
of a specic historical
development or process.
Explain the dierence
between primary and
secondary causes and
between short- and long-
term eects.
Explain patterns of
continuity and/or
change over time.
Use context to explain
the relative historical
signicance of a
specic historical
development or
process.
Explain the relative historical
signicance of similarities
and/or dierences between
dierent historical
developments or processes.
Explain the relative historical
signicance of dierent
causes and/or eects.
Explain the relative
historical signicance
of specic historical
developments in
relation to a larger
pattern of continuity
and/or change.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
9
AP History Disciplinary Practices and Reasoning Skills
II. Thematic Learning Objectives
The thematic learning objectives describe, at a high level, the knowledge colleges expect
students to develop in the AP U.S. History course in order to be qualied for credit and
placement. In order to help students develop this knowledge, teachers will need to anchor
their locally developed AP syllabi in historical content and skills. The learning objectives are
grouped into seven themes typically included in college-level U.S. history courses:
n
American and National Identity (NAT)
n
Politics and Power (POL)
n
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
n
Culture and Society (CUL)
n
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
n
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
n
America in the World (WOR)
These themes focus on major historical issues and changes, helping students connect the
historical content they study to broad developments and processes that have emerged over
centuries in what has become the United States. Each theme is presented with its description
and a table that outlines the learning objectives for that theme.
The tables of thematic learning objectives in this section serve as an index to the concept
outline (contained in Section III) by indicating where content related to each learning
objective can be found in the concept outline. These tables help to highlight the relationship
between specic historical content and broader historical developments.
A guide to a sample page of learning objectives is provided on the following page.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
10
Thematic Learning Objectives
Sample Table of Thematic Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
Students are able to …
Relevant Topics in the
Concept Outline
NAT-1.0 Explain how ideas about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression in the development of cultural values,
political institutions, and American identity.
2.1.II
2.2.I
3.1.II
3.2.I
4.1.III
5.2.I
5.3.I
6.2.II
7.3.II
8.2.I
NAT-2.0 Explain how interpretations of the Constitution and debates
over rights, liberties, and denitions of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and society.
3.2.II
3.2.III
4.1.I
5.2.II
5.3.II
6.3.II
7.2.I
8.2.I
9.3.II
The learning objectives in this
column articulate expectations
for student performance on the
APUnited States History Exam.
Each learning objective is supported by historical
examples and processes that are explained in the
concept outline in Section III. This part of the table
describes the correlations between the learning
objective and the concept outline.
This particular example
refers to the second
suppor
ting concept (Roman
numeral) statement under
Key Concept 9.3.
The learning objectives are
coded to the corresponding
theme (NAT) and numbered
consecutively.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
11
Thematic Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives by Theme
Theme 1: American and National Identity (NAT)
This theme focuses on how and why denitions of American and national identity and values
have developed, as well as related topics such as citizenship, constitutionalism, foreign policy,
assimilation, and American exceptionalism.
Learning Objectives
Students are able to ...
Relevant Topics in the
Concept Outline
NAT-1.0 Explain how ideas about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression in the development of cultural
values, political institutions, and American identity.
2.1.II
2.2.I
3.1.II
3.2.I
4.1.III
5.2.I
5.3.I
6.2.II
7.3.II
8.2.I
NAT-2.0 Explain how interpretations of the Constitution and
debates over rights, liberties, and denitions of citizenship
have aected American values, politics, and society.
3.2.II
3.2.III
4.1.I
5.2.II
5.3.II
6.3.II
7.2.I
8.2.I
9.3.II
NAT-3.0 Analyze how ideas about national identity changed in
response to U.S. involvement in international conicts and the
growth of the United States.
3.3.II
5.1.I
7.3.I
7.3.II
7.3.III
8.1.II
9.3.II
NAT-4.0 Analyze relationships among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and explain how these groups’
experiences have related to U.S. national identity.
4.1.I
4.1.II
5.1.II
6.2.I
7.3.III
8.2.I
8.2.II
9.2.II
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
12
Thematic Learning Objectives
Theme 2: Politics and Power (POL)
This theme focuses on how dierent social and political groups have inuenced society
and government in the United States, as well as how political beliefs and institutions have
changed over time.
Learning Objectives
Students are able to ...
Relevant Topics in the
Concept Outline
POL-1.0 Explain how and why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and alignments have developed
and changed.
2.2.I
3.2.II
3.2.III
3.3.II
4.1.I
5.2.II
6.3.II
7.1.III
8.2.III
9.1.I
POL-2.0 Explain how popular movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to change American society and
institutions.
3.1.II
4.1.III
4.3.II
5.2.I
6.1.III
6.3.II
7.1.II
8.2.I
8.2.II
8.2.III
8.3.II
9.1.I
POL-3.0 Explain how dierent beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
3.2.II
3.2.III
4.2.I
4.2.III
5.3.II
6.1.III
6.2.II
7.1.II
7.1.III
8.2.III
9.1.I
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
13
Thematic Learning Objectives
Theme 3: Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
This theme focuses on the factors behind the development of systems of economic exchange,
particularly the role of technology, economic markets, and government.
Learning Objectives
Students are able to ...
Relevant Topics in the
Concept Outline
WXT-1.0 Explain how dierent labor systems developed in
North America and the United States, and explain their eects
on workers’ lives and U.S. society.
1.2.II
2.2.II
3.2.III
4.2.II
4.3.II
5.2.I
5.3.II
6.1.I
6.1.II
7.1.III
9.2.I
WXT-2.0 Explain how patterns of exchange, markets, and
private enterprise have developed, and analyze ways that
governments have responded to economic issues.
1.2.I
2.1.II
2.1.III
2.2.I
3.2.II
4.1.I
4.2.I
4.2.III
6.1.I
6.1.II
7.1.I
7.1.III
8.1.I
9.1.I
9.2.I
WXT-3.0 Analyze how technological innovation has aected
economic development and society.
1.2.I
4.2.I
6.1.I
6.1.III
7.1.I
7.2.I
8.3.I
9.2.I
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
14
Thematic Learning Objectives
Theme 4: Culture and Society (CUL)
This theme focuses on the roles that ideas, beliefs, social mores, and creative expression have
played in shaping the United States, as well as how various identities, cultures, and values
have been preserved or changed in dierent contexts of U.S. history.
Learning Objectives
Students are able to ...
Relevant Topics in the
Concept Outline
CUL-1.0 Explain how religious groups and ideas have aected
American society and political life.
1.2.III
2.2.I
3.2.I
4.1.II
6.3.I
7.2.I
8.3.II
CUL-2.0 Explain how artistic, philosophical, and scientic
ideas have developed and shaped society and institutions.
2.2.I
3.2.III
4.1.II
5.2.I
6.3.I
7.2.I
8.3.II
CUL-3.0 Explain how ideas about women’s rights and gender
roles have aected society and politics.
1.2.III
2.2.II
3.2.I
4.1.III
4.2.II
5.3.II
6.3.II
7.1.II
7.3.III
8.2.II
8.3.II
9.2.II
CUL-4.0 Explain how dierent group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and regional identities, have emerged and
changed over time.
1.2.III
2.1.III
2.2.II
3.3.I
4.1.II
4.2.II
4.3.II
5.1.II
6.1.II
7.2.I
7.2.II
8.2.II
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
15
Thematic Learning Objectives
Theme 5: Migration and Settlement (MIG)
This theme focuses on why and how the various people who moved to and within the United
States both adapted to and transformed their new social and physical environments.
Learning Objectives
Students are able to ...
Relevant Topics in the
Concept Outline
MIG-1.0 Explain the causes of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on U.S. society.
1.2.II
2.1.I
2.1.II
3.3.I
4.2.III
5.1.II
6.2.I
7.2.II
8.3.I
9.2.II
MIG-2.0 Analyze causes of internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would become the United States, and
explain how migration has aected American life.
1.1.I
2.1.II
3.1.I
3.3.I
4.2.III
4.3.I
5.1.I
6.2.I
6.2.II
7.1.I
7.2.II
8.3.I
9.2.II
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
16
Thematic Learning Objectives
Theme 6: Geography and the Environment (GEO)
This theme focuses on the role of geography and both the natural and human-made
environments on social and political developments in what would become the United States.
Learning Objectives
Students are able to ...
Relevant Topics in the
Concept Outline
GEO-1.0 Explain how geographic and environmental factors
shaped the development of various communities, and analyze
how competition for and debates over natural resources have
aected both interactions among dierent groups and the
development of government policies.
1.1.I
1.2.II
2.1.II
3.3.I
4.3.II
5.1.I
6.2.II
7.1.II
8.1.II
8.2.II
9.3.II
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
17
Thematic Learning Objectives
Theme 7: America in the World (WOR)
This theme focuses on the interactions between nations that aected North American history
in the colonial period and on the inuence of the United States on world aairs.
Learning Objectives
Students are able to ...
Relevant Topics in the
Concept Outline
WOR-1.0 Explain how cultural interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict between empires, nations, and
peoples have inuenced political, economic, and social
developments in North America.
1.2.I
1.2.III
2.1.I
2.1.III
2.2.II
3.1.I
3.1.II
3.3.I
3.3.II
4.3.I
5.1.I
6.2.II
WOR-2.0 Analyze the reasons for and results of U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
3.3.II
4.3.I
5.1.I
5.3.I
6.1.I
7.3.I
7.3.II
7.3.III
8.1.I
8.1.II
9.3.I
9.3.II
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
18
Thematic Learning Objectives
III. Concept Outline
The concept outline is structured around nine chronological periods, each composed of key
concepts typically encountered in college-level United States history courses. In order for
students to develop an understanding of these concepts, teachers will need to select specic
historical gures, groups, and events—and the primary and secondary source documents
through which they can be examined—that enable students to investigate them. In this way,
AP teachers create their own local curriculum for AP U.S. History.
The inclusion of names: As has been the case for all prior versions of the AP U.S. History
course, the AP U.S. History concept outline includes a minimal number of individual names:
the founders, several presidents and party leaders, and other individuals who are almost
universally taught in college-level U.S. history courses. As history teachers know well, the
concepts in this outline cannot be taught without careful attention to the individuals, events,
and documents of American history; however, to ensure teachers have exibility to teach
specic content that is valued locally and individually, the course outline avoids prescribing
details that would require all teachers to teach the same historical examples. Each teacher is
responsible for selecting specic individuals, events, and documents for student investigation
of the concepts in the outline.
Historical Periods
The historical periods, from pre-Columbian contacts in North America (represented
symbolically by the date 1491) to the present, provide a temporal framework for the course.
The instructional importance and assessment weighting for each period varies:
Period Date Range
Approximate Percentage of ...
Instructional Time AP Exam
1 1491–1607 5% 5%
2 1607–1754 10%
45%
3 1754–1800 12%
4 1800–1848 10%
5 1844–1877 13%
6 1865–1898 13%
45%7 1890–1945 17%
8 1945–1980 15%
9 1980–Present 5% 5%
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
19
Concept Outline
A Note About Periodization
Following the example of many subelds within U.S. history, as well as the approach
adopted by most U.S. history textbooks, the concept outline reects an acknowledgment that
historians dier in how they apply boundaries between distinct historical eras. Several of the
periods show some degree of overlap, depending on the kinds of key concepts in that period.
For example, Period 4, which begins in 1800, emphasizes antebellum reform and social
change (with 1848 as an ending point because of the Seneca Falls Convention). Period 5
focuses on how expansion led to debates over slavery, thus beginning with Manifest Destiny
and the election of James K. Polk in 1844; it spans the Civil War and Reconstruction and ends
with the Compromise of 1877. The emphasis in Period 6 on economic development logically
begins with the end of the Civil War in 1865 and ends on the eve of the Spanish–American
War in 1898. Period 7 uses 1890 as the appropriate starting date for America’s rise to global
power—a major conceptual focus of the period.
The Founding Documents
In the context of American history, the in-depth examination of the ideas and debates in
the founding documents (e.g., the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of
Rights, the Federalist Papers) helps students better understand pivotal moments in America’s
history. Through close reading and careful analysis of these documents, students gain
insights into the remarkable people, ideas, and events that shaped the nation. Ultimately,
students with command of the founding documents and a capacity to trace their inuence will
nd opportunities throughout the course to draw on and apply this knowledge.
Throughout the course, students closely read and analyze foundational documents and other
primary and secondary sources in order to gain historical understanding. Teachers may
use these documents to help students trace ideas and themes throughout American history.
On the AP U.S. History Exam, students will be expected to read and analyze primary and
secondary sources, draw upon evidence from them, and connect them to the students’ own
historical knowledge and understanding. For these reasons, teachers may elect to teach the
founding documents and the ideas they express in-depth during the course.
Using the Concept Outline to Plan Instruction
In the pages that follow, thematic learning objectives are provided to show teachers how
the learning objectives can be applied to the various statements in the concept outline and
to also help teachers make thematic connections across the outline’s chronology. Space is
also provided for teachers to insert into the concept outline the relevant and specic content
(individuals, groups, events, and primary and secondary sources and documents) they
choose to focus on in their AP U.S. History course. Teachers may nd it helpful to provide a
completed copy of this outline to students to help them track and review the content they are
studying for each concept. This may provide them with a valuable resource when preparing
for the AP Exam at the end of the year.
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
20
Concept Outline
1491–1607
1607–1754 1754–1800 1800–1848 1844–1877 1865 –1898 1890–1945 1945–1980 1980–PRESENT
PERIOD 1:
1491–1607
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 1.1 — As native populations migrated and settled
across the vast expanse of North America over time, they developed
distinct and increasingly complex societies by adapting to and
transforming their diverse environments.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
I. Dierent native societies adapted to and transformed their environments
through innovations in agriculture, resource use, and social structure.
A. The spread of maize cultivation
from present-day Mexico
northward into the present-
day American Southwest and
beyond supported economic
development, settlement,
advanced irrigation, and social
diversication among societies.
B. Societies responded to the
aridity of the Great Basin and
the grasslands of the western
Great Plains by developing
largely mobile lifestyles.
C. In the Northeast, the
Mississippi River Valley, and
along the Atlantic seaboard
some societies developed
mixed agricultural and
hunter-gatherer economies
that favored the development
of permanent villages.
D. Societies in the Northwest
and present-day California
supported themselves by
hunting and gathering, and in
some areas developed settled
communities supported by the
vast resources of the ocean.
Period 1: 1491–1607
Key Concept 1.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
22
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 1.2 — Contact among Europeans, Native Americans,
and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and signicant
social, cultural, and political changes on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how
technological innovation has
aected economic development
and society.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
I. European expansion into the Western Hemisphere generated intense
social, religious, political, and economic competition and changes within
European societies.
A. European nations’ eorts
to explore and conquer the
New World stemmed from
a search for new sources of
wealth, economic and military
competition, and a desire to
spread Christianity.
B. The Columbian Exchange
brought new crops to
Europe from the Americas,
stimulating European
population growth, and
new sources of mineral
wealth, which facilitated the
European shift from feudalism
to capitalism.
C. Improvements in maritime
technology and more
organized methods for
conducting international
trade, such as joint-stock
companies, helped drive
changes to economies in
Europe and the Americas.
Period 1: 1491–1607
Key Concept 1.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
23
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 1.2 — Contact among Europeans, Native Americans,
and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and signicant
social, cultural, and political changes on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on
U.S. society.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their
eects on workers’ lives and
U.S. society.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
II. The Columbian Exchange and development of the Spanish Empire in the
Western Hemisphere resulted in extensive demographic, economic, and
social changes.
A. Spanish exploration and
conquest of the Americas
were accompanied and
furthered by widespread
deadly epidemics that
devastated native populations
and by the introduction of
crops and animals not found
in the Americas.
B. In the encomienda system,
Spanish colonial economies
marshaled Native American
labor to support plantation-
based agriculture and extract
precious metals and other
resources.
C. European traders partnered
with some West African
groups who practiced slavery
to forcibly extract slave
labor for the Americas. The
Spanish imported enslaved
Africans to labor in plantation
agriculture and mining.
D. The Spanish developed
a caste system that
incorporated, and carefully
dened the status of,
the diverse population of
Europeans, Africans, and
Native Americans in their
empire.
Period 1: 1491–1607
Key Concept 1.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
24
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 1.2 — Contact among Europeans, Native Americans,
and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and signicant
social, cultural, and political changes on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean.
CUL-1.0: Explain how religious
groups and ideas have aected
American society and political
life.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
III. In their interactions, Europeans and Native Americans asserted divergent
worldviews regarding issues such as religion, gender roles, family, land
use, and power.
A. Mutual misunderstandings
between Europeans and
Native Americans often
dened the early years of
interaction and trade as
each group sought to make
sense of the other. Over
time, Europeans and Native
Americans adopted some
useful aspects of each other’s
culture.
B. As European encroachments
on Native Americans’ lands
and demands on their
labor increased, native
peoples sought to defend
and maintain their political
sovereignty, economic
prosperity, religious beliefs,
and concepts of gender
relations through diplomatic
negotiations and military
resistance.
C. Extended contact with Native
Americans and Africans
fostered a debate among
European religious and
political leaders about how
non-Europeans should be
treated, as well as evolving
religious, cultural, and
racial justications for the
subjugation of Africans and
Native Americans.
Period 1: 1491–1607
Key Concept 1.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
25
Concept Outline
1491–1607
1607–1754
1754–1800 1800–1848 1844–1877 1865 –1898 1890–1945 1945–1980 1980–PRESENT
PERIOD 2:
1607–1754
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 2.1 — Europeans developed a variety of colonization and
migration patterns, inuenced by dierent imperial goals, cultures,
and the varied North American environments where they settled, and
they competed with each other and American Indians for resources.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on U.S.
society.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
I. Spanish, French, Dutch, and British colonizers had dierent economic
and imperial goals involving land and labor that shaped the social and
political development of their colonies as well as their relationships with
native populations.
A. Spanish eorts to extract
wealth from the land led
them to develop institutions
based on subjugating native
populations, converting
them to Christianity, and
incorporating them, along
with enslaved and free
Africans, into the Spanish
colonial society.
B. French and Dutch colonial
eorts involved relatively
few Europeans and relied
on trade alliances and
intermarriage with American
Indians to build economic
and diplomatic relationships
and acquire furs and other
products for export to Europe.
C. English colonization eorts
attracted a comparatively
large number of male and
female British migrants,
as well as other European
migrants, all of whom
sought social mobility,
economic prosperity, religious
freedom, and improved living
conditions. These colonists
focused on agriculture and
settled on land taken from
Native Americans, from
whom they lived separately.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Key Concept 2.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
28
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 2.1 — Europeans developed a variety of colonization and
migration patterns, inuenced by dierent imperial goals, cultures,
and the varied North American environments where they settled, and
they competed with each other and American Indians for resources.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on U.S.
society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
II. In the 17th century, early British colonies developed along the Atlantic
coast, with regional dierences that reected various environmental,
economic, cultural, and demographic factors.
A. The Chesapeake and
North Carolina colonies
grew prosperous exporting
tobacco—a labor-intensive
product initially cultivated by
white, mostly male indentured
servants and later by enslaved
Africans.
B. The New England colonies,
initially settled by Puritans,
developed around small towns
with family farms and achieved
a thriving mixed economy of
agriculture and commerce.
C. The middle colonies supported
a ourishing export economy
based on cereal crops and
attracted a broad range of
European migrants, leading to
societies with greater cultural,
ethnic, and religious diversity
and tolerance.
D. The colonies of the southern
Atlantic coast and the British
West Indies used long
growing seasons to develop
plantation economies based
on exporting staple crops.
They depended on the labor
of enslaved Africans, who
often constituted the majority
of the population in these
areas and developed their
own forms of cultural and
religious autonomy.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Key Concept 2.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
29
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 2.1 — Europeans developed a variety of colonization and
migration patterns, inuenced by dierent imperial goals, cultures,
and the varied North American environments where they settled, and
they competed with each other and American Indians for resources.
II. In the 17th century, early British colonies developed along the Atlantic
coast, with regional dierences that reected various environmental,
economic, cultural, and demographic factors.
(
CONTINUED
)
E. Distance and Britain’s initially
lax attention led to the colonies
creating self-governing
institutions that were unusually
democratic for the era. The New
England colonies based power
in participatory town meetings,
which in turn elected members
to their colonial legislatures;
in the southern colonies,
elite planters exercised local
authority and also dominated
the elected assemblies.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Key Concept 2.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
30
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 2.1 — Europeans developed a variety of colonization and
migration patterns, inuenced by dierent imperial goals, cultures,
and the varied North American environments where they settled, and
they competed with each other and American Indians for resources.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
III. Competition over resources between European rivals and American Indians
encouraged industry and trade and led to conict in the Americas.
A. An Atlantic economy
developed in which goods,
as well as enslaved Africans
and American Indians,
were exchanged between
Europe, Africa, and the
Americas through extensive
trade networks. European
colonial economies focused
on acquiring, producing, and
exporting commodities that
were valued in Europe and
gaining new sources of labor.
B. Continuing trade with
Europeans increased
the ow of goods in and
out of American Indian
communities, stimulating
cultural and economic
changes and spreading
epidemic diseases that
caused radical demographic
shifts.
C. Interactions between
European rivals and American
Indian populations fostered
both accommodation and
conict. French, Dutch,
British, and Spanish colonies
allied with and armed
American Indian groups, who
frequently sought alliances
with Europeans against other
American Indian groups.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Key Concept 2.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
31
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 2.1 — Europeans developed a variety of colonization and
migration patterns, inuenced by dierent imperial goals, cultures,
and the varied North American environments where they settled, and
they competed with each other and American Indians for resources.
III. Competition over resources between European rivals and American Indians
encouraged industry and trade and led to conict in the Americas.
(
CONTINUED
)
D. The goals and interests
of European leaders and
colonists at times diverged,
leading to a growing mistrust
on both sides of the Atlantic.
Colonists, especially in
British North America,
expressed dissatisfaction over
issues including territorial
settlements, frontier defense,
self-rule, and trade.
E. British conicts with
American Indians over land,
resources, and political
boundaries led to military
confrontations, such as
Metacom’s War (King Philip’s
War) in New England.
F. American Indian resistance
to Spanish colonizing eorts
in North America, particularly
after the Pueblo Revolt, led
to Spanish accommodation
of some aspects of American
Indian culture in the
Southwest.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Key Concept 2.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
32
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 2.2 — The British colonies participated in political,
social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that
encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to
Britain’s control.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
CUL-1.0: Explain how religious
groups and ideas have aected
American society and political
life.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic,
philosophical, and scientic
ideas have developed and
shaped society and institutions.
I. Transatlantic commercial, religious, philosophical, and political exchanges
led residents of the British colonies to evolve in their political and cultural
attitudes as they became increasingly tied to Britain and one another.
