AP U.S.

History
COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTION

Effective
Fall 2023

AP COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTIONS ARE UPDATED PERIODICALLY

Please visit AP Central (apcentral.collegeboard.org) to determine whether
a more recent course and exam description is available.
About the
AP U.S. History Course

In AP U.S. History, students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and

processes in nine historical periods from approximately 1491 to the present. Students
develop and use the same skills and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary
and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; making historical connections;
and utilizing reasoning about comparison, causation, and continuity and change. The course
also provides eight themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make
connections among historical developments in different times and places: American and
national identity; work, exchange, and technology; geography and the environment; migration
and settlement; politics and power; America in the world; American and regional culture; and
social structures.

College Course Equivalent

AP U.S. History is equivalent to a two-semester introductory college course in U.S. history.

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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Introduction

The AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description historical examples. Each teacher is responsible for
defines what representative colleges and universities selecting specific individuals, events, and documents
typically expect students to know and be able to for student investigation of the material in the
do in order to earn college credit or placement. course framework.
Students practice the thinking skills used by
historians by studying primary and secondary
source evidence, analyzing a wide array of historical The Founding Documents
evidence and perspectives, and expressing historical In the context of American history, the in-depth
arguments in writing. examination of the ideas and debates in the founding
documents (e.g., the Declaration of Independence, the
Although the course framework is designed to provide
Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers)
a clear and detailed description of the course content
helps students better understand pivotal moments in
and skills, it is not a curriculum. Teachers create their
America’s history. Through close reading and careful
own curricula to meet the needs of their students and
analysis of these documents, students gain insights
any state or local requirements.
into the remarkable people, ideas, and events that
shaped the nation. Ultimately, students with command
The Inclusion of Names and of the founding documents and a capacity to trace their
Specific Historical Examples influence will find opportunities throughout the course
to draw on and apply this knowledge.
As has been the case for all prior versions of the
AP U.S. History course, this AP U.S. History course Throughout the course, students closely read and
framework includes a minimal number of individual analyze foundational documents and other primary
names: the founders, several presidents and party and secondary sources in order to gain historical
leaders, and other individuals who are almost understanding. Teachers may use these documents
universally taught in college-level U.S. history courses. to help students trace ideas and themes throughout
As history teachers know well, the material in this American history. On the AP U.S. History Exam, students
framework cannot be taught without careful attention will be expected to read and analyze primary and
to the individuals, events, and documents of American secondary sources, draw upon evidence from them, and
history; however, to ensure teachers have flexibility connect them to the students’ own historical knowledge
to teach specific content that is valued locally and and understanding. For these reasons, teachers may
individually, the course avoids prescribing details elect to teach the founding documents and the ideas
that would require all teachers to teach the same they express in depth during the course.

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Course Framework
Components

Overview
This course framework provides a description of what students should know and be
able to do to qualify for college credit or placement.

The course framework includes

two essential components:
1  HISTORICAL THINKING SKILLS AND
REASONING PROCESSES
The historical thinking skills and reasoning processes are central to the
study and practice of U.S. history. Students should practice and develop
these skills and processes on a regular basis over the span of the course.

2 COURSE CONTENT
The course content is organized into commonly taught units of study that
provide a suggested sequence for the course. These units comprise the
content and conceptual understandings that colleges and universities
typically expect students to master to qualify for college credit and/or
placement. This content is grounded in themes, which are cross-cutting
concepts that build conceptual understanding and spiral throughout
the course.

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 1 AP U.S. HISTORY

Historical
Thinking Skills
and Reasoning
Processes

This section presents the historical thinking skills and reasoning processes that
students should develop during the AP history courses and that form the basis of
the tasks on the AP history exams.

Historical Thinking Skills

The AP historical thinking skills describe what students should be able to do while
exploring course concepts. The table that follows presents these skills, which
students should develop during the AP U.S. History course.

The unit guides later in this publication embed and spiral these skills throughout
the course, providing teachers with one way to integrate the skills into the course
content with sufficient repetition to prepare students to transfer those skills when
taking the AP Exam.

More detailed information about teaching the historical thinking skills can be found
in the Instructional Approaches section of this publication.

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 AP Historical Thinking Skills
Skill 1 Skill 2 Skill 3 Skill 4 Skill 5 Skill 6
Developments and Sourcing and Claims and Evidence Contextualization 4 Making Argumentation 6
Processes 1 Situation 2 in Sources 3 Analyze the context of historical Connections 5 Develop an argument.
Identify and explain historical Analyze sourcing and situation of Analyze arguments in primary and events, developments, or processes. Using historical reasoning processes
developments and processes. primary and secondary sources. secondary sources. (comparison, causation, continuity
and change), analyze patterns and
connections between and among
historical developments and processes.

AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description

SKILLS
1.A Identify a historical 2.A Identify a source’s point 3.A Identify and describe a 4.A Identify and describe 5.A Identify patterns among or 6.A Make a historically
concept, development, of view, purpose, historical claim and/or argument in a text- a historical context for a connections between historical defensible claim.
or process. situation, and/or audience. based or non-text-based source. specific historical development developments and processes.
6.B Support an argument using
or process.
1.B Explain a historical concept, 2.B Explain the point of view, 3.B Identify the evidence 5.B Explain how a historical specific and relevant evidence.
development, or process. purpose, historical situation, and/ used in a source to support 4.B Explain how a specific development or process § Describe specific examples of
or audience of a source. an argument. historical development or relates to another historical historically relevant evidence.
process is situated within a development or process.
2.C Explain the significance 3.C Compare the arguments or § Explain how specific examples
broader historical context.
of a source’s point of view, main ideas of two sources. of historically relevant evidence
purpose, historical situation, and/ support an argument.
3.D Explain how claims or
or audience, including how these 6.C Use historical reasoning
might limit the use(s) of a source. evidence support, modify, or
refute a source’s argument. to explain relationships among
pieces of historical evidence.

6.D Corroborate, qualify, or

modify an argument using diverse
and alternative evidence in order
to develop a complex argument.
This argument might:
§ Explain nuance of an issue by
analyzing multiple variables.
§ Explain relevant and
insightful connections
within and across periods.
§ Explain the relative historical
significance of a source’s
credibility and limitations.
§ Explain how or why a historical
claim or argument is or is not
effective.

© 2020 College Board

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Course Framework V.1 | 16
 AP HISTORY

Reasoning Processes
Reasoning processes describe the cognitive operations that students will be required to apply when engaging with the
historical thinking skills on the AP Exam. The reasoning processes ultimately represent the way practitioners think in the
discipline. Specific aspects of the cognitive process are defined under each reasoning process.

Reasoning Process 1 Reasoning Process 2 Reasoning Process 3

Comparison Causation Continuity and Change

§ 1.i: Describe similarities and/or § 2.i: Describe causes and/or effects of § 3.i: Describe patterns of continuity
differences between different a specific historical development or and/or change over time.
historical developments or process.
§ 3.ii: Explain patterns of continuity
processes.
§ 2.ii: Explain the relationship between and/or change over time.
§ 1.ii: Explain relevant similarities and/ causes and effects of a specific
§ 3.iii: Explain the relative historical
or differences between specific historical development or process.
significance of specific historical
historical developments and
§ 2.iii: Explain the difference between developments in relation to a larger
processes.
primary and secondary causes pattern of continuity and/or change.
§ 1.iii: Explain the relative historical and between short- and long-term
significance of similarities and/ effects.
or differences between different
§ 2.iv: Explain how a relevant context
historical developments or
influenced a specific historical
processes.
development or process.

§ 2.v: Explain the relative historical

significance of different causes and/
or effects.

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TOPICS In order for students to develop an understanding of
Each unit is broken down into teachable segments these topics, teachers select specific historical figures,
called topics. The topic pages (starting on page 37) groups, and events—and the primary and secondary
contain all required content for each topic. Although source documents through which they can be
most topics can be taught in one or two class periods, examined—that enable students to investigate them. In
teachers are again encouraged to pace the course to this way, AP teachers create their own local curricula
suit the needs of their students and school. for AP U.S. History.

Units Exam Weighting

Unit 1: Period 1: 1491–1607 4–6%

Unit 2: Period 2: 1607–1754 6–8%

Unit 3: Period 3: 1754–1800 10–17%

Unit 4: Period 4: 1800–1848 10–17%

Unit 5: Period 5: 1844–1877 10–17%

Unit 6: Period 6: 1865–1898 10–17%

Unit 7: Period 7: 1890–1945 10–17%

Unit 8: Period 8: 1945–1980 10–17%

Unit 9: Period 9: 1980–Present 4–6%

NOTE: Events, processes, and developments are not constrained by the given dates and may begin before, or continue after, the
approximate dates assigned to each unit and topic.

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Themes
The themes serve as the connective tissue of the course and enable students to
create meaningful connections across units. They are often broader ideas that
become threads that run throughout the course. Revisiting them and applying
them in a variety of contexts helps students to develop deeper conceptual
understanding. Below are the themes of the course and a brief description of each.

