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AP US History Study Guide

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Begin your journey through US history by exploring primary sources, essays, and videos, organized by time period. Take practice multiple-choice questions and learn strategies that will help you improve your score.

Image: World War II recruiting poster created by the US Office of War Information: Americans Will Always Fight for Liberty , Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1943 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC09520.37)

Resources by Period:

Practice multiple-choice questions.

• Test-Taking Skills and Strategies

Period 1: 1491–1607

Period 2: 1607–1754, period 3: 1754–1800, period 4: 1800–1848.

• Period 5: 1844–1877

Period 6: 1865–1898

Period 7: 1890–1945, period 8: 1945–1980, period 9: 1980–present.

Test Details

The AP US History exam covers United States history from 1491 to the present, divided into nine time periods. The exam is scored on a scale from 1 to 5, with a score of 3 or higher often earning college credit (depending on the particular university). Sections of the test include

• 55 Source-Based Multiple-Choice Questions (55 minutes)
• 3 Short-Answer Questions (40 minutes)
• 1 Document-Based Essay Question (60 minutes including a 15-minute reading period)
• 1 Long Essay Question (40 minutes)

Explore Test-Taking Strategies

Prepare for the official AP US History exam with dozens of multiple-choice questions developed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute.

Browse Resources by US History Periods

On a North American continent controlled by American Indians, contact among the peoples of Europe, the Americas, and West Africa created a new world.

• 4–6% Exam Weighting

Europeans and American Indians maneuvered and fought for dominance, control, and security in North America, and distinctive colonial and native societies emerged.

• 6–8% Exam Weighting

British imperial attempts to reassert control over its colonies and the colonial reaction to these attempts produced a new American republic, along with struggles over the new nation’s social, political, and economic identity.

• 10–17% Exam Weighting

The new republic struggled to define and extend democratic ideals in the face of rapid economic, territorial, and demographic changes.

Period 5: 1848–1877

As the nation expanded and its population grew, regional tensions, especially over slavery, led to a civil war—the course and aftermath of which transformed American society.

The transformation of the United States from an agricultural to an increasingly industrialized and urbanized society brought about significant economic, political, diplomatic, social, environmental, and cultural changes.

An increasingly pluralistic United States faced profound domestic and global challenges, debated the proper degree of government activism, and sought to define its international role.

After World War II, the United States grappled with prosperity and unfamiliar international responsibilities while struggling to live up to its ideals. 

As the United States transitioned to a new century filled with challenges and possibilities, it experienced renewed ideological and cultural debates, sought to redefine its foreign policy, and adapted to economic globalization and revolutionary changes in science and technology.

Additional Gilder Lehrman Resources to Prepare for AP Exams

AP US History

Review the content featured in the nine AP test periods and practice multiple-choice quizzes and sample essay questions.

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AP U.S. History Long Essay Example

The second part of Section II of the AP exam contains three long essay questions—you must respond to one. The AP U.S. History long essay question assesses your ability to apply knowledge of history in a complex, analytical manner. In other words, you are expected to treat history and historical questions as a historian would.

This process is called historiography—the skills and strategies historians use to analyze and interpret historical evidence to reach a conclusion. Thus, when writing an effective essay, you must be able to write a strong, clearly developed thesis and supply a substantial amount of relevant evidence to support your thesis and develop a complex argument.

The College Board’s characteristics of a high-scoring long essay question response are listed below. Note that the requirements are very similar to those of the DBQ; the primary difference is that any requirements related to use of the documents are removed from the scoring requirements for the long essay question.

[ RELATED: Reading Strategies for AP US History Exam ]

Long Answer Sample Question

Evaluate the extent to which the migration of European colonists and the resulting encounters with American Indians affected social patterns in the period from 1495 to 1650.

Step 1: Analyze the Prompt

As you choose which question you will answer, begin thinking about what your thesis will entail and how your essay will demonstrate a complex understanding. The notes of a sample high-scoring writer are below.

