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AP United States History
9 sections available · 68 chapters available
Free AP United States History study notes for AP (Advanced Placement) students. Each chapter below covers a key topic with worked examples and practice prompts you can take into the thinka app.
Periods 1–2: 1491–1754
Native American Societies Before European Contact
European Exploration in the Americas
Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest
Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System
European Colonization and the Regions of British Colonies
Transatlantic Trade and Slavery in the British Colonies
Interactions Between American Indians and Europeans
Colonial Society and Culture
Period 3: 1754–1800
The Seven Years' War (The French and Indian War)
Taxation Without Representation
Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution
The American Revolution
The Influence of Revolutionary Ideals
The Articles of Confederation
The Constitutional Convention, Ratification, and the Constitution
Shaping a New Republic: Identity and Movement
Period 4: 1800–1848
The Rise of Political Parties and the Era of Jefferson
Politics and Regional Interests
America on the World Stage
Market Revolution: Industrialization
Market Revolution: Society and Culture
Expanding Democracy, Jackson, and Federal Power
American Culture and the Second Great Awakening
An Age of Reform, African Americans, and Southern Society
Period 5: 1844–1877
Manifest Destiny and the Mexican–American War
The Compromise of 1850
Sectional Conflict: Regional Differences
Failure of Compromise
Election of 1860 and Secession
Military Conflict in the Civil War
Government Policies During the Civil War
Reconstruction and Its Failure
Period 6: 1865–1898
Westward Expansion: Economic Development
Westward Expansion: Social and Cultural Development
The "New South"
Technological Innovation and the Rise of Industrial Capitalism
Labor in the Gilded Age
Immigration, Migration, and Responses in the Gilded Age
Development of the Middle Class and Reform in the Gilded Age
Politics and the Role of Government in the Gilded Age
Period 7: 1890–1945
Imperialism Debates and the Spanish–American War
The Progressives
World War I: Military and Diplomacy
World War I: Home Front
The 1920s: Innovation, Culture, and Political Controversies
The Great Depression and the New Deal
Interwar Foreign Policy and World War II: Mobilization
World War II: Military and Postwar Diplomacy
Period 8: 1945–1980
The Cold War from 1945 to 1980
The Red Scare
Economy and Culture after 1945
America as a World Power and the Vietnam War
Early Steps in the Civil Rights Movement (1940s and 1950s)
The African American Civil Rights Movement (1960s)
The Great Society and the Civil Rights Movement Expands
Youth Culture, the Environment, and Society in Transition
Period 9: 1980–Present
Reagan and Conservatism
The End of the Cold War
A Changing Economy
Migration and Immigration in the 1990s and 2000s
Challenges of the 21st Century
Historical Thinking Skills and Exam Tasks
Developments and Processes
Sourcing and Situation
Claims and Evidence in Sources
Contextualization
Comparison, Causation, and Continuity and Change
Argumentation and Thesis Writing
Document-Based Question and Long Essay Craft
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