THEME 1: AMERICAN AND NATIONAL IDENTITY (NAT)

This theme focuses on how and why definitions of American and national
identity and values have developed among the diverse and changing
population of North America as well as on related topics, such as citizenship,
constitutionalism, foreign policy, assimilation, and American exceptionalism.

THEME 2: 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.

THEME 3: GEOGRAPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENT (GEO)

This theme focuses on the role of geography and both the natural and
human-made environments in the social and political developments in what
would become the United States.

THEME 4: 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.

THEME 5: POLITICS AND POWER (PCE)

This theme focuses on how different social and political groups have
influenced society and government in the United States as well as how
political beliefs and institutions have changed over time.

THEME 6: AMERICA IN THE WORLD (WOR)

This theme focuses on the interactions between nations that affected
North American history in the colonial period and on the influence of the
United States on world affairs.

THEME 7: AMERICAN AND REGIONAL CULTURE (ARC)

This theme focuses on the how and why national, regional, and group
cultures developed and changed as well as how culture has shaped
government policy and the economy.

THEME 8: SOCIAL STRUCTURES (SOC)

This theme focuses on how and why systems of social organization
develop and change as well as the impact that these systems have on the
broader society.

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Course at Period 1: Period 2:
a Glance
UNIT UNIT

1 1491–1607 2 1607–1754

~8 Class
Periods 4–6% AP Exam
Weighting ~14 Class
Periods 6–8% AP Exam
Weighting

Contextualizing Contextualizing
Plan 4
1.1
Period 1 4
2.1
Period 2
The Course at a Glance provides
a useful visual organization of GEO 1.2 Native American MIG 2.2 European Colonization
the AP U.S. History curricular Societies Before 1
1
European Contact
components, including:
GEO 2.3 The Regions of
WOR 1.3 European Exploration
§ Sequence of units, along 3 British Colonies
in the Americas
with approximate weighting 1

and suggested pacing. GEO 1.4 Columbian Exchange,

WXT 2.4 Transatlantic Trade
Please note: Pacing is based Spanish Exploration, 5

on 45–minute class periods, 3

and Conquest
WOR 2.5 Interactions Between
meeting five days each week
SOC 1.5 Labor, Slavery, and American Indians
for a full academic year. 2
and Europeans
Caste in the Spanish
§ Progression of topics within 5
Colonial System
WXT 2.6 Slavery in the
each unit. British Colonies
WOR 1.6 Cultural Interactions SOC
§ Spiraling of the themes Between Europeans, 5
and historical thinking skills 3 Native Americans,
across units. and Africans ARC 2.7 Colonial Society
NAT and Culture
1.7 Causation in Period 1
Teach 6
1

HISTORICAL THINKING SKILLS 2.8 Comparison in Period 2

Historical thinking skills spiral across units. 6

1 Developments 4 Contextualization
and Processes
2 Sourcing and 5 Making
Situation Connections
3 Claims and 6 Argumentation
Evidence in
Sources

THEMES
Themes spiral across units.

NAT American and PCE Politics and Power

National Identity

WXT Work, Exchange, WOR America in the

and Technology World

GEO Geography and ARC American and

the Environment Regional Culture

MIG Migration and SOC Social Structures

Settlement

Assess
Assign the Personal Progress Personal Progress Check Unit 1 Personal Progress Check Unit 2
Checks—either as homework Multiple-choice: ~15 questions Multiple-choice: ~20 questions
or in class—for each unit. Short-answer: 2 questions Short-answer: 2 questions
Each Personal Progress Check § Primary source (partial) § Primary source
§ Primary source (partial) § Primary source
contains formative multiple- Free-response: 1 question Free-response: 1 question
choice and free-response § Long essay (partial) § Long essay (partial)
questions. The feedback from
the Personal Progress Checks
shows students the areas where
NOTE: Partial versions of the free-response questions are provided to prepare students for more
they need to focus. complex, full questions that they will encounter on the AP Exam. V.1 | 24
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 UNIT Period 3: UNIT Period 4: UNIT Period 5:
3 1754–1800 4 1800–1848 5 1844–1877

~17 Class
Periods 10–17% AP Exam
Weighting ~17 Class
Periods 10–17% AP Exam
Weighting ~17 Class
Periods 10–17% AP Exam
Weighting