Thesis (with complex understanding): Spanish, French, and British each used territory differently; result: distinct social patterns

This writer claims that three different countries’ approaches to settling territories resulted in different types of social development, but other types of thesis claims are possible. For instance, the thesis could make a single claim about overall social patterns (such as “Europeans’ economic goals in the New World and their attitudes of superiority over American Indians resulted in exploitative and hierarchical social structures”) or focus on only one or two European nations.

Step 2: Plan Your Response

• Context : motives for European exploration: new technology, navigation techniques, and trade routes
• Thesis   (with complex understanding ):  Spanish, French, and British each used territory differently; result: distinct social patterns
• goals: wealth and spread Catholicism
• methods: mining, large-scale agriculture, encomienda, disease/weapons, missions
• results: forced assimilation, social structure
• goal: fur trade
• method: mutually profitable trade relationships
• result: alliances
• goals: permanent settlements, Jamestown, religious freedom (New England)
• methods: occupying more land for farming, smallpox, Metacom’s War
• results: deaths of indigenous populations
• ¶ conclusion: where Europeans sought permanent settlements or forced labor, resulted in American Indian population decline, upheaval, and threats to tradition

Step 3: Action! Write Your Response & Step 4: Proofread

See the following high-scoring response, and be sure to read the rubric to help you identify what makes this response effective. Think about what features you can incorporate into your own free- response answers.

Sample High-Scoring Response

The Spanish had two major goals: to gain wealth and to spread Catholicism to the native populations. Realizing the potential to mine precious metals and profit from large-scale agriculture, the Spanish forced American Indians into labor, such as through the encomienda system. Violence and deception were often used to subdue the indigenous populations, aided by the technological superiority of European weapons and the spread of devastating diseases. Although some Spanish came as missionaries with the goal of converting American Indians to Christianity and often protested the abusive treatment of the American Indians, even missions sometimes essentially forced labor and coerced assimilation to Spanish culture. In the long term, a hierarchical social structure developed in the Spanish colonies in which the Spanish-born and their descendants (peninsulares and creoles) dominated those of mixed background (mestizos and mulattos) and especially those of pure African or American Indian heritage. Overall, millions perished between disease and mistreatment, devastatingly weakening traditional cultures but enriching the Spanish.

The French differed from the Spanish in their relationship with the indigenous populations. Using the St. Lawrence River for transportation and trade, the French profited from trading fur pelts, particularly beaver, with the American Indians, and then sending the pelts to Europe. These traders profited from the knowledge and goods of the American Indian populations who lived there, and certainly desired to develop mutually profitable relationships with them. Overall, this more cooperative relationship helped preserve American Indian cultures and led to alliances between the French and different American Indian nations. These alliances benefited the French in later wars with the British.

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Ultimate Guide to the AP U.S. History Exam

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The AP U.S. History exam is one of the most popular AP exams among self-studiers and enrolled students alike. In 2019, just under 500,000 students took the AP U.S. History exam, making it the second most popular AP exam, trailing only English Language. If you’re planning to take the AP U.S. History exam, whether you have taken the class or self-studied, read on for a breakdown of the test and CollegeVine’s advice for to best prepare for it.

When is the AP U.S. History Exam?

In 2020, the AP U.S. History exam will be administered on Friday, May 8 at 8:00 am. For a comprehensive list of all the AP exam dates and times, check out our blog 2020 AP Exam Schedule: Everything You Need to Know .

What Does the AP U.S. History Exam Cover?

The AP U.S. History exam measures your ability to analyze historical data, assess historical evidence, analyze significant issues in U.S. history, and understand historical sources, images, graphs, and maps. 

Throughout the AP U.S. History course, students explore eight themes, using them to make connections between historical occurrences in different times and places. Those themes are:

• American and national identity
• Work, exchange, and technology
• Geography and the environment
• Migration and settlement
• Politics and power
• America in the world
• American and regional culture
• Social structures

In 2015, the AP U.S. History exam was redesigned to reflect a less partisan account of history and to present information in a more factual manner, with less interpretation offered to students. Students are now expected to understand the sequence of major historical events as presented, and interpret the significance of these events themselves.

The new exam is also now more focused on analytical and reading comprehension skills, rather than purely fact-based knowledge. It’s important to remember when preparing for the exam to use material produced in 2015 and after, as older material will be outdated and no longer helpful in preparing for the exam.    

