Embedded Files
APUSH covers over 5 centuries of American history in less than 9 months. Try and wrap your mind around that! It would be impossible/unfair to expect students to remember every specific detail from this vast amount content and then test the students on it at the end of the year. Thus to make this course and it's AP Exam more manageable the College Board has selected several overarching themes/events/trends/actions that define each time period and have identified them as "key-concepts". Every skill-based multiple choice and free-response question that is on the AP exam in May will be related to one/several of these Key-Concepts.
It is vital that each student becomes familiar with these key-concepts and knows them before each unit exam and the AP Exam.
Period 1: 1491-1607 (Convergence of the Peoples)
AP Focus:
On a North American continent controlled by American Indians, contact among the people of Europe, the Americas, and West Africa created a new world.
Key Concepts:
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.
1.2 Contact among Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and significant social, cultural, and political changes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Period 2: 1607-1754 (Empires and Opposition)
AP Focus:
Europeans and American Indians maneuvered and fought for dominance, control, and security in North America, and distinctive colonial and native societies emerged.
Key Concepts:
2.1 Europeans developed a variety of colonization and migration patterns, influenced by different imperial goals, cultures, and varied North American environments where they settled, and they competed with each other and American Indians for resources.
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.
Period 3: 1754-1800 (Rebellion, Revolution, and Nation)
AP Focus:
British imperial attempts to reassert control over its colonies and the colonial reaction to these attempts produced a new American republic, along with struggles over the new nation’s social, political, and economic identity.
Key Concepts:
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.
3.2 The American Revolution's democratic and republican ideals inspired new experiments with different forms of government.
3.3 Migration within North America and competition over resources, boundaries, and trade intensified conflicts among peoples and nations.
Period 4: 1800-1848 (Democracy and Expansion)
AP Focus:
The new republic struggled to define and extend democratic ideals in the face of rapid economic, territorial, and demographic changes.
Key Concepts:
4.1 The United States began to develop a modern democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans sought to define the nation’s democratic ideals and change their society and institutions to match them.
4.2 Innovations in technology, agriculture, and commerce powerfully accelerated the American economy, precipitating profound changes to U.S.society and regional identities.
4.3 U.S. interest in increasing foreign trade and expanding its national borders shaped the nation’s foreign policy and spurred government and private initiatives.
Period 5: 1844-1877 (Slavery, Civil War, and Change)
AP Focus:
As the nation expanded and its population grew, regional tensions, especially over slavery, led to a civil war – the course and aftermath of which transformed American society.
Key Concepts:
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.
5.2 Intensified by expansion and deepening regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic, cultural, and political issues led the nation into civil war.
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.
Period 6: 1865-1898 (Industrialization)
AP Focus:
The transformation of the United States from an agricultural to an increasingly industrialized and urbanized society brought about significant economic, political, diplomatic, social, environmental, and cultural changes.
Key Concepts:
6.1 Technological advances, large-scale production methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of industrial capitalism in the United States.
6.2 The migrations that accompanied industrialization transformed both urban and rural areas of the United States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.
6.3 The Gilded Age produced new cultural and intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political debates over economic and social policies.
Period 7: 1890-1945 (Economic Crisis, Reform, and World War)
AP Focus:
An increasingly pluralistic United States faced profound domestic and global challenges, debated the proper degree of government activism, and sought to define its international role.
Key Concepts:
7.1 Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.
7.2 Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns..
7.3 Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation's proper role in the world.
Period 8: 1945-1980 (Society, Liberalization, and Cold War)
AP Focus:
After World War II, the United States grappled with prosperity and unfamiliar international responsibilities, while struggling to live up to its ideals.
Key Concepts:
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.
8.2 New movements for civil rights and liberal efforts to expand the role of government generated a range of political and cultural responses.
8.3 Postwar economic and demographic changes had far-reaching consequences for American society, politics, and culture.
Period 9: 1980-Present (Modern American History)
AP Focus:
As the United States transitioned to a new century filled with challenges and possibilities, it experienced renewed ideological and cultural debates, sought to redefine its foreign policy, and adapted to economic globalization and revolutionary changes in science and technology.
Key Concepts:
9.1 A newly ascendant conservative movement achieved several political and policy goals during the 1980s and continued to strongly influence public discourse in the following decades.
9.2 Moving into the 21st century, the nation experienced significant technological, economic, and demographic changes.
9.3 The end of the Cold War and new challenges to U.S. leadership forced the nation to redefine its foreign policy and role in the world.
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