3.1 Contextualizing 4.1 Contextualizing 5.1 Contextualizing

4 Period 3 4 Period 4 4 Period 5

WOR 3.2 The Seven Years’ War PCE 4.2 The Rise of Political GEO 5.2 Manifest Destiny
(The French and Parties and the Era 1
1 2
Indian War) of Jefferson
WOR 5.3 The Mexican–American
WOR 3.3 Taxation Without PCE 4.3 Politics and War
3
2 Representation 2 Regional Interests
NAT 5.4 The Compromise of
NAT 3.4 Philosophical WOR 4.4 America on the 1850
4
Foundations of the 2 World Stage
2
American Revolution
ARC 5.5 Sectional Conflict:
WXT 4.5 Market Revolution: Regional Differences
WOR 3.5 The American Industrialization
SOC
Revolution 6
6 2

SOC 4.6 Market Revolution:

SOC 3.6 The Influence of PCE 5.6 Failure of Compromise
5 Society and Culture
WOR Revolutionary Ideals 5

3 PCE 4.7 Expanding Democracy PCE 5.7 Election of 1860

PCE 3.7 The Articles of
1
4 and Secession
Confederation
3 PCE 4.8 Jackson and WOR 5.8 Military Conflict in
Federal Power
PCE 3.8 The Constitutional
3
5 the Civil War
Convention and Debates
3 ARC 4.9 The Development of an
over Ratification NAT 5.9 Government Policies
American Culture
4
2 During the Civil War
PCE 3.9 The Constitution
ARC 4.10 The Second Great
5 PCE 5.10 Reconstruction
5 Awakening
3
WOR 3.10 Shaping a
PCE New Republic ARC 4.11 An Age of Reform NAT 5.11 Failure of
2 3
3 Reconstruction

ARC 3.11 Developing an

SOC 4.12 African Americans in
5.12 Comparison in Period 5
American Identity 3 the Early Republic 6
1

MIG 3.12 Movement in the

GEO 4.13 The Society of
SOC Early Republic the South in the
1
Early Republic
5
4.14 Causation in Period 4
3.13 Continuity and Change 6
6 in Period 3

Personal Progress Check Unit 3 Personal Progress Check Unit 4 Personal Progress Check Unit 5
Multiple-choice: ~30 questions Multiple-choice: ~35 questions Multiple-choice: ~30 questions
Short-answer: 2 questions Short-answer: 2 questions Short-answer: 2 questions
§ Primary source § Primary source § Secondary source (2 sources)
§ Primary source § Secondary source § No stimulus
Free-response: 1 question Free-response: 1 question Free-response: 2 questions
§ Long essay (partial) § Long essay (partial) § Long essay (partial)
§ Document-based (partial)

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 UNIT Period 6: UNIT Period 7: UNIT Period 8:
6 1865–1898 7 1890–1945 8 1945–1980

~18 Class
Periods 10–17% AP Exam
Weighting ~21 Class
Periods 10–17% AP Exam
Weighting ~20 Class
Periods 10–17% AP Exam
Weighting

6.1 Contextualizing 7.1 Contextualizing 8.1 Contextualizing

4 Period 6 4 Period 7 4 Period 8

MIG 6.2 Westward Expansion: WOR 7.2 Imperialism: WOR 8.2 The Cold War from
1 Economic Development 2 Debates 2 1945 to 1980

MIG 6.3 Westward Expansion: WOR 7.3 The Spanish–American NAT 8.3 The Red Scare
Social and Cultural 2 War 2
3
Development
WXT 8.4 Economy after 1945
PCE 7.4 The Progressives
NAT 6.4 The “New South” GEO
MIG

2 2
2

WXT 6.5 Technological

ARC 8.5 Culture after 1945
Innovation
WOR 7.5 World War I: 4
5 Military and Diplomacy
2

WXT 6.6 The Rise of

SOC 8.6 Early Steps in the
Industrial Capitalism
MIG 7.6 World War I: Civil Rights Movement
4 5
3 Home Front (1940s and 1950s)
WXT 6.7 Labor in the WOR 8.7 America as a
Gilded Age
WXT 7.7 1920s: Innovations
6 3 World Power
in Communication
5
and Technology
MIG 6.8 Immigration and WOR 8.8 The Vietnam War
Migration in the MIG 7.8 1920s: Cultural and 1
3
Gilded Age ARC Political Controversies
PCE 8.9 The Great Society
MIG 6.9 Responses to 4 MIG
Immigration in the 5
5
Gilded Age WXT 7.9 The Great Depression
5 SOC 8.10 The African American
SOC 6.10 Development of the PCE Civil Rights Movement
4 Middle Class PCE 7.10 The New Deal (1960s)
5
5
SOC 6.11 Reform in the SOC 8.11 The Civil Rights
2 Gilded Age WOR 7.11 Interwar Foreign Policy Movement Expands
5
1
PCE 6.12 Controversies over the ARC 8.12 Youth Culture of
Role of Government in SOC 7.12 World War II: 5 the 1960s
4
the Gilded Age Mobilization
1
GEO 8.13 The Environment and
PCE 6.13 Politics in the Natural Resources from
Gilded Age
WOR 7.13 World War II: Military 5
3 1968 to 1980
6
PCE 8.14 Society in Transition
6.14 Continuity and Change
6 in Period 6
WOR 7.14 Postwar Diplomacy ARC