AP U.S. History Exam Course Content

The AP U.S. History course consists of nine units, covering U.S. history from 1491 through the present. Below is a look at how the units break down and what percentage of the exam they represent. 

How Long is the AP U.S. History Exam ? What is the Format?

The AP U.S. History exam is one of the longer AP exams, clocking in at three hours and 15 minutes. It is comprised of these sections:

Section 1(a): Section 1(a) takes 55 minutes, contains 55 multiple-choice questions, and accounts for 40% of your total score. 

• Questions in Section 1(a) provide one or more sources of historical text and test your ability to analyze them and the development and process described in the text. 

Source: The College Board

Section 1(b): Section 1(b) contains three short-answer questions, takes 40 minutes, and accounts for 20% of your total score. 

• The first question you’re given includes one or two secondary sources and focuses on historical developments or process from 1754 to 1980. Students are tasked with analyzing the material provided—putting it in context and making connections.
• The second question includes a primary source and also focuses on the years between 1754 and 1980. Students are similarly tasked to analyze the material provided—putting it in context and making connections.
• For the final question of this section, students are given a choice between two questions to answer, one regarding the years between 1491 and 1877, the other covering the years between 1865 and 2001. No sources are provided for either question. 

Section 2: The last section contains two free-response questions and takes one hour and 40 minutes. The final section comprises one document-based question (DBQ), which you have an hour to answer, and one long essay that you are given 40 minutes to write. This section makes up 40% of your score, with 25% coming from the document-based question and 15% from the long essay. 

• Document-Based Question: Relating to historical developments and processes between the years of 1754 and 1980, students are given seven documents providing varying perspectives on a historical moment. You’ll need to develop an argument and support it based on the provided documents and your personal knowledge of the event.

• Long Essay: Students have a choice between three questions, each covering a particular time period: 1491–1800, 1800–1898, or 1890–2001. All three questions test the same skills and reasoning process: comparison, causation, or continuity and change. 

AP U.S. History Score Distribution, Average Score, and Passing Rate

In 2019, 53.6% of students who took the AP U.S. History received a score of 3 or higher. Only 11.8% of students received the top score of 5, while 24.3% scored a 1 on the exam. For more score distributions, see the 2019 AP Student Score Report .

Keep in mind that credit and advanced standing based on AP scores varies widely from college to college. Be sure to check whether the schools on your list accept AP exam credit, and if so, what scores they require.

A full course description that can help guide your studying and understanding of test can be found in the College Board’s AP U.S. History course description .

Best Ways to Study for the AP U.S. History Exam

Step 1: assess your skills.

It’s important to start your studying off with a good understanding of your existing knowledge. Although the College Board AP U.S. History website provides a number of sample test questions, it does not provide a complete sample test. Additional sample questions are found in the College Board’s AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description . You can also find a practice test in many of the official study guides, and some even include a diagnostic test to act as your initial assessment.

Step 2: Study the Material

The AP U.S. History course covers an enormous amount of material, so you should allow plenty of time to prepare. Because you’re asked to frame historical developments in different times and places, you’ll need to learn significant events, people, developments, and processes from U.S. history and employ the thinking skills and methods historians use to study the past. These include analyzing primary and secondary sources, making historical comparisons, chronological reasoning, and argumentation.    

Go to the Source: The College Board provides a number of resources for planning your studies. These include a series of videos summarizing the course , a list of example textbooks , and an endorsed study guide . The official course description is also an invaluable tool to shape your understanding of the course content.    

Ask the Experts: For a more specific idea of where to focus your studying, consider using a formal study guide. The Princeton Review’s Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam, 2020 Edition: Proven Techniques to Help You Score a 5 is a comprehensive guide that includes summaries of every major historical event you’ll need to know, along with scoring explanations. Another solid choice is Barron’s AP United States History, 3rd Edition which is written in much the same format as the AP exam and can be purchased with optional flashcards .

