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The Tian2 Study Library AP Edition · Tian2 Editorial Bureau
Volume I · MMXXVI AP United States History (APUSH)
Library› Catalogue› History & Social Science› AP United States History (APUSH)
⁂   History & Social Science · AP Exam

United States History (APUSH) Study Library.

From pre-Columbian contact to contemporary America — expert-authored unit guides, DBQ/LEQ strategy, and a complete worked FRQ vault built from official College Board sources and original Tian2 content.

9 units standard track 195 minutes
Total Time 195 minutes
MCQ 55 multiple-choice questions
FRQ 5 free-response questions
Score Scale 1–5 73.7% scored 3+ (516,738 candidates)
Exam Structure

What the exam looks like.

Section Format Weight Time
Section I Part A — Multiple Choice 55 stimulus-based MCQ · each anchored to a primary or secondary source · no penalty for wrong answers 40% 55 min
Section I Part B — Short Answer (SAQ) 3 SAQs · each scored 0–3 · Q1 & Q2 include sources; student chooses Q3 or Q4 (no source) 20% 40 min
Section II — Document-Based Question (DBQ) 1 DBQ · 7 documents · 7-point rubric (thesis, context, evidence ×2, outside evidence, sourcing/HAPP, complexity) · 15-min reading period included 25% 60 min
Section II — Long Essay Question (LEQ) Choose 1 of 3 prompts spanning 1491–1800, 1800–1898, 1890–2001 · 6-point rubric (thesis, context, evidence ×2, reasoning, complexity) 15% 40 min
Curriculum

Study by unit.