2 4

7.15 Comparison in Period 7 8.15 Continuity and Change

6 6 in Period 8

Personal Progress Check Unit 6 Personal Progress Check Unit 7 Personal Progress Check Unit 8
Multiple-choice: ~35 questions Multiple-choice: ~40 questions Multiple-choice: ~40 questions
Short-answer: 2 questions Short-answer: 2 questions Short-answer: 2 questions
§ No stimulus § Secondary source § No stimulus
§ Primary source § No stimulus § Primary source
Free-response: 1 question Free-response: 1 question Free-response: 1 question
§ Document-based (partial) § Document-based § Long essay

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 UNIT Period 9:
9 1980–Present

~8 Class
Periods 4–6% AP Exam
Weighting

9.1 Contextualizing Period 9

4

PCE 9.2 Reagan and

3
Conservatism

WOR 9.3 The End of the

1
Cold War

WXT 9.4 A Changing Economy

1

MIG 9.5 Migration and

Immigration in the
2
1990s and 2000s

WOR 9.6 Challenges of the

2
21st Century

9.7 Causation in Period 9

6

Personal Progress Check Unit 9

Multiple-choice: ~20 questions
Short-answer: 2 questions
§ Secondary source
§ No stimulus
Free-response: 1 question
§ Document-based

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Exam Overview

The AP U.S. History Exam assesses student understanding of the historical

thinking skills and learning objectives outlined in the course framework.
The exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long and students are required to
answer 55 multiple-choice questions, 3 short-answer questions, 1 document-
based question, and 1 long essay question. The details of the exam, including
exam weighting and timing, can be found below:

Number of Exam
Section Question Type Questions Weighting Timing
Part A: Multiple-choice questions 55 40% 55 minutes
I
Part B: Short-answer questions 3 20% 40 minutes

Question 1: Secondary source(s)

Question 2: Primary source

Students select one:

Question 3: No stimulus
Question 4: No stimulus

II Free-response questions 2

Question 1: Document-based 25% 60 minutes

(includes a
15-minute
reading period)

Students select one: 15% 40 minutes

Question 2: Long essay
Question 3: Long essay
Question 4: Long essay

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Section I
PART A: MULTIPLE-CHOICE
The first part of Section I of the AP U.S. History Exam includes 55 multiple-choice
questions typically appearing in sets of three to four questions, each with one or more
stimuli, including primary texts, secondary texts, images (artwork, photos, posters,
cartoons, etc.), charts or other quantitative data, and maps. Additionally, there will be
at least one set of paired text-based stimuli (in either the multiple-choice questions
or one of the short-answer questions). Multiple-choice questions require analysis
of the provided stimulus sources and of the historical developments and processes
described in the sources.

PART B: SHORT-ANSWER
The second part of Section I of the AP Exam also includes three required short-answer
questions. Short-answer question 1 is required and includes a secondary source
stimulus. The topic of the question includes historical developments or processes
between the years 1754 and 1980.

Short-answer question 2 is required and includes a primary source stimulus. The topic
of the question includes historical developments or processes between the years 1754
and 1980.

Students may select short-answer question 3 or 4, neither of which includes a

stimulus. Short-answer question 3 focuses on historical developments or processes
between the years 1491 and 1877. Short-answer question 4 focuses on historical
developments or processes between the years 1865 and 2001.

Section II
DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION
The document-based question presents students with seven documents offering
various perspectives on a historical development or process. The question requires
students to do the following:

§ Respond to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis or claim that

establishes a line of reasoning.
§ Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
§ Support an argument in response to the prompt using at least four documents.
§ Use at least one additional piece of specific historical evidence (beyond that found
in the documents) relevant to an argument about the prompt.
§ For at least two documents, explain how or why the document’s point of view,
purpose, historical situation, and/or audience is relevant to an argument.
§ Demonstrate a complex understanding of a historical development related to the
prompt through sophisticated argumentation and/or effective use of evidence.
The topic of the document-based question will include historical developments or
processes between the years 1754 and 1980.