Find Free Resources: There are also a number of free study resources available online. Khan Academy has a comprehensive APUSH study guide that includes videos and sample questions. Many AP teachers have also posted complete study guides, review sheets, and test questions. Be careful when accessing these though, as some will be from previous versions of the exam. Remember, anything published before 2015 is now obsolete for the AP U.S. History course and exam.   

Study on-the-go with an app: A convenient way to study is to use one of the recently developed apps for AP exams. These can be free or cost a small fee, and they provide an easy way to quiz yourself on-the-go. Make sure you read reviews before choosing one—their quality varies widely. Here’s an example of a free APUSH app created by a high school teacher .

Step 3: Practice Multiple-Choice Questions

Once you have your theory down, test it out by practicing multiple-choice questions. You can find these in most study guides or through online searches. You could also try taking the multiple-choice section of another practice exam.

Keep in mind that many of the questions on this exam test your ability to comprehend and analyze a passage of text, a table of information, or a map, rather than recall any specific historical knowledge. As such, practicing multiple-choice questions is just as important as having a solid grasp on the content of the course.

The College Board Course Description includes many practice multiple-choice questions along with explanations of their answers. As you go through these, try to keep track of which areas are still tripping you up, and go back over this theory again. Focus on understanding what each question is asking and keep a running list of any vocabulary that is still unfamiliar.

Step 4: Practice Free-Response Questions

The AP U.S. History exam is different from other AP exams in that it consists of five free-response questions of varying length and content. To be successful in these sections, you should know what to expect from each question.

Short Answer: The first three free-response questions are considered “short answer” and you will be allowed 40 minutes to complete them all. These questions tend to have multiple parts, with each requiring a very specific and limited response. You will probably be asked to interpret a graph or figure, compare and contrast the effects of different cultural approaches from specific time periods, or list distinct precipitating factors of significant historical events. You should be able to answer each part of these questions in a short, succinct paragraph. Khan Academy has great videos on sample APUSH short answers .

Document-Based Question: The second free-response section is a document-based question, and you will have one hour to complete it. This one question alone is worth 25% of your total exam score. To master it, you will need to carefully read the question, practice active reading skills while reviewing the documents, and make a strong outline before you begin to write. The exam will provide you with a rough outline of key considerations in the scoring of your work. This includes the definition of a strong thesis and specific elements to include in your essay, such as six of the seven sources, context for at least four of them, and one piece of outside evidence . Be sure to completely review these requirements and check them off as you are outlining and writing your response. Many points are lost by students who simply forget to include one of the scoring criteria. The YouTube channel Heimler’s History has an awesome video on how to write the APUSH DQB .

Long Essay: The last free-response section is a long-essay response, and you will have 40 minutes to complete it. It is worth 15% of your total exam score. This section gives you the choice of three separate prompts—remember that you only need to answer one of them. As in the document-based question above, you will be provided with a rough outline of key considerations for the scoring of your work. These include a strong thesis, application of your historical thinking skills, ability to support your argument with specific examples, and the synthesis of your response into a greater historical context.

For more details about how the document-based section and long-essay section are scored, review the College Board’s scoring rubric . To see authentic examples of past student responses and scoring explanations for each, visit the College Board’s Student Samples, Scoring Guidelines, and Commentary . Khan Academic has videos with APUSH long essay examples .

Step 5: Take Another Practice Test

As you did at the very beginning of your studying, take a practice test to evaluate your progress. You should see a steady progression of knowledge, and it’s likely that you will see patterns identifying which areas have improved the most and which areas still need improvement.

If you have time, repeat each of the steps above to incrementally increase your score.

Step 6: Exam Day Specifics

If you’re taking the AP course associated with this exam, your teacher will walk you through how to register. If you’re self-studying, check out our blog post How to Self-Register for AP Exams .

For information about what to bring to the exam, see our post What Should I Bring to My AP Exam (And What Should I Definitely Leave at Home)?

CollegeVine can’t predict how well you’ll perform on the AP U.S. History exam, but we can help you assess your odds of getting accepted into your dream school. Our free, data-driven chancing engine takes into account numerous factors such as GPA, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities to show you how you stack up against other applicants and how to improve your chances. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account to start using our chancing engine today!

