AP United States History
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| AP United States History | |
|---|---|
| Name | AP United States History |
| Abbreviation | APUSH |
| Administered by | College Board |
| Established | 1956 |
| Exam type | Advanced Placement exam |
| Score range | 1–5 |
| Website | College Board: AP United States History |
AP United States History is a college-level secondary course and examination offered by the College Board that surveys the political, social, cultural, and diplomatic history of the United States from pre-Columbian eras to the present. The course is designed to develop analytical skills used by historians and to prepare students for United States history university courses and potential college credit via a successful Advanced Placement exam score. AP United States History aims to integrate primary sources, historiography, and thematic analysis across chronological periods.
Overview and Course Objectives
The course objectives emphasize historical reasoning and the mastery of content spanning Native societies such as the Pueblo Revolt and the Iroquois Confederacy, early European contact including the Columbian Exchange and explorers like Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés, colonial development in regions tied to Jamestown, Plymouth Colony, and the Mayflower Compact, and the rise of imperial conflicts like the Seven Years' War and its consequences. Students examine revolutionary movements exemplified by the American Revolution, leaders such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, foundational documents including the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and the formation of institutions like the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party. The curriculum further covers expansion and conflict involving the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, sectional tensions over the Missouri Compromise and Kansas–Nebraska Act, the American Civil War, Reconstruction under figures like Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, and industrial transformation linked to the Transcontinental Railroad and industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
Curriculum Content and Thematic Framework
Themes structure the curriculum: American and national identity through episodes like Second Great Awakening and Civil Rights Movement; migration and settlement highlighted by the Great Migration (African American) and Trail of Tears; politics and power as seen in the presidencies of Andrew Jackson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan; work, exchange, and technology tied to the Market Revolution and the Gilded Age; culture and society expressed in movements like Harlem Renaissance and authors such as Mark Twain and Toni Morrison; geography and the environment illustrated by the Dust Bowl and westward expansion via Manifest Destiny; and America in the world through events including the Spanish–American War, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and diplomatic landmarks like the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Yalta Conference, and the Camp David Accords. Chronological units examine Reconstruction, the rise of the Progressive Era with reformers like Theodore Roosevelt, the New Deal under Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Social Security Act, postwar developments including the GI Bill and the Marshall Plan, and late twentieth- and twenty-first-century topics such as Watergate, the Reagan Revolution, the September 11 attacks, and debates over Affordable Care Act.
Exam Format and Scoring
The AP United States History Exam combines multiple-choice, short-answer, document-based question (DBQ), and long essay question (LEQ) sections. The multiple-choice section assesses knowledge spanning eras connected to subjects like Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Marshall, Dred Scott v. Sandford, and Brown v. Board of Education; questions often reference primary sources from figures such as Frederick Douglass and Eleanor Roosevelt. The DBQ requires synthesis and analysis of provided documents including speeches by Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King Jr. and political cartoons from the Gilded Age. LEQs typically ask candidates to craft timed essays addressing causes, continuity and change, or comparison across periods involving movements like Progressivism and Civil Rights Movement. Scoring uses a 1–5 scale for overall performance, with specific policies set by the College Board and individual college credit equivalency determined by institutions such as the University of California and the Ivy League.
Instructional Materials and Teaching Strategies
Teachers commonly use textbooks by authors like James W. Loewen, Eric Foner, Alan Brinkley, and Joyce Appleby, supplemented by primary-source readers featuring documents from Thomas Paine, Chief Joseph, Sojourner Truth, and Dolores Huerta. Instructional strategies include document analysis of items such as the Emancipation Proclamation, data interpretation using census reports and the Homestead Act, comparative debates on tariff policy and the New Deal, and historiographical study contrasting interpretations from scholars like Charles A. Beard and Gordon S. Wood. Classroom practices emphasize scaffolded DBQ practice, timed LEQ drills, incorporation of archives from institutions like the National Archives and the Library of Congress, and multimedia resources including oral histories from the Works Progress Administration and documentary footage of events like the D-Day landings.
Historical Skills and Exam Preparation
Skill development includes sourcing and contextualization of primary sources such as letters by John Adams, quantitative reasoning using economic data from the Great Depression, corroboration across documents like congressional records surrounding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and crafting thesis-driven essays about topics including Reconstruction and the Cold War. Effective exam preparation involves analyzing past prompts related to events such as Shays' Rebellion, practicing short-answer responses about presidential decisions during the Mexican–American War, and timed writing practice for LEQs on themes like industrialization and immigration tied to waves from Ireland and China. Review workshops often use released College Board materials and scoring rubrics reflecting expectations for synthesis and evidence use.
College Credit and Placement Policies
Colleges and universities set individual credit and placement policies; many public systems including the California State University and private institutions such as Harvard University and Princeton University evaluate AP scores for credit or advanced standing. Typical policies award credit for scores of 3, 4, or 5, with some selective universities requiring departmental review or a minimum score for upper-division credit. Articulation agreements, transfer policies, and degree requirements at institutions like the University of Michigan and the University of Texas at Austin determine whether AP credit satisfies general education or major requirements.