APUSH Course Overview
AP United States History focuses on developing students’ abilities to think conceptually about U.S. history from approximately 1491 to the present and apply historical thinking skills as they learn about the past. Seven themes of equal importance (see "Thematic Learning Objectives" provide areas of historical inquiry for investigation throughout the course. These require students to reason historically about continuity and change over time and make comparisons among various historical developments in different times and places.
Thematic Learning Obectives
The content learning objectives for the AP U.S. History course and exam are organized under seven themes, which are topics of historical inquiry to explore throughout the AP U.S. History course.
- American and National Identity
- Work, Exchange, and Technology
- Migration and Settlement
- Politics and Power
- America in the World
- Geography and Environment
- Culture and Society
The Course Outline
The course outline is structured around the investigation of course themes and key concepts in nine chronological periods. These periods, from pre-Columbian contacts in North America (represented symbolically by the date 1491) to the present, provide a temporal framework for the course. The instructional importance and assessment weighting for each period varies:
Period/ Date Range Instructional % of AP Exam
Unit Time
_______________________________________________________________________
1 1491-1607 5% 5%
_______________________________________________________________________
2 1607-1754 10% Units 2-5 = 45%
3 1754-1800 12%
4 1800-1848 10%
5 1844-1877 13%
_______________________________________________________________________
6 1865-1898 13% Units 6-8 = 45%
7 1890-1945 17%
8 1945-1980 15%
_______________________________________________________________________
9 1980-present 5% 5%
Period/ Date Range Instructional % of AP Exam
Unit Time
_______________________________________________________________________
1 1491-1607 5% 5%
_______________________________________________________________________
2 1607-1754 10% Units 2-5 = 45%
3 1754-1800 12%
4 1800-1848 10%
5 1844-1877 13%
_______________________________________________________________________
6 1865-1898 13% Units 6-8 = 45%
7 1890-1945 17%
8 1945-1980 15%
_______________________________________________________________________
9 1980-present 5% 5%