For more information about AP exams, be sure to check out these other CollegeVine posts: 

• 2020 AP Exam Schedule
• How Long is Each AP Exam?

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Free AP US History Resources

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Published February 15, 2024

Everything You Need to get a 5 on AP US History

Natasha Potter

MSU Alumni, Creative Advertising Major, Marketing Associate at Knowt 😃

This guide will go over a few of our tricks and AP US History exam tips to get a 5 and I’ll break them down in this article! With the right strategies and resources and AP US History test tips  it’s definitely possible for you to know how to ace the AP US History exam . 

{contents and quick links to our study guides and flashcards}

If you’re cramming last minute for APUSH, don’t stress we’ve all been there! If you’re wondering how to pass AP US History on a time crunch, here are some of our student made AP US History exam tips and resources for a last minute cram.

This ULTIMATE AP US History Study Guide - pretty much everything you need to know for the exam, written by a former APUSH student!

AP US History Flashcards

Our Favorite Youtube Channel for all things APHUG - Heimler’s ! 

If you aren’t sure how to study for the AP US History exam , know the exam is a memorization game and requires you to have a good understanding of the presidents, wars and dates. If you’re not sure where to start, you can start by memorizing these events and dates that show up the most often on the exam. Focus on the key events, the AP US History exam tips you’ve learned, and don’t get caught up on the finer details.

Check out our APUSH study guide that goes into all the key info for each of these dates and events!

Presidents : Make sure you really know your presidents from George Washington to Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln to Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt to our current president. For the presidents, you should know the approximate dates that they were in office and be able to order them, as well as their main accomplishments while in office. 

Wars : There’s a bunch of wars and battles covered in the curriculum but the one that show up the most are The Seven Years War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Civil War, Spanish-American War , World War I &II, and Cold War (including proxy wars). For each of the wars, know how it started, events leading up, inflection points, how it ended and what came after.

Events : When you’re studying the main events, start with these cause they’re the most commonly tested on the exam : Jamestown (1607), Declaration of Independence (1776), Constitution (1787), Louisiana Purchase (1803), Era of Good Feelings (1816-1824), Monroe Doctrine (1823), Indian Removal Act/Trail of Tears (1830), Seneca Falls Convention (1848), Fugitive Slave Law (1850), Homestead Act (1862), Reconstruction Ends (1877), Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896), Stock Market Crashes (1929), Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), Civil Rights Act (1964), Watergate (1972), Roe vs. Wade (1973), and 9/11 (2001). 

There are 9 units covered on the APUSH exam with the most emphasis placed on Units 3-8 on the exam. Each of these units represents a period and weighted as follows

Section I, Part A: Multiple Choice

The multiple choice section comprises 55 questions that you will have 55 minutes to complete and makes up 40% of the total score. The typical show up in sets of 3 to 4 questions that require you to analyze historical texts, interpretations, and evidence. These questions will also include primary and secondary sources, images, graphs, and maps.

The short answer section consists of four questions (of which you only need to do three) and has a time limit of 40 minutes, making up 20% of the total score. The first two questions are required and you can choose to answer either question three or question four. The first two required questions will cover 1754 to 1980, question three will cover 1491 to 1877 and question four will cover 1865-2001.

In this section, you will find the DBQ and the Long Essay which make up 40% of the total score, with 1 hour 40 minutes allocated to it. The Document-Based Question requires you to analyze 7 documents from 1754 to 1980, develop an argument based on historical evidence, and accounts for 25% of the exam score. In the Long Essay section, students have 40 minutes to choose from 3 options covering different time periods (1491-1800, 1800-1898, or 1890-2001), and develop an argument supported by historical evidence, accounting for 15% of the exam score.

Scores will typically come out in July every year, but you can also refer to the official CollegeBoard Annual calendar to monitor any chances.

I wouldn’t recommend self studying APUSH because the material can be very dry and repetitive so simply reading through it won’t usually be enough to retain all of the information. Having more interactive activities in a classroom is the best way to study for the AP US History exam and make the process a lot more simple, plus your teacher will provide lots of practice material which you’ll need to get that 5.