A. The presence of dierent
European religious and ethnic
groups contributed to a
signicant degree of pluralism
and intellectual exchange,
which were later enhanced
by the rst Great Awakening
and the spread of European
Enlightenment ideas.
B. The British colonies
experienced a gradual
Anglicization over time,
developing autonomous
political communities based
on English models with
inuence from intercolonial
commercial ties, the
emergence of a trans-Atlantic
print culture, and the spread
of Protestant evangelicalism.
C. The British government
increasingly attempted to
incorporate its North American
colonies into a coherent,
hierarchical, and imperial
structure in order to pursue
mercantilist economic aims,
but conicts with colonists
and American Indians led to
erratic enforcement of imperial
policies.
D. Colonists’ resistance to
imperial control drew on
local experiences of self-
government, evolving ideas of
liberty, the political thought
of the Enlightenment, greater
religious independence and
diversity, and an ideology
critical of perceived corruption
in the imperial system.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Key Concept 2.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 2.2 — The British colonies participated in political,
social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that
encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to
Britain’s control.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their eects
on workers’ lives and U.S.
society.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
II. Like other European empires in the Americas that participated in the
Atlantic slave trade, the English colonies developed a system of slavery
that reected the specic economic, demographic, and geographic
characteristics of those colonies.
A. All the British colonies
participated to varying
degrees in the Atlantic slave
trade due to the abundance of
land and a growing European
demand for colonial goods,
as well as a shortage of
indentured servants. Small
New England farms used
relatively few enslaved
laborers, all port cities held
signicant minorities of
enslaved people, and the
emerging plantation systems
of the Chesapeake and the
southern Atlantic coast had
large numbers of enslaved
workers, while the great
majority of enslaved Africans
were sent to the West Indies.
B. As chattel slavery became
the dominant labor system
in many southern colonies,
new laws created a strict
racial system that prohibited
interracial relationships and
dened the descendants of
African American mothers
as black and enslaved in
perpetuity.
C. Africans developed both overt
and covert means to resist
the dehumanizing aspects of
slavery and maintain their
family and gender systems,
culture, and religion.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Key Concept 2.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
1491–1607 16 07–1754
1754 –1800
1800–1848 1844–1877 1865 –1898 1890–1945 1945–1980 1980–PRESENT
PERIOD 3:
1754 –1800
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.1 — British attempts to assert tighter control over
its North American colonies and the colonial resolve to pursue
self-government led to a colonial independence movement and the
Revolutionary War.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
WOR-1.0: Explain how
cultural interaction,
cooperation, competition, and
conict between empires,
nations, and peoples have
inuenced political, economic,
and social developments in
North America.
I. The competition among the British, French, and American Indians for
economic and political advantage in North America culminated in the
Seven Years’ War (the French and Indian War), in which Britain defeated
France and allied American Indians.
A. Colonial rivalry intensied
between Britain and France
in the mid-18th century, as
the growing population of the
British colonies expanded
into the interior of North
America, threatening French–
Indian trade networks and
American Indian autonomy.
B. Britain achieved a major
expansion of its territorial
holdings by defeating the
French, but at tremendous
expense, setting the stage
for imperial eorts to raise
revenue and consolidate
control over the colonies.
C. After the British victory,
imperial ocials’ attempts
to prevent colonists from
moving westward generated
colonial opposition, while
native groups sought to
both continue trading with
Europeans and resist the
encroachments of colonists
on tribal lands.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
36
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.1 — British attempts to assert tighter control over
its North American colonies and the colonial resolve to pursue
self-government led to a colonial independence movement and the
Revolutionary War.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
II. The desire of many colonists to assert ideals of self-government in the
face of renewed British imperial eorts led to a colonial independence
movement and war with Britain.
A. The imperial struggles of the
mid-18th century, as well as
new British eorts to collect
taxes without direct colonial
representation or consent and
to assert imperial authority
in the colonies, began to
unite the colonists against
perceived and real constraints
on their economic activities
and political rights.
B. Colonial leaders based their
calls for resistance to Britain
on arguments about the
rights of British subjects, the
rights of the individual, local
traditions of self-rule, and the
ideas of the Enlightenment.
C. The eort for American
independence was energized
by colonial leaders such as
Benjamin Franklin, as well as
by popular movements that
included the political activism
of laborers, artisans, and
women.
D. In the face of economic
shortages and the British
military occupation of some
regions, men and women
mobilized in large numbers
to provide nancial and
material support to the Patriot
movement.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
37
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.1 — British attempts to assert tighter control over
its North American colonies and the colonial resolve to pursue
self-government led to a colonial independence movement and the
Revolutionary War.
II. The desire of many colonists to assert ideals of self-government in the
face of renewed British imperial eorts led to a colonial independence
movement and war with Britain.
(
CONTINUED
)
E. Despite considerable loyalist
opposition, as well as
Great Britain’s apparently
overwhelming military and
nancial advantages, the
Patriot cause succeeded
because of the actions of
colonial militias and the
Continental Army, George
Washington’s military
leadership, the colonists’
ideological commitment and
resilience, and assistance
sent by European allies.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.2 — The American Revolution’s democratic and
republican ideals inspired new experiments with dierent forms of
government.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
CUL-1.0: Explain how religious
groups and ideas have aected
American society and political
life.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
I. The ideals that inspired the revolutionary cause reected new beliefs
about politics, religion, and society that had been developing over the
course of the 18th century.
A. Enlightenment ideas and
philosophy inspired many
American political thinkers to
emphasize individual talent
over hereditary privilege,
while religion strengthened
Americans’ view of
themselves as a people
blessed with liberty.
B. The colonists’ belief in the
superiority of republican
forms of government based
on the natural rights of the
people found expression in
Thomas Paine’s Common
Sense and the Declaration of
Independence. The ideas in
these documents resonated
throughout American
history, shaping Americans’
understanding of the ideals
on which the nation was
based.
C. During and after the
American Revolution, an
increased awareness of
inequalities in society
motivated some individuals
and groups to call for the
abolition of slavery and
greater political democracy
in the new state and national
governments.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.2 — The American Revolution’s democratic and
republican ideals inspired new experiments with dierent forms of
government.
I. The ideals that inspired the revolutionary cause reected new beliefs
about politics, religion, and society that had been developing over the
course of the 18th century.
(
CONTINUED
)
D. In response to women’s
participation in the American
Revolution, Enlightenment
ideas, and women’s appeals
for expanded roles, an ideal
of “republican motherhood”
gained popularity. It called on
women to teach republican
values within the family
and granted women a new
importance in American
political culture.
E. The American Revolution
and the ideals set forth in the
Declaration of Independence
reverberated in France,
Haiti, and Latin America,
inspiring future independence
movements.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.2 — The American Revolution’s democratic and
republican ideals inspired new experiments with dierent forms of
government.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and
society.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
II. After declaring independence, American political leaders created new
constitutions and declarations of rights that articulated the role of the state
and federal governments while protecting individual liberties and limiting
both centralized power and excessive popular inuence.
A. Many new state constitutions
placed power in the hands
of the legislative branch
and maintained property
qualications for voting and
citizenship.
B. The Articles of Confederation
unied the newly independent
states, creating a central
government with limited
power. After the Revolution,
diculties over international
trade, nances, interstate
commerce, foreign relations,
and internal unrest led to
calls for a stronger central
government.
C. Delegates from the
states participated in a
Constitutional Convention
and through negotiation,
collaboration, and
compromise proposed a
constitution that created a
limited but dynamic central
government embodying
federalism and providing for a
separation of powers between
its three branches.
D. The Constitutional
Convention compromised
over the representation of
slave states in Congress
and the role of the federal
government in regulating
both slavery and the slave
trade, allowing the prohibition
of the international slave
trade after 1808.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.2 — The American Revolution’s democratic and
republican ideals inspired new experiments with dierent forms of
government.
II. After declaring independence, American political leaders created new
constitutions and declarations of rights that articulated the role of the state
and federal governments while protecting individual liberties and limiting
both centralized power and excessive popular inuence.
(
CONTINUED
)
E. In the debate over ratifying the
Constitution, Anti-Federalists
opposing ratication battled
with Federalists, whose
principles were articulated
in the Federalist Papers
(primarily written by Alexander
Hamilton and James Madison).
Federalists ensured the
ratication of the Constitution
by promising the addition of a
Bill of Rights that enumerated
individual rights and explicitly
restricted the powers of the
federal government.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
42
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.2 — The American Revolution’s democratic and
republican ideals inspired new experiments with dierent forms of
government.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and
society.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their eects
on workers’ lives and U.S.
society.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic,
philosophical, and scientic
ideas have developed and
shaped society and institutions.
III. New forms of national culture and political institutions developed in the
United States alongside continued regional variations and dierences
over economic, political, social, and foreign policy issues.
A. During the presidential
administrations of George
Washington and John Adams,
political leaders created
institutions and precedents
that put the principles of the
Constitution into practice.
B. Political leaders in the
1790s took a variety of
positions on issues such
as the relationship between
the national government
and the states, economic
policy, foreign policy,
and the balance between
liberty and order. This led
to the formation of political
parties—most signicantly
the Federalists, led by
Alexander Hamilton, and the
Democratic-Republican Party,
led by Thomas Jeerson and
James Madison.
C. The expansion of slavery
in the deep South and
adjacent western lands and
rising antislavery sentiment
began to create distinctive
regional attitudes toward the
institution.
D. Ideas about national identity
increasingly found expression
in works of art, literature, and
architecture.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.3 — Migration within North America and
competition over resources, boundaries, and trade intensied
conicts among peoples and nations.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on U.S.
society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
I. In the decades after American independence, interactions among
dierent groups resulted in competition for resources, shifting alliances,
and cultural blending.
A. Various American Indian
groups repeatedly evaluated
and adjusted their alliances
with Europeans, other tribes,
and the U.S., seeking to limit
migration of white settlers
and maintain control of tribal
lands and natural resources.
British alliances with
American Indians contributed
to tensions between the U.S.
and Britain.
B. As increasing numbers of
migrants from North America
and other parts of the world
continued to move westward,
frontier cultures that had
emerged in the colonial
period continued to grow,
fueling social, political, and
ethnic tensions.
C. As settlers moved westward
during the 1780s, Congress
enacted the Northwest
Ordinance for admitting
new states; the ordinance
promoted public education,
the protection of private
property, and a ban on slavery
in the Northwest Territory.
D. An ambiguous relationship
between the federal
government and American
Indian tribes contributed to
problems regarding treaties
and American Indian legal
claims relating to the seizure
of their lands.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.3 — Migration within North America and
competition over resources, boundaries, and trade intensied
conicts among peoples and nations.
I. In the decades after American independence, interactions among
dierent groups resulted in competition for resources, shifting alliances,
and cultural blending.
(
CONTINUED
)
E. The Spanish, supported by
the bonded labor of the local
American Indians, expanded
their mission settlements into
California; these provided
opportunities for social
mobility among soldiers and
led to new cultural blending.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 3.3 — Migration within North America and
competition over resources, boundaries, and trade intensied
conicts among peoples and nations.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas
about national identity changed
in response to U.S. involvement
in international conicts and
the growth of the United States.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
II. The continued presence of European powers in North America challenged
the United States to nd ways to safeguard its borders, maintain neutral
trading rights, and promote its economic interests.
A. The United States
government forged diplomatic
initiatives aimed at dealing
with the continued British
and Spanish presence in
North America, as U.S.
settlers migrated beyond the
Appalachians and sought free
navigation of the Mississippi
River.
B. War between France and
Britain resulting from the
French Revolution presented
challenges to the United
States over issues of free
trade and foreign policy
and fostered political
disagreement.
C. George Washington’s Farewell
Address encouraged national
unity, as he cautioned
against political factions and
warned about the danger of
permanent foreign alliances.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Key Concept 3.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
1491–1607 1754– 1800 1754 –18 0 0
1800–1848
1844–1877 1865 –1898 1890–1945 1945–1980 1980–PRESENT
PERIOD 4:
1800 –1848
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 4.1 — The United States began to develop a modern
democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans
sought to dene the nation’s democratic ideals and change their
society and institutions to match them.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and
society.
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships
among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and
explain how these groups’
experiences have related to U.S.
national identity.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
I. The nation’s transition to a more participatory democracy was achieved
by expanding surage from a system based on property ownership to one
based on voting by all adult white men, and it was accompanied by the
growth of political parties.
A. In the early 1800s, national
political parties continued
to debate issues such as the
tari, powers of the federal
government, and relations
with European powers.
B. Supreme Court decisions
established the primacy of the
judiciary in determining the
meaning of the Constitution
and asserted that federal laws
took precedence over state
laws.
C. By the 1820s and 1830s, new
political parties arose—the
Democrats, led by Andrew
Jackson, and the Whigs,
led by Henry Clay—that
disagreed about the role
and powers of the federal
government and issues such
as the national bank, taris,
and federally funded internal
improvements.
D. Regional interests often
trumped national concerns as
the basis for many political
leaders’ positions on slavery
and economic policy.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Key Concept 4.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 4.1 — The United States began to develop a modern
democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans
sought to dene the nation’s democratic ideals and change their
society and institutions to match them.
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships
among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and
explain how these groups’
experiences have related to
U.S. national identity.
CUL-1.0: Explain how religious
groups and ideas have
aected American society and
politicallife.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic,
philosophical, and scientic
ideas have developed and
shaped society and institutions.
CUL-4.0: Explain how
dierent group identities,
including racial, ethnic,
class, and regional identities,
have emerged and changed
overtime.
II. While Americans embraced a new national culture, various groups
developed distinctive cultures of their own.
A. The rise of democratic and
individualistic beliefs, a
response to rationalism, and
changes to society caused
by the market revolution,
along with greater social
and geographical mobility,
contributed to a Second
Great Awakening among
Protestants that inuenced
moral and social reforms and
inspired utopian and other
religious movements.
B. A new national culture
emerged that combined
American elements, European
inuences, and regional
cultural sensibilities.
C. Liberal social ideas from
abroad and Romantic beliefs
in human perfectibility
inuenced literature, art,
philosophy, and architecture.
D. Enslaved blacks and free
African Americans created
communities and strategies
to protect their dignity and
family structures, and they
joined political eorts aimed
at changing their status.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Key Concept 4.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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49
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 4.1 — The United States began to develop a modern
democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans
sought to dene the nation’s democratic ideals and change their
society and institutions to match them.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
III. Increasing numbers of Americans, many inspired by new religious
and intellectual movements, worked primarily outside of government
institutions to advance their ideals.
A. Americans formed new
voluntary organizations that
aimed to change individual
behaviors and improve
society through temperance
and other reform eorts.
B. Abolitionist and antislavery
movements gradually
achieved emancipation in
the North, contributing to the
growth of the free African
American population, even
as many state governments
restricted African Americans’
rights. Antislavery eorts
in the South were largely
limited to unsuccessful slave
rebellions.
C. A women’s rights movement
sought to create greater
equality and opportunities
for women, expressing its
ideals at the Seneca Falls
Convention.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Key Concept 4.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 4.2 — Innovations in technology, agriculture,
and commerce powerfully accelerated the American economy,
precipitating profound changes to U.S. society and to national and
regional identities.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how
technological innovation has
aected economic development
and society.
I. New transportation systems and technologies dramatically expanded
manufacturing and agricultural production.
A. Entrepreneurs helped to
create a market revolution in
production and commerce, in
which market relationships
between producers and
consumers came to prevail
as the manufacture of goods
became more organized.
B. Innovations including textile
machinery, steam engines,
interchangeable parts, the
telegraph, and agricultural
inventions increased the
eciency of production
methods.
C. Legislation and judicial
systems supported the
development of roads,
canals, and railroads, which
extended and enlarged
markets and helped foster
regional interdependence.
Transportation networks
linked the North and Midwest
more closely than either was
linked to the South.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Key Concept 4.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 4.2 — Innovations in technology, agriculture,
and commerce powerfully accelerated the American economy,
precipitating profound changes to U.S. society and to national and
regional identities.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their eects
on workers’ lives and U.S.
society.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
II. The changes caused by the market revolution had signicant eects on
U.S. society, workers’ lives, and gender and family relations.
A. Increasing numbers of
Americans, especially
women and men working in
factories, no longer relied on
semisubsistence agriculture;
instead they supported
themselves producing goods
for distant markets.
B. The growth of manufacturing
drove a signicant increase in
prosperity and standards of
living for some; this led to the
emergence of a larger middle
class and a small but wealthy
business elite but also to a
large and growing population
of laboring poor.
C. Gender and family roles
changed in response to the
market revolution, particularly
with the growth of denitions
of domestic ideals that
emphasized the separation of
public and private spheres.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Key Concept 4.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
52
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 4.2 — Innovations in technology, agriculture,
and commerce powerfully accelerated the American economy,
precipitating profound changes to U.S. society and to national and
regional identities.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on U.S.
society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
III. Economic development shaped settlement and trade patterns, helping to
unify the nation while also encouraging the growth of dierent regions.
A. Large numbers of
international migrants
moved to industrializing
northern cities, while many
Americans moved west of the
Appalachians, developing
thriving new communities
along the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers.
B. Increasing Southern
cotton production and the
related growth of Northern
manufacturing, banking, and
shipping industries promoted
the development of national
and international commercial
ties.
C. Southern business leaders
continued to rely on the
production and export of
traditional agricultural
staples, contributing to
the growth of a distinctive
Southern regional identity.
D. Plans to further unify the
U.S. economy, such as the
American System, generated
debates over whether such
policies would benet
agriculture or industry,
potentially favoring dierent
sections of the country.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Key Concept 4.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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53
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 4.3 — The U.S. interest in increasing foreign trade
and expanding its national borders shaped the nation’s foreign
policy and spurred government and private initiatives.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
I. Struggling to create an independent global presence, the United States
sought to claim territory throughout the North American continent and
promote foreign trade.
A. Following the Louisiana
Purchase, the United States
government sought inuence
and control over North
America and the Western
Hemisphere through a
variety of means, including
exploration, military actions,
American Indian removal, and
diplomatic eorts such as the
Monroe Doctrine.
B. Frontier settlers tended to
champion expansion eorts,
while American Indian
resistance led to a sequence
of wars and federal eorts to
control and relocate American
Indian populations.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Key Concept 4.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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© 2017 The College Board
AP United States History Course and Exam Description
54
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 4.3 — The U.S. interest in increasing foreign trade
and expanding its national borders shaped the nation’s foreign
policy and spurred government and private initiatives.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their eects
on workers’ lives and U.S.
society.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
II. The United States’s acquisition of lands in the West gave rise to contests
over the extension of slavery into new territories.
A. As overcultivation depleted
arable land in the Southeast,
slaveholders began
relocating their plantations
to more fertile lands west
of the Appalachians, where
the institution of slavery
continued to grow.
B. Antislavery eorts increased
in the North, while in the
South, although the majority
of Southerners owned no
slaves, most leaders argued
that slavery was part of the
Southern way of life.
C. Congressional attempts at
political compromise, such
as the Missouri Compromise,
only temporarily stemmed
growing tensions between
opponents and defenders of
slavery.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Key Concept 4.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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Concept Outline
PERIOD 5:
1844 –1877
1491–1607 16 07–1754 1754–1800 1800–1848
1844–1877
1865–1898 1890–1945 1945–1980 1980–PRESENT
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 5.1 — The United States became more connected with
the world, pursued an expansionist foreign policy in the Western
Hemisphere, and emerged as the destination for many migrants
from other countries.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas
about national identity changed
in response to U.S. involvement
in international conicts and
the growth of the United States.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
I. Popular enthusiasm for U.S. expansion, bolstered by economic
and security interests, resulted in the acquisition of new territories,
substantial migration westward, and new overseas initiatives.
A. The desire for access to
natural and mineral resources
and the hope of many settlers
for economic opportunities
or religious refuge led to an
increased migration to and
settlement in the West.
B. Advocates of annexing
western lands argued that
Manifest Destiny and the
superiority of American
institutions compelled the
United States to expand its
borders westward to the
Pacic Ocean.
C. The U.S. added large
territories in the West through
victory in the Mexican–
American War and diplomatic
negotiations, raising
questions about the status of
slavery, American Indians,
and Mexicans in the newly
acquired lands.
D. Westward migration was
boosted during and after the
Civil War by the passage of
new legislation promoting
western transportation and
economic development.
E. U.S. interest in expanding
trade led to economic,
diplomatic, and cultural
initiatives to create more ties
with Asia.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Key Concept 5.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
58
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 5.1 — The United States became more connected with
the world, pursued an expansionist foreign policy in the Western
Hemisphere, and emerged as the destination for many migrants
from other countries.
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships
among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and
explain how these groups’
experiences have related to U.S.
national identity.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on U.S.
society.
II. In the 1840s and 1850s, Americans continued to debate questions about
rights and citizenship for various groups of U.S. inhabitants.
A. Substantial numbers of
international migrants
continued to arrive in the
United States from Europe
and Asia, mainly from Ireland
and Germany, often settling
in ethnic communities where
they could preserve elements
of their languages and
customs.
B. A strongly anti-Catholic
nativist movement arose that
was aimed at limiting new
immigrants’ political power
and cultural inuence.
C. U.S. government interaction
and conict with Mexican
Americans and American
Indians increased in regions
newly taken from American
Indians and Mexico, altering
these groups’ economic self-
suciency and cultures.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Key Concept 5.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
59
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 5.2 — Intensied by expansion and deepening
regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic,
cultural, and political issues led the nation into civil war.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their eects
on workers’ lives and U.S.
society.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic,
philosophical, and scientic
ideas have developed and
shaped society and institutions.
I. Ideological and economic dierences over slavery produced an array of
diverging responses from Americans in the North and the South.
A. The North’s expanding
manufacturing economy
relied on free labor in contrast
to the Southern economy’s
dependence on slave labor.
Some Northerners did not
object to slavery on principle
but claimed that slavery
would undermine the free-
labor market. As a result, a
free-soil movement arose that
portrayed the expansion of
slavery as incompatible with
free labor.
B. African American and white
abolitionists, although
a minority in the North,
mounted a highly visible
campaign against slavery,
presenting moral arguments
against the institution,
assisting slaves’ escapes,
and sometimes expressing a
willingness to use violence to
achieve their goals.
C. Defenders of slavery based
their arguments on racial
doctrines, the view that
slavery was a positive social
good, and the belief that
slavery and states’ rights were
protected by the Constitution.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Key Concept 5.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
60
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 5.2 — Intensied by expansion and deepening
regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic,
cultural, and political issues led the nation into civil war.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and
society.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
II. Debates over slavery came to dominate political discussion in the
1850s, culminating in the bitter election of 1860 and the secession of
Southern states.
A. The Mexican Cession led to
heated controversies over
whether to allow slavery in
the newly acquired territories.
