AP US History Mega Study Guide: Units 1-9 Exhaustive Edition

AP US History Period 1: $1491$ to $1607$

Overview

• This time period extends from $1491$ to $1607$. It accounts for $5\%$ of the recommended instructional content for an AP class and does not appear on the Document Based Question (DBQ) portion of the exam.
• The focus is on pre-European contact life in the Americas and how subsequent European contact permanently changed the lives, cultures, and customs of American Indian societies.
• The legacy of Christopher Columbus remains a subject of debate: some view him as a noble explorer, while others attribute historical wrongs to his actions.

Key Concepts

• Key Concept 1.1: As native populations migrated and settled across North America, they developed distinct and increasingly complex societies by adapting to and transforming their diverse environments.
• Key Concept 1.2: Contact among Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and significant changes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1491$: The starting point of the period, representing the state of the Americas prior to European contact.
• $1492$: Christopher Columbus claims the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba for Spain.
• $1512$: Spain establishes the encomienda system.
• $1519$: Hernan Cortes invades Mexico.
• $1525$: [Detailed event cut off in transcript, period typically notes arrival of enslaved Africans in the Americas].

Key Terms and Definitions

• Maize: The main crop cultivated by American Indians. As a staple crop, it allowed tribes to transition from nomadic lifestyles to a more sedentary existence.
• Christopher Columbus: An Italian explorer who convinced Spanish monarchs to fund a voyage across the Atlantic to find a route to India, eventually stumbling upon the New World.
• “God, Gold, Glory”: The primary motivations for early European explorers: spreading Christianity, enriching themselves and their monarchs, and achieving personal fame.
• Encomienda System: A forced labor system developed by the Spanish that required American Indians to live on plantations and convert to Christianity.

Detailed Historical Context

• Prior to European contact, American Indian tribes across North and South America had complex societies with distinctive social structures, political organizations, and religious beliefs.
• Regional Adaptations: Along the American Northwest, tribes combined permanent settlements with hunter-gatherer lifestyles. In the Southwest and modern-day Mexico, tribes focused on maize cultivation.
• The Columbian Exchange: A trade system that moved crops (potatoes, tomatoes, and corn to Europe; wheat, rice, and grapes to the Americas), animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds. It also facilitated the transport of enslaved people to farm cash crops and mine metals.
• Impact on Native Populations: The combination of economic and religious motivations often proved disastrous; natives were ensnared in labor systems like the encomienda, forced to abandon their religions, and decimated by European diseases.

AP US History Period 2: $1607$ to $1754$

Overview

• This period spans the founding of Jamestown in $1607$ to the beginning of the French and Indian War in $1754$, counting for $10\%$ of recommended instructional content.

Key Concepts

• Key Concept 2.1: Europeans developed various colonization and migration patterns based on specific goals, cultures, and North American environments, leading to competition for resources.
• Key Concept 2.2: British colonies engaged in political, social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain, which fostered both bonds and eventual resistance.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1607$: Founding of Jamestown.
• $1620$: [Mayflower Compact/Plymouth Settlement].
• $1637$: A woman [Anne Hutchinson] is expelled from Massachusetts for organizing religious meetings for women.
• $1675$: A war of attrition occurs with the leader of the Wampanoag.
• $1692$: Eighteen men and women are found guilty of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials.
• $1744$: [The peak of the First Great Awakening].

Key Terms and Definitions

• Mercantilism: An economic system where countries attempt to increase wealth through government control of trade.
• Cash crops: Major crops grown primarily for export and profit.
• First Great Awakening: A religious movement promoting emotional and evangelical religious practices, such as camp meetings.

Comparison of Colonization Styles

• Spanish: Controlled the largest territory; used the encomienda system to extract gold and silver.
• French and Dutch: Sent fewer people; relied on creating alliances with Native Americans to develop trade networks.
• British: Colonists arrived for profit or religious freedom. New England was organized around small farms, while the South focused on cash crops and an export economy.
• Consolidation: Over time, the British gained control of most of the Atlantic coast as the French and Dutch lost territory.

Questions & Discussion

• Historical Quotation: Jonathan Edwards in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (1741): “The wrath of God burns against them [sinners], their damnation don’t slumber, the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them, the flames do now rage and glow.”
• Contextual inquiry: How did the various European colonial strategies impact their relationships with American Indian populations and their internal social structures?

AP US History Period 3: $1754$ to $1800$

Overview

• This period covers the shift from independent colonial communities to the United States of America, following the French and Indian War through the election of $1800$. It counts for $12\%$ of instructional content.

Key Concepts

• Key Concept 3.1: British attempts to tighten control and colonial resolve for self-government led to independence and the Revolutionary War.
• Key Concept 3.2: Revolutionary democratic and republican ideals inspired new government experiments.
• Key Concept 3.3: Migration and competition for resources caused conflicts among nations and peoples.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1763$: The Proclamation of $1763$ forbids colonial migration west of the Appalachian Mountains.
• $1768$: British troops arrive in Boston.
• $1775$: Revolutionary battles at Lexington and Concord.
• $1776$: Congress declares independence with the Declaration of Independence.
• $1780$: Adoption of the Articles of Confederation.
• $1781$: British surrender at Yorktown.
• $1788$: [Ratification of the U.S. Constitution].
• $1791$: The Bill of Rights is adopted.

