APUSH Course Overview

How many years of history will we cover in AP US?

• 50
• 125
• 350
• 525

How many periods (eras) is AP US divided into?

• 4
• 6
• 9
• 12

This theme focuses on the factors behind the development of systems of economic exchange, particularly the role of technology, economic markets, and government.

• Politics and Power (POL)

• Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)

• Culture and Society (CUL)

• American and National Identity (NAT)

This theme focuses 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.

• Migration and Settlement (MIG)

• American and National Identity (NAT)

• Politics and Power (POL)

• Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)

This theme focuses on the interactions between nations that affected North American history in the colonial period and on the influence of the United States on world affairs.

• Migration and Settlement (MIG)

• Geography and the Environment (GEO)

• America in the World (WOR)

• Culture and Society (CUL)

This course tests your _____________, just as much as your content knowledge.

• Historical Thinking Skills & Reasoning

• Memorization of names & dates

The purpose of the 8 Themes is:

• Connective tissue of the course

• Enables you to make meaningful connections across time periods

• Broader ideas that run throughout the course

• All of the answers are correct

The historical thinking skills will teach you to be amateur historians and detectives by:

• Evaluating sources for point of view and reliability

• Identifying evidence

• Contextualizing information

• Making defensible claims

The three reasoning processes describe the cognitive operations you will be required to apply when engaging with the historical thinking skills on the exam. The reasoning processes are:

The majority of the AP exam is based on units:

• 1 & 2

• 3-8

• 6-9

• 1-5