Period 3: 1754 - 1800


Period 3 is worth 12% of the AP Exam. This period will be covered in approximately 8 class periods.


The College Board uses key concepts to denote the testable material for each period. The full, detailed version of these concepts are located here. Please take the time to know these concepts, as anything mentioned is fair game for the AP Exam.

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.

Key Concept 3.2— The American Revolution’s democratic and republican ideals inspired new experiments with different forms of government.

Key Concept 3.3— Migration within North America and competition over resources, boundaries, and trade intensified conflicts among peoples and nations.


Period 3 Key Terms

Key terms that will be an invaluable study tool as we get closer to the AP exam in May. Each term should include the information provided on Quizlet.

Chapter 4

  1. Sugar Act (1764)

  2. Stamp Act

  3. Declaratory Act

  4. Nonimportation movement

  5. First Continental Congress

  6. Intolerable Acts

  7. Patriots/Loyalists

  8. Common Sense – Thomas Paine

  9. Olive Branch Petition

  10. Declaration of Independence

  11. Battle of Bunker Hill

  12. Battle of Yorktown

Chapter 5

  1. Articles of Confederation

  2. Old Northwest

  3. Northwest Ordinance of 1787

  4. Shays’ Rebellion

  5. Virginia Plan

  6. New Jersey Plan

  7. Great Compromise

  8. Federalists/Anti-Federalists

  9. Republican motherhood

  10. Constitutional Convention

  11. Bill of Rights

Chapter 6

  1. Electoral college

  2. Republicans

  3. Hamilton’s financial plan/Bank of the United States

  4. Jay’s Treaty

  5. Whiskey Rebellion

  6. Washington’s Farewell Address

  7. XYZ Affair

  8. Alien and Sedition Acts

  9. States rights

  10. Gabriel’s Rebellion

  11. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions