AP Exam Review Notes

General Reminders for the AP Exam

  • Exam starts at 8:00 AM in the Aux Gym.

  • Dress comfortably as temperature may fluctuate.

  • Bring snacks and caffeine.

  • There will be a 10-minute break halfway through.

  • Get enough sleep the night before.

  • Bring a laptop charger.

Exam Layout

  • Multiple Choice: 55 questions, 55 minutes.

    • Practice questions are available on AP Central and Blue Book.

    • Pace yourself and skip difficult questions to return to later.

  • Short Answer Questions (SAQs): Three questions, 40 minutes total (approx. 12 minutes each).

    • Questions labeled a, b, and c.

    • No formula or thesis required; answer the question directly.

    • Specific evidence should be key terms (e.g., Levittowns, Emancipation Proclamation).

    • Misspellings are not a major concern as long as the answer is readable.

    • Describe vs. Explain: Describing defines, explaining tells how the evidence supports the argument.

  • Document-Based Question (DBQ):

    • Evaluate the extent to which something happened (change, comparison, etc.)

    • Structure: contextualization, thesis (X, Y because of A, B), document analysis.

    • Each paragraph should focus on a document, ordered by understanding.

    • Include a key term in the contextualization (e.g. Bacon's Rebellion).

    • Thesis should be in the first or last paragraph (can be in both).

    • Time Limit: 70 minutes

    • DBQ Rubric:

      • Describe content from 3 documents.

      • Use content of 4 documents to support an argument.

      • Use Historical reasoning (HIP) two times.

      • Outside evidence.

    • Complexity:

      • Use content of 7 documents, OR

      • Use HIP 4 times
        * P (Purpose - convince using a verb)
        * POV (Author's bias, e.g. Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist.)

  • Long Essay Question (LEQ):

    • Time Limit: Remainder of 100 minutes (after DBQ).

    • Choose one of three options.

    • Aim for at least two specific key terms you can discuss.

    • Structure: Intro with context and thesis, body paragraph, conclusion.

Key Content Areas

  • Incoming End of System: Plantation slavery systems in Spanish colonies.

  • Joint Stock Company: British investors pooling money for exploration.

  • Pueblo Indians: Paved dwellings and irrigation in the American Southwest.

  • Columbian Exchange: Positive and negative impacts including diseases, horses, and population changes in Europe.

  • Valladolid Debates: Debates over Native American treatment between Bartolomé de las Casas and Sepulveda.

  • Early Forms of Government: House of Burgesses in Virginia.

  • Mercantilism: British control through Navigation Acts (1664).

  • Early Cash Crops: Tobacco and its impact on labor systems (indentured servants, then slavery after Bacon's Rebellion).

  • Triangular Trade: Trade system between colonies and Europe.

  • First Great Awakening: Questioning traditional authority, figures like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.

  • French and Indian War: Results, including land distribution, conflict with Native Americans (like Pontiac's Rebellion), and British debt.

  • Events in Boston: Boston Tea Party and Boston Massacre.

  • Enlightenment Ideas: Influence of social contract and natural rights on documents like Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence; John Locke a key figure.

  • Articles of Confederation: Successes (Northwest Ordinance) and failures (Shays' Rebellion).

  • Constitutional Compromises: Three-Fifths Compromise, Great Compromise, and the Bill of Rights (compromise between Federalists and Anti-Federalists).

  • Impact of the Revolution on Minority Groups: Women (Republican Motherhood), African Americans (abolition in the North), Native Americans (land loss), and international influence.

  • Precedents of George Washington: Economic policy, foreign policy, and political parties (Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson), Farewell Address.

  • War of 1812: Effects included American nationalism and the rise of American industry.

  • Market Revolution: New technologies like the cotton gin, steamboat, and telegraph.

  • Era of Good Feelings: Caused by the end of the Federalist Party (Hartford Convention).

  • Monroe Doctrine: Extension of Washington's neutrality.

  • Marshall Court: Increased federal power over states (key cases: Marbury v. Madison, Gibbons v. Ogden).

  • Cult of Domesticity: Changing roles for middle-class women, related to women's rights movements (e.g., Seneca Falls).

  • Age of Jackson: Spoil system, Indian Removal, and the Second Party System (Whigs led by Henry Clay).