B. The courts and national
leaders made a variety of
attempts to resolve the issue
of slavery in the territories,
including the Compromise of
1850, the Kansas–Nebraska
Act, and the Dred Scott
decision, but these ultimately
failed to reduce conict.
C. The Second Party System
ended when the issues of
slavery and anti-immigrant
nativism weakened loyalties
to the two major parties
and fostered the emergence
of sectional parties, most
notably the Republican Party
in the North.
D. Abraham Lincoln’s victory
on the Republicans’ free-soil
platform in the presidential
election of 1860 was
accomplished without any
Southern electoral votes. After
a series of contested debates
about secession, most slave
states voted to secede from
the Union, precipitating the
Civil War.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Key Concept 5.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 5.3 — The Union victory in the Civil War and the
contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery
and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power
of the federal government and citizenship rights.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
I. The North’s greater manpower and industrial resources, the leadership
of Abraham Lincoln and others, and the decision to emancipate slaves
eventually led to the Union military victory over the Confederacy in the
devastating Civil War.
A. Both the Union and the
Confederacy mobilized their
economies and societies to
wage the war even while
facing considerable home
front opposition.
B. Lincoln and most Union
supporters began the Civil
War to preserve the Union,
but Lincoln’s decision to
issue the Emancipation
Proclamation reframed
the purpose of the war
and helped prevent the
Confederacy from gaining
full diplomatic support from
European powers. Many
African Americans ed
southern plantations and
enlisted in the Union Army,
helping to undermine the
Confederacy.
C. Lincoln sought to reunify the
country and used speeches
such as the Gettysburg
Address to portray the
struggle against slavery as
the fulllment of America’s
founding democratic ideals.
D. Although the Confederacy
showed military initiative and
daring early in the war, the
Union ultimately succeeded
due to improvements in
leadership and strategy, key
victories, greater resources,
and the wartime destruction
of the South’s infrastructure.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Key Concept 5.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 5.3 — The Union victory in the Civil War and the
contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery
and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power
of the federal government and citizenship rights.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and
society.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their eects
on workers’ lives and U.S.
society.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
II. Reconstruction and the Civil War ended slavery, altered relationships
between the states and the federal government, and led to debates over
new denitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African
Americans, women, and other minorities.
A. The 13th Amendment
abolished slavery, while the
14th and 15th amendments
granted African Americans
citizenship, equal protection
under the laws, and voting
rights.
B. The women’s rights
movement was both
emboldened and divided
over the 14th and 15th
amendments to the
Constitution.
C. Eorts by radical and
moderate Republicans
to change the balance of
power between Congress
and the presidency and to
reorder race relations in
the defeated South yielded
some short-term successes.
Reconstruction opened up
political opportunities and
other leadership roles to
former slaves, but it ultimately
failed, due both to determined
Southern resistance and the
North’s waning resolve.
D. Southern plantation owners
continued to own the
majority of the region’s land
even after Reconstruction.
Former slaves sought land
ownership but generally fell
short of self-suciency, as an
exploitative and soil-intensive
sharecropping system limited
blacks’ and poor whites’
access to land in the South.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Key Concept 5.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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63
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 5.3 — The Union victory in the Civil War and the
contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery
and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power
of the federal government and citizenship rights.
II. Reconstruction and the Civil War ended slavery, altered relationships
between the states and the federal government, and led to debates over
new denitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African
Americans, women, and other minorities.
(
CONTINUED
)
E. Segregation, violence,
Supreme Court decisions,
and local political tactics
progressively stripped away
African American rights,
but the 14th and 15th
amendments eventually
became the basis for court
decisions upholding civil
rights in the 20th century.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Key Concept 5.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
64
Concept Outline
PERIOD 6:
1865 –1898
1491–1607 16 07–1754 1754–1800 1800–1848 1844 –1877
1865–1898
1890–1945 1945–1980 1980–PRESENT
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 6.1 — Technological advances, large-scale production
methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of
industrial capitalism in the United States.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their
eects on workers’ lives and
U.S. society.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how
technological innovation has
aected economic development
and society.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
I. Large-scale industrial production—accompanied by massive
technological change, expanding international communication networks,
and pro-growth government policies—generated rapid economic
development and business consolidation.
A. Following the Civil War,
government subsidies
for transportation and
communication systems
helped open new markets in
North America.
B. Businesses made use of
technological innovations,
greater access to natural
resources, redesigned
nancial and management
structures, advances in
marketing, and a growing
labor force to dramatically
increase the production of
goods.
C. As the price of many goods
decreased, workers’ real
wages increased, providing
new access to a variety of
goods and services; many
Americans’ standards of
living improved, while the gap
between rich and poor grew.
D. Many business leaders
sought increased prots by
consolidating corporations
into large trusts and holding
companies, which further
concentrated wealth.
E. Businesses and foreign
policymakers increasingly
looked outside U.S. borders
in an eort to gain greater
inuence and control over
markets and natural resources
in the Pacic Rim, Asia, and
Latin America.
Period 6: 1865–1898
Key Concept 6.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 6.1 — Technological advances, large-scale production
methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of
industrial capitalism in the United States.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their
eects on workers’ lives and
U.S. society.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
II. A variety of perspectives on the economy and labor developed during a
time of nancial panics and downturns.
A. Some argued that laissez-
faire policies and competition
promoted economic growth
in the long run, and they
opposed government
intervention during economic
downturns.
B. The industrial workforce
expanded and became more
diverse through internal and
international migration; child
labor also increased.
C. Labor and management
battled over wages and
working conditions, with
workers organizing local
and national unions and/or
directly confronting business
leaders.
D. Despite the industrialization
of some segments of the
Southern economy—a change
promoted by Southern
leaders who called for a
“NewSouth”—agriculture
based on sharecropping and
tenant farming continued
to be the primary economic
activity in the South.
Period 6: 1865–1898
Key Concept 6.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 6.1 — Technological advances, large-scale production
methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of
industrial capitalism in the United States.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how
technological innovation has
aected economic development
and society.
III. New systems of production and transportation enabled consolidation
within agriculture, which, along with periods of instability, spurred a
variety of responses from farmers.
A. Improvements in
mechanization helped
agricultural production
increase substantially and
contributed to declines in
food prices.
B. Many farmers responded to
the increasing consolidation
in agricultural markets and
their dependence on the
evolving railroad system by
creating local and regional
cooperative organizations.
C. Economic instability inspired
agrarian activists to create
the People’s (Populist)
Party, which called for a
stronger governmental role
in regulating the American
economic system.
Period 6: 1865–1898
Key Concept 6.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 6.2 — The migrations that accompanied
industrialization transformed both urban and rural areas of the
United States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships
among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and
explain how these groups’
experiences have related to U.S.
national identity.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on
U.S. society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
I. International and internal migration increased urban populations and
fostered the growth of a new urban culture.
A. As cities became areas of
economic growth featuring new
factories and businesses, they
attracted immigrants from Asia
and from southern and eastern
Europe, as well as African
American migrants within
and out of the South. Many
migrants moved to escape
poverty, religious persecution,
and limited opportunities for
social mobility in their home
countries or regions.
B. Urban neighborhoods based on
particular ethnicities, races, and
classes provided new cultural
opportunities for city dwellers.
C. Increasing public debates
over assimilation and
Americanization accompanied
the growth of international
migration. Many immigrants
negotiated compromises
between the cultures they
brought and the culture they
found in the United States.
D. In an urban atmosphere where
the access to power was
unequally distributed, political
machines thrived, in part by
providing immigrants and the
poor with social services.
E. Corporations’ need for
managers and for male and
female clerical workers as
well as increased access
to educational institutions,
fostered the growth of a
distinctive middle class. A
growing amount of leisure
time also helped expand
consumer culture.
Period 6: 1865–1898
Key Concept 6.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 6.2 — The migrations that accompanied
industrialization transformed both urban and rural areas of the
United States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural
interaction, cooperation,
competition, and conict
between empires, nations,
and peoples have inuenced
political, economic, and
social developments in North
America.
II. Larger numbers of migrants moved to the West in search of land
and economic opportunity, frequently provoking competition and
violentconict.
A. The building of
transcontinental railroads,
the discovery of mineral
resources, and government
policies promoted economic
growth and created new
communities and centers of
commercial activity.
B. In hopes of achieving ideals
of self-suciency and
independence, migrants
moved to both rural and
boomtown areas of the West
for opportunities, such as
building the railroads, mining,
farming, and ranching.
C. As migrant populations
increased in number and the
American bison population
was decimated, competition
for land and resources in the
West among white settlers,
American Indians, and
Mexican Americans led to an
increase in violent conict.
D. The U.S. government violated
treaties with American
Indians and responded to
resistance with military
force, eventually conning
American Indians to
reservations and denying
tribal sovereignty.
E. Many American Indians
preserved their cultures
and tribal identities despite
government policies
promoting assimilation, and
they attempted to develop
self-sustaining economic
practices.
Period 6: 1865–1898
Key Concept 6.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 6.3 — The Gilded Age produced new cultural and
intellectual movements, public reform eorts, and political debates
over economic and social policies.
CUL-1.0: Explain how religious
groups and ideas have
aected American society and
politicallife.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic,
philosophical, and scientic
ideas have developed and
shaped society and institutions.
I. New cultural and intellectual movements both buttressed and challenged
the social order of the Gilded Age.
A. Social commentators
advocated theories later
described as Social
Darwinism to justify the
success of those at the top of
the socioeconomic structure
as both appropriate and
inevitable.
B. Some business leaders
argued that the wealthy had
a moral obligation to help the
less fortunate and improve
society, as articulated in the
idea known as the Gospel
of Wealth, and they made
philanthropic contributions
that enhanced educational
opportunities and urban
environments.
C. A number of artists and
critics, including agrarians,
utopians, socialists, and
advocates of the Social
Gospel, championed
alternative visions for the
economy and U.S. society.
Period 6: 1865–1898
Key Concept 6.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 6.3 — The Gilded Age produced new cultural and
intellectual movements, public reform eorts, and political debates
over economic and social policies.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and
society.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
II. Dramatic social changes in the period inspired political debates over
citizenship, corruption, and the proper relationship between business and
government.
A. The major political parties
appealed to lingering
divisions from the Civil War
and contended over taris
and currency issues, even
as reformers argued that
economic greed and self-
interest had corrupted all
levels of government.
B. Many women sought
greater equality with men,
often joining voluntary
organizations, going to
college, promoting social
and political reform, and,
like Jane Addams, working
in settlement houses to help
immigrants adapt to U.S.
language and customs.
C. The Supreme Court decision
in Plessy v. Ferguson that
upheld racial segregation
helped to mark the end of
most of the political gains
African Americans made
during Reconstruction.
Facing increased violence,
discrimination, and
scientic theories of race,
African American reformers
continued to ght for political
and social equality.
Period 6: 1865–1898
Key Concept 6.3
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INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
PERIOD 7:
1890 –1945
1491–1607 16 07–1754 1754–1800 1800–1848 1844 –1877 1865–1898
1890–1945
1945–1980 1980–PRESENT
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.1 — Growth expanded opportunity, while economic
instability led to new eorts to reform U.S. society and its economic
system.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how
technological innovation has
aected economic development
and society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
I. The United States continued its transition from a rural, agricultural
economy to an urban, industrial economy led by large companies.
A. New technologies and
manufacturing techniques
helped focus the U.S.
economy on the production
of consumer goods,
contributing to improved
standards of living, greater
personal mobility, and better
communications systems.
B. By 1920, a majority of the
U.S. population lived in
urban centers, which oered
new economic opportunities
for women, international
migrants, and internal
migrants.
C. Episodes of credit and
market instability in the early
20th century, in particular
the Great Depression, led to
calls for a stronger nancial
regulatory system.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.1 — Growth expanded opportunity, while economic
instability led to new eorts to reform U.S. society and its economic
system.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
II. In the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Progressives responded to
political corruption, economic instability, and social concerns by calling
for greater government action and other political and social measures.
A. Some Progressive Era
journalists attacked what they
saw as political corruption,
social injustice, and economic
inequality, while reformers,
often from the middle and
upper classes and including
many women, worked to eect
social changes in cities and
among immigrant populations.
B. On the national level,
Progressives sought federal
legislation that they believed
would eectively regulate the
economy, expand democracy,
and generate moral reform.
Progressive amendments to
the Constitution dealt with
issues such as prohibition
and woman surage.
C. Preservationists and
conservationists both
supported the establishment
of national parks while
advocating dierent
government responses to the
overuse of natural resources.
D. The Progressives were
divided over many issues.
Some Progressives supported
Southern segregation,
while others ignored its
presence. Some Progressives
advocated expanding popular
participation in government,
while others called for greater
reliance on professional and
technical experts to make
government more ecient.
Progressives also disagreed
about immigration restriction.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.1 — Growth expanded opportunity, while economic
instability led to new eorts to reform U.S. society and its economic
system.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their
eects on workers’ lives and
U.S. society.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
III. During the 1930s, policymakers responded to the mass unemployment
and social upheavals of the Great Depression by transforming the U.S.
into a limited welfare state, redening the goals and ideas of modern
American liberalism.
A. Franklin Roosevelt’s New
Deal attempted to end the
Great Depression by using
government power to provide
relief to the poor, stimulate
recovery, and reform the
American economy.
B. Radical, union, and
populist movements pushed
Roosevelt toward more
extensive eorts to change
the American economic
system, while conservatives
in Congress and the Supreme
Court sought to limit the
New Deal’s scope.
C. Although the New Deal did
not end the Depression, it
left a legacy of reforms and
regulatory agencies and
fostered a long-term political
realignment in which many
ethnic groups, African
Americans, and working-
class communities identied
with the Democratic Party.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.2 — Innovations in communications and technology
contributed to the growth of mass culture, while signicant changes
occurred in internal and international migration patterns.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics,
and society.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how
technological innovation has
aected economic development
and society.
CUL-1.0: Explain how religious
groups and ideas have
aected American society and
politicallife.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic,
philosophical, and scientic
ideas have developed and
shaped society and institutions.
CUL-4.0: Explain how
dierent group identities,
including racial, ethnic,
class, and regional identities,
have emerged and changed
over time.
I. Popular culture grew in inuence in U.S. society, even as debates
increased over the eects of culture on public values, morals, and
American national identity.
A. New forms of mass media,
such as radio and cinema,
contributed to the spread of
national culture as well as
greater awareness of regional
cultures.
B. Migration gave rise to new
forms of art and literature that
expressed ethnic and regional
identities, such the Harlem
Renaissance movement.
C. Ocial restrictions on
freedom of speech grew
during World War I, as
increased anxiety about
radicalism led to a Red Scare
and attacks on labor activism
and immigrant culture.
D. In the 1920s, cultural and
political controversies
emerged as Americans
debated gender roles,
modernism, science, religion,
and issues related to race and
immigration.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.2
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INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
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Concept Outline
II. Economic pressures, global events, and political developments caused
sharp variations in the numbers, sources, and experiences of both
international and internal migrants.
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.2 — Innovations in communications and technology
contributed to the growth of mass culture, while signicant changes
occurred in internal and international migration patterns.
CUL-4.0: Explain how
dierent group identities,
including racial, ethnic,
class, and regional identities,
have emerged and changed
over time.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on
U.S. society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
A. Immigration from Europe
reached its peak in the years
before World War I. During
and after World War I,
nativist campaigns against
some ethnic groups led to
the passage of quotas that
restricted immigration,
particularly from southern
and eastern Europe, and
increased barriers to Asian
immigration.
B. The increased demand for
war production and labor
during World War I and World
War II and the economic
diculties of the 1930s led
many Americans to migrate
to urban centers in search of
economic opportunities.
C. In a Great Migration during
and after World War I,
African Americans escaping
segregation, racial violence,
and limited economic
opportunity in the South
moved to the North and
West, where they found
new opportunities but still
encountered discrimination.
D. Migration to the United States
from Mexico and elsewhere
in the Western Hemisphere
increased, in spite of
contradictory government
policies toward Mexican
immigration.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.3 — Participation in a series of global conicts
propelled the United States into a position of international power while
renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas
about national identity changed
in response to U.S. involvement
in international conicts and
the growth of the United States.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
I. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, new U.S. territorial
ambitions and acquisitions in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacic
accompanied heightened public debates over America’s role in the world.
A. Imperialists cited economic
opportunities, racial theories,
competition with European
empires, and the perception
in the 1890s that the western
frontier was “closed” to argue
that Americans were destined
to expand their culture and
institutions to peoples around
the globe.
B. Anti-imperialists cited
principles of self-
determination and invoked
both racial theories and the
U.S. foreign policy tradition
of isolationism to argue that
the U.S. should not extend its
territory overseas.
C. The American victory in the
Spanish–American War led to
the U.S. acquisition of island
territories in the Caribbean
and the Pacic, an increase in
involvement in Asia, and the
suppression of a nationalist
movement in the Philippines.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.3 — Participation in a series of global conicts
propelled the United States into a position of international power while
renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas
about national identity changed
in response to U.S. involvement
in international conicts and
the growth of the United States.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
II. World War I and its aftermath intensied ongoing debates about the
nation’s role in the world and how best to achieve national security and
pursue American interests.
A. After initial neutrality in
World War I, the nation
entered the conict, departing
from the U.S. foreign policy
tradition of noninvolvement in
European aairs, in response
to Woodrow Wilson’s call for
the defense of humanitarian
and democratic principles.
B. Although the American
Expeditionary Forces played
a relatively limited role in
combat, the U.S.’s entry
helped to tip the balance of the
conict in favor of the Allies.
C. Despite Wilson’s deep
involvement in postwar
negotiations, the U.S. Senate
refused to ratify the Treaty of
Versailles or join the League
of Nations.
D. In the years following World
War I, the United States
pursued a unilateral foreign
policy that used international
investment, peace treaties, and
select military intervention
to promote a vision of
international order, even while
maintaining U.S. isolationism.
E. In the 1930s, while many
Americans were concerned
about the rise of fascism
and totalitarianism, most
opposed taking military
action against the aggression
of Nazi Germany and Japan
until the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor drew the United
States into World War II.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.3 — Participation in a series of global conicts
propelled the United States into a position of international power while
renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas
about national identity changed
in response to U.S. involvement
in international conicts and
the growth of the United States.
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships
among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and
explain how these groups’
experiences have related to U.S.
national identity.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
III. U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while
the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted
the U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership.
A. Americans viewed the war as a
ght for the survival of freedom
and democracy against fascist
and militarist ideologies.
This perspective was later
reinforced by revelations about
Japanese wartime atrocities,
Nazi concentration camps, and
the Holocaust.
B. The mass mobilization of
American society helped end
the Great Depression, and the
country’s strong industrial
base played a pivotal role in
winning the war by equipping
and provisioning allies and
millions of U.S. troops.
C. Mobilization and military
service provided opportunities
for women and minorities to
improve their socioeconomic
positions for the war’s duration,
while also leading to debates
over racial segregation.
Wartime experiences also
generated challenges to civil
liberties, such as the internment
of Japanese Americans.
D. The United States and its
allies achieved military victory
through Allied cooperation,
technological and scientic
advances, the contributions of
servicemen and women, and
campaigns such as Pacic
“island-hopping” and the
D-Day invasion. The use of
atomic bombs hastened the
end of the war and sparked
debates about the morality of
using atomic weapons.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 7.3 — Participation in a series of global conicts propelled
the United States into a position of international power while renewing
domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.
III. U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while the
victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the
U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership.
(
CONTINUED
)
E. The war-ravaged condition
of Asia and Europe, and the
dominant U.S. role in the
Allied victory and postwar
peace settlements, allowed
the United States to emerge
from the war as the most
powerful nation on earth.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concept 7.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
PERIOD 8:
1945 –1980
1491–1607 16 07–1754 1754–1800 1800–1848 1844 –1877 1865–1898 1890–1945
1945–1980
1980–PRESENT
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 8.1 — The United States responded to an uncertain
and unstable postwar world by asserting and working to maintain
a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and
international consequences.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
I. United States policymakers engaged in a cold war with the authoritarian
Soviet Union, seeking to limit the growth of Communist military power
and ideological inuence, create a free-market global economy, and build
an international security system.
A. As postwar tensions dissolved
the wartime alliance between
Western democracies and the
Soviet Union, the United States
developed a foreign policy
based on collective security,
international aid, and economic
institutions that bolstered non-
Communist nations.
B. Concerned by expansionist
Communist ideology and
Soviet repression, the United
States sought to contain
communism through a variety
of measures, including major
military engagements in
Korea and Vietnam.
C. The Cold War uctuated
between periods of direct and
indirect military confrontation
and periods of mutual
coexistence (or détente).
D. Postwar decolonization and
the emergence of powerful
nationalist movements in
Asia, Africa, and the Middle
East led both sides in the
Cold War to seek allies
among new nations, many of
which remained nonaligned.
E. Cold War competition
extended to Latin America,
where the U.S. supported
non-Communist regimes
that had varying levels of
commitment to democracy.
Period 8: 1945–1980
Key Concept 8.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 8.1 — The United States responded to an uncertain
and unstable postwar world by asserting and working to maintain
a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and
international consequences.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas
about national identity changed
in response to U.S. involvement
in international conicts and
the growth of the United States.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
II. Cold War policies led to public debates over the power of the federal
government and acceptable means for pursuing international and
domestic goals while protecting civil liberties.
A. Americans debated policies
and methods designed
to expose suspected
communists within the
United States even as both
parties supported the broader
strategy of containing
communism.
B. Although anticommunist
foreign policy faced little
domestic opposition in
previous years, the Vietnam
War inspired sizable and
passionate antiwar protests
that became more numerous
as the war escalated and
sometimes led to violence.
C. Americans debated the merits
of a large nuclear arsenal, the
military-industrial complex,
and the appropriate power
of the executive branch in
conducting foreign and
military policy.
D. Ideological, military, and
economic concerns shaped
U.S. involvement in the
Middle East, with several oil
crises in the region eventually
sparking attempts at creating
a national energy policy.
Period 8: 1945–1980
Key Concept 8.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 8.2 — New movements for civil rights and liberal
eorts to expand the role of government generated a range of
political and cultural responses.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas
about democracy, freedom, and
individualism found expression
in the development of cultural
values, political institutions,
and American identity.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and
society.
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships
among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and
explain how these groups’
experiences have related to U.S.
national identity.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
I. Seeking to fulll Reconstruction-era promises, civil rights activists and
political leaders achieved some legal and political successes in ending
segregation, although progress toward racial equality was slow.
A. During and after World
War II, civil rights
activists and leaders, most
notably Martin Luther
King Jr., combatted racial
discrimination utilizing a
variety of strategies, including
legal challenges, direct action,
and nonviolent protest tactics.
B. The three branches of
the federal government
used measures including
desegregation of the armed
services, Brown v. Board
of Education, and the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 to promote
greater racial equality.
