APUSH themes

P (POL)

Politics and power

Focus on how different social and political groups have influenced society and government in the United States, as well as how political beliefs and institutions have changed over time

A (NAT)

American and national identity

Focus on how and why definitions of American and national identity and values have developed, as well as on related topics such as citizenship, constitutionalism, foreign policy, assimilation and American exceptionalism

S (MIG)

Settlement and migration

Focus on why and how the various people who moved to and within the United States both adapted to and transformed their new social and physical environments

S (CUL)

Society and culture

Focus on the roles that ideas, beliefs, social mores , and creative expression have played in shaping the United States, as well as how various identities, cultures, and values have been preserved of changed in different contexts of US history

A (WOR)

America in the world

Focus on the interactions between nations that affected North American history in the colonial period, and on the influence if the United States on world affairs

G (GEO)

Geography and the environment

Focus on the role of geography and both the natural and human-made environments on social and political developments in what would become the United States

E (WXT)

Economy; Work, exchange, and technology

Focus on the factors behind the development of systems of economic exchange, particularly the role of technology, economic markets and government