AP United States History Exhaustive Study Guide

 # 1.2 - Native American Societies Before European Contact ● Early Migration and Settlement: The first inhabitants of the Americas originated in Asia and crossed a land bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska. This occurred at least $10,000$ to potentially $40,000$ years ago. Migrants traveled southward towards the southern tip of South America, adapting to diverse environments and evolving into hundreds of unique tribes with distinct languages. ● Central and South American Civilizations: The Mayas ($300$-$800$ AD) established cities in the Yucatán Peninsula (present-day Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico). The Aztecs built a powerful empire in central Mexico with the capital, Tenochtitlán, reaching a population of about $200,000$. The Incas were based in Peru and founded a vast empire in western South America. These civilizations featured highly organized societies, extensive trade, advanced calendars, and stable food supplies ($corn$ for Mayas/Aztecs, $potatoes$ for Incas). ● North American Cultures: By the $1490s$, the population ranged from under $1$ to over $10$ million. Social structures were generally less complex than those in the South, partly due to the slower spread of corn cultivation. ● Southwest Settlements: Groups like the Hohokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos lived in caves or multistoried buildings. Maize cultivation supported economic growth and irrigation systems, though they faced drought and hostile neighbors. ● Northwest Settlements: Located on the Pacific coast from Alaska to northern California. They lived in permanent longhouses, had rich diets from hunting/fishing, and carved totem poles to record histories. ● Great Basin and Great Plains: Nomadic tribes adapted to dry climates by hunting buffalo and living in teepees. Some tribes lived in permanent earthen lodges along rivers to grow crops. ● Mississippi River Valley: Woodland Indians maintained prosperous permanent villages in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys, marked by large earthen mounds. Cahokia, near present-day East St. Louis, had up to $30,000$ inhabitants. ● Northeast Settlements: Descendants of the Adena-Hopewell spread to New York, combining hunting and farming. The Iroquois Confederation was a political union of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and later the Tuscaroras. ● Atlantic Seaboard: Located from New Jersey to Florida. Tribes like the Cherokee and Lumbee built timber/bark lodgings and relied on rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. # 1.3 - European Exploration in the Americas ● Background: Before the late $1400s$, there was no interaction between the Americas and the Eastern Hemisphere. Vikings visited around the year $1000$ but had no lasting impact. ● Factors Promoting Exploration: The Renaissance sparked scientific curiosity. Key technologies included gunpowder (from China), the sailing compass (from Arab merchants), and improvements in mapmaking/shipbuilding. The printing press ($1450s$) accelerated the spread of knowledge. ● Religious Conflict: The Spanish Reconquista ended in $1492$ when Isabella and Ferdinand united Spain and sponsored Columbus. The Protestant Reformation in the early $1500s$ led both Catholics and Protestants to seek converts in new lands. ● Expanding Trade: The Ottoman Turks' control of Constantinople in $1453$ blocked land routes to Asia. Portugal, led by Prince Henry the Navigator, opened a sea route around Africa. Vasco da Gama reached India in $1498$. ● Slave Trading: Portugal began trading enslaved West Africans in the $15th$ century, using them on sugar plantations off the African coast, a model later exported to the Americas. ● Dividing the Americas: The Papal Line of Demarcation ($1493$) and the Treaty of Tordesillas ($1494$) divided the New World between Spain and Portugal. England's John Cabot explored Newfoundland in $1497$. France's Giovanni da Verrazzano ($1524$) and Jacques Cartier ($1534$-$1542$) explored the eastern coast and St. Lawrence River. # 1.4 - Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest ● Christopher Columbus: Sought a westward sea route to Asia. In $1492$, Isabella and Ferdinand named him governor, admiral, and viceroy. He landed in the Bahamas on October $12$, $1492$. ● The Columbian Exchange: A massive transfer of plants, animals, and diseases. Europe received beans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco, alongside syphilis. The Americas received sugar cane, pigs, horses, the wheel, iron tools, and guns. European diseases like smallpox and measles caused native populations to crash; Mexico’s population fell from $22$ million in $1492$ to $4$ million by the mid-$16th$ century. ● Economic Shifts: Feudalism faded as capitalism emerged, prioritizing money and machinery over land. Joint-stock companies were created to mitigate the financial risks of oceanic voyages. # 1.5 - Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System ● Key Conquests: Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Pacific Ocean), Ferdinand Magellan (circumnavigation), Hernán Cortés (Aztecs), and Francisco Pizarro (Incas). Wealth from gold/silver made Spain the dominant European power. ● Labor Systems: The Encomienda System granted Spanish colonists control over natives for labor in exchange for "Christian instruction." The Asiento System involved importing enslaved Africans taxed by the Spanish crown for labor on sugar plantations. Between $10$ to $15$ million Africans were brought through the Middle Passage. ● Spanish Caste System: A hierarchy with pure-blooded Spaniards at the top, mixed heritage (mestizos/mulattos) in the middle, and pure Native or African heritage at the bottom. # 1.6 - Cultural Interactions ● Spanish Policy: Subjugated natives but faced internal criticism. Bartolomé de Las Casas advocated for better treatment, leading to the New Laws of $1542$. The Valladolid Debate saw Las Casas argue for native equality against Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, who claimed they were inferior. ● English Policy: Focused on settlement families. Initial trade turned into land conflict and displacement. ● French Policy: Formed alliances for the fur trade, with minimal colonial imposition. ● African Influence: Introduced the banjo and agricultural knowledge to American culture. # 2.2 - European Colonization ● Spanish: St. Augustine (Florida, $1565$) is the oldest European-founded city in the mainland U.S. Santa Fe became the capital of New Mexico in $1610$. Father Junípero Serra established California missions starting in $1769$. ● French: Focused on fur trade. Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec in $1608$. Robert de La Salle explored the Mississippi basin. ● Dutch: Established New Amsterdam as a corporate trading hub under the Dutch West India Company. ● British: Driven by population pressure and religious freedom. Higher proportion of families; focused on farming and permanent land claims. # 2.3 - The Regions of British Colonies ● New England: Plymouth ($1620$) was founded by Separatist Pilgrims (Mayflower Compact established majority rule). Massachusetts Bay ($1630$) was founded by Puritans under John Winthrop (Great Migration brought $15,000$). Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson for religious tolerance. Connecticut was founded by Thomas Hooker (Fundamental Orders). ● Middle Colonies: New York was seized from the Dutch. Pennsylvania was William Penn's "Holy Experiment" for Quakers, emphasizing non-violence and representative assembly through the Charter of Liberties ($1701$). ● Southern Colonies: Maryland ($1634$) was a Catholic haven (Act of Toleration). Virginia ($1607$) thrived on tobacco (John Rolfe). The Headright System offered $50$ acres for sponsored passage. Georgia ($1732$) was a buffer colony for debtors founded by James Oglethorpe. ● Political Institutions: Virginia’s House of Burgesses ($1619$) was the first representative assembly. Participation was limited to White male property owners. # 2.4 - Transatlantic Trade ● Triangular Trade: Rum from New England to Africa; Enslaved Africans to West Indies; Sugar from West Indies to New England. ● Mercantilism: Britain used Navigation