Key Terms and Definitions

• French and Indian War: A conflict over the Ohio River Valley between the British/colonists and the French/Indians.
• Articles of Confederation: The initial US government framework; it featured a weak federal government, strong state powers, and minimal regulation for currency and the military.
• U.S. Constitution: The replacement for the Articles, establishing three branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial).
• Federalist Papers: A series of papers written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison advocating for a strong central government.
• Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the Constitution, protecting individual rights.

Key Historical Narrative

• Colonial Grievances: Post-war British policies (Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Tea Acts) aimed at repaying war costs met fierce resistance. Colonists used the cry “No Taxation without Representation” to protest a lack of parliamentary representation.
• Constitutional Framework: The preamble states: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

AP US History Period 4: $1800$ to $1848$

Overview

• Covers the period from the election of $1800$ to the end of the Mexican-American War in $1848$, representing $10\%$ of instructional content.

Key Concepts

• Key Concept 4.1: The development of modern democracy and a national culture, alongside attempts to reform society.
• Key Concept 4.2: Technological, agricultural, and commercial innovations transformed the US economy and regional identities.
• Key Concept 4.3: Foreign trade goals and westward expansion influenced policy and initiatives.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1803$: Purchase of the Louisiana Territory for $15\,\text{million}$.
• $1807$: Congress ends the international slave trade.
• $1812$: The U.S. declares war on Britain.
• $1820$: Missouri Compromise balances slave and free states.
• $1823$: Proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine regarding the Western Hemisphere.
• $1830$: Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act.
• $1845$: Frederick Douglass publishes his narrative.
• $1848$: Seneca Falls Convention for women's rights.

Key Terms and Definitions

• Judicial Review: The Supreme Court's power to rule laws unconstitutional.
• Second Great Awakening: Religious revivals of the early $1800$s focusing on personal experience.
• American System: Henry Clay’s plan for protective tariffs, national banks, and infrastructure.
• Louisiana Territory: A vast land tract purchased from France by the federal government.

Significant Shifts

• The Economy: Transitioned from agriculture to manufacturing (the Industrial Revolution), aided by inventions like the telegraph.
• Westward Expansion: Native Americans were continually displaced and forcibly relocated to Oklahoma and the southwest.
• Art and Culture: Artists began using distinctively American styles (e.g., Albert Bierstadt's landscape paintings).

AP US History Period 5: $1844$ to $1877$

Overview

• Focuses on Manifest Destiny, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, making up $13\%$ of instructional content.

Key Concepts

• Key Concept 5.1: Expansionism and migration led to the US becoming more globally connected.
• Key Concept 5.2: Intense debates over slavery and regionalism led to Civil War.
• Key Concept 5.3: Union victory settled slavery and secession but left citizenship and federal power questions unresolved.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1850$: Compromise of $1850$ (includes Fugitive Slave Law).
• $1852$: Publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
• $1857$: Dred Scott decision denies slave citizenship.
• $1860$: Election of Abraham Lincoln; secession of South Carolina.
• $1863$: Emancipation Proclamation issued.
• $1867$: Reconstruction Acts passed by Congress.
• $1877$: Compromise of $1877$ ends federal occupation of the South.

Key Terms and Definitions

• Nativist: Those opposing immigrants (e.g., Know-Nothing Party against Irish and Germans).
• Manifest Destiny: The belief the US was destined by God to spread across the continent.
• Abraham Lincoln: The $16^{\text{th}}$ President, who prioritized preserving the Union.
• Reconstruction: The post-war period of rebuilding the South and integrating it back into the Union.

Questions & Discussion

• Visual Analysis: John Gast’s "American Progress" (1872) depicts westward expansion as a civilizing force but also shows the displacement of Native populations. What does this reveal about contemporary views of progress?
• Failure of Reconstruction: After federal troops were withdrawn in $1877$, many social improvements for African Americans were reversed by Southern politicians.

AP US History Period 6: $1865$ to $1898$

Overview

• Spans the Civil War’s end to the Spanish American War, focusing on the rise of industrial capitalism. Counts for $13\%$ of instructional content.

Key Concepts

• Key Concept 6.1: Technological advances and large-scale production encouraged industrial capitalism.
• Key Concept 6.2: Industrialization caused massive migrations and social changes in urban and rural areas.
• Key Concept 6.3: The Gilded Age prompted debates over economic and social policy.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1867$: Purchase of Alaska from Russia arranged by William Seward.
• $1869$: Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.
• $1872$: Establishment of Yellowstone National Park.
• $1876$: Battle of Little Bighorn (General Custer and over $200$ soldiers die).
• $1882$: Passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
• $1886$: Formation of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
• $1892$: Ellis Island opens in New York.
• $1896$: Plessy v. Ferguson establishes “separate but equal” doctrine.

