AP Exam Terms

Bio, Lang, APUSH, & Calc AB terms to study for 2025 AP exams

exigence

the moment or event that motivates someone to write or to speak about a specific issue, problem, or situation

Virginia Plan

bicameral, 3-branch plan for a strong central government with representation based off population; benefitted large states

New Jersey Plan

unicameral, 3-branch plan for a stronger federal government with equal representation in one legislative house regardless of population; benefitted small states

The Great Compromise/Connecticut Plan

compromise of the VA and CT plans that called for a bicameral legislative body: the Senate would have equal representation regardless of population while the House would depend on population; also established 3 branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial)

f(x) = log_ax

f’(x) = 1/(a lnx); a = base of the logarithm

Marbury v. Madison

John Marshall established judicial review in this landmark court case which challenged John Adams’ “midnight appointments” in the court.

Mcculloch v. Maryland

established that federal law trumps state law

French & Indian War

French & native Americans fighting British for rights to the Ohio River Valley

War of 1812

US fought against Britain & France over maritime issues & trade restrictions (impressment); Jefferson’s Embargo Act enacted in 1807 due to rising tensions before war broke out

14th Amendment

granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States; protected citizens from state governments as opposed to the federal government; Confederate states had to ratify this to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War

Compromise of 1850

a package of five laws designed to address the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories after the Mexican-American War, including California's admission as a free state, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C. 

1492

Columbus encounters the Americas, facilitating the Columbian Exchange

1607

Founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America

1763

End of French & Indian War (Treaty of Paris signed)

1776

Declaration of Independence adopted

1787

American Constitution drafted at the Continental Congress, Northwest Ordinance of 1787 passed

1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed, ending the Mexican-American War; Mexican cession ceded a vast amount of territory to the United States

1860

Abraham Lincoln elected as President, signaling tensions leading to secession & Civil War

1865

The end of the Civil War; the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States

1877

The end of Reconstruction, leading to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South (Compromise of 1877) and the beginning of Jim Crow laws

1898

The Spanish-American War began, resulting in the U.S. gaining territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines

1901

The assassination of President William McKinley, leading to Theodore Roosevelt's presidency and progressive reforms

1929

The stock market crash marking the beginning of the Great Depression

1941

The attack on Pearl Harbor leading the United States to break isolationist policy and enter World War II

1945

The end of World War II following the surrender of Germany in May and Japan in September

1989/1991

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the USSR in 1991

Civil Rights Act of 1866

grants citizenship and the same rights enjoyed by white citizens to all male persons in the United States "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude” and passed over Johnson’s presidential veto

Vietnam War

lasted from 1955 to 1975

Civil War

1861-1865

Revolutionary War

1775-1783

steps to determine continuity algebraically

find the output at the specific x-value & then determine if the one-sided limits are equal

limit of f(x) as x → infinity

example of a function with a horizontal asymptote

when the output of a function approaches infinity as it approaches a specific x-value

vertical asymptote (unbounded)

glasnost

policy of increased openness and transparency in the Soviet Union introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s, contributing to the end of the Cold War

perestroika

policy of economic and political restructuring in the Soviet Union initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s, contributing to the end of the Cold War

Keynesian economics

economic theory that promoted federal deficit spending to pull an economy out of recession and advocated for government intervention in the economy; prevalent particularly during the years of the Great Depression

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

pre-American Revolution rebellion that increased fear of riots and uprisings of laborers (indentured & enslaved) leading to a shift away from indentured labor & the beginnings of white supremacy rhetoric

Populist/People’s Party

grassroots movement of poor, aggrieved farmers in the 1890s who wanted radical reform from the government; platform included nationalization of railroads, coinage of silver (for inflation), and a graduated income tax

Progressivism

prevalent in the early 20th century & made up of urban middle-class activists with savior complexes who held enough economic and political clout to influence change on a federal level; wanted increased government regulation & reform while maintaining the capitalist system

platform included women’s rights, labor rights, civil rights; pioneered by Robert La Follette and Teddy Roosevelt

Shay’s Rebellion (1786)

a strong example of the weakness of the federal government under the Articles of Confederation; in part led to the Constitutional Convention and the strengthening of federal power through the new Constitution