Acts to regulate trade (using English ships, routing through English ports). This led to smuggling. ● Dominion of New England ($1686$): Consolidated colonies under Sir Edmund Andros to enforce trade laws; dissolved after the Glorious Revolution ($1688$), leading to a period of "salutary neglect." # 2.5 - Interactions with American Indians ● Wars: The New England Confederation ($1643$) provided mutual protection. Metacom’s War (King Philip’s War, $1675$-$1676$) ended major native resistance in New England. Bacon’s Rebellion ($1676$) in Virginia highlighted class tensions and led to a shift from indentured servants to slavery. ● Pueblo Revolt ($1680$): Successful native uprising against the Spanish in New Mexico; led to less harsh Spanish governance upon their return. # 2.7 - Colonial Society and Culture ● Education: Massachusetts law ($1647$) required tax-supported schools. Colleges were mostly sectarian (Harvard $1636$, William and Mary $1694$, Yale $1701$), except for the nonsectarian College of Philadelphia ($1765$). ● The Great Awakening: Religious revival led by Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, emphasizing personal salvation. ● Freedom of Press: The Zenger Case ($1735$) established that truth was a defense against libel. # 3.2 - The Seven Years’ War ● Conflict ($1754$-$1763$): Fought between Britain and France (with native allies). The Albany Plan of Union ($1754$) proposed by Franklin to coordinate defense failed but set a precedent. The Treaty of Paris ($1763$) gave Britain Canada and Florida. British victory ended salutary neglect to pay war debts. ● Pontiac’s Rebellion ($1763$): Native uprising against western encroachment; led to the Proclamation of $1763$ banning settlement west of the Appalachians. # 3.3 - Taxation without Representation ● Acts: Sugar Act ($1764$), Quartering Act ($1765$), and the Stamp Act ($1765$). The Stamp Act Congress declared only colonial legislatures could tax. Sons of Liberty used intimidation against officials. ● Escalation: Declaratory Act ($1766$) asserted Parliament's authority. Townshend Acts ($1767$) used Writs of Assistance. The Boston Massacre ($1770$) killed $5$, including Crispus Attucks. The Tea Act ($1773$) led to the Boston Tea Party ($342$ chests). ● Intolerable Acts ($1774$): Port Act closed Boston; expanded Quartering Act; Quebec Act extended boundaries to the Ohio River. # 3.5 - The American Revolution ● Progress: First Continental Congress ($1774$) endorsed Suffolk Resolves. Lexington and Concord (April $1775$) were the first skirmishes. Second Continental Congress ($1775$) appointed Washington and sent the Olive Branch Petition. ● Independence: Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" ($1776$) argued for separation. The Declaration of Independence (July $4$, $1776$) used Enlightenment principles. ● War: Patriots ($40\%$) vs. Loyalists ($25\%$). Saratoga ($1777$) is the turning point that secured French alliance ($1778$). Yorktown ($1781$) was the final battle where Cornwallis surrendered. Treaty of Paris ($1783$) recognized independence with the Mississippi River as the western border. # 3.7 - The Articles of Confederation ● Structure: Unicameral Congress; one vote per state; $9/13$ to pass laws; unanimous to amend. Lacked power to tax or regulate commerce. ● Successes: Land Ordinance of $1785$ (public education support) and Northwest Ordinance of $1787$ (banned slavery in territory). ● Failure: Shays’s Rebellion ($1786$-$1787$) showed federal inability to maintain order. # 3.8 - The Constitutional Convention and Ratification ● Compromises: Great Compromise (Bicameral House/Senate). Three-Fifths Compromise (counting the enslaved for representation). Slave trade allowed until $1808$. Electoral College for the Presidency. ● Ratification: Federalists (Madison, Hamilton, Jay) wrote the Federalist Papers. Anti-Federalists (Mason, Henry) demanded a Bill of Rights. Bill of Rights ratified in $1791$ ($10$ amendments). # 3.10 - Shaping a New Republic ● Washington’s Cabinet: Jefferson (State), Hamilton (Treasury), Knox (War), Randolph (Attorney General). ● Hamilton’s Financial Plan: Federal assumption of