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LONG ESSAY QUESTION
The long essay question requires students to do the following:

§ Respond to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis or claim that

establishes a line of reasoning.
§ Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
§ Support an argument in response to the prompt using at least two pieces of
specificandrelevantevidence.
§ Use historical reasoning (e.g., comparison, causation, continuity or change over
time) to frame or structure an argument that addresses the prompt.
§ Demonstrate a complex understanding of a historical development related to the
promptthroughsophisticatedargumentationand/oreffectiveuseofevidence.
Students must select one of three long essay questions. Each question focuses on the
same reasoning process, but historical developments and processes in different time
periods. The first option focuses on historical developments or processes between
1491 and 1800, the second on historical developments or processes between 1800 and
1898, and the third on historical developments or processes between 1890 and 2001.

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Sample Exam
Questions

The sample exam questions that follow illustrate the relationship between the course
framework and the AP U.S. History Exam and serve as examples of the types of
questions that appear on the exam. After the sample questions is a table that shows to
which skill and learning objective(s) each question relates. The table also provides the
answers to the multiple-choice questions.

Section I
PART A: MULTIPLE-CHOICE
Questions 1–4 refer to the following excerpt.

“May it . . . please your most excellent Majesty, that it may be declared . . . in

this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That
the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right
ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial crown and
parliament of Great Britain; . . . and [they] of right ought to have, full power
and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind
the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in
all cases whatsoever.”
The Declaratory Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1766

1. Which of the following contributed most directly to the enactment of the law in
the excerpt?
(A) The increasing divergence between colonial and British culture in the 1700s
(B) Debates over how Britain’s colonies should bear the cost of the Seven Years’
War (French and Indian War)
(C) The drafting of a declaration of independence for Britain’s colonies in
North America
(D) Conflicts between colonists and British army leaders over recognizing
Native American sovereignty

2. The actions described in the excerpt most immediately led to

(A) Parliament strengthening its approach to generating new tax revenue in the
North American colonies
(B) major and sometimes violent conflicts emerging between the various
colonial regions
(C) a colonial convention to call for independence from Britain
(D) Britain delegating greater authority to colonial assemblies

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3. Which of the following was the American colonists’ immediate response to the
attempts of the British Parliament to enforce the claims made in the excerpt?
(A) They acceded to Parliament’s authority to regulate colonial commerce.
(B) They denied the power of the British king over the colonies.
(C) They sought an alliance with France against Great Britain.
(D) They initiated boycotts of imported British goods.

4. Debates over the claims of the British Parliament in the excerpt most directly
contributed to which of the following later characteristics of the United States
government?
(A) The reservation of some governmental powers for the states
(B) The enforcement of term limits for the president
(C) The establishment of taxation power in Congress
(D) The practice of judicial review by the Supreme Court

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Questions 5–7 refer to the following excerpt.

“The Erie Canal poured into New York City [wealth] far exceeding that which
its early friends predicted. . . . In the city, merchants, bankers, warehousemen,
[and] shippers . . . seized the opportunity to perfect and specialize their
services, fostering round after round of business innovations that within a
decade of the opening of the Erie Canal had made New York by far the best
place in America to engage in commerce. . . .
“. . . Even before its economic benefits were realized fully, rival seaports
with hopes of tapping interior trade began to imagine dreadful prospects
of permanent eclipse. Whatever spirit of mutual good feeling and national
welfare once greeted [internal improvements] now disappeared behind
desperate efforts in cities . . . to create for themselves a westward connection.”
John Lauritz Larson, historian, Internal Improvement:
National Public Works and the Promise of
Popular Government in the Early United States, 2001

5. The excerpt best illustrates which of the following developments?

(A) The extension of commerce with Native Americans
(B) The expansion of access to markets
(C) The growth in the internal slave trade
(D) The increase in semisubsistence agricultural production

6. Which of the following developments in the early nineteenth century could best
be used as evidence to support the argument in the second paragraph of the
excerpt?
(A) The opposition of some political leaders to providing federal funds for
public works
(B) The failure of some infrastructure projects to recover their costs
(C) The recruitment of immigrant laborers to work on new transportation
projects
(D) The rise of a regional economy based on the production and export
of cotton

7. Which of the following later developments had an effect most similar to that
described in the excerpt?
(A) The invention of the mechanical reaper in the 1830s
(B) The annexation of Texas in the 1840s
(C) The growth of political party competition in the 1850s
(D) The completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the 1860s

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PART B: SHORT-ANSWER QUESTION WITH SECONDARY SOURCE
The following is an example of short-answer question 1 found on the AP Exam.
Note that on the actual AP Exam, students will answer three short-answer questions.