As someone who took APUSH not too long ago, I’ll be honest - AP US History was one of the hardest AP exams I’ve taken. It’s not because the material is hard to understand, it’s just that there is so much historical content you need to memorize to do well on the exam. The good thing about it is that once you understand the way that the AP US History exam is set up and exactly how much of what to study, as well as refer back to tips for the AP US History exam you have a way better chance of passing APUSH.

In terms of pass rates, the APUSH exam has a pretty low pass rate compared to most AP exams because it’s one of the most popular exams. In 2023, approximately 48% of students who took the exam achieved a passing score of 3 or better, with only 11% of students getting a 5. The exam typically has around 400,000+ test-takers each year, making it one of the more popular exams. Plus, many students take it as one of their first AP exams and do not prepare for it enough prior, resulting in many low scores. Gaining a deep understanding of the historical content and familiarizing yourself with the exam format are key to overcoming its difficulty.

Out of the 473,000 students who took the 2023 AP US History Exam, only two have achieved a perfect score of 140/140 on their essays and questions. One of the big wins was, in the Unit 6 section focusing on the period 1865-1898, 23% of AP US History students earned full points. However, the most difficult section for test takers was Unit 2, covering the period 1607-1754, with an average score of 49% on the related questions. The performance on the APUSH DBQ, which explored the evolving definitions of US citizenship from 1865 to 1920, had the largest variation among students. Around 13% earned a near-perfect score of 6-7 out of 7 points, while 15% received 0-1 points. In terms of specific points awarded, 81% of students earned the thesis point, 54% received the contextualization point, 91% attained at least one evidence point, and 36% secured at least one analysis/reasoning point. Comparatively, AP World History and AP European History students achieved higher scores overall on both the short answer and long essay questions.

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AP® US History

The ultimate list of ap® us history tips.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Tackling the AP® US History exam is a tough undertaking, but having the best AP® US History tips can help. On the 2019 exam, only 11.8% of students scored a 5. One reason the test seems so difficult is the sheer amount of history you must become deeply familiar with and memorize. There is a ton of information to be gleaned from the AP® US History timeline and its historical eras, many skills to master, and not a whole lot of time to do it all.

We’re here to help you ace the APUSH exam. Below, we’ve provided a comprehensive list of AP® US History tips. You’ll find an assortment of AP® US History resources and tips as well as clear breakdowns of AP® US History DBQ examples, practice tests, and more. We can help you supplement your course and ace your exam!

What We Review

Overall How To Study for AP® US History: 11 Tips for 4s and 5s

1. create a daily study routine early in the school year.

We aren’t your parents, and we aren’t going to nag you about doing your homework. But you must get an early start on preparing for your APUSH exam. Within the first month of the school year, create flashcards on Quizlet for each unit covered, form study groups with friends, and consult our study modules and take practice exams from the College Board .

There is a lot of information to learn, but it is only daunting if you are trying to learn it all in one night. Get out ahead of the game and start chipping away at it. You will be able to spend more time on each idea and will learn and remember the things you are studying. When you frantically cram for an exam, you usually only remember the stuff for that day.

2. Create a yearly outline of the course

The College Board has provided a breakdown of the entire AP® US History course , and it’s a great place to begin thinking about your exam. An outline is beneficial because it breaks the class into nine different periods, ranging from 1491-present. These preset periods make it super easy for you to study chunks of history at a time.

A beneficial thing to do when outlining the course is to write a paragraph summary of each section and then explain how each time period transitioned into the next. These summaries help you establish some continuity in your thinking.

3. Use a giant whiteboard when studying

This is one of our favorite study tips, especially for APUSH, in particular. Whiteboards allow you to think about things on a big picture scale to consider history holistically. Additionally, they work great for group study environments where each student can helm a review over specific periods, concepts, or movements.

When you use a whiteboard to diagram historical ideas, those ideas become ingrained in your visual and auditory memory. A giant whiteboard essentially allows you to “map out” history into a diagram of events and periods, which makes digesting the enormous catalog of historical knowledge more manageable.

4. Study with friends

This is a pretty dangerous game because friends can sometimes be the biggest distraction from studying. But if you do it right, they can also be a huge help! Being able to talk about ideas helps you better understand them. And if there is a part of history that you are just really struggling with, chances are you have a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about it.