C. Continuing resistance slowed
eorts at desegregation,
sparking social and political
unrest across the nation.
Debates among civil rights
activists over the ecacy
of nonviolence increased
after 1965.
Period 8: 1945–1980
Key Concept 8.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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86
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 8.2 — New movements for civil rights and liberal
eorts to expand the role of government generated a range of
political and cultural responses.
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships
among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and
explain how these groups’
experiences have related to U.S.
national identity.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
CUL-4.0: Explain how dierent
group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have
emerged and changed over
time.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
II. Responding to social conditions and the African American civil rights
movement, a variety of movements emerged that focused on issues of
identity, social justice, and the environment.
A. Feminist and gay and lesbian
activists mobilized behind
claims for legal, economic,
and social equality.
B. Latino, American Indian, and
Asian American movements
continued to demand social
and economic equality and a
redress of past injustices.
C. Despite an overall auence in
postwar America, advocates
raised concerns about the
prevalence and persistence of
poverty as a national problem.
D. Environmental problems and
accidents led to a growing
environmental movement
that aimed to use legislative
and public eorts to combat
pollution and protect natural
resources. The federal
government established new
environmental programs and
regulations.
Period 8: 1945–1980
Key Concept 8.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 8.2 — New movements for civil rights and liberal
eorts to expand the role of government generated a range of
political and cultural responses.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
III. Liberalism inuenced postwar politics and court decisions, but it
came under increasing attack from the left as well as from a resurgent
conservative movement.
A. Liberalism, based on
anticommunism abroad and
a rm belief in the ecacy of
government power to achieve
social goals at home, reached
a high point of political
inuence by the mid-1960s.
B. Liberal ideas found expression
in Lyndon Johnson’s Great
Society, which attempted to use
federal legislation and programs
to end racial discrimination,
eliminate poverty, and address
other social issues. A series
of Supreme Court decisions
expanded civil rights and
individual liberties.
C. In the 1960s, conservatives
challenged liberal laws and
court decisions and perceived
moral and cultural decline,
seeking to limit the role of
the federal government and
enact more assertive foreign
policies.
D. Some groups on the left
also rejected liberal policies,
arguing that political leaders
did too little to transform the
racial and economic status
quo at home and pursued
immoral policies abroad.
E. Public condence and trust in
government’s ability to solve
social and economic problems
declined in the 1970s in the
wake of economic challenges,
political scandals, and foreign
policy crises.
Period 8: 1945–1980
Key Concept 8.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 8.2 — New movements for civil rights and liberal
eorts to expand the role of government generated a range of
political and cultural responses.
III. Liberalism inuenced postwar politics and court decisions, but it
came under increasing attack from the left as well as from a resurgent
conservative movement.
F. The 1970s saw growing
clashes between
conservatives and liberals
over social and cultural
issues, the power of the
federal government, race,
and movements for greater
individual rights.
Period 8: 1945–1980
Key Concept 8.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 8.3 — Postwar economic and demographic changes
had far-reaching consequences for American society, politics, and
culture.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how
technological innovation has
aected economic development
and society.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on U.S.
society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
I. Rapid economic and social changes in American society fostered a sense
of optimism in the postwar years.
A. A burgeoning private sector,
federal spending, the baby
boom, and technological
developments helped spur
economic growth.
B. As higher education
opportunities and new
technologies rapidly
expanded, increasing social
mobility encouraged the
migration of the middle class
to the suburbs and of many
Americans to the South and
West. The Sun Belt region
emerged as a signicant
political and economic force.
C. Immigrants from around the
world sought access to the
political, social, and economic
opportunities in the United
States, especially after the
passage of new immigration
laws in 1965.
Period 8: 1945–1980
Key Concept 8.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 8.3 — Postwar economic and demographic changes
had far-reaching consequences for American society, politics, and
culture.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
CUL-1.0: Explain how religious
groups and ideas have
aected American society and
politicallife.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic,
philosophical, and scientic
ideas have developed and
shaped society and institutions.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
II. New demographic and social developments, along with anxieties over the
Cold War, changed U.S. culture and led to signicant political and moral
debates that sharply divided the nation.
A. Mass culture became
increasingly homogeneous in
the postwar years, inspiring
challenges to conformity
by artists, intellectuals, and
rebellious youth.
B. Feminists and young people
who participated in the
counterculture of the 1960s
rejected many of the social,
economic, and political
values of their parents’
generation, introduced greater
informality into U.S. culture,
and advocated changes in
sexualnorms.
C. The rapid and substantial
growth of evangelical
Christian churches
and organizations was
accompanied by greater
political and social activism
on the part of religious
conservatives.
Period 8: 1945–1980
Key Concept 8.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
PERIOD 9:
1980–PRESENT
1491–1607 1607–1754 1754 –1800 1800–1848 1844–1877 1865–1898 1890–1945 1945–1980
1980–PRESENT
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 9.1 — A newly ascendant conservative movement
achieved several political and policy goals during the 1980s and
continued to strongly inuence public discourse in the following
decades.
POL-1.0: Explain how and
why political ideas, beliefs,
institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and
changed.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular
movements, reform eorts, and
activist groups have sought to
change American society and
institutions.
POL-3.0: Explain how dierent
beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
I. Conservative beliefs regarding the need for traditional social values and a
reduced role for government advanced in U.S. politics after 1980.
A. Ronald Reagan’s victory
in the presidential election
of 1980 represented an
important milestone, allowing
conservatives to enact
signicant tax cuts and
continue the deregulation of
many industries.
B. Conservatives argued that
liberal programs were
counterproductive in ghting
poverty and stimulating
economic growth. Some of
their eorts to reduce the size
and scope of government
met with inertia and liberal
opposition, as many programs
remained popular with voters.
C. Policy debates continued
over free-trade agreements,
the scope of the government
social safety net, and calls
to reform the U.S. nancial
system.
Period 9: 1980–PRESENT
Key Concept 9.1
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 9.2 — Moving into the 21st century, the nation
experienced signicant technological, economic, and demographic
changes.
WXT-1.0: Explain how dierent
labor systems developed in
North America and the United
States, and explain their eects
on workers’ lives and U.S.
society.
WXT-2.0: Explain how
patterns of exchange, markets,
and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze
ways that governments have
responded to economic issues.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how
technological innovation has
aected economic development
and society.
I. New developments in science and technology enhanced the economy and
transformed society, while manufacturing decreased.
A. Economic productivity
increased as improvements
in digital communications
enabled increased American
participation in worldwide
economic opportunities.
B. Technological innovations
in computing, digital
mobile technology, and
the Internet transformed
daily life, increased access
to information, and led to
new social behaviors and
networks.
C. Employment increased in
service sectors and decreased
in manufacturing, and union
membership declined.
D. Real wages stagnated for the
working and middle class
amid growing economic
inequality.
Period 9: 1980–PRESENT
Key Concept 9.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 9.2 — Moving into the 21st century, the nation
experienced signicant technological, economic, and demographic
changes.
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships
among dierent regional, social,
ethnic, and racial groups, and
explain how these groups’
experiences have related to U.S.
national identity.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas
about women’s rights and
gender roles have aected
society and politics.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes
of migration to colonial
North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze
immigration’s eects on U.S.
society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of
internal migration and patterns
of settlement in what would
become the United States, and
explain how migration has
aected American life.
II. The U.S. population continued to undergo demographic shifts that had
signicant cultural and political consequences.
A. After 1980, the political,
economic, and cultural
inuence of the American
South and West continued to
increase as population shifted
to those areas.
B. International migration from
Latin America and Asia
increased dramatically. The
new immigrants aected U.S.
culture in many ways and
supplied the economy with an
important labor force.
C. Intense political and cultural
debates continued over issues
such as immigration policy,
diversity, gender roles, and
family structures.
Period 9: 1980–PRESENT
Key Concept 9.2
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
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Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 9.3 — The end of the Cold War and new challenges to
U.S. leadership forced the nation to redene its foreign policy and
role in the world.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
I. The Reagan administration promoted an interventionist foreign policy
that continued in later administrations, even after the end of the
Cold War.
A. Reagan asserted U.S.
opposition to communism
through speeches, diplomatic
eorts, limited military
interventions, and a buildup
of nuclear and conventional
weapons.
B. Increased U.S. military
spending, Reagan’s
diplomatic initiatives,
and political changes
and economic problems
in Eastern Europe and
the Soviet Union were all
important in ending the
Cold War.
C. The end of the Cold War
led to new diplomatic
relationships but also
new U.S. military and
peacekeeping interventions,
as well as continued debates
over the appropriate use of
American power in the world.
Period 9: 1980–PRESENT
Key Concept 9.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE KEY CONCEPT IN DEPTH
▲
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97
Concept Outline
Related Thematic
Learning Objectives
(Focus of Exam Questions)
Key Concept 9.3 — The end of the Cold War and new challenges to
U.S. leadership forced the nation to redene its foreign policy and
role in the world.
NAT-2.0: Explain how
interpretations of the
Constitution and debates over
rights, liberties, and denitions
of citizenship have aected
American values, politics, and
society.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas
about national identity changed
in response to U.S. involvement
in international conicts and
the growth of the United States.
GEO-1.0: Explain how
geographic and environmental
factors shaped the development
of various communities, and
analyze how competition
for and debates over natural
resources have aected both
interactions among dierent
groups and the development of
government policies.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons
for, and results of, U.S.
diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North
America and overseas.
II. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. foreign policy eorts
focused on ghting terrorism around the world.
A. In the wake of attacks on the
World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, the United States
launched military eorts
against terrorism and lengthy,
controversial conicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
B. The war on terrorism sought
to improve security within
the United States but also
raised questions about the
protection of civil liberties
and human rights.
C. Conicts in the Middle East
and concerns about climate
change led to debates over
U.S. dependence on fossil
fuels and the impact of
economic consumption on the
environment.
D. Despite economic and foreign
policy challenges, the United
States continued as the
world’s leading superpower in
the 21st century.
Period 9: 1980–PRESENT
Key Concept 9.3
TEACHER-SELECTED EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL
INDIVIDUALS, EVENTS, TOPICS, OR SOURCES FOR
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Concept Outline
AP U.S. History Instructional
Approaches
The AP U.S. History course is designed to help students develop an understanding of
U.S. history from 1491 to the present, while enhancing students’ ability to think historically
by developing prociency with the AP history disciplinary practices and reasoning skills.
This section on instructional approaches provides teachers with recommendations and
examples of how to implement the course in practical ways in the classroom, addressing the
following topics:
n
Organizational approaches
n
Selecting and using course materials
n
Developing the disciplinary practices and reasoning skills
n
Increasing depth and managing breadth through instructional choices
n
Strategies for instruction
Organizational Approaches
The course framework oers two dierent ways of approaching the study of U.S. history from
1491 to the present: chronological, through the concept outline, and thematic, through the
seven themes and corresponding learning objectives. While teachers typically use chronology
as the main organizational structure for the course, the course framework is designed to help
teachers and students make thematic connections across the material. Many AP U.S. History
classrooms approach the material chronologically, while fostering thematic connections
throughout the course within every unit of instruction.
Using the Key Concepts
The key concepts act as important framing devices in teaching the course framework,
giving shape and structure to content that students otherwise might feel is disconnected.
In considering approaches, teachers should keep in mind that the key concepts need
not be addressed in the order in which they appear in the framework. Additionally, it is
common, and even expected, that instruction in a particular unit would include historical
developments and processes outlined in multiple key concepts. Also, teachers may nd it
useful to teach key concepts from dierent time periods within the same lesson plan sequence
or unit of instruction.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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Using the Themes
Teachers and students often nd it challenging to maintain focus on the broader processes
and narratives of U.S. history that link together individual historical events. The course
themes were designed to meet that challenge and should be an important part of every unit
of instruction. Atting test of overall student understanding would be to ask students to
develop a brief analytical narrative for each theme at the end of the course. While it would be
atypical to structure the entire course thematically, when developing chronological units of
study, instructors should always keep an eye on the elaboration of a theme in previous units
and anticipate further developments in future units related to the same theme. The themes
facilitate identifying and making connections across the dierent periods, enabling students
to grasp the big picture of U.S. history. The learning objectives for the course—which are
based on the themes—provide opportunities and examples of how to connect the themes
across dierent time periods.
Selecting and Using Course Materials
Teachers will need a wide array of historical source material to help students become
proficient with the practices and skills and develop a conceptual understanding of
U.S. history. In addition to using a textbook that will provide required course content,
teachers should create regular opportunities for students to examine primary source
material in different and varied forms, as well as other types of historical scholarship.
Rich,diverse source material allows the teacher more flexibility in designing learning
activities that develop the habits of historical thinking that are essential for student
successin the course.
Textbooks
The textbook is an important tool that teachers can use to help students develop
understanding of U.S. history. Most importantly, the textbook should be written at a college
level and must include discussion of historical developments and processes from 1491
into the 21st century in a way that encourages conceptual understanding. While nearly all
college-level U.S. history textbooks will address the various themes of U.S. history, one
or more of these approaches may be dominant or, on the other hand, minimized. It will
be important for teachers to identify and supplement the textbook accordingly with other
types of secondary sources to ensure that all of these approaches are addressed, thereby
ensuring that each of the course themes receives adequate attention. Ideally, the textbook
selected will use these approaches as threads to make connections across different
timeperiods.
While the College Board provides an example textbook list that teachers may consult to help
determine whether a text is considered acceptable in meeting the AP U.S. History Course
Audit curricular requirements, teachers select textbooks locally. Additionally, the AP U.S.
History Teacher Community on AP Central provides reviews of recently published texts to
help teachers determine their appropriateness for the AP course.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Primary Sources
Students will find it useful to analyze primary source material regularly to deepen their
understanding of the key concepts and develop the required practices and skills. While
increasing numbers of textbook publishers are including primary source material within
the text, it is important that teachers introduce students to a wide variety of source material
in order to provide opportunities to analyze evidence from the past from diverse sources.
These sources must include written documents as well as images, such as photographs,
cartoons, and works of art. Teachers may use the ancillary materials and website sources
that accompany most of the recently published textbooks to find high quality primary
source documents, artwork, charts, and other sources of data that are linked to the topics
and themes addressed in the textbook. Many teachers may prefer to augment a textbook that
contains few or only short primary sources with document readers that provide lengthier
selections or online compilations of primary sources related to particular topic areas.
Secondary Sources
Student success in the course also depends on exposure to and analysis of multiple
secondary sources. These include noncontemporary accounts of the past written by
historians or scholars of other related disciplines, such as economists, sociologists,
political commentators, or art historians, as well as data sets, charts, and maps.
Secondary sources of all types can provide a broader and more substantive perspective
on topics addressed by a textbook. Additionally, secondary sources can be helpful in
supplementing textbooks with older publication dates. It is especially important that
students receive instruction in the practice of analyzing and comparing historians’
interpretations of events; teachers should offer students opportunities to compare a
primary source with a secondary source or compare the views represented by two different
secondary sources. This need can often be met by document readers that provide both
primary and secondary source material or through ancillary resource material offered by
textbook publishers.
Teachers should also consult school librarians to help identify databases that contain
a variety of useful source material—both primary and secondary. Many schools already
subscribe to databases, such as ABC-CLIO, JSTOR, or Gale, that may augment the materials
found in texts or document readers. Librarians can assist in developing course-specic
LibGuides that give students easy access to the source material identied by the teacher to be
used at home or in the classroom.
Teaching with the Founding Documents
Students who engage in close reading and analysis of the ideas and debates of the founding
documents gain historical understanding and capacity to trace the inuence of these ideas
throughout the course. For this reason, teachers may use these documents in an in-depth
examination of the themes of the course and ideas of freedom and democracy. Teachers who
are especially interested in using a cross-disciplinary approach, such as American studies, or
teaching this course in conjunction with a course like AP U.S. Government and Politics may
nd these approaches especially helpful.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
While it is left to AP teachers, in consultation with their state and local standards, to design
their curriculum, the following provides possible approaches for emphasizing foundational
documents and other primary and secondary sources:
n
An in-depth focus on the ideas of freedom and democracy as expressed in the founding
documents
In this option, teachers slow down for a dedicated month of instruction near the
beginning of the course, in what is essentially a master class on the founding ideas and
documents of American democracy. During this time, students would practice document-
based analysis and examine how debates among the founders unfolded. This is an area
rich with primary and secondary sources, and students could reect on how various
historians continue to debate these documents and their lasting meaning.
n
The founding documents and their resonance in the thoughts and actions of Abraham Lincoln
and Martin Luther King, Jr.
In this model, teachers spend two weeks on the founders and their ideas and writings.
Another week is spent taking an in-depth look at how Lincoln draws widely on the texts
and ideas of the founders in his own writings. Similarly, a week is spent later in the
course on Dr. King’s writing and speeches to see how his work draws on the founding
documents.
n
Primary source focus units designed by teachers that respond to their state standards and
instructional priorities
In this model, teachers construct their own plan for an in-depth study of foundational
documents that helps students analyze the documents in careful detail and connect the
ideas and debates they contain to other primary and secondary sources throughout the
course. Teachers devote signicant time and sustained study to the sources in each
historical period, linking back to the founding documents to help students understand
how they resonate over time.
Ultimately, a command of the ideas and language of the founding documents and their
inuence will not just help students succeed on the AP Exam and in college, it will open up
opportunities for students to participate more deeply in civic life in the United States and
globally.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Developing the Disciplinary
Practices and Reasoning Skills
History is a story of the past that serves to guide the present and the future. In a personal
way, it enriches one’s sense of belonging to a human community that transcends both time
and space. As we study the past, we learn that during the American Enlightenment, for
example, educated individuals strove to identify and enhance the qualities that made them
unique, just as we do; we learn that during the Second Great Awakening, many struggled to
articulate the elements of their faith, as many still do today; and we learn that in the aftermath
of World War II, people were both in awe and fearful of technology, which has an even greater
presence in our lives today. In terms of informing the future, history oers alternative ways
of addressing unique or recurring challenges, which, amongst other things, can aid in the
formulation of one’s own goals and commitments. For example, the study of segregation
serves as a constant reminder of the dangers of discrimination, and understanding how the
government responded to the Great Depression of the 1930s helps us formulate responses to
current economic crises.
The narrative that history relates, however, is only as faithful and complete a representation of
what happened in the past as the human mind can recover. Because of this incompleteness,
historical analysis is prone to error and rests upon interpretation, requiring critical evaluation
at every step. The disciplinary practices and reasoning skills articulated in the course
framework equip students to begin to understand and create historical knowledge in a
process similar to that followed by historians. This process begins with a close analysis of
historical sources and reaches its conclusion when evidence, drawn from historical sources,
is used eectively to support an argument about the past.
Analyzing Historical Evidence
Students best develop the ability to reason historically by exploring and interpreting a wide
variety of primary sources and secondary texts. Primary sources provide evidence of the
past that may point to some larger aspect of a historical development or process. Secondary
sources provide students with practice in analyzing how historical arguments are developed
using diverse historical evidence. Additionally, exposure to a variety of diverse historical
interpretations builds students’ ability to evaluate the eectiveness of dierent types of
historical arguments.
In order to do their work, historians must be active readers—able to comprehend what they
have read and use the information in meaningful ways to build an understanding of the past.
Similarly, students must develop the skills necessary to be active readers who can extract
useful information from texts, make supportable inferences, and draw appropriate conclusions
from the sources.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
The following table provides examples of the types of strategies students can use to become
active readers of historical texts.
Before Reading
w
Focus on an essential question that the text helps answer
w
Preview the text to determine the topic and the text’s structure and purpose
(e.g., argument, narrative, explanation)
w
Use the title and preview of the text to activate prior knowledge
w
Develop questions about the text and/or its topic that might be answered
when reading
During
Reading
Monitor reading to ensure comprehension
w
w
Answer questions developed before reading
Annotate the text for main ideas, answers to questions, interesting or
surprising aspects of the text, and parts of it that are dicult to understand
w
w
Periodically stop and reect on what’s being read and how it ts with prior
knowledge and the other parts of the text
After Reading
w
Respond to questions developed before and during reading
Reect on the text, what it means, and whether it supports or refutes prior
ideas and understandings
w
w
Draw conclusions and devise generalizations
w
Make connections to other texts, key concepts, and overarching ideas
w
Discuss the text with peers to ensure understanding and have remaining
questions answered
Analyzing Primary Sources
Analysis of primary sources diers from description of sources in that when one describes
a source, one provides only a summary of its content; when one analyzes a source, one
thinks critically about not only the content of a source but also who the author and presumed
audience of the source were, why a source was produced, and what factors inuenced the
production of that source. All of these factors contribute to the usefulness of the source for a
historian in answering particular historical questions. In analyzing primary sources, therefore,
several dierent features need to be considered, including its content, authorship, author’s
point of view, author’s purpose, audience, format, and historical context. Analyzing these
features helps establish the reliability of the source and its possible limitations for historians.
A rigorous analysis of sources focuses on the interplay between all of these features of
a source, enabling one to eectively evaluate its usefulness in answering a particular
historical question.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
The chart below identies underlying questions that help students make productive inquiries as they analyze
primary sources. The questions guide students so that they can extract useful information, make supportable
inferences, and draw appropriate conclusions from the sources—all of which are necessary when students use
primary sources to create and support an historical argument. The chart below also explains the signicance
of these inquiries and provides suggested strategies to further prociency.
Source
features Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional strategies
to develop prociency
Content What point(s) is the
document trying to
make?
Documents of every type are
incomplete. They may consist
merely of the best information
available at a given time and
place. They may be limited by
the time or resources available to
the creator. Valid interpretation
can only be based on an
awareness of precisely what a
document says and what it does
not say.
Ask students what content a historian
would need to double-check before
using it to make an argument.
Ask students to paraphrase the
main points the document asserts.
What does the
document not say
(i.e., does it selectively
include and/or exclude
information)?
Ask students to tell you what a
document does not say on the
topic it purports to address.
What of its content is
usable by a historian?
Format/
medium
What is the format of
the source: text, image,
art, newspaper article,
letter, cartoon, lyrics,
op-ed, etc?
When an author wishes to
communicate something, he or
she must decide what format to
use. Anovel, a newspaper article,
and a cartoon might all be used
to make the same point, but the
way in which they make it is very
dierent. Readers have certain
assumptions about certain media;
for example, that newspaper
articles are always accurate or
that letters to the editor are always
biased. We may share these
assumptions, and so we need to
be aware of them when reading
a given document. Furthermore,
the format of a document
contributes to its overallmeaning.
A ctional account of the wealth
created by the slave trade and a
table documenting that wealth
numerically could be created by
the same author with the same
purpose of ending slavery, but
the rst might seek to do so by
having a rapacious plantation
owner communicate the
information, while the second
might be juxtaposed with a table
documenting the number of
Africans who died on the Middle
Passage.