Key Terms and Definitions

• Second Industrial Revolution: A northern-led shift from an agricultural to an urban-manufacturing economy.
• Robber Barons: Business leaders accused of corrupt practices.
• Union: Collective bargaining organizations to improve worker pay and conditions.
• The Gilded Age: A term describing a period that looked prosperous on the surface but was socially flawed underneath.

Historical Developments

• Inequality: Concentration of wealth led to the “Gospel of Wealth” (Carnegie) versus Social Darwinism, which argued the poor deserved their lot.
• Native Americans: Forced relocation to poor agricultural lands (reservations) and the violation of treaties followed the expansion of the railroad.
• Quote: Rocky Mountain News (1866): “The one moral, the one remedy for every evil… is the Pacific Railroad.”

AP US History Period 7: $1890$ to $1945$

Overview

• Covers the lead-up to WWI through the end of WWII, counting for $17\%$ of instructional content.

Key Concepts

• Key Concept 7.1: Economic growth vs. instability prompted reforms to the economic system.
• Key Concept 7.2: New mass culture and international migration patterns emerged.
• Key Concept 7.3: Global involvement in world wars renewed debates on the nation's world role.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1898$: Acquisition of Puerto Rico and Guam.
• $1917$: U.S. enters World War I.
• $1920$: [Ratification of the $19^{\text{th}}$ Amendment/Women's suffrage].
• $1929$: [Stock market crash/Beginning of the Great Depression].
• $1933$: Prohibition is repealed.
• $1935$: [Social Security Act].
• $1941$: Attack on Pearl Harbor.
• $1942$: FDR signs Executive Order #$9066$ for Japanese internment.

Key Terms and Definitions

• Progressive: Movement to implement social programs to address urban inequalities.
• Great Depression: A era of extreme social and political upheaval caused by economic collapse.
• New Deal: FDR’s programs utilizing government power for relief, employment, and infrastructure.
• Harlem Renaissance: African American artistic movement creating a new, distinctly African American cultural identity.

Questions & Discussion

• Domestic Reform: Muckraker journalists like Upton Sinclair (The Jungle) and Jacob Riis (How the Other Half Lives) exposed industrial and urban corruption.
• Welfare State: President Franklin Roosevelt’s pledge (1932): “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American People.”
• Imperialism: The debate over self-determination vs. imperial dominance pitted imperialists against anti-imperialists.

AP US History Period 8: $1945$ to $1980$

Overview

• Known as “post-war America,” covering the Cold War and social rights movements, counting for $15\%$ of instructional content.

Key Concepts

• Key Concept 8.1: Assertion of global leadership in an unstable post-war world.
• Key Concept 8.2: Debates over the role of government and social expansion.
• Key Concept 8.3: Consequences of post-war economic and demographic changes.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1947$: Announcement of the Truman Doctrine to contain communism.
• $1952$: [Hydrogen bomb testing].
• $1954$: Brown v. Board of Education desegregates schools.
• $1962$: Cuban Missile Crisis nearly leads to “hot” war.
• $1964$: Civil Rights Act is signed.
• $1965$: MLK leads the Selma freedom march.
• $1978$: Camp David Accords broker peace between Egypt and Israel.

Key Terms and Definitions

• Cold War: Diplomatic tension pitting capitalism (US) against communism (USSR).
• Marshall Plan: Economic aid to Western Europe to prevent communist spread.
• Senator Joseph McCarthy: Leads campaigns to root out communists in the U.S.
• Great Society: LBJ’s program to eliminate poverty and racial injustice.

Questions & Discussion

• Containment Philosophy: Secretary of State George C. Marshall (1947): “It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world…”
• Social Activism: The success of the black civil rights movement inspired feminists, LGBT communities, Latinos, American Indians, and Asian Americans to seek equal rights.

AP US History Period 9: $1980$ to Present

Overview

• Focuses on the rise of conservatism, technological shifts, and the end of the Cold War.

Timeline of Significant Events

• $1981$: [Reagan's inauguration].
• $1983$: Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) proposed.
• $1989$: [Fall of the Berlin Wall].
• $1991$: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns; collapse of the Soviet Union.
• $2001$: Terrorist attacks on September $11$.
• $2002$: [Department of Homeland Security created].
• $2003$: [Invasion of Iraq].

Key Terms and Definitions

• Ronald Reagan: Leader of the conservative movement who focused on tax cuts and reducing government programs.
• Terrorist attacks of September $11$, $2001$: Catalyzed wide-ranging changes in American foreign and domestic policy.

Historical Highlights

• Conservative Shift: Traced to the $1980$ election, resulting in reduced federal spending on some social programs.
• Cold War Ending: President Ronald Reagan (1987) famously stated at the Berlin Wall: “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace… if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”