Using the whiteboard technique or a course outline can be very effective when studying with friends. Just be sure to pick your friends wisely and don’t waste your time together watching funny cat videos on YouTube. Try and meet weekly or bi-weekly to maintain a professional and academic schedule, too.

5. Choose a review book to supplement your studies with

Review books are typically broken into chapters with summaries and review questions at the end of each one. Another great feature of AP® review books is that they usually include test-taking strategies or techniques to succeed. They also, typically, have practice tests included to put those techniques to good use. This review book site outlines which review books to check out if you decide to go old school. If you’re looking for the best online AP® US History practice questions, check out our site .

6. Create a study game over historical periods

No matter how interesting (or boring) you may think APUSH is, studying any type of material for a long time can grow very tiresome. Sometimes, you just need to mix things up, and making a game out of it is an excellent way to do so.

A lot of people do Jeopardy-style review for history, and it can work wonders for unit reviews and more. JeopardyLabs lets you make your own jeopardy-style game. You can also create your own game, too. For example, with your study group, go through asking each other various questions, and for every question one of us gets wrong, we have to do three push-ups. Or we win a couple of Skittles for each correct answer. Whatever it takes to mix things up. It can be silly as long as it is effective.

7. Meet with your teacher to discuss difficult periods, concepts, or units

When you find yourself lost, schedule a meeting either before or after school with your teacher. For instance, if you don’t quite understand the Gold Standard Act, shoot your teacher an email outlining your difficulties, and your questions. Whatever your challenge may be, inform the teacher before the meeting.

Your teacher teaches the class for a reason, and they are probably not only super knowledgeable but also passionate. Most teachers would be thrilled to give you an extra hand or a piece of advice. They are such an untapped resource that students generally don’t take advantage of. If they offer any kind of after-school help or study hours, take the opportunity! It certainly isn’t going to hurt, and if anything else, it’s always great to be in good graces with your teacher.

8. Watch extra review videos

Crash Course, a YouTube channel, has a series of videos dedicated to helping you understand US History. They are each anywhere between 10-15 minutes long and are great ways to learn. They are quick and entertaining but also incredibly informative. They can serve as a great introduction to a topic or a good summary after you have finished reviewing it. And there are many more videos like these out there.

Besides helping you learn actual information from the course, there are also a lot of videos to help with test-taking strategies. Tom Richey has created a great AP® US History review page here .

9. Make a timeline

This goes along with making a course outline, but this is more about testing yourself than using the course description. Take critical events without looking at their dates, and try to put them in order. Some people use a whiteboard for this or just try to organize flash cards. Basically, this is just a good way of seeing how things fit together. As you make the timeline, try to pay attention to the sequence of events, or any cause and effect relationships that may be at play.

10 . Maintain a journal or log of which eras and periods you find most difficult

Specific units of APUSH are going to be more difficult than others, and those units are going to add up throughout the year. When it comes time to review for the exam, you’ll need a clear chart of which units to pay special attention to. So you should maintain a log of which units you will need to return to before the exam. For instance, if you found the Revolutionary War particularly confounding, add that to the log and detail specific moments you simply could not grasp. Acing the exam will be much easier if you know where to focus your studies.

11. Think about history as a series of cause and effect events

Human history is essentially a long series of cause and effect. An entity does something, and then the world faces the impact of that action. The British overtax the colonists, and then the colonists rebel. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, the US enters WWII, so on and so forth. Understanding this typical pattern will help you grasp American History as a whole, and it will also ground your understanding of the APUSH timeline in a clear, organized pattern.

Return to the Table of Contents

AP® US History Multiple Choice: 9 Tips

1. Thoroughly mark up the questions as you read

AP® US History multiple-choice questions are designed to stump you, so you must spend time with each question. One way to unlock these questions so to speak is to mark them up as you read. By this, we mean underline, circle, highlight, or ex out certain parts that stick out to you. You could also create a system in which underlines, circles, highlights, or exes denote a specific thing. For instance, an underline could represent dates, a circle could represent causes, and a highlight could equal effect, so on and so forth.