Give students three types of
documents concerning the same
event, such as a newspaper article,
a political cartoon, and a personal
letter. Ask students to compare the
way in which information about
the event is communicated in each
source.
What is the intent of
the medium?
Ask students what assumptions
a reader could make about each
document based on its format or
the genre to which it belongs.
Does the source’s
format or genre (novel,
romantic poetry,
Impressionist painting,
cartoon) add meaning
to what the source
explicitly states?
Provide students with a visual
source and engage in a discussion
about how the image, including
any symbols, conveys meaning.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Source
features Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional strategies
to develop prociency
Authorship Who wrote the
document, and what is
his or her relationship
to the historical event
being addressed?
The author of every document
is a unique individual with
a unique point of view. The
author’s relationship to an
event (such as distance in time
or experience from that event)
aects his or her understanding
of the event. Even an author
who seeks to write an objective
and truthful account of an
event will be limited by his
or her ability to understand
what happened, to accurately
remember the event, and to
determine what was signicant
about the event and what can
be left out of the account. To
make generalizations about the
past, we must rst understand
who the author of any given
document was. If we do not
know who the author was, we
must make an educated guess.
If the author is known, ask
students to research the author.
If the author is unknown, ask
students what the content and/
or format, along with the date the
document was produced, suggest
about authorship. In either case,
discuss how knowing who the
author is (or might be) aects how
we understand the content.
What was the author’s
position in society?
Ask students how an author of
a dierent social status or with
a dierent political point of view
might respond to the document.
Do I know anything
about this person
beyond what is
provided in the source
that would aect
the reliability of the
document?
Give students some information
about the author, and ask which
piece of information might render
the document less reliable as an
objective account.
Author’s
point of view
What was the author’s
point of view?
As discussed below, all sources
have a purpose, which the
author is usually aware of.
However, he or she may not be
aware of how his or her point
of view shapes a document.
Factors that may shape point
of view include aspects of the
creator’s identity (e.g., gender,
religion, ethnicity, political
aliation), his or her relation to
the event (e.g., actor, bystander,
critic), and the distance in time
between the event and the
document’s creation.
Compare two accounts of the
same event by authors about
whom a good deal of information
is known. Ask students to identify
dierences in the accounts, and
discuss how what we know about
the authors can explain these
dierences.
Does the author’s point
of view undermine the
explicit purpose of the
source?
After identifying possible biases
in a source, ask students how a
reader who shared these biases
and one who did not (or who had
dierent biases) might respond to
the source.
How can you tell, if
you can tell, what
other beliefs the
author might hold?
Compare dierent types of
sources—text, map, photograph,
painting, cartoon, chart—to ask
what we can tell about an author’s
beliefs from the source itself.
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AP United States History Course and Exam Description
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Source
features Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional strategies
to develop prociency
Author’s
purpose
Why did the author
create the source?
When an author creates a
source—whether it is a diary
entry, a political treaty, or a
painting—he or she has a
purpose in mind: to record the
events of the day, to end a war,
to paint an image that a patron
would want to purchase, etc.
This purpose might involve
convincing another person,
controlling the actions of many
people, or serving as a reminder
to oneself. As time goes by,
the purpose of the document
may aect whether or not it is
preserved. Documents deemed
unimportant or controversial
often do not survive.
Understanding purpose helps
historians understand historical
processes, as each document
not only tells us about the past
but is also the result of an action
taken by one or more people in
the past.
After students have identied the
author and discussed his or her point
of view, ask them what they think
the author hoped to accomplish by
writing the document.
Why was the
document created at
this time?
Have students research what was
happening during the year and in the
state/region in which the document
was created. Based on this research,
ask them to come up with two
arguments about why the time and
place are crucial in understanding
the purpose of the document.
Why has it survived to
the present?
Ask students why they think the
document was deemed important
enough to keep. Reminding them
of the time and place it was written,
ask what other types of documents
that might help us understand the
same event may have been written
but not preserved.
How does its purpose
aect its reliability or
usefulness?
Have students identify three ways in
which the purpose of the document
makes it less reliable for historians.
Historical
situation
When and where was
the source produced?
As stated earlier in the
discussion on purpose, each
document was created at a
specic moment in time and
in a specic place. Identifying
this time and place helps us
understand purpose, but in
order to understand the situation
or context of a document, we
need to go beyond simple
identication. When a historian
talks about situation or context,
he or she is referring to specic
historical processes and events
that can explain both the
author’s reasons for writing the
document and the ways in which
contemporaries understood the
document.
Give students three documents
demanding greater educational
opportunities for women: one from
the 1850s, one from the 1890s, and
one from the 1960s—all without
a date or authorship information.
Ask them to form hypotheses
about where and when each
document was produced. Discuss
what elements of the document
serve as reliable clues to situation.
What
contemporaneous
events might have
aected the author’s
viewpoint and/or
message?
Have students read a document and
then discuss its situation, focusing
on three historical processes or
events that were contemporaneous
with the document. Ask students
how these processes/events
might have inuenced the author
and audience.
How does the
historical situation
that the source was
produced in aect the
reliability of a source?
Give students two accounts of the
Cold War: one written in the 1950s
and one written today. Ask how the
situation shaped each account and
which they think is more reliable.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Source
features Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional strategies
to develop prociency
Audience Who was the source
created for?
Every document is created with
an audience in mind, even if
that audience is oneself. When
creating a document, authors
make decisions based on
what they think the audience
already knows and what they
want the audience to know
and believe. In doing so, the
author might leave certain
information out, emphasize
some points rather than others,
or adopt a specic tone or point
of view. Understanding who
the audience was presumed to
be and what impact the author
wished to have on them helps
us better understand the content
and purpose of a document.
After discussing authorship and
purpose, ask students to identify a
possible audience for the document.
Discuss why some audiences are
more plausible than others.
How might the audience
have aected the
content of the source?
Ask students to imagine how
the author might have recast the
content for a dierent audience.
How might the
audience have aected
the reliability of the
source?
Give students two documents
written by the same author but for
dierent audiences, such as an
editorial and a personal letter by
Franklin Roosevelt. Ask them which
source is more reliable for making
an argument about how Roosevelt’s
politics aected his private life.
Ask them what argument the other
source would better serve.
Limitations What does the
document not tell me?
Every reader’s tendency when
reading a new document is to
mentally add information that
helps them make sense of it.
Historians are conscious of this,
and seek out other documents
or information that could
explain the source’s meaning.
In addition, a historian must
be aware that the meaning of a
document often lies in what it
does not say, as much as what
it says. For example, gaps often
give us clues to the author’s
point of view.
Have students identify three
things they do not know after
reading a text.
What might have
limited the knowledge
of the author (e.g.,
social status or
position, education)?
Ask students to engage in a
document-based question exercise
and explain two to three ways in
which the sources provide a limited
perspective on the event described.
What other kinds of
sources might ll in
the content gaps?
Have students choose among a
number of preselected sources and
decide which sources best ll in
the gaps of the original source.
What other documents
might oer alternatives
to the author’s point of
view?
Give students two documents (in
addition to the original source) and
ask them which a historian would
prefer to use as an example of a
reliable, alternative point of view.
What other documents
might help to better
understand the
author’s own point of
view?
Have students brainstorm what the
“perfect source” would be to help
them better understand the author’s
point of view. Discuss whether
or not such a source was likely to
have been produced at the time.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Analyzing Secondary Sources
Analyzing secondary sources involves evaluating the dierent ways historians interpret the past, including
dierences in interpretation of the same historical event or process. It also involves nding patterns and trends
in quantitative data sources, such as tables, charts, and maps, and considering the historical implications of
those patterns and trends.
In order to interpret secondary sources, students need to understand how a historian uses evidence to
support her or his argument. Historians, like AP history students, rely on incomplete primary sources—partial
remnants of the information that was available at the time being studied. The historian must make inferences
from explicit or implicit information in primary source material and posit relationships between sources that
were produced independently of one another. For this reason, understanding a historical narrative requires
identifying and evaluating how the historian has interpreted and combined sources to make them tell a
coherent story. Students should understand that such interpreting and combining serves as the connective
tissue in every historical narrative.
In order to foster this kind of analysis, teachers might ask students to break down a given historical account
into two components: what a source used by the historian actually contains, and what the historian says
it means or the implications he or she draws from it. In addition, teachers can present students with a
historiographical debate, such as: Was the Cold War inevitable? To motivate this debate, teachers can provide
students with two or more perspectives on the issue.
The following chart identies underlying questions and strategies to help students become procient in
analyzing secondary sources.
Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional strategies to
develop prociency
What is the main idea, or
argument, of the excerpt written
by each historian?
Historians make dierent
interpretations of the past;
history, by its nature as
a discipline, is inherently
interpretive. When they
examine the past, historians
make use of dierent reasoning
skills to analyze primary and
secondary sources and then
organize the information from
these sources into a coherent
narrative based on an argument,
or thesis, about the past. This
argument is an interpretation
of the past that reects the
historian’s best understanding.
However, written history, like
the events that constitute
history, is always changing,
as new information and new
ways of looking at the past
become available. It is therefore
important to understand that all
accounts of historical events are
interpretations of those events.
Give students two paragraphs
concerning a specic event, each written
by a dierent historian. Ask students to
identify the main argument of each.
What is one piece of information
from this time period that
supports the argument of the
historian? What is a piece of
evidence that undermines the
argument?
Provide students with a paragraph
written by a historian explaining an
event in history. In small groups,
ask students to nd two pieces of
information that support the argument
being made and two that challenge it.
Why might a dierent historian
make a dierent argument
concerning the same event or
development?
After studying various causes for an
event, give students two excerpts, each
from a dierent historian, that provide
dierent interpretations of the event. Ask
students to write a short essay in support
of one of the interpretations using
primary sources and what they know
about that period in history as evidence
for their argument. After the essays have
been returned to students, pair those
who supported dierent historians and
have them come up with an explanation
for the dierence in interpretations.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Using Historical Reasoning to Develop
Eective Historical Arguments
When they study the past, historians inquire into the reasons why historical events,
processes, and actions unfolded the way they did. As they begin to articulate possible
explanations of these events, historians use reasoning processes that rely on their awareness
of dierent types of causal relationships, connections, and patterns. They then formulate a
claim, or thesis, about why the event or process occurred the way it did, and then develop
an argument that explains how the claim is supported by the available historical evidence.
A strong historical argument also accounts for how some evidence might seem to modify
or refute the claim, addressing alternate explanations of the event or process. In order for
students to learn how to create persuasive and meaningful historical arguments, AP history
teachers should help students improve their prociency with each of these practices in turn.
Historical Reasoning About the Past
Students can develop their ability to reason meaningfully about the past by using the same
skills and practices they encounter in historical writings. The most common ways in which
historians reason about the past involve:
n
seeing the connections between the particular and the general (contextualization)
n
analyzing similarities and dierences (comparison)
n
analyzing cause and eect (causation)
n
identifying long-term patterns of continuity or change over time
Historians employ these types of reasoning to construct explanations about the causes and
signicance of past events, using evidence to support their claims. Historians also must take
disparate and sometimes contradictory evidence into account in making their arguments,
considering possible alternative explanations and the underlying complexity of the processes
they examine.
The chart on the following pages provides some suggestions for approaching these dierent
aspects of historical reasoning in the AP U.S. History course.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Skills Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional
strategies to develop
prociency
Contextualization What was happening at the
time the event occurred or
the document was written/
created that might have had
an inuence?
Historians examine the
historical context of events
to understand why things
happened the way they
did. Context is dierent
from causation in that
instead of focusing on
specic events or actions
that may have caused
another event to occur,
historians refer to context
as the larger constellation
of developments and
processes that may not
have served as a specic
cause but may still have
inuenced an event. In
other words, the context of
an event often inuences
its course, even if it did
not cause the event.
Context can operate on
many dierent levels,
from the local to the
global. Understanding the
historical situation that a
source was created within is
crucial in making sense of
primary sources.
When discussing a specic
event, such as the Civil
War, have students make a
list of 10 things that were
happening in the decade
before its outbreak. Discuss
whether each was a direct
cause or part of the larger
context. For those that
are identied as context,
discuss how they inuenced
the course of the Civil War.
What was happening at
the specic place where
an event occurred? In the
country as a whole? In the
larger region? In the world?
Have students research
what was happening
locally, regionally, and
internationally at the time
an important work was
published. Ask them to
explain how a passage from
this work reects one or
more of these contexts.
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Skills Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional
strategies to develop
prociency
Contextualization
(CONTINUED)
How does a specic event
relate to larger processes?
How do larger processes
shape a specic event?
Contextualization
(CONTINUED)
Have students read a
section from the textbook
concerning an example of
early industrial development
such as the Lowell mills
and a secondary source
that describes the market
revolution in the early 19th
century in general terms.
In class, discuss how
the example reects the
more general description
of the market revolution.
As part of the class
discussion, identify other
major developments of
the period, such as the
cult of domesticity or the
Second Great Awakening.
Ask students how these
developments may have
inuenced the workers in
the Lowell mills.
How does the context in
which a source is read or
viewed inform how it is
understood?
After discussing a
propaganda poster from
World War I, ask how the
poster might be received in
a dierent context, such as
during World War II.
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Skills Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional
strategies to develop
prociency
Comparison How is one development
like/unlike another
development from the same
time/a dierent time?
In order to make sense
of specic events or
developments, historians
often put them in a
comparative context
in order to see a larger
picture. Comparison also
helps in understanding the
complexity of historical
change, since dierent
groups in society often
have dierent experiences
of the same event or same
development. Comparison is
a skill used on a daily basis
by historians, who must
always take into account
dierences among sources,
both primary and secondary.
After discussing
industrialization during
the Gilded Age, ask
students to write a
paragraph identifying the
similarities and dierences
in industrialization in the
West, the Northeast, and the
Southeast. Discuss these
similarities and dierences
in class. In small groups,
have students discuss what
the comparisons can tell
us about the process of
industrialization in general.
Why did an event or
development aect dierent
groups in dierent ways?
While teaching about the
economic prosperity of the
1920s, present students
with primary source
evidence regarding the
experience of farmers and
the urban middle class. As
a class, identify a list of
reasons that explains the
dierent experiences of
dierent groups.
How does a viewpoint
(from a historical actor or
historian) compare with
another when discussing
the same event or historical
development?
Give students two short
explanations of the
American Revolution: one
that focuses on political
aspects and another that
focuses on social aspects.
Ask students to compare
the two and identify what
is similar and dierent in
each explanation. Then give
them a primary source and
ask them which historian’s
argument the source would
best support.
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Skills Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional
strategies to develop
prociency
Causation What were the reasons for
this event? What factors
contributed to a specic
pattern or trend? What
prompted this person/group
to act/react this way?
Every event, pattern
or trend, or action has
a cause—a reason or
set of reasons why it
happened. Historians
do not simply arrange
events in chronological
order; instead, they seek
to understand why things
happened as well as what
eects an event, pattern
or trend, or action had.
Most events, actions, or
trends have many causes;
historians seek to identify
the most signicant short-
and long-term causes and
eects. Signicance can
be understood in dierent
ways. Sometimes the most
signicant causes and
eects are those that are
the most direct. Sometimes
they are dened as those
that contributed the most.
Other times, historians
look for specic types of
causes and eects, such as
political causes or economic
eects. Additionally,
historians understand that
events are not the result of
predetermined outcomes or
inevitable progress. They
recognize that all events are
contingent on many factors,
from individual choices
to unforeseeable events—
change one of these factors
and history could have been
very dierent. Focusing
on contingency, historians
explore concepts of agency
and individual action when
discussing the signicance
of a particular cause or
eect.
Begin a classroom
discussion of a specic
event by reviewing long-
and short-term causes. Ask
students to identify the
most signicant causes and
explain why they made the
choices they did.
What resulted from this
event, pattern, or action?
What were the short-term
eects? What were the long-
term eects?
After discussing an event or
action in class, ask students
to identify a short-term and
long-term political, cultural,
and economic eect of that
event.
What cause seemed to be
the most signicant? What
eect seemed to be the most
signicant and why?
Have students work in
groups to construct a timeline
that charts causes and eects
of a specic event or trend. In
a follow-up discussion with
the entire class, identify the
most signicant causes and
eects.
How do the assessments
of historians concerning
causation dier from those
who experienced the event,
pattern, or action?
Ask students to compare
selected pages in the
textbook on a specic event
with a primary source
concerning the event.
Discuss the dierences in
explanations of causes and
eects, and ask students
why someone contemporary
to the event might identify
dierent causes and eects
than a historian would.
How might the chain of
cause and eect have
changed and at what
point? What causes were
contingent on previous
eects? What individual
choice(s) made a signicant
dierence in the lead up to
a particular event or trend?
Was there a moment of
chance that inuenced the
chain of events?
After constructing a timeline
that depicts causes and
eects to a particular event or
trend, have students choose
to change one cause and
explain how this change
would have made the most
signicant dierence in the
outcome and why. In a follow-
up discussion, students
debate their changes, using
the evidence from their cause
and eect timelines.
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Skills Underlying questions
Why are the questions
signicant for analysis?
Suggested instructional
strategies to develop
prociency
Continuity and
change over time
What has changed within a
specic time period?
Discussions of cause and
eect focus on change, but
both change and continuity
are important to historians.
Even in moments of
tremendous change, such
as the American Civil
War, for most people who
lived through it, attitudes
concerning the family and
gender roles remained the
same. Some of the most
interesting questions that
historians investigate ask
why, at the same moment in
history, some things change
while others do not.
Give students a range of
years, such as 1850–1914,
and ask them to identify
three aspects of American
life and society that
changed in those years and
three aspects that did not.
What has remained the
same within a specic time
period?
Pick a specic date or event
that is usually associated
with great change, such as
1945. Have students discuss
what did not change from
before 1945 to after 1945.
What can explain why some
things have changed and
others have not?
After a class discussion
focusing on change and
continuity during a certain
period or around a specic
event, ask students to
write a short paragraph
explaining why some
aspects of society changed
while others didn’t.
How are continuity and
change represented in
dierent types of sources;
for example, in graphs,
charts, political cartoons,
and texts? What might be
the reasons behind dierent
depictions of continuity and
change?
Compare a variety of
primary and secondary
sources concerning the
Industrial Revolution.
Discuss with students how
each source depicts and
explains change during
the Industrial Revolution.
Then ask students what
the sources don’t include,
focusing on both change
and continuity.
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Formulating a Claim and Reasoning
In order to develop a historical argument, historians formulate a claim, or thesis, that is based
on logical historical reasoning. A meaningful claim must be based in evidence, historically
defensible, and evaluative. The claim must take a stance on an issue that could plausibly be
argued dierently, and go beyond simply listing causes or factors, qualifying its assertions
by looking at an issue from multiple perspectives or lenses. The reasoning used in the thesis
often sets up the structure of the argument in the essay that follows. These might include:
n
Weighing the relative signicance of regional, national, or global contexts for
understanding a historical event (Contextualization)
n
Identifying areas of similarity or dierence between historical phenomena, in order to
consider possible underlying reasons for similarity or dierence (Comparison)
n
Considering both the immediate causes or eects of an event as well as long-term causes
or eects, and assigning a relative signicance to each (Causation)
Identifying ways that a historical development might be part of a long-term pattern
(continuity) or mark a moment of departure from such patterns (change) (Continuity and
Change over Time)
n
Using Evidence to Support an Argument
Historians use historical reasoning in tandem with their analysis of historical evidence
in order to develop and support a historical argument. As historians analyze primary or
secondary sources, they also consider how they might be used to support, qualify, or
modify an argument about the past. They then organize the evidence from historical sources
in meaningful and persuasive ways to support a thesis. However, historians must also
acknowledge that not all sources necessarily support the argument, and that there may be
other plausible ways to understand a historical development. Historians therefore account
for disparate, diverse, or contradictory evidence from a variety of sources when making their
arguments and explain why the argument is the most persuasive way to understand the
totality of the evidence. This ability to consider how historical evidence aects an argument
is one of the most challenging aspects of the historian’s craft being developed in the AP
history classroom.
To develop student prociency in formulating and sustaining an argument in writing
assignments, the teacher should encourage students to develop arguments throughout an
essay, and not just in the thesis or introduction. The chart below lists some of the possible
ways students might develop their ability to use diverse historical evidence in their writing to
support, qualify, or modify an argument about the past.
Students should be encouraged to ...
Think about dierences in opinions as they read and analyze sources.
Clearly state how one perspective or argument might undermine another or lead to dierent
conclusions.
Look for relationships between sources and be attentive to the ways in which dierent sources
might approach the same topic from very dierent perspectives.
Illustrate how one source functions as an explicit or implicit critique of another.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Increasing Depth and Managing Breadth
Through Instructional Choices
The AP U.S. History course is designed with the assumption that teachers will include the
historical developments and processes discussed in the concept outline, making choices
to go into depth about specic historical individuals, events, treaties, etc., that illustrate or
exemplify the required historical developments and processes. This allows teachers greater
exibility and ensures that students leave the course with the ability to use specic historical
evidence to support their understanding and analysis of broader developments and processes.
Increasing Depth
There are two dierent but complementary ways of achieving depth in the AP U.S. History
course.
1. Developing a detailed understanding of a specic historical event. Learning to
progress from a general understanding of historical processes or developments to a
more detailed understanding of the complexities, contradictions, and paradoxes of a
particular event in history provides an opportunity for students to develop practices
and skills and understand how dierent aspects of history—such as political, social,
and cultural history—are interrelated. Teachers have exibility to examine in depth
historical examples connected to key concepts so that students acquire greater
knowledge of specic historical events and understand how these events exemplify
the broader processes indicated by the concept outline and the learning objectives.
2. Reecting on history on a broader, conceptual level. This denition of depth refers
to the ability to elaborate on concepts that have shaped the narrative of U.S. history,
such as American national identity, or to elaborate on concepts that shape historical
thinking, such as causation. Conceptual understanding allows students to apply the
knowledge of historical processes acquired through a focus on specic examples
chosen by the teacher to other examples of the same or similar processes that may be
on the exam.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Managing Breadth
The course framework provides learning objectives to help teachers manage the breadth of
the course through eective instructional choices. The learning objectives demonstrate how
historical developments and processes connect over time and across regions. The learning
objectives, therefore, chart the contours of the conceptual understanding required of students,
while also pointing to specic sections of the concept outline where such understanding
applies. The learning objectives help teachers and students see how examples from one time
or place can be used to understand those in other times and places, since they are organized
around historical processes and concepts that are applicable over time and in dierent
historical contexts. This approach should reassure teachers that they do not need to cover
each part of the curriculum in equal detail. Instead, their focus should be on transfer of
understanding: how spending more time on specic examples will allow students to apply
conceptual understanding across time periods or from one event to another. For example,
spending time on an in-depth discussion of the emergence of debates over the Constitution
and national identity in Period 3 (NAT-2.0) during the 1790s means that when students
encounter similar debates later in the course, they will already have an understanding of this
issue that they can apply to other contexts.