1. “Of all the amusements that bedazzled the single working woman, dancing
proved to be her greatest passion. After a long day laboring in a factory or shop,
young women dressed themselves in their fanciest finery, put on their dancing
shoes, and hurried out to the neighborhood hall, ballroom, or saloon equipped
with a dance floor. . . . By the 1910s, over five hundred public dance halls opened
their doors each evening throughout greater New York. . . .
“New ballrooms and dance palaces offered a novel kind of social space for
their female patrons, enhancing and legitimizing their participation in a
public social life. The commercial culture of the dance halls meshed with
that of working-class youth in a symbiotic relationship, reinforcing emergent
values and ‘modern’ attitudes.”
Kathy Peiss, historian, Cheap Amusements: Working Women and
Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York, 1986

“As strikers thronged the public streets of New York City [in 1909],
demonstrated in parades and mass meetings, and picketed in front of
factories, they challenged established assumptions about the identity and
appearance of political actors and access to public space. These working-class,
largely immigrant women comprised a subordinated group long denied an
active voice in recognized political forums. By occupying the arena of labor
politics through a mass strike, they demanded a voice.”
Nan Enstad, historian, Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure:
Working Women, Popular Culture, and Labor Politics at the Turn of the
Twentieth Century, 1999

Using the excerpts above, answer (a), (b), and (c).

(A) Briefly describe ONE important difference between Peiss’ and Enstad’s
historical interpretations of women’s emergence in the public sphere at the
turn of the twentieth century.
(B) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event, development, or
circumstance from the period 1880–1929 that is not specifically mentioned
in the excerpts could be used to support Peiss’ argument.
(C) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event, development, or
circumstance from the period 1880–1929 that is not specifically mentioned
in the excerpts could be used to support Enstad’s argument.

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Section II
The following are examples of the kinds of free-response questions found on the exam.
Note that on the actual AP Exam, students will answer one document-based question
and will select one of the three long essay questions to answer.

DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION

1. Evaluate the relative importance of different causes for the expanding role of the
United States in the world in the period from 1865 to 1910.

In your response you should do the following:

§ Respond to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis or claim that

establishes a line of reasoning.
§ Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
§ Support an argument in response to the prompt using at least four documents.
§ Use at least one additional piece of specific historical evidence (beyond that found
in the documents) relevant to an argument about the prompt.
§ For at least two documents, explain how or why the document’s point of view,
purpose, historical situation, and/or audience is relevant to an argument.
§ Demonstrate a complex understanding of a historical development related to the
prompt through sophisticated argumentation and/or effective use of evidence.

Document 1

Source: Treaty concerning the Cession of the Russian Possessions in

North America by his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias to the
United States of America, June 20, 1867.
His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias agrees to cede to the United
States, by this convention, immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications
thereof, all the territory and dominion now possessed by his said Majesty
on the continent of America and in the adjacent islands, the same being
contained within the geographical limits herein set forth. . . .
The inhabitants of the ceded territory, according to their choice . . . may
return to Russia within three years; but if they should prefer to remain in the
ceded territory, they, with the exception of uncivilized native tribes, shall be
admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of
citizens of the United States, and shall be maintained and protected in the
free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. The uncivilized tribes
will be subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may, from
time to time, adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country. . . .
In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States agree to pay . . .
seven million two hundred thousand dollars in gold.

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 Document 2

Source: Josiah Strong, Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis,
1885.
It seems to me that God, with infinite wisdom and skill, is training the
Anglo-Saxon race for an hour sure to come in the world’s future. Heretofore
there has always been in the history of the world a comparatively unoccupied
land westward, into which the crowded countries of the East have poured
their surplus populations. But the widening waves of migration, which
millenniums ago rolled east and west from the valley of the Euphrates, meet
today on our Pacific coast. There are no more new worlds. The unoccupied
arable lands of the earth are limited, and will soon be taken. The time is
coming when the pressure of population on the means of subsistence will
be felt here as it is now felt in Europe and Asia. Then will the world enter
upon a new stage of its history—the final competition of races, for which
the Anglo-Saxon is being schooled. . . . Then this race of unequaled energy,
with all the majesty of numbers and the might of wealth behind it—the
representative, let us hope, of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the
highest civilization—having developed peculiarly aggressive traits calculated
to impress its institutions upon mankind, will spread itself over the earth.

