APUSH

About AP U.S. History

Per the College Board, the institution that manages all AP courses, "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.

The APUSH class will cover 9 historical time periods that span over 500 years of history. While learning the academic content (i.e. the history) in these historical time periods students will also be introduced to historical themes that are present in each period of study. Through investigation and inquiry students will begin to see how these historical themes (or threads) weave in-and-out of U.S. History, often building on prior events, movements, and actions taken either by individuals or groups of people.

Throughout the course students will practice and enhance a variety of historical thinking skills (HTS) in order to prepare them for the APUSH exam in May. Every action and lesson taken in class is intended to help students develop these skills, which will eventually become life long skills to continue practicing no matter what the situation or environment.

Student Resources

TEACH Act Disclaimer: The materials on this course site are only for the use of students enrolled in either U.S. History, AP U.S. History, AP European History, Economics or American Government at Chico High School and may not be retained or disseminated to others.