1.
Period 1: Pre-Columbian to Contact (1491–1607)
Diversity of Native American societies before European contact · European exploration motivations and early voyages · Columbian Exchange (biological, cultural, economic) · Spanish conquest and colonial labor systems (encomienda, mita) · Cultural interactions and conflicts between Europeans and Native Americans · Impact of disease on indigenous populations
standard track
4–6% of exam
0 lessons ›
2.
Period 2: Colonial America (1607–1754)
British colonial settlement patterns (Jamestown, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay) · Regional variation: New England, Middle Atlantic, and Southern colonies · Transatlantic trade and mercantilism · Origins and expansion of chattel slavery in British North America · Indentured servitude and labor system transitions · Metacom's War · Salutary neglect and colonial self-governance (House of Burgesses, town meetings) · Great Awakening and its social/political implications
standard track
6–8% of exam
0 lessons ›
3.
Period 3: Revolution and Early Republic (1754–1800)
French and Indian War and its imperial consequences · Parliamentary taxation disputes (Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Tea Act) · Revolutionary philosophy: Enlightenment (Locke), republicanism, natural rights · American Revolution: causes, conduct, and outcomes · Articles of Confederation: structure and weaknesses · Constitutional Convention and ratification debates · Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist arguments (Bill of Rights) · Hamilton vs. Jefferson policy debates · Early republic foreign policy (Neutrality Proclamation, Jay's Treaty, XYZ Affair) · Whiskey Rebellion and Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
standard track
10–17% of exam
0 lessons ›
4.
Period 4: The New Nation Expands (1800–1848)
Jeffersonian democracy and the Revolution of 1800 · Louisiana Purchase and westward expansion · War of 1812: causes, conduct, and nationalistic aftermath · Era of Good Feelings and rise of sectionalism · Market Revolution: transportation (canals, railroads), manufacturing, regional specialization · Jacksonian democracy and expansion of white male suffrage · Indian Removal Act (1830) and Trail of Tears · Second Great Awakening and antebellum reform movements · Abolitionism: Garrison and Douglass · Early women's rights movement (Seneca Falls Convention, 1848) · Missouri Compromise (1820)
standard track
10–17% of exam
0 lessons ›
5.
Period 5: Civil War Era (1844–1877)
Manifest Destiny ideology and westward expansion · Mexican-American War: causes, conduct, and territorial outcomes (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo) · Sectional crisis: Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas · Dred Scott decision and its constitutional implications · Lincoln-Douglas debates and Republican Party formation · Secession and Civil War causes · Civil War: military strategy, emancipation, home-front mobilization · Emancipation Proclamation (1863) · 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments · Reconstruction: Presidential vs. Radical · Freedmen's Bureau, Black Codes, Reconstruction Acts · Compromise of 1877
standard track
10–17% of exam
0 lessons ›
6.
Period 6: Industrialization and the Gilded Age (1865–1898)
Western expansion: Homestead Act, transcontinental railroad, Plains Wars · Native American displacement (Dawes Act, 1887) · Industrialization and rise of big business (Carnegie, Rockefeller, vertical/horizontal integration) · Gilded Age capitalism: trusts, monopolies, laissez-faire ideology · New immigration (Southern and Eastern Europe) · Urbanization and settlement houses (Jane Addams, Hull House) · Labor movement: Knights of Labor, AFL (Gompers) · Homestead Strike, Pullman Strike · Populist movement: Farmers' Alliance, People's Party, free silver debate · Jim Crow laws, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) · Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois
standard track
10–17% of exam
0 lessons ›
7.
Period 7: Progressivism through World War II (1890–1945)
Progressive Era reforms: muckrakers, trust-busting, regulatory legislation (Sherman, Clayton Acts; FDA; Federal Reserve) · Progressive amendments (16th–19th): income tax, direct Senate election, Prohibition, women's suffrage · American imperialism: Spanish-American War (1898), Panama Canal, Roosevelt Corollary · World War I: U.S. neutrality, entry, mobilization (Espionage/Sedition Acts) · Post-WWI: Red Scare, Palmer Raids, immigration restriction (Emergency Quota Act 1921) · 1920s: consumer culture, Harlem Renaissance, Prohibition · Great Depression causes (overproduction, credit collapse, Smoot-Hawley Tariff) · New Deal alphabet agencies and shift in federal role · WWII: isolationism to intervention (Lend-Lease, Pearl Harbor), home front, Japanese American internment
standard track
10–17% of exam
0 lessons ›
8.
Period 8: Cold War America (1945–1980)
Cold War origins: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, containment policy · Korean War and limited war doctrine · Second Red Scare: HUAC, McCarthyism · Postwar prosperity: GI Bill, suburbanization, baby boom · Civil Rights Movement: Brown v. Board (1954), Montgomery Bus Boycott, sit-ins, Freedom Rides, March on Washington · Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965) · Great Society: Medicare, Medicaid, War on Poverty · Vietnam War: Gulf of Tonkin, Tet Offensive, Vietnamization · Counterculture, feminist movement (NOW, Friedan), environmental movement · Nixon: détente, opening China, Watergate · 1970s stagflation and energy crisis · Black Power, American Indian Movement, Chicano movement
standard track
10–17% of exam
0 lessons ›
9.
Period 9: Contemporary America (1980–Present)
Reagan Revolution: supply-side economics, deregulation, Cold War escalation · End of the Cold War: Gorbachev, fall of Berlin Wall, Soviet dissolution · Culture wars: religious right, Moral Majority, social conservatism · Clinton era: economic boom, NAFTA, welfare reform, impeachment · 9/11 and the War on Terror: Afghanistan, Iraq War, PATRIOT Act, homeland security · Globalization: outsourcing, immigration debates, economic inequality · Obama era: Affordable Care Act, economic recovery, demographic change · Digital revolution and its social and political implications
standard track
4–6% of exam
0 lessons ›
Exam Strategy

How to score higher.

Strategy 1
Thesis: Establish a Line of Reasoning
A thesis must do more than restate the prompt — it must make a historically defensible argument that establishes a clear line of reasoning. Practice writing a two-sentence thesis: the first names your position; the second explains the historical logic (causation, continuity/change, comparison).
Strategy 2
Contextualization Is Not Background Padding
Contextualization must occur at the beginning of the essay and connect explicitly to your argument. Describe a broader historical context from a related but earlier period, then explain how it connects to your response — a sentence of connection is required for the point.
Strategy 3
HAPP Sourcing on at Least 3 DBQ Documents
For the sourcing point, apply HAPP (Historical situation, Audience, Purpose, Point of view) to explain how each factor affects the document's meaning or limits its reliability. Saying 'the author is biased because they wrote this letter' earns nothing — explain the mechanism.
Strategy 4
Complexity Through Evidence, Not Assertion
The complexity point rewards genuine intellectual moves: analyzing multiple causes and effects, qualifying your argument with contradictory evidence, explaining change over time, or drawing connections across time periods. It cannot be earned simply by writing more — it requires a distinct intellectual move.
Our worked solutions and practice questions are original instructional content created by Tian2 AP. They are aligned to the concepts and skills described in College Board’s Course and Exam Description and are not reproductions of, or affiliated with, College Board’s official materials.