The learning objectives for each theme provide a guide for managing breadth while increasing
depth. For example, learning objective CUL-4.0 addresses the reasons that dierent group
identities have emerged and changed over time. A teacher who had already discussed the way
conicts with American Indians over territorial settlement changed colonial-era identities
might spend less time on it during the American Revolution, while a dierent teacher might
go into depth on how similar conicts over settlement aected identity in the 1780s and
1790s.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Strategies for Instruction
Discussion-Based Instructional Strategies
In order for students to develop the full range of practices, skills, and understandings needed for the AP U.S.
History course, teachers should provide time in their instruction for classroom discussion and collaborative
learning activities. Eective discussion and collaboration go beyond summary and comprehension by requiring
students to grapple with others’ ideas as they formulate their own perspectives on an issue.
Table 1 denes and describes in general terms the purpose of several eective instructional strategies. Table 2
is customized to AP U.S. History and explains: (1) how the strategy can be applied specically in the AP U.S.
History classroom, and (2) how teachers can check for student understanding and make connections across
dierent topics throughout the course.
Table 1: Strategies at a glance
Strategy Denition Purpose
Socratic
Seminar
A focused discussion in which students
engage with open-ended questions tied to a
specic topic or text. For discussions focused
on a text, students should use a variety of
pre-, during-, and after-reading strategies in
order to actively read the text and prepare
for the discussion. The discussion continues
with student responses and, when needed,
additional open-ended questions that allow
students to express their ideas and engage in
complex thinking.
To help students arrive at a new understanding
by asking questions that clarify; challenge
assumptions; probe perspectives and point of
view; probe facts, reasons, and evidence; or
examine implications and outcomes.
Debate The presentation by two or more groups of
an informal or formal argument that defends
a claim with evidence. The goal is to debate
ideas without attacking the people who defend
those ideas.
To provide students with an opportunity to
collect and orally present evidence supporting
the armative and negative arguments of a
proposition or issue.
Fishbowl Some students form an inner circle and model
appropriate discussion techniques, while an
outer circle of students listens, responds, and
evaluates.
To provide students with an opportunity
to engage in a formal discussion and to
experience the roles of both participant
and active listener; students also have the
responsibility of supporting their opinions and
responses using specic evidence.
Shared
Inquiry
Students actively read a provocative text,
asking interpretative questions (questions
for which there are no predetermined right
answers) before and during reading. After
reading the text, students engage with their
peers to make meaning from the text, oer
dierent answers to the questions, and debate
one another, supporting their positions with
specic evidence from the text.
To allow a teacher to lead a deep discussion
of a text and encourage a diversity of ideas to
emerge as students think deeply and share
interpretations.
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Strategy Denition Purpose
Discussion
Group
Students engage in an interactive, small-group
discussion, often with an assigned role (e.g.,
questioner, summarizer, facilitator, evidence
keeper), to consider a topic, text, question, etc.
To allow students to gain new understanding
of or insight into a text or issue by listening to
multiple perspectives.
Debrieng A facilitated discussion that leads to
consensus understanding or helps students
identify the key conclusions or takeaways.
To solidify and deepen student understanding.
Jigsaw Each student in a group actively reads a
dierent text or dierent passage from a single
text, taking on the role of “expert” on what
was read. Students should use both pre- and
during-reading strategies to develop their
expertise on the text. After reading, students
share the information from that reading with
students from other groups who have read the
same text, then return to their original groups
to share their new knowledge. Each group then
formulates an answer to a common question.
To have students summarize and present
information to others in a way that facilitates
an understanding of a text (or multiple texts)
or issue without having each student read the
text in its entirety; by teaching others, they
become experts.
Questioning
a Text
Developing literal, interpretive, and universal
questions about a text before and during
reading it. Students should then respond to the
questions during and after reading, working
with peers to answer any remaining questions.
To engage more actively with texts, read with
greater purpose and focus, and ultimately
answer questions to gain greater insight into
the text.
Table 2: Applying strategies to AP United States History
Example AP United States History Application
Checking for Student Understanding and Making
Connections
Socratic Seminar
This strategy can be used on a regular basis or
before summative assessments as a tool to review
previous instruction. For example, after reading
about the experiences of immigrants and the
responses to immigration during the late 19th century
(Key Concept 6.2), the teacher can lead a Socratic
seminar in which students discuss how and why
immigrants came to the United States during this
period, their experiences once they arrived, and how
Americans reacted to their arrival. The goal of the
discussion would be to respond to the question of how
immigrants assimilated to American society but also
changed what it meant to be an American, reecting
learning objectives NAT-4.0 and MIG-1.0.
The teacher listens to the discussions to assess how
well students understand the key concept and learning
objectives and then brings the class back together as
a whole for a guided discussion about the readings.
To begin the discussion, the teacher can ask each
group what questions they found the most dicult
to answer, thus identifying areas that need further
attention. At the end of the discussion, the teacher can
ask students how this discussion helps them develop
a deeper understanding of the themes of American
and national identity, and migration and settlement
by posing a second question such as, “To what extent
was immigration during the late 19th century similar
to and dierent from earlier periods of immigration?”
The teacher can use this second question to see how
well students are able to link specic content to other
periods and larger processes.
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Example AP United States History Application
Checking for Student Understanding and Making
Connections
Debate
The teacher can use the learning objectives to
formulate a debate. For example, learning objectives
NAT-3.0 (“Analyze how ideas about national
identity changed in response to U.S. involvement in
international conicts and the growth of the United
States.”) and WOR-2.0 (“Analyze the reasons for, and
results of, U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military
initiatives in North America and overseas.”) can be
used to introduce students to the debates surrounding
U.S. acquisitions in the Western Hemisphere and
Pacic during the late 19th century and early
20th century (found in Key Concept 7.3). Students
could work in pairs or small groups to investigate the
position of dierent individuals involved in the debate
at the time (e.g., President McKinley, members of the
American Anti-Imperialist League, William Hearst).
After investigating their positions, the students could
rst debate the merits of U.S. expansion and America’s
role in the world from the perspective of their assigned
individual and then from their own perspective.
A variation on this approach involves using the four
corners of the room. In initial discussion, the entire
class could develop four possible responses to the
question posed; this activity works especially well
in identifying the causes and eects of signicant
events, such as the acquisition of territories after the
Spanish–American War. Each corner is labeled with
one of the responses, and students are tasked to go to
the corner that best supports their argument. Students
are given 5 minutes to organize an argument in defense
of their responses. A student representative from each
corner presents his or her argument and then students
are allowed to move to a dierent corner if their
opinions have changed. In the next round, a student
representative will address why his or her group’s
response is the most signicant. A closure activity
could be the formulation of a thesis statement by each
student to express their argument.
At the conclusion of the debate, students (and the
teacher) can reect on the merits of the arguments
presented and identify areas that needed more
evidence or were particularly persuasive. As
students suggest how arguments could have been
strengthened, the teacher can assess where student
knowledge of the key concept is weak and ask how
each side might have used information from this key
concept that students did not include. The teacher can
then ask students to identify earlier instances from
the course that addressed these thematic learning
objectives, such as Westward expansion and the
idea of Manifest Destiny (found in Key Concepts 4.3.I
and 5.1.I), asking students to compare this earlier
instance to that discussed in the debate. This activity
can be used to assess how well students are able to
understand how discrete events can be considered
evidence of a larger process.
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Example AP United States History Application
Checking for Student Understanding and Making
Connections
Fishbowl
Students read texts related to the ratication of the
Constitution (e.g., excerpts from the Federalist Papers,
“Brutus”) then discuss the Federalist and Anti-
Federalist positions using evidence from the texts.
Those in the outer circle evaluate the evidence used to
support various positions in the discussion.
The discussion of these texts focuses on Key
Concept 3.2.II (“After declaring independence,
American political leaders created new constitutions
and declarations of rights that articulated the role of
the state and federal governments while protecting
individual liberties and limiting both centralized
power and excessive popular inuence.”), which
is linked to Learning Objective POL-3.0 (“Explain
how dierent beliefs about the federal government’s
role in U.S. social and economic life have aected
political debates and policies.”). The exercise will
allow the teacher to assess students’ understanding
of the debate on the Constitution as they listen to
students in both the outer and inner ring. The teacher
can then place the discussion within the context
of Key Concept 3.2.I (“The ideals that inspired the
revolutionary cause reected new beliefs about
politics, religion, and society that had been developing
over the course of the 18th century.”), asking students
to compare the Constitution with the Enlightenment
ideas that inuenced the American Revolution and
the Declaration of Independence. As students make
comparisons, the teacher can review areas where
student understanding is weak.
Shared Inquiry
The teacher provides a selection of primary sources,
including texts from individuals involved in the
Latino, American Indian, and Asian American
movements, and asks students to use the content in
Key Concept 8.2.II (“Responding to social conditions
and the African American civil rights movement, a
variety of movements emerged that focused on issues
of identity, social justice, and the environment.”) to
choose a specic number of these documents that
they think best address Learning Objective CUL-4.0
(“Explain how dierent group identities, including
racial, ethnic, class, and regional identities, have
emerged and changed over time.”). Before completing
the task, either as homework or in small groups,
students explain what they think the learning objective
means and the teacher claries any confusion.
When students have chosen their documents, they form
small groups based on the documents chosen. Students
formulate a response to the learning objective based on
their choice of documents and present their ideas.
After student presentations, the teacher addresses
issues that remain to be discussed; for example, by
reviewing a document that few or no students chose
to analyze. The teacher then asks students how the
case study of these movements compares to the
African American movement for civil rights (e.g., how
were the movements similar/dierent, what tactics
were used in each movement and how were they
similar or dierent, what were the results, what did
success mean for the various movements). Student
responses allow the teacher to assess how well
students understand the various movements and how
identities have changed over time.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Example AP United States History Application
Checking for Student Understanding and Making
Connections
Discussion Group
The teacher organizes a discussion that addresses
Learning Objective GEO-1.0 (“Explain how geographic
and environmental factors shaped the development of
various communities, and analyze how competition
for and debates over natural resources have aected
both interactions among dierent groups and the
development of government policies.”) in the context
of the Columbian Exchange and the demographic,
economic, and social changes that occurred as a
result. In their discussions, students should identify
the Columbian Exchange and the goods and diseases
it introduced in the Americas, and explain how it
helped build the Spanish Empire (Key Concept 1.2.II).
Students also discuss the positive and negative
consequences of the exchange for various groups.
After each group shares the results of its discussion,
the teacher lls in any missing aspects of the
Columbian Exchange and its impacts. The teacher
can extend the conversation by having students
investigate the dierent worldviews regarding religion,
gender roles, family, land use, and power held by the
Spanish and the Native Americans they encountered
(Key Concept 1.2.III). Students then explain how the
interaction between Europeans and Native Americans,
including through the Columbian Exchange, brought
about cultural exchange, interaction, and change
(Learning Objective WOR-1.0).
Debrieng
After completing lessons on the end of the Cold War,
the teacher asks students what policy or policies
most contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union
(Key Concept 9.3.I).
The teacher uses the discussion to enhance
understanding of the key conclusions from the
lessons, reinforcing important information and
reminding students of information they might not
have considered. At the end of the discussion, the
teacher explains how the collapse of the Soviet Union
forced the U.S. to redene its foreign policy and role
in the world, while also facing new challenges (Key
Concept 9.3). Students can then discuss how this shift
in the balance of power was similar to or dierent
from that following World War II. The teacher can
highlight important similarities and dierences in
shifts of the balance of power over time and nish by
asking students to write a paragraph explaining how
the lesson helped them better understand Learning
Objective WOR-2.0 (“Analyze the reasons for, and
results of, U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military
initiatives in North America and overseas.”). The
teacher can read and comment on the paragraphs to
assess student understanding and provide feedback to
students.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Example AP United States History Application
Checking for Student Understanding and Making
Connections
Jigsaw
This exercise works well for complex issues or
issues with which students may not engage well.
For example, to address Learning Objective POL-3.0
(“Explain how dierent beliefs about the federal
government’s role in U.S. social and economic life have
aected political debates and policies.”) the teacher
selects and disseminates readings related to Key
Concept 7.1.II.B, C, and D, dealing with beliefs about
the federal government’s role in social and economic
life. Readings should represent a range of issues
(e.g. both the beliefs of Progressives and of those who
supported more limited government intervention).
Students are tasked with explaining how the evidence
and information from their readings helps to eectively
address the learning objective.
After students share their responses to the learning
objective, noting the positions of dierent groups
and the policies that resulted, the teacher adds any
missing information. Then, the teacher asks the class
to compare the ideas about the government’s role
during Period 7 with previous periods in U.S. history,
noting how the ideas about the government’s role in
social and economic life have changed and remained
the same over time (e.g., Key Concepts 3.2, 4.2, 5.3,
6.1, and 6.2).
Questioning a Text
The teacher assigns a text to be read by all students,
instructing them to write down any questions that
come to mind while reading the text (e.g., questions
that demand further evidence, questions concerning
information that needs clarication, or questions that
would advance understanding through discussion).
For example, to address Learning Objective WXT-2.0
(“Explain how patterns of exchange, markets, and
private enterprise have developed, and analyze ways
that governments have responded to economic issues.”),
the teacher assigns a primary source text addressing
factory conditions in the early 19th century and
one addressing the economic growth resulting from
increased industrialization at the time (Key Concept 6.1).
Students are asked to come up with three questions
about each text. The teacher forms groups based on
similar questions and asks students to research the
answers in the textbook or in another source.
Each group presents its ndings, after which the
teacher leads a discussion with the goal of identifying
the most important factors behind the development
of industrialization. Teachers can use the student
presentations as an opportunity to assess student
misunderstandings and use the discussion to help
students self-correct. At the end of the discussion, the
teacher can remind students that some areas of the
U.S. remained focused on agriculture and ask students
why this was so. The discussion, which will focus
on what elements that made rapid industrialization
possible were lacking in areas of the country such
as the South, allows the teacher to assess student
understanding of the learning objectives and identify
areas where review is needed.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment strategies are important in teaching the AP U.S. History course
because they give teachers and students information about learning in order to enhance it.
This information is vital for monitoring progress, deepening understanding, honing skills, and
improving achievement. It helps teachers adapt and tailor pedagogy to meet the needs of each
student and produce self-directed students. Formative assessment strategies help students
become aware of their strengths and challenges in learning and allow students to plan and
implement solutions to overcome diculties.
Formative assessments are often initiated and modeled by teachers, with the goal of having
students learn to self-evaluate and address their own learning needs. Steps of formative
assessment include:
n
identifying a learning goal
n
monitoring progress toward the goal through observation, questioning, dialogue, record
keeping, and reection
n
providing feedback in response to the learning data collected
n
adjusting teaching and learning strategies to support achievement
Formative assessment, explained and guided by the instructor, develops students’
metacognitive abilities; students become aware of their own learning processes as they
develop historical knowledge and skills, enabling them to troubleshoot and address problems.
They become more independent and successful learners.
The provided discussion-based instructional strategies chart embeds examples of formative
assessment that allow a teacher to check for student understanding of specic issues.
Teachers might follow these activities with another formative assessment, such as an exit
slip, quiz, homework assignment, reection piece, or other type of written task. The goal of
the formative assessment is to provide specic, detailed information about what students
know and understand to inform the learning process. Unlike summative assessments,
formative assessments may not result in a score or grade. Formative assessments are part of
the practice of learning, not an evaluation of the end result.
Student-Centered Learning
Feeling pressured to cover all the content, some teachers overemphasize direct instruction at
the expense of student-centered learning. Delivering content by way of lectures or textbook
readings typically renders students passive receptors of knowledge. Educational research
demonstrates that both the breadth and depth of student understanding is enhanced
signicantly by engaging students in authentic discipline-based tasks where students both
actuate and create knowledge, as opposed to passively receiving knowledge created by others.
This student-centered approach to learning is associated with a focus upon inquiry and an
instructional design that aligns the lesson and student investigation to a central historical
question—a question for the lesson that is nested within larger questions at the level of the unit
and the course. These questions are typically grounded in the practices and skills, allowing for
rich and varied practice of the reasoning used in the students’ investigations. In response to a
central historical question, students grapple with primary and secondary sources to construct
plausible arguments that evaluate the relative reliability and veracity of their sources. In this
inquiry-centered classroom, teachers might provide historical content or context through direct
forms of instruction, but the bulk of instructional time is allocated to student investigation.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Project-based learning extends the notion of inquiry-based instruction by engaging students
in an investigation of a unit-level question that has them working independently or in groups
and the pacing of activities is dierentiated. Project-based learning in AP U.S. History is
often associated with a focus upon problem solving that links past and present. Project-based
learning also provides opportunity for using simulations or posing counter-factual questions
in the AP U.S. History classroom.
Strategies for Teaching Students New to AP
For some students, teachers may need to provide additional support at the beginning of the
year to foster development of the practices and skills required in an AP class. To support and
encourage these students, teachers should consider a variety of strategies to scaold and
sequence assignments and activities that will result in a gradual release from supported to
independent work over the course of the academic year. Such strategies may include:
n
modeling successful work
n
moving from simple to more complex tasks
n
note-taking skills
n
building eective reading skills
n
targeted practice and feedback
n
encouraging a mindset for success
Modeling Successful Work
In new assignments or in complex and rigorous tasks, teachers should model the process for
students and consider providing exemplar student work. A teacher who actively participates
in the assignment, activity, or thinking process along with the students can be a guide to
success and also articulate the meta-cognitive reection necessary to be successful. This type
of modeling and support before student work begins can be complemented after the task is
completed by sharing student work with the class. Typing up student responses or projecting
an image of student work to share with the entire class can provide valuable opportunities for
reection for students not only in response to the shared example but also to evaluate their
own work.
Moving from Simple to More Complex Tasks
Because many performance tasks in an AP course are complex and require several steps of
analysis and evaluation, teachers should consider isolating particular skills and narrowing
the scope of particular tasks to allow students to master smaller skills rst. The aim is not to
sacrice rigor but to build capacity and allow time for students to learn the skills and content
necessary to be successful. Teachers might provide scaolding questions for documents
that point to a particular skill of analysis in the beginning of the year that would not be
included in later document analysis. Furthermore, starting with shorter passages and/or
using guiding questions can help direct analysis and comprehension. Providing a suggested
order or sequence of practices and skills to use for complex performance tasks might also
help students early in the year. Rather than assigning full-length homework or in-class
assignments at the start of an academic year, teachers might narrow the scope of the work.
Over time, as students grow, teachers can gradually release full responsibility to them.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
Note-Taking Skills
Especially in the beginning, teachers should pay particular attention to student
comprehension, whether students are working with primary sources, secondary sources,
the textbook, or other historical evidence. Annotating the reading or source, using either the
Cornell note-taking system or some other method, will help students keep focused and also
raise their own awareness of when they are not understanding an idea or passage. Directing
students to include related visual images or write follow-up questions can also help some
learners focus and retain information. Learning successful note-taking skills will not only aid
comprehension but also build understanding.
Building Eective Reading Skills
When working with any reading or source, teachers might consider providing shorter
passages at the beginning of the year. Taking more time to understand and analyze a shorter
passage can not only build condence but also build the skills needed for longer passages.
Teachers might also consider providing scaold questions for challenging readings. These
questions can help guide students and also help them utilize and reect on the type of
thinking necessary to analyze sources and establish patterns they can internalize and apply
independently. Over time, teachers can use less of these types of supports, but they can be
critical to building condence and skill capacity early in the course, especially with textbook
and secondary source readings.
When working with any reading, teachers might consider assigning questions with larger
themes and issues in mind to move students toward an awareness of how the source
information is relevant to understanding a larger historical question, process, or issue.
For visual evidence like a photograph or work of art, students can use techniques of
observation and analysis, such as dividing the picture into four quadrants and making
observations, or looking at details in the foreground and background. The goal is to
ensure students notice important details of a primary source in preparation for making
larger interpretive claims.
Encouraging a Mindset for Success
Teachers should also consider the noncognitive dimension to teaching and learning when
working with younger AP students. What a teacher or student believes about how success
is achieved absolutely affects the learning process. Carol Dweck’s research on mindsets
(Mindset: The New Psychology of Success) lays an important foundation for teachers and
students to consider as students encounter new academic challenges. A teacher or student
with a growth mindset—a mindset for success—embraces challenges as new opportunities
to learn, makes concerted efforts to improve, and believes that a person’s ability and
potential is not fixed or static but can grow over time. In a growth mindset, success is
measured by improvement rather than simply by achievement, and effort is the linchpin
of success. This way of thinking counters the self-defeating notions that ability is static
and permanent, and extra effort is useless because success is determined by innate ability
or talent.
The messages that teachers send to students, along with all classroom practices, should
encourage students to take risks, make mistakes, learn, and grow. This culture of a
growth mindset is absolutely essential to success in an AP class where frustration and
discouragement can short-circuit the learning process. Teachers who can coach students
new to AP through such moments, and train them to see academic setbacks and “failure” as
stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks, can set students up for success.
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AP U.S. History Instructional Approaches
AP U.S. History Exam
Exam Overview
The AP U.S. History Exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long and includes both a 95-minute
multiple-choice and short-answer section (Section I) and a 100-minute free-response section
(Section II). Each section is divided into two parts, as shown in the table below. Student
performance on these four parts will be compiled and weighted to determine an AP Exam score.
Section Question Type
Number of
Questions Timing
Percentage of
Total Exam Score
I
Part A: Multiple-choice
questions
55 questions 55 minutes 40%
Part B: Short-answer
questions
3 questions
w
Required
Question 1:
periods 3–8
w
Required
Question 2:
periods 3–8
w
Choose
between
w
Question 3:
periods 1–5
OR
w
Question 4:
periods 6–9
40 minutes 20%
II
Part A: Document-based
question
1 question:
periods 3–8
60 minutes
(includes a
15-minute
reading period)
25%
Part B: Long essay
question
1 question,
chosen from
three options
on the same
theme:
w
periods 1–3
w
periods 4–6
w
periods 7–9
40 minutes 15%
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Time Management
Students need to learn to budget their time so that they can complete all parts of the exam.
Students will not be able to move on to Part B of Section I until the 55 minutes of Part A
are completed and their responses to the multiple-choice questions are collected. Time
management is especially critical with regard to Section II, which consists of two essay
questions. There is a 15-minute reading period and recommended time of 45 minutes of
writing time for the document-based question and 40 minutes for the long essay question, but
students are not forced to move from the document-based question to the long essay question.
Students often benet from taking a practice exam under timed conditions prior to the actual
administration.