Document 3

Source: Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Interest of America in Sea Power,
Present and Future, 1897.
To affirm the importance of distant markets, and the relation to them of
our own immense powers of production, implies logically the recognition
of the link that joins the products and the markets,—that is, the carrying
trade; the three together constituting that chain of maritime power to which
Great Britain owes her wealth and greatness. Further, is it too much to say that,
as two of these links, the shipping and the markets, are exterior to our own
borders, the acknowledgment of them carries with it a view of the relations of
the United States to the world radically distinct from the simple idea of self-
sufficingness? . . . There will dawn the realization of America’s unique position,
facing the older worlds of the East and West, her shores washed by the oceans
which touch the one or the other, but which are common to her alone.
Despite a certain great original superiority conferred by our geographical
nearness and immense resources,—due, in other words, to our natural
advantages, and not to our intelligent preparations,—the United States is
woefully unready, not only in fact but in purpose, to assert in the Caribbean
and Central America a weight of influence proportioned to the extent of
her interests. We have not the navy, and, what is worse, we are not willing to
have the navy, that will weigh seriously in any disputes with those nations
whose interests will conflict there with our own. We have not, and we are
not anxious to provide, the defence of the seaboard which will leave the navy
free for its work at sea. We have not, but many other powers have, positions,
either within or on the borders of the Caribbean.

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 Document 4

Source: The Boston Globe, May 28, 1898.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress #LC-USZ62–91465

Document 5

Source: John Hay, United States Secretary of State, The Second Open Door
Note, July 3, 1900.
To the Representatives of the United States at Berlin, London, Paris, Rome,
St. Petersburg, and Tokyo Washington, July 3, 1900
In this critical posture of affairs in China it is deemed appropriate to define
the attitude of the United States as far as present circumstances permit this
to be done. We adhere to the policy . . . of peace with the Chinese nation, of
furtherance of lawful commerce, and of protection of lives and property of
our citizens by all means guaranteed under extraterritorial treaty rights and
by the law of nations. . . . We regard the condition at Pekin[g] as one of virtual
anarchy. . . . The purpose of the President is . . . to act concurrently with the
other powers; first, in opening up communication with Pekin[g] and rescuing
the American officials, missionaries, and other Americans who are in
danger; secondly, in affording all possible protection everywhere in China to
American life and property; thirdly, in guarding and protecting all legitimate
American interests; and fourthly, in aiding to prevent a spread of the disorders
to the other provinces of the Empire and a recurrence of such disasters. . . .
The policy of the Government of the United States is to seek a solution which
may bring about permanent safety and peace to China, preserve Chinese
territorial and administrative entity, protect all rights guaranteed to friendly
powers by treaty and international law, and safeguard for the world the
principle of equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire.

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 Document 6

Source: Puck, a satirical magazine, November 20, 1901.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress #LC-DIG-ppmsca-25583

Document 7

Source: President Theodore Roosevelt, Fourth Annual Message to Congress,

December 6, 1904.
There are kinds of peace which are highly undesirable, which are in the long
run as destructive as any war. Tyrants and oppressors have many times made a
wilderness and called it peace. Many times peoples who were slothful or timid
or shortsighted, who had been enervated by ease or by luxury, or misled by false
teachings, have shrunk in unmanly fashion from doing duty that was stern and
that needed self-sacrifice, and have sought to hide from their own minds their
shortcomings, their ignoble motives, by calling them love of peace. . . .
It is our duty to remember that a nation has no more right to do injustice
to another nation, strong or weak, than an individual has to do injustice to
another individual; that the same moral law applies in one case as in the other.
But we must also remember that it is as much the duty of the Nation to guard
its own rights and its own interests as it is the duty of the individual so to do. . . .
It is not true that the United States feels any land hunger or entertains any
projects as regards the other nations of the Western Hemisphere save such
as are for their welfare. All that this country desires is to see the neighboring
countries stable, orderly, and prosperous. Any country whose people
conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a nation
shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in
social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need
fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an
impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society,
may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some
civilized nation, and . . . the exercise of an international police power.

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LONG ESSAY QUESTION
The following is an example of a long essay question. Free-response questions 2, 3, and
4 in Section II of the AP Exam are long essay questions, and students will select one
question of the three to answer.

2. Evaluate the extent to which the ratification of the United States Constitution
fostered change in the function of the federal government in the period from
1776 to 1800.

In your response you should do the following:

§ Respond to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis or claim that

establishes a line of reasoning.
§ Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
§ Support an argument in response to the prompt using at least two pieces of
specific and relevant evidence.
§ Use historical reasoning (e.g., comparison, causation, continuity or change) to
frame or structure an argument that addresses the prompt.
§ Demonstrate a complex understanding of a historical development related to the
prompt through sophisticated argumentation and/or effective use of evidence.

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