state debts, high protective tariffs, and a National Bank. Compromise located the capital in Washington, D.C. ● Foreign Policy: Proclamation of Neutrality ($1793$). Jay Treaty ($1794$) removed British posts. Pinckney Treaty ($1795$) opened New Orleans and the lower Mississippi. ● Domestic Crisis: Whiskey Rebellion ($1794$) demonstrated federal strength. ● Farewell Address: Warned against permanent alliances, political parties, and sectionalism. ● John Adams: XYZ Affair led to naval conflict with France. Alien and Sedition Acts restricted dissent. Kentucky/Virginia Resolutions proposed the nullification doctrine. # 4.2 - The Era of Jefferson ● Revolution of $1800$: Peaceful transfer of power between parties. ● Louisiana Purchase ($1803$): Purchased from Napoleon for $15\,million$. Doubled U.S. size. Lewis and Clark explored territory. ● Marshall Court: Marbury v. Madison ($1803$) established judicial review. McCulloch v. Maryland ($1819$) affirmed implied powers and federal supremacy. Gibbons v. Ogden ($1824$) defined federal control over interstate commerce. ● Embargo Act ($1807$): Prohibited all foreign trade to avoid war; caused economic depression in New England. # 4.4 - War of 1812 ● Causes: Impressment of sailors, British support for native resistance (Tecumseh), and "War Hawks" (Clay, Calhoun). ● Results: Treaty of Ghent ($1814$) restored status quo. The Hartford Convention ($1814$) weakened Federalists by discussing secession. The war fostered nationalism and industrial self-sufficiency. ● Monroe Doctrine ($1823$): Declared the Americas closed to European colonization. # 4.5 - Market Revolution ● Innovations: Cotton Gin ($1793$), Interchangeable Parts (Whitney), Clermont Steamboat ($1807$), Erie Canal ($1825$), Steel Plow (Deere), Telegraph ($1844$). ● Labor: The Lowell System used young farm women. Population doubled every $25$ years. Cult of Domesticity defined women as moral leaders in the home. ● Immigration: Surge of Irish (famine) and Germans (economic hardship). Led to the Know-Nothing Party (Nativism). # 4.8 - Jacksonian Democracy ● Politics: Universal White male suffrage increased turnout from $350,000$ in $1824$ to $2.4\,million$ in $1840$. ● Issues: Indian Removal Act ($1830$) led to the Trail of Tears ($4,000$ deaths). Nullification Crisis over the Tariff of Abominations. Bank War (veto of the National Bank). ● Parties: Democrats (Jackson) vs. Whigs (Clay). Panic of $1837$ caused by the Specie Circular. # 4.10 - Second Great Awakening and Reform ● Movements: Temperance (American Temperance Society). Public Asylums (Dorothea Dix). Public Education (Horace Mann). Seneca Falls Convention ($1848$) issued the Declaration of Sentiments for women's suffrage (Stanton, Anthony). ● Abolition: William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator). Frederick Douglass (The North Star). Nat Turner’s Rebellion ($1831$) led to stricter slave codes. # 5.2 - Manifest Destiny ● Growth: Texas Annexation ($1845$). Oregon border settled at $49th$ parallel. Mexican-American War ($1846$-$1848$) ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; U.S. paid $15\,million$ for Mexican Cession. ● Slavery Tensions: Wilmot Proviso (failed proposal to ban slavery in new lands). Compromise of $1850$: California free; Mexican Cession popular sovereignty; Fugitive Slave Law enforced. # 5.6 - Failure of Compromise ● Conflict: Kansas-Nebraska Act ($1854$) led to "Bleeding Kansas." Republican Party formed to stop the spread of slavery. Dred Scott v. Sandford ($1857$) ruled African Americans were not citizens and Congress couldn't ban slavery. ● Election of $1860$: Lincoln elected without any Southern states; triggered secession of the deep South (Confederate States of America). Crittenden Compromise failed. # 5.8 - The Civil War ● Strategy: Anaconda Plan (blockade and Mississippi control). ● Battles: Antietam ($1862$) led to Emancipation Proclamation (Jan $1$, $1863$). Gettysburg and Vicksburg (July $1863$) were turning points. Sherman’s March to the Sea ($1864$). Appomattox Court House (April $9$, $1865$) surrender. ● Legislation: Homestead Act ($1862$) gave $160$ acres. Pacific Railway Act ($1862$). Morrill Land Grant Act ($1862$). # 5.10 - Reconstruction ● Reconstruction: Lincoln ($10\%$ plan) vs. Radical Republicans. Freedmen’s Bureau provided education. ● Amendments: $13th$ (Abolished slavery). $14th$ (Citizenship/Equal Protection). $15th$ (Universal male suffrage). ● End: Impeachment of Johnson (acquitted by $1$ vote). Compromise of $1877$ involving Hayes led to withdrawal of federal troops and the rise of Jim Crow. # 6.2 - The Gilded Age ● Westward Expansion: Turner’s Frontier Thesis ($1893$). Dawes Severalty Act ($1887$) aimed at native assimilation. Wounded Knee ($1890$) ended Indian Wars. ● Industry: Steel (Carnegie, vertical integration). Oil (Rockefeller, horizontal integration). Trusts and Laissez-faire capitalism. General Gospel of Wealth (Carnegie). ● Labor: Knights of Labor (all workers) declined after Haymarket ($1886$). AFL (skilled workers, Gompers). Pullman Strike ($1894$). ● Politics: Populist Party (Omaha Platform $1892$) wanted silver coinage and direct election of senators. Plessy v. Ferguson ($1896$) upheld "separate but equal." # 7.2 - Imperialism and Progressivism ● Empire: Spanish-American War ($1898$) gained Puerto Rico, Guam, and Philippines. Platt Amendment made Cuba a protectorate. Open Door Policy in China. ● Progressivism: Muckrakers exposed corruption. TR's Square Deal (Trust-busting, Meat Inspection Act $1906$). $17th$ Amendment (Direct senators). $18th$ (Prohibition). $19th$ (Women’s suffrage, $1920$). Wilson’s New Freedom: Federal Reserve Act ($1914$), FTC. # 7.5 - World War I ● Conflict: U.S. entered in $1917$ due to unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram. ● Home Front: Espionage and Sedition Acts. Great Migration of African Americans North. ● Peace: Wilson’s $14$ Points. Treaty of Versailles included League of Nations but was rejected by the U.S. Senate. # 7.8 - The 1920s ● Culture: Prohibition led to organized crime. Scopes Trial ($1825$) over evolution. Harlem Renaissance. Red Scare and Palmer Raids. ● Economy: Assembly line (Ford). Boom ended with the Stock Market Crash on Black Tuesday (Oct $29$, $1729$). # 7.10 - The New Deal ● Relief, Recovery, Reform: Bank Holiday. FDIC. AAA (crop control). TVA. SSA ($1935$). Wagner Act (unions). WPA (jobs). Fair Labor Standards Act ($1938$). ● Impact: Created the New Deal Coalition. Shifted African Americans to the Democratic Party. # 7.12 - World War II ● Mobilization: War Production Board. Manhattan Project (Atomic Bomb). Rosie the Riveter (women in factories). Japanese Internment (Executive Order $9066$, Korematsu v. U.S.). ● War: Pearl Harbor (Dec $7$, $1941$). D-Day (June $6$, $1944$). Atomic bombs on Hiroshima/Nagasaki (Aug $1945$). Holocaust discovered. UN formed in $1945$. # 8.2 - The Cold War ● Containment: Truman Doctrine (Greece/Turkey). Marshall Plan ($12\,billion$). NATO formed ($1949$). Korean War ($1950$-$1953$). ● Crisis: Sputnik ($1957$). Berlin Wall ($1961$). Cuban Missile Crisis ($1962$). Détente under Nixon (SALT I). # 8.6 - Modern Civil Rights ● Progress: Desegregation of Military ($1948$). Brown v. Board ($1954$). Montgomery Bus Boycott ($1955$). Civil Rights Act ($1964$). Voting Rights Act ($1965$). Malcolm X and Black Power. # 8.9 - The Great Society ● Programs: LBJ’s War on Poverty. Medicare/Medicaid. Immigration Act of $1965$ ended ethnic quotas. ● Conflict: Vietnam War escalation (Tonkin Gulf Resolution $1964$). Tet Offensive ($1968$) turned public opinion. # 8.14 - Transition ● Issues: Environment (EPA $1970$). Watergate Scandal (Nixon’s resignation $1974$). Roe v. Wade ($1973$). Oil Embargo and Stagflation. Iranian Hostage Crisis ($1979$, $444$ days). # 9.2 - Reagan to Present ● Conservatism: Reaganomics (tax cuts, deregulation). Tripled national debt. Fall of the Berlin Wall ($1989$) and USSR ($1991$). ● 1990s: Clinton balanced the budget. Impeachment ($1999$). Dot-com boom. ● 21st Century: Election of $2000$ (Bush v. Gore). $9/11$ Attacks and War on Terror. Patriot Act. Great Recession ($2008$). Obama elected ($2008$). Affordable Care Act ($2010$). Trump elected ($2016$). $COVID-19$ Pandemic ($500,000$ deaths by early $2021$). Biden elected ($2020$).