How Student Learning Is
Assessed on the AP Exam
Each AP Exam question measures students’ ability to apply historical practices and reasoning
to one or more of the thematic learning objectives. Student understanding of course content
is assessed on the AP Exam in one of two ways. First, multiple-choice questions expect that
students are familiar enough with the concept statements in each period of U.S. history to be
able to answer questions about related primary and secondary source material. Second, all
free-response questions reward students for accurately explaining the historical content their
local curriculum prioritized for each concept statement.
The wording of each concept statement gives teachers the exibility to select specic
historical content for use in helping students develop mastery. AP Exam questions do not
require that all students know the same example for a given concept statement, so teachers
can focus on teaching one example of that concept well, rather than many examples
supercially.
It is the nature of history as a discipline that individual statements are open to dierences
of interpretation. Like all historical claims, the statements in the concept outline should be
examined in light of primary sources and evidence as well as historical research. Teachers
can help students examine these concepts as claims, based on current scholarship about
United States history, similar to those typically analyzed in a college-level survey course.
Teachers may wish to use dierences of interpretation as opportunities for student analysis of
multiple perspectives.
In addition, the following list describes the relationship between the components of the
course framework and the AP Exam questions:
n
The coverage of the periods in the exam as a whole will reect the approximate period
weightings (see the table on page 19).
n
Document-based and long essay questions may span more than one period, requiring
students to address events or documents from multiple periods of the course.
n
Students’ understanding of all themes and periods of U.S. history will be assessed on the
exam. The periods and skills that can be addressed in dierent sections of the exam are
discussed in the descriptions of each question type that follow.
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AP U.S. History Exam
Exam Components
Multiple-Choice Questions
Section I, Part A of the AP U.S. History Exam consists of 55 multiple-choice questions that are
organized into sets of between two to ve questions each. The questions in each set ask students
to respond to a primary or secondary source, such as written texts, images, charts, graphs, or maps,
reecting the types of material that historians use in studying the past. Multiple-choice questions
assess students’ ability to reason about this source material in tandem with their knowledge of
content required by the course. The possible answers for a multiple-choice question reect the level
of detail present in the required historical developments found in the concept outline for the course.
While a set may focus on one particular period of U.S. history, the individual questions within that
set may ask students to make connections to thematically linked developments in other periods.
Short-Answer Questions
Section I, Part B of the AP U.S. History Exam consists of four short-answer questions.
Students are required to answer the rst and second questions and then answer either the
third or the fourth question.
n
The rst question primarily assesses the practice of analyzing secondary sources, asking
students to respond in writing to a historian’s argument. This question addresses content
from periods 3–8 of the course.
n
The second question primarily assesses either the skill of causation or comparison, and ask
students to respond in writing to a primary source (written text) or to visual sources such as
images, charts, or maps. This question also addresses content from periods 3–8 of the course.
n
Students choose to answer either the third or the fourth short-answer questions, which deal
with periods 1–5 or 6–9, respectively. These questions ask students to respond in writing
to general propositions about U.S. history, and they primarily assess the same skill, either
causation or comparison: neither of them will assess the same skill as the second short-
answer question.
Each short-answer question asks students to describe examples of historical evidence
relevant to the source or question; these examples can be drawn from the concept outline or
from other examples explored in depth during classroom instruction.
Short-Answer
Questions
Primary Practice or Skill Assessed Source Type
Periods
Assessed
Students are required to answer short-answer question 1 AND short-answer question 2
1 Analyzing Secondary Sources Secondary source Periods 3–8
2 Comparison or Causation Primary source text
or visual source
Periods 3–8
Students select short-answer question 3 OR short-answer question 4
3 Comparison or Causation
(Dierent skill from short-answer question 2)
No stimulus Period 1–5
4 Periods 6–9
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AP U.S. History Exam
Document-Based Question
Section II, Part A of the AP Exam consists of the document-based question—an essay
question that measures students’ ability to develop and support an argument using historical
source material as evidence. The question focuses on topics from periods 3–8 of the course.
The seven documents included in the document-based question may include charts, graphs,
cartoons, and pictures, as well as written materials of varying length. These are chosen to
illustrate interactions and complexities about the historical topic that is the subject of the
question. In their responses, students should develop an argument about the question and
utilize the documents to support this argument. Students should also explain elements of the
authorship of the documents that aect their historical signicance, such as point of view,
purpose, historical situation, and/or audience. The document-based question also requires
students to relate the documents to a historical period or theme and, thus, to focus on major
periods and issues. For this reason, other knowledge about the topic being assessed, beyond
the specic focus of the documents, is important and must be incorporated into students’
essays to earn the highest scores.
Long Essay Question
Section II, Part B of the AP Exam consists of a choice among three long essay questions
about major topics from dierent time spans of the course.
n
Students choose one of the three long essay questions, which deal with periods 1–3,
periods 4–6, and periods 7–9 of the course, respectively.
n
The three question options all address the same theme and assess the same reasoning skill
(contextualization, causation, comparison, continuity and change over time).
In order to receive the highest scores, students must develop an argument and support it with
an analysis of specic, relevant historical evidence of their choosing. Long essay questions
ask about large-scale topics specically mentioned in the concept outline, but they are framed
to allow students to provide in-depth discussion of specic examples drawn from the concept
outline or from classroom instruction.
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AP U.S. History Exam
Practice Exam
After the practice exam you will nd a table that shows which key concepts, learning
objectives, and primary practice or skill is assessed in each question. The table also provides
the answers to the multiple-choice questions.
Section I
P
art A: Multiple-Choice Questions
As demonstrated in the following section, question sets will be organized around two to ve
questions that focus on a primary or secondary source.
Questions 1–3 refer to the excerpt below.
“In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend Mr. [George] Whiteeld, who had
made himself remarkable there as an itinerant preacher. He was at rst permitted to preach in
some of our churches; but the clergy, taking a dislike to him, soon refused him their pulpits,
and he was obliged to preach in the elds. e multitudes of all sects and denominations
that attended his sermons were enormous. . . . It was wonderful to see the change soon made
in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indierent about religion, it
seemed as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro’ the town in
an evening without hearing psalms sung in dierent families of every street.”
Benjamin Franklin, e Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
1. Whiteeld’s impact suggests that religious culture among British North American
colonists in the 1700s was most directly shaped by
(A) Roman Catholic inuences
(B) interest in commerce and business
(C) trans-Atlantic exchanges
(D) reliance on agriculture
2. Whiteeld’s open-air preaching contributed most directly to which of the following trends?
(A) e growth of the ideology of republican motherhood
(B) Greater independence and diversity of thought
(C) Movement of settlers to the backcountry
(D) e pursuit of social reform
3. e preaching described in the excerpt is an example of which of the following
developments in the 1700s?
(A) e emergence of an idea of republican self-government
(B) e beginning of calls for the abolition of slavery
(C) e increased inuence of the Enlightenment
(D) e expansion of Protestant evangelism
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AP U.S. History Exam
Questions 4–6 refer to the graph below.
Year
Migrants (thousands)
MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES, 1820 –1860
1820
1825 1830 1835 1840
1845
1850 1855
1860
40
80
120
160
200
240
280
320
360
400
440
40
80
120
160
200
240
280
320
360
400
440
United States Census Bureau
4. Which of the following was a signicant cause of the trend from 1843 to 1854 shown in
the graph?
(A) Active encouragement of migration by the United States government
(B) Economic and political diculties in Germany and Ireland
(C) Incentives oered by United States companies looking to hire skilled migrants
(D) Adoption of free trade policies by European governments
5. Which of the following was a direct eect of the trend in immigration aer 1845 shown
on the graph?
(A) An increase in sectional tensions
(B) A major economic downturn
(C) An upsurge in nativist sentiment
(D) e collapse of the second party system
6. e main trend shown in the graph was most directly associated with which of the
following processes occurring in the United States at the time?
(A) e convergence of European and American cultures
(B) e emergence of an industrialized economy
(C) e displacement of American Indians from the Southeast
(D) e resurgence of evangelical Protestantism
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Questions 7–9 refer to the excerpt below.
“e history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of
man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over
her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
“He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.
“He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice. . . .
“Having deprived her of this rst right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving
her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides. . . .
“He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.”
Seneca Falls Convention, Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, 1848
7. e ideas expressed in the excerpt most directly challenged the prevailing ideal in the
early nineteenth century that
(A) women should enjoy full and equal rights with men
(B) women should focus on the home and the domestic sphere
(C) the ability of women to earn wages was a positive development
(D) women should educate their children about the rights and responsibilities of
citizenship
8. Which of the following developments in the second half of the nineteenth century best
represented the continuation of the ideas expressed in the declaration?
(A) e formation of voluntary organizations and reform eorts
(B) Women’s support for the Social Gospel
(C) Support for outlawing the production and sale of alcohol
(D) A movement focused on religious revivals and personal conversion
9. Many supporters of the declaration in 1848 broke ranks with which of the following
groups by the 1870s?
(A) Social Darwinists
(B) Supporters of Southern secession and states’ rights
(C) Supporters of the Fieenth Amendment
(D) Isolationists
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AP U.S. History Exam
Questions 10 and 11 refer to the excerpt below.
“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent
of the governed. at whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to eect their Safety and Happiness.”
Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776
10. e excerpt was written in response to the
(A) British government’s attempt to assert greater control over the North American colonies
(B) British government’s failure to protect colonists from attacks by American Indians
(C) colonial governments’ failures to implement mercantilist policies
(D) colonial governments’ attempts to extend political rights to new groups
11. e ideas about government expressed in the excerpt are most consistent with which of
the following?
(A) e concept of hereditary rights and privileges
(B) e belief in Manifest Destiny
(C) e principle of religious freedom
(D) e ideas of the Enlightenment
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AP U.S. History Exam
Questions 12–14 refer to the excerpt below.
“We conclude that in the eld of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has
no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
Chief Justice Earl Warren, writing the unanimous opinion of the United States
Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954
12. Which of the following was the most immediate result of the decision excerpted?
(A) Radicals critiqued government actions as doing too little to transform the racial
status quo.
(B) Education advocates raised awareness of the eect of poverty on students’ opportunities.
(C) Civil rights activists became increasingly divided over tactical and philosophical issues.
(D) Segregationists in southern states temporarily closed many public schools in an
eort to resist the decision.
13. e decision excerpted most directly reected a growing belief aer the Second World
War that the power of the federal government should be used to
(A) promote greater racial justice
(B) revitalize cities
(C) foster economic opportunity
(D) defend traditional visions of morality
14. e Brown decision reversed which of the following earlier decisions?
(A) Marbury v. Madison, which established the principle of judicial review
(B) Worcester v. Georgia, which established that the federal government rather than
individual states had authority in American Indian aairs
(C) Dred Scott v. Sandford, which proclaimed that slaves could not be citizens
(D) Plessy v. Ferguson, which endorsed racial segregation laws
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AP U.S. History Exam
Questions 15 and 16 refer to the excerpt below.
“e system of quotas . . . was the rst major pillar of the Immigration Act of 1924. e
second provided for the exclusion of persons ineligible to citizenship. . . . Ineligibility
to citizenship and exclusion applied to the peoples of all the nations of East and South
Asia. Nearly all Asians had already been excluded from immigration. . . . e exclusion
of persons ineligible to citizenship in 1924 . . . completed Asiatic exclusion. . . . Moreover,
it codied the principle of racial exclusion into the main body of American immigration
and naturalization law.”
Mae M. Ngai, historian, Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the
Making of Modern America, 2004
15. e Immigration Act of 1924 most directly reected
(A) cultural tensions between scientic modernism and religious fundamentalism in
the 1920s
(B) conicts arising from the migration of African Americans to urban centers in
the North
(C) the emergence of an increasingly national culture in the 1920s shaped by art,
cinema, and mass media
(D) social tensions emerging from the First World War
16. Which of the following evidence would best support Ngai’s argument in the excerpt?
(A) Census data showing the changing percentages of the foreign-born population
from 1920 to 1930
(B) Narratives describing the challenges of immigrant family life in the 1920s
(C) Diplomatic correspondence reecting the increasing isolationism of United States
foreign policy in the 1920s and 1930s
(D) Census data revealing the Great Migration of African Americans to cities in the
North and West in the 1920s
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AP U.S. History Exam
Questions 17 and 18 refer to the excerpt below.
“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are
resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe we
must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that
our help should be primarily through economic and nancial aid which is essential to
economic stability and orderly political processes.”
President Harry Truman, address before a joint session of Congress articulating
what would become known as the Truman Doctrine, 1947
17. In his statement Truman had the goal of
(A) restraining communist military power and ideological inuence
(B) creating alliances with recently decolonized nations
(C) reestablishing the principle of isolationism
(D) avoiding a military confrontation with the Soviet Union
18. Truman issued the doctrine primarily in order to
(A) support decolonization in Asia and Africa
(B) support United States allies in Latin America
(C) protect United States interests in the Middle East
(D) bolster noncommunist nations, particularly in Europe
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AP U.S. History Exam
Questions 19–21 refer to the late-nineteenth-century photograph below by journalist
Jacob Riis.
© Bettmann/CORBIS
19. Conditions like those shown in the image contributed most directly to which of the
following?
(A) e passage of laws restricting immigration to the United States
(B) An increase in Progressive reform activity
(C) A decline in eorts to Americanize immigrants
(D) e weakening of labor unions such as the American Federation of Labor
20. e conditions shown in the image depict which of the following trends in the late
nineteenth century?
(A) e growing gap between wealthy people and people living in poverty
(B) e rise of the settlement house and Populist movements
(C) e increased corruption in urban politics
(D) e migration of African Americans to the North
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AP U.S. History Exam
21. Advocates for individuals such as those shown in the image would have most likely
agreed with which of the following perspectives?
(A) e Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson was justied.
(B) Capitalism, free of government regulation, would improve social conditions.
(C) Both wealth and poverty are the products of natural selection.
(D) Government should act to eliminate the worst abuses of industrial society.
Questions 22 and 23 refer to the excerpt below.
“Excepting only Yosemite, Hetch Hetchy is the most attractive and wonderful valley
within the bounds of the great Yosemite National Park and the best of all the camp
grounds. People are now ocking to it in ever-increasing numbers for health and
recreation of body and mind. ough the walls are less sublime in height than those
of Yosemite, its groves, gardens, and broad, spacious meadows are more beautiful and
picturesque. . . . Last year in October I visited the valley with Mr. William Keith, the
artist. He wandered about from view to view, enchanted, made thirty-eight sketches,
and enthusiastically declared that in varied picturesque beauty Hetch Hetchy greatly
surpassed Yosemite. It is one of God’s best gis, and ought to be faithfully guarded.”
John Muir, Century Magazine, 1909
22. Which of the following aspects of Muir’s description expresses a major change in
Americans’ views of the natural environment?
(A) e idea that wilderness areas are worthy subjects for artistic works
(B) e idea that wilderness areas serve as evidence of divine creation
(C) e idea that government should preserve wilderness areas in a natural state
(D) e idea that mountainous scenery is more picturesque and beautiful than
at terrain
23. Muir’s ideas are most directly a reaction to the
(A) increasing usage and exploitation of western landscapes
(B) increase in urban populations, including immigrant workers attracted by a growing
industrial economy
(C) westward migration of groups seeking religious refuge
(D) opening of a new frontier in recently annexed territory
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Questions 24–27 refer to the excerpt below.
“[H]istory and experience prove that foreign inuence is one of the most baneful foes of
republican government. . . . Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike
of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side and serve to veil
and even second the arts of inuence on the other. . . . e great rule of conduct for us,
in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations to have with them
as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements,
let them be fullled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary
interests which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in
frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns.”
George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796
24. e concerns expressed by Washington were a response to the
(A) debate over the proper treatment of American Indian tribes in the trans-
Appalachian West
(B) dispute over the possibility of annexing Canada from Great Britain
(C) controversy regarding support for the revolutionary government of France
(D) conict with Great Britain over the treatment of American Loyalists
25. e ideas expressed in Washington’s address most strongly inuenced which United
States foreign policy decision in the twentieth century?
(A) e establishment of the United Nations in 1945
(B) e formation of the NATO alliance between the United States and Western
Europe in 1949
(C) e refusal to join the League of Nations in 1919
(D) e oil embargo against Japan in 1941
26. Which of the following groups most strongly opposed Washington’s point of view in
the address?
(A) Democratic-Republicans
(B) New England merchants
(C) Southern plantation owners
(D) Federalists
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27. Most historians would argue that the recommendations of Washington’s address ceased
to have a signicant inuence on United States foreign policy as a result of
(A) westward expansion in the nineteenth century
(B) support for Cuban revolutionaries in the Spanish-American War
(C) Woodrow Wilson’s support for international democratic principles during the First
World War
(D) involvement in the Second World War
Questions 28–30 refer to the excerpt below.
“e colonizers brought along plants and animals new to the Americas, some by design
and others by accident. Determined to farm in a European manner, the colonists
introduced their domesticated livestock—honeybees, pigs, horses, mules, sheep, and
cattle—and their domesticated plants, including wheat, barley, rye, oats, grasses, and
grapevines. But the colonists also inadvertently carried pathogens, weeds, and rats. . . .
Insum, the remaking of the Americas was a team eort by a set of interdependent species
led and partially managed (but never fully controlled) by European people.”
Alan Taylor, historian, American Colonies, 2001
28. e export of New World crops to the Old World transformed European society mostly by
(A) improving diets and thereby stimulating population growth
(B) encouraging enclosure of open lands and pushing workers o of farms
(C) promoting greater exploration of the interior of the American continents
(D) fostering conicts among major powers over access to new food supplies
29. e patterns described in the excerpt most directly foreshadowed which of the
following developments?
(A) e spread of maize cultivation northward from present-day Mexico into the
American Southwest
(B) e population decline in Native American societies
(C) e gradual shi of European economies from feudalism to capitalism
(D) e emergence of racially mixed populations in the Americas
30. e trends described by Taylor most directly illustrate which of the following major
historical developments in the Atlantic world?
(A) e growth of mercantile empires that stretched across the Atlantic
(B) e increasing 46nglicization of the English colonies
(C) e phenomenon known as the Columbian Exchange
(D) e rise of the trans-Atlantic slave trade
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Questions 31–34 refer to the map below.
L. Huron
Atlantic
Ocean
Up to 1700
Limit of Settlements
Up to 1750
Up to 1775
L. Erie
L. Ontario
A
p
p
a
l
a
c
h
i
a
n
M
o
u
n
t
a
i
n
s
BRITISH SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 1700–1775
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31. e map most directly depicts the
(A) inland expansion of the colonial population
(B) eects of industrialization
(C) pattern of American Indian resistance
(D) decline of tobacco production
32. e pattern of colonial settlement up to 1700 resulted most directly from which of the
following factors?
(A) e large size of British colonial populations relative to American Indian
populations
(B) British recognition of Native American sovereignty
(C) e orientation of the British colonies toward producing commodities for export
to Europe
(D) British government attempts to impose greater control over the colonies in the
late 1600s
33. e change in settlement patterns from 1700 to 1775 had which of the following
eects?
(A) A decrease in the coastal population
(B) An increase in conicts between British settlers and American Indians
(C) A decrease in the economic importance of slavery and other forms of coerced labor
(D) An increase in trade with French Canada
34. e change in settlement patterns from 1700 to 1775 best explains the
(A) development of economic dierences between the northern and southern colonies
(B) colonists’ diculties in eectively resisting the British military during the
American Revolution
(C) signicant proportion of colonists who remained loyal to Great Britain during the
American Revolution
(D) growth of social tensions between backcountry settlers and coastal elites
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Questions 35–37 refer to the excerpt below.
“[T]he condition of the African race throughout all the States where the ancient relation
between the two [races] has been retained enjoys a degree of health and comfort which
may well compare with that of the laboring population of any country in Christendom;
and, it may be added that in no other condition, or in any other age or country, has the
Negro race ever attained so high an elevation in morals, intelligence, or civilization.”
John C. Calhoun, political leader, 1844
35. Which of the following groups would have been most likely to support Calhoun’s views
expressed in the excerpt?
(A) Members of nativist political parties
(B) Members of the Whig Party
(C) Southern landowners
(D) Northern industrialists
36. Which of the following most directly undermines Calhoun’s assertions?
(A) Many slaves adopted elements of Christianity.
(B) Many slaves engaged in forms of resistance to slavery.
(C) Abolitionist societies encountered diculty organizing in Southern states.
(D) A majority of White Southerners were not slaveholders.
37. In the 1840s and 1850s, the views expressed by Calhoun most directly contributed to
(A) the United States acquisition of new territory in the West
(B) increased sectional divisions between the North and the South
(C) the development of sharecropping and tenant farming in the South
(D) the rise of voluntary organizations to promote religious reform
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Questions 38–40 refer to the excerpt below.
“My purpose is not to persuade children from their parents; men from their wives; nor
servants from their masters: only, such as with free consent may be spared: But that each
[English] parish, or village, in city or country, that will but apparel their fatherless children,
of thirteen or fourteen years of age, or young married people, that have small wealth to
live on; here by their labor may live exceeding well: provided always that rst there be
sucient power to command them, . . . and sucient masters (as carpenters, masons,
shers, fowlers, gardeners, husbandmen, sawyers, smiths, spinsters, tailors, weavers, and
such like) to take ten, twelve, or twenty, or as is their occasion, for apprentices. e masters
by this may quickly grow rich; these [apprentices] may learn their trades themselves, to do
the like; to a general and an incredible benet for king, and country, master, and servant.”
John Smith, English adventurer, A Description of New England, 1616
38. e excerpt suggests that promoters such as Smith most typically presented migration
as a means for
(A) workers to achieve social mobility and economic opportunity
(B) people to earn wages to send home to their families
(C) countries to acquire new sources of mineral wealth
(D) joint-stock companies to generate prots
39. e excerpt would be most useful to historians as a source of information about which
of the following?
(A) e interaction of English colonial settlers with native populations in the early
seventeenth century
(B) e harsh realities of life in the early seventeenth-century American colonies,
including illness, high mortality rates, and starvation
(C) e role that appeals and advertising played in encouraging men and women to
participate in colonization eorts
(D) e nature of master and apprentice relationships in England in the early
seventeenth century
40. Which of the following was a major contrast between the New England colonies and
the colonies of France?
(A) e New England colonies were based on more diverse agriculture and commerce.
(B) e French settled more oen in cities and towns.
(C) e French had more conicts with American Indians.
(D) New England developed a less rigid racial hierarchy.
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Questions 41–43 refer to the excerpt below.
“ere is, at present, no danger of another insurrection against the authority of the United
States on a large scale, and the people are willing to reconstruct their State governments,
and to send their senators and representatives to Congress. But as to the moral value
of these results, we must not indulge in any delusions. . . . [T]here is, as yet, among the
southern people an utter absence of national feeling. . . .
“Aside from the assumption that the Negro will not work without physical compulsion,
there appears to be another popular notion . . . that the Negro exists for the special object
of raising cotton, rice and sugar for the whites, and that it is illegitimate for him to indulge,
like other people, in the pursuit of his own happiness in his own way.”
Carl Schurz, Report on the Condition of the South, 1865
41. Schurz’s analysis most directly illustrated the debates about which of the following
issues in the South?
(A) e industrialization of the South
(B) e issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation
(C) e process of readmitting Confederate states
(D) e extent of federal legislative power
42. e attitudes of White Southerners described by Schurz contributed to which of the
following developments in the last quarter of the nineteenth century?
(A) e sale of most plantations to African Americans to keep them in the South
(B) e establishment of sharecropping throughout the South
(C) e Nullication Crisis caused by Southern resistance to federal policy
(D) e rise of the Whig Party in the South
43. Eorts by Republicans such as Schurz to establish a base for their party in the South
aer the Civil War ultimately failed because
(A) Republicans feared the South would secede again if the party became too successful
(B) Republican opposition to African American rights alienated many White
Southerners
(C) Republicans grew weary of pressing their Reconstruction agenda in a hostile
environment
(D) Republicans believed it better to withdraw from the South than to become
corrupted by Southern politics
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Questions 44–46 refer to the excerpt below.
“e peace-loving nations must make a concerted eort in opposition to those violations
of treaties and those ignorings of humane instincts which today are creating a state
of international anarchy and instability from which there is no escape through mere
isolation or neutrality.
“ose who cherish their freedom and recognize and respect the equal right of their
neighbors to be free and live in peace, must work together for the triumph of law and
moral principles in order that peace, justice and condence may prevail in the world.
ere must be a return to a belief in the pledged word, in the value of a signed treaty.
ere must be recognition of the fact that national morality is as vital as private morality.”
President Franklin Roosevelt, Quarantine Speech, 1937
44. e ideas expressed in the excerpt diered from the prevailing United States approach
to foreign policy issues primarily in that Roosevelt was
(A) arguing to expand the role of the United States in the world
(B) encouraging the United States to avoid political entanglements in Europe
(C) seeking to promote United States inuence throughout Latin America
(D) encouraging new laws that would give the United States international police power
45. e excerpt best reects an eort by Roosevelt to
(A) encourage the ratication of the Treaty of Versailles
(B) promote the acquisition of new territories abroad
(C) contain the spread of Soviet-dominated communism
(D) overcome opposition to participation in the impending Second World War
46. Which of the following best represents continuity in the years aer 1945 with the ideas
that Roosevelt expressed in the excerpt?
(A) e conviction and execution of suspected Soviet spies in the United States
(B) United States membership in an international collective security organization
(C) United States military commitment to countries battling communist insurgencies
(D) e rise of peace organizations opposed to the buildup and use of nuclear weapons
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Questions 47–49 refer to the poster below.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-117090
47. e poster most directly reects the
(A) wartime mobilization of United States society
(B) emergence of the United States as a leading world power
(C) expanded access to consumer goods during wartime
(D) wartime repression of civil liberties
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48. e poster was intended to
(A) persuade women to enlist in the military
(B) promote the ideals of republican motherhood
(C) advocate for the elimination of sex discrimination in employment
(D) convince women that they had an essential role in the war eort
49. Which of the following represents a later example of the change highlighted in the poster?
(A) Feminist calls for equal economic opportunities in the 1970s
(B) e growing feminist protests against United States military engagements abroad
in the 1970s
(C) e increasing inability of the manufacturing sector to create jobs for women in
the 1970s and 1980s
(D) e growing popular consensus about appropriate women’s roles in the 1980s and 1990s
Questions 50 and 51 refer to the excerpt below.
“e era of big government is over but we can’t go back to a time when our citizens were
just le to fend for themselves. We will meet them by going forward as one America, by
working together in our communities, our schools, our churches and synagogues, our
workplaces across the entire spectrum of our civic life.”
President Bill Clinton, radio address to the nation, 1996
50. Which of the following actions by the Clinton administration best reects the ideas
about the scope of government expressed in the excerpt?
(A) e decision to pursue military peacekeeping interventions in the Balkans and Somalia
(B) e enactment of welfare reform to restrict benets and encourage self-reliance
(C) e negotiation of new free trade agreements among North American countries
(D) e eort to enact universal health care legislation
51. e ideas expressed by Clinton in the excerpt were most similar to those of which
twentieth-century president?
(A) Lyndon Johnson
(B) Ronald Reagan
(C) Franklin Roosevelt
(D) Woodrow Wilson
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Questions 52–55 refger to the excerpt below.
“Shortly aer this, my mother’s widowed sister, . . . who kept a factory boarding house in
Lowell [Massachusetts], advised her to come to that city. . . .
“My mother, feeling obliged to have help in her work besides what I could give, and also
needing the money which I could earn, allowed me . . . to go to work in the mill. . . .
“e working hours of all the girls extended from ve o’clock in the morning until seven
in the evening, with one half hour for breakfast and dinner. . . .
“I cannot tell you how it happened that some of us knew about the English factory
children, who as it was said, were treated so badly. . . .
“In contrast to this sad picture, we thought of ourselves as well o . . . enjoying ourselves in
our own good way, with our good mothers and our warm suppers awaiting us.”
Harriet Hanson Robinson, Loom and Spindle, or Life Among Early Mill Girls,
describing events in the 1830s, published in 1898
52. Which of the following most directly contributed to the developments described in
the excerpt?
(A) e concept of republican motherhood aer the American Revolution
(B) Large-scale immigration from southern and eastern Europe
(C) e expansion and increased organization of industrial production
(D) e wartime need for women to ll jobs previously held by men
53. e developments described in the excerpt most directly reect which of the following
changes in the rst half of the 1800s?
(A) e sharp increase in the number of workers making goods for distant markets
(B) Women’s acquisition of new legal rights independent of their fathers and husbands
(C) e emergence of a larger and more distinct middle class
(D) Many women’s embrace of the idea of separate spheres
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54. Which of the following was a major dierence in economic development between the
Northeast and the South in the rst half of the 1800s?
(A) Southern exports had a far lower value than exports from the Northeast.
(B) Banking and shipping grew more rapidly in the South than in other regions.
(C) e South relied much less on wage labor than the Northeast.
(D) e South had few commercial connections with other regions of the United States.
55. Robinson’s assertion that she and the other workers were “well o” would be
challenged during the second half of the nineteenth century by which of the following?
(A) e growing corporate need for clerical workers that brought many women into
oce jobs
(B) Declining household incomes of working families as a result of businesses’
unwillingness to employ children
(C) e expanded access to company-sponsored pensions and healthcare for most
employees
(D) Confrontations between unions and factory management over wages and working
conditions
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P
art B: Short-Answer Questions
There are four short-answer questions on the exam. Students answer Question 1 and
Question 2. They then choose to answer either Question 3 or Question 4. Note that the short-
answer questions do not require students to develop and support a thesis statement.
“[W]e have in [United States history] a recurrence of the process of evolution in each
western area reached in the process of expansion. us American development has
exhibited not merely advance along a single line, but a return to primitive conditions on
a continually advancing frontier line, and a new development for that area. American
social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier. is
perennial rebirth, this uidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new
opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the
forces dominating American character. e true point of view in the history of this nation
is not the Atlantic coast, it is the Great West. . . . In this advance, the frontier is the outer
edge of the wave—the meeting point between savagery and civilization.”
Frederick Jackson Turner, historian, “The Significance of the
Frontier in American History,” 1893
“[T]he history of the West is a study of a place undergoing conquest and never fully escaping
its consequences. . . . Deemphasize the frontier and its supposed end, conceive of the West
as a place and not a process, and Western American history has a new look. First, the
American West was an important meeting ground, the point where Indian America, Latin
America, Anglo-America, Afro-America, and Asia intersected. . . . Second, the workings
of conquest tied these diverse groups into the same story. Happily or not, minorities and
majorities occupied a common ground. Conquest basically involved the drawing of lines on
a map, the denition and allocation of ownership (personal, tribal, corporate, state, federal,
and international), and the evolution of land from matter to property.”
Patricia Nelson Limerick, historian, e Legacy of Conquest:
e Unbroken Past of the American West, 1987
1. Using the excerpts above, answer (a), (b), and (c).
(A) Briey describe ONE major dierence between Turner’s and Limerick’s historical
interpretations of the West.
(B) Briey explain how ONE specic historical event or development during the
period 1865 to 1898 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used
to support Turner’s interpretation.
(C) Briey explain how ONE specic historical event or development during the
period 1865 to 1898 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used
to support Limerick’s interpretation.
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Courtesy of the Library of Congress
2. Using the post–Civil War image above, answer (a), (b), and (c).
(A) Briey describe ONE perspective about citizenship expressed in the image.
(B) Briey explain ONE specic historical development that led to the change depicted
in the image.
(C) Briey explain ONE way in which the historical change depicted in the image was
challenged in the period 1866 to 1896.
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Choose EITHER Question 3 OR Question 4.
3. Answer (a), (b), and (c).
(A) Briey describe ONE specic historical dierence between the antislavery
movement in the period 1780–1810 and in the period 1830–1859.
(B) Briey describe ONE specic historical similarity between the antislavery
movement in the period 1780–1810 and in the period 1830–1859.
(C) Briey explain ONE specic historical eect of the antislavery movement in either
the period 1780–1810 or the period 1830–1859.
4. Answer (a), (b), and (c).
(A) Briey describe ONE specic historical similarity between mass media in the 1920s
and in the 1950s.
(B) Briey describe ONE specic historical dierence between mass media in the
1920s and in the 1950s.
(C) Briey explain ONE specic historical eect of mass media in either the 1920s or
the 1950s.
Scoring the Response
For a short-answer question, a good response should:
n
accomplish all three tasks set by the question. It should answer each task with complete
sentences and must show some specic knowledge of history to receive credit.
Depending on the question, a good response should:
n
explain a historical interpretation, compare two interpretations, and/or explain how
evidence relates to an interpretation.
n
go beyond simply quoting or paraphrasing primary or secondary sources in explaining their
meaning or signicance.
n
address causes and eects, similarities and dierences, or continuities and changes over
time for dierent historical issues, and provide specic evidence in relation to the prompt.
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Section II
Part A: Document-Based Question
There will be one document-based question on the exam.
In the sample question that follows, the main reasoning skill being assessed is comparison,
though the document-based question on the exam may focus on other skills.
Question 1. Evaluate the extent to which diering ideas of national identity shaped views
of United States overseas expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Document 1
Source: E. E. Cooper, African American editor of the Washington, D.C., newspaper
Colored American, newspaper articles, 1898.
March 19: [The war with Spain will result in a] quickened sense of our duty toward
one another, and a loftier conception of the obligations of government to its
humblest citizen. . . . April 30: [Black participation in the war will bring about] an era of
good feeling the country over and cement the races into a more compact brotherhood
through perfect unity of purpose and patriotic anity [where White people will] . . .
unloose themselves from the bondage of racial prejudice.
Document 2
Source: William Graham Sumner, sociology professor at Yale University, “The Conquest
of the United States by Spain,” speech given at Yale in 1899.
The Americans have been committed from the outset to the doctrine that all men are
equal. We have elevated it into an absolute doctrine as a part of the theory of our social
and political fabric. . . . It is an astonishing event that we have lived to see American
arms carry this domestic dogma out where it must be tested in its application to
uncivilized and half-civilized peoples. At the rst touch of the test we throw the doctrine
away and adopt the Spanish doctrine. We are told by all the imperialists that these
people are not t for liberty and self-government; that it is rebellion for them to resist our
benecence; that we must send eets and armies to kill them if they do it; that we must
devise a government for them and administer it ourselves; that we may buy them or sell
them as we please, and dispose of their “trade” for our own advantage. What is that but
the policy of Spain to her dependencies? What can we expect as a consequence of it?
Nothing but that it will bring us where Spain is now.
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Document 3
Source: Statement attributed to President William McKinley, describing to a church
delegation the decision to acquire the Philippines, 1899.
When next I realized that the Philippines had dropped into our laps, I confess I did not
know what to do with them. I sought counsel from all sides—Democrats as well as
Republicans—but got little help. . . . I walked the oor of the White House night after
night until midnight; and I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went down on
my knees and prayed to Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And
one night late it came to me this way—I don’t know how it was, but it came:
1. That we could not give them back to Spain—that would be cowardly and
dishonorable;
2. That we could not turn them over to France or Germany, our commercial rivals in
the Orient—that would be bad business and discreditable;
3. That we could not leave them to themselves—they were unt for self-government,
and they would soon have anarchy and misrule worse than Spain’s was; and
4. That there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the
Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them and by God’s grace do the
very best we could by them. . . .
And then I went to bed and went to sleep, and slept soundly, and the next morning I sent
for the chief engineer of the War Department (our map-maker), and I told him to put the
Philippines on the map of the United States [pointing to a large map on the wall of his
oce], and there they are and there they will stay while I am president!
Document 4
Source: Jane Addams, social reformer, “Democracy or Militarism,” speech given in
Chicago, 1899.
Some of us were beginning to hope that . . . we were ready to accept the peace ideal . . .
to recognize that . . . the man who irrigates a plain [is] greater than he who lays it waste.
Then came the Spanish war, with its gilt and lace and tinsel, and again the moral issues
are confused with exhibitions of brutality. For ten years I have lived in a neighborhood
which is by no means criminal, and yet during last October and November we were
startled by seven murders within a radius of ten blocks. A little investigation of details
and motives . . . made it not in the least dicult to trace the murders back to the
inuence of the war. . . . The newspapers, the theatrical posters, the street conversations
for weeks had to do with war and bloodshed. The little children on the street played at
war, . . . killing Spaniards. The humane instinct . . . gives way, and the barbaric instinct
asserts itself.
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Document 5
Source: Theodore Roosevelt, “The Strenuous Life,” speech given to business owners and
local leaders, Chicago, 1899.
The Philippines oer a [grave] problem. . . . Many of their people are utterly unt for
self-government, and show no signs of becoming t. Others may in time become t but
at present can only take part in self-government under a wise supervision, at once rm
and benecent. We have driven Spanish tyranny from the islands. If we now let it be
replaced by savage anarchy, our work has been for harm and not for good. I have scant
patience with those who fear to undertake the task of governing the Philippines, and who
openly avow that they do fear to undertake it, or that they shrink from it because of the
expense and trouble; but I have even scanter patience with those who make a pretense of
humanitarianism to hide and cover their timidity, and who cant about “liberty” and the
“consent of the governed,” in order to excuse themselves for their unwillingness to play
the part of men. . . . Their doctrines condemn your forefathers and mine for ever having
settled in these United States.
Document 6
Source: William Jennings Bryan, speech, campaign for the presidency, 1900.
Imperialism is the policy of an empire. And an empire is a nation composed of dierent
races, living under varying forms of government. A republic cannot be an empire, for a
republic rests upon the theory that the government derive their powers from the consent
of the governed and colonialism violates this theory. We do not want the Filipinos for
citizens. They cannot, without danger to us, share in the government of our nation and
moreover, we cannot aord to add another race question to the race questions which we
already have. Neither can we hold the Filipinos as subjects even if we could benet them
by so doing. . . . Our experiment in colonialism has been unfortunate. Instead of prot,
it has brought loss. Instead of strength, it has brought weakness. Instead of glory, it has
brought humiliation.
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Scoring the Response
For the document-based question, a good response should:
n
contain an evaluative thesis that establishes the student's argument and responds to the
question. The thesis must consist of one or more sentences located in one place, either
in the introduction or the conclusion. Neither the introduction nor the conclusion is
necessarily limited to a single paragraph.
n
describe a broader historical context immediately relevant to the question that relates the
topic of the question to historical events, developments, or processes that occur before,
during, or after the time frame of the question. This description should consist of more than
merely a phrase or a reference.
n
explain how at least one additional piece of specic historical evidence, beyond those
found in the documents, relates to an argument about the question. (This example must be
dierent from the evidence used to earn the point for contextualization.) This explanation
should consist of more than merely a phrase or a reference.
n
use historical reasoning to explain relationships among the pieces of evidence provided in
the response and how they corroborate, qualify, or modify the argument, made in the thesis,
that addresses the entirety of the question. In addition, a good response should utilize the
content of at least six documents to support an argument about the question.
n
explain how the document’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience is
relevant to the argument for at least four of the documents.
Part B: Long Essay Questions
Students will choose one of three long essay questions to answer. The long essay requires
students to demonstrate their ability to use historical evidence in crafting a thoughtful
historical argument. In the following questions, students will analyze an issue using the
reasoning skill of continuity and change over time.
The three questions focus on the same reasoning skills but apply them to dierent time
periods. This allows students to choose which time period and historical perspective they are
best prepared to write about.
Question 2. Evaluate the extent to which trans-Atlantic interactions fostered change in
labor systems in the British North American colonies from 1600 to 1763.
Question 3. Evaluate the extent to which new technology fostered change in United States
industry from 1865 to 1900.
Question 4. Evaluate the extent to which globalization fostered change in the United
States economy from 1945 to 2000.
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Scoring the Response
For the long essay question, a good response should:
n
contain an evaluative thesis that establishes the student's argument and responds to the
question. The thesis should make a claim that addresses the skill indicated in the question.
The thesis must consist of one or more sentences located in one place, either in the
introduction or the conclusion. Neither the introduction nor the conclusion is necessarily
limited to a single paragraph.
n
explain how a relevant historical context inuenced the topic addressed in the question.
It should also relate the topic of the question to broader historical events, developments,
or processes that occur before, during, or after the time frame of the question. This
explanation should consist of more than merely a phrase or a reference.
n
use historical reasoning to explain relationships among the pieces of evidence provided in
the response and how they corroborate, qualify, or modify the argument, made in the thesis,
that addresses the entirety of the question.
Complete scoring guidelines for the short-answer, document-based, and
long essay questions can be found on AP Central.
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Answer Key and Question Alignment
to Course Framework
Multiple-Choice
Question Answer Main Practice/Skill Assessed Learning Objective Key Concepts
1 C Causation CUL-1.0 2.2.I.B
2 B Causation CUL-1.0 2.2.I.A
3 D Contextualization CUL-1.0 2.2.I.B
4 B Causation MIG-1.0 5.1.II.A
5 C Causation CUL-4.0 5.1.II.A
6 B Contextualization MIG-1.0 4.2.III.A
7 B Contextualization CUL-3.0 4.2.II.C
8 A Continuity and Change over Time POL-2.0 6.3.II.B
9 C Contextualization CUL-3.0 5.3.II.B
10 A Analyzing Historical Evidence WOR-1.0 3.1.I.B
11 D Contextualization NAT-1.0 3.2.I.B
12 D Causation NAT-4.0 8.2.I.C
13 A Contextualization POL-2.0 8.2.I.B
14 D Continuity and Change over Time NAT-2.0 6.3.II.C
15 D Contextualization MIG-1.0 7.2.II.A
16 A Analyzing Historical Evidence MIG-1.0 7.2.II.A
17 A Analyzing Historical Evidence WOR-2.0 8.1.I.B, 9.3.I.A
18 D Analyzing Historical Evidence WOR-2.0 8.1.I.A
19 B Causation POL-2.0 7.1.II.A
20 A Contextualization WXT-2.0 6.1.I.C
21 D Contextualization POL-3.0 7.1.II.B
22 C Continuity and Change over Time GEO-1.0 7.1.II.C
23 A Contextualization GEO-1.0 6.2.II.A
24 C Contextualization WOR-1.0 3.3.II.B
25 C Continuity and Change over Time WOR-2.0 7.3.II.C
26 A Contextualization POL-1.0 3.2.II.B
27 D Continuity and Change over Time WOR-2.0 7.3.III
28 A Causation WOR-1.0 1.2.I.B
29 B Continuity and Change over Time GEO-1.0 1.2.II.A
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Multiple-Choice
Question Answer Main Practice/Skill Assessed Learning Objective Key Concepts
30 C Contextualization GEO-1.0 1.2.II
31 A Analyzing Historical Evidence MIG-2.0 3.3.I.B
32 C Causation WXT-2.0 2.2.I.B
33 B Causation WOR-1.0 2.1.III.E
34 D Causation MIG-2.0 3.3.I.B
35 C Contextualization WXT-1.0 5.2.I.A
36 B Analyzing Historical Evidence WXT-1.0 5.2.I.B
37 B Causation NAT-1.0 5.2.I
38 A Analyzing Historical Evidence MIG-1.0 2.1.I.C
39 C Analyzing Historical Evidence MIG-1.0 2.1.I.C
40 A Comparison MIG-1.0 2.1.I.C
41 C Contextualization POL-3.0 5.3.II.C
42 B Causation WXT-1.0 5.3.II.D
43 C Continuity and Change over Time POL-3.0 5.3.II.C
44 A Comparison WOR-2.0 7.3.II.E
45 D Analyzing Historical Evidence WOR-2.0 7.3.II.E
46 B Continuity and Change over Time WOR-2.0 8.1.I.A
47 A Contextualization NAT-3.0 7.3.III.B
48 D Analyzing Historical Evidence CUL-3.0 7.3.III.C
49 A Continuity and Change over Time CUL-3.0 8.2.II.A
50 B Contextualization POL-3.0 9.1.I.C
51 B Comparison POL-3.0 9.1.I.B
52 C Causation WXT-2.0 4.2.I.A
53 A Contextualization WXT-1.0 4.2.II.A
54 C Comparison WXT-2.0 4.2.III.C
55 D Analyzing Historical Evidence WXT-1.0 6.1.II.C
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Short-Answer Question Main Practice/Skill Assessed Learning Objectives Key Concepts
1 Analyzing Secondary Sources GEO-1.0, MIG-2.0 6.2.II
2 Causation NAT-2.0 5.3.II.A,
5.3.II.C, 5.3.II.E
3 Comparison NAT-1.0 3.2.I.C, 5.2.I.B
4 Comparison CUL-2.0 7.2.I.A, 8.3.II.A
Document-Based
Question Main Practice/Skill Assessed Learning Objectives Key Concepts
1 Comparison WOR-2.0, NAT-3.0 7.3.I.A, 7.3.I.B,
7.3.I.C
Long Essay Question Main Practice/Skill Assessed Learning Objectives Key Concepts
2 Continuity and Change over Time WXT-2.0 2.2.I.A, 2.2.I.B,
2.2.I.C, 2.2.I.D,
3.1.I.A, 3.1.I.B
3 Continuity and Change over Time WXT-3.0 6.1.I.B, 6.1.I.C,
6.1.I.D,
6.1.III.A, 7.1.I.A
4 Continuity and Change over Time WXT-2.0, WXT-3.0 8.3.I.A, 8.3.I.C,
9.3.I.A, 9.3.I.B,
9.3.I.C
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