There are 55 source-based multiple-choice questions and 55 minutes to complete them, so you have a minute per question. This is enough time to read the question and mark them up carefully.

2. Cross out obviously wrong answers

No matter what, you should know that Theodore Roosevelt did not sign the Declaration of Independence. Immediately cross his name off the list of answer choices. This is beneficial because it brings you one step closer to the right answer, and it tells your brain that you are doing something. It is an excellent way to build confidence, which is going to help you score much higher.

The image depicts women in the workplace, constructing what looks like a WWII-era airplane. Notice how answer choice A includes the word “repression.” Does this image look like repression? Not really. Cross it out. How about B, the US as a world power? Eh, sort of but not totally. Put a circle next to it as a maybe. C? Limited access to consumer goods? No, definitely not. Cross it out. And D? Wartime mobilization of US society? Well, these are women mobilized during the war. Decide between B and D. Which answer is more true? D.

3. Use context clues to deduce an answer

If you are unsure of an answer, just try to approach it from a logical perspective. You may not know the exact date of a particular event, but when you put that event in the context of other events that you do know the dates for, it can help you narrow down your choices.

For instance, if the question asks you about the nature of the Gettysburg Address, consider the context of American history in which the Address takes place. Think about the Civil War, slavery, state’s rights, abolitionism, etc. When you think of history as a giant puzzle that you are trying to put together, you can use all the pieces you know to try and figure out what you don’t know.

4. Look for moments in the preceding questions that give you clues and answers

Sometimes history questions on the history exams can actually help answer each other. For instance, say question 5 asks you about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, then question 8 asks you about the general nature of American culture in the mid-60s. You can use the information provided in question 5 to answer 10. Since American History is so expansive and corresponding, you will often find moments of overlap like this throughout the test. Use them to your advantage.

5. Take an educated guess if you’re running out of time

Losing points for incorrect answers is a thing of the past, so you might as well take a stab at the ones you don’t know. You are counted for how many questions you get correct rather than nicked for ones you miss. However, you don’t want to just guess your way through the test. Instead, you want to take your best guess and use all of the skills and techniques you can to narrow down the possible correct answers. But if you get to the point where you just don’t know, just give it your best shot.

And to rely on an old cliche, as Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

6. Pace yourself about one minute per question

There are 55 questions on the multiple-choice section, and it’s timed at 55 minutes, we recommend you spend one minute per question. However, there will be some questions you can immediately ace, and then some that will take more time. While this will complicate the one-minute per question rule, keep it in mind as you take the exam.

Moreover, read the question and answers carefully, but don’t spend too much time getting hung up on one particular question. If you read it, don’t know it, and can’t figure it out, move on. It is much better to finish the test and answer all of the questions that you do know rather than get stuck on a question early on and not have time to answer all the latter questions. With a minute per question, use your time wisely.

7. Pay attention to the wording of each question

AP® US History multiple-choice questions are designed to trick you. To ace the exam, you must pay very close attention to the wording. Skimming over a problem can sometimes cause you to misinterpret the question. Don’t do that. Make sure that you know if the question is asking, “Which of the following IS ” or “Which of the following IS NOT… “ That is a huge difference and is going to make for two very different answers. This is such a common and easy mistake to make.

Pay mind to the “ all of the above ” and the “ none of the above ” questions. Remember that these questions involve totality. All answer choices must be incorrect or incorrect.

8. Practice using Albert

Practice makes perfect, right? But seriously, there are a ton of resources out there for you to practice your AP® test-taking skills. We offer tons and tons of AP® US History practice exams , study modules , APUSH DBQ examples , and more.

Quizlet also offers plenty of pre-made flashcards that will help you hone your APUSH vocabulary. Preparation and practice will give you a much better idea of what to look for in multiple-choice questions and can guide you in your studying.

9. Use flashcards

Either build flashcards on Quizlet or make them by hand. A crucial step in acing the APUSH exam is to get a firm grasp on vocabulary, key terms, and phrases. Carve out at least 30 minutes per day Monday through Friday, going through the flashcards and memorizing their content. One tip: speak the word and the definition as you go through them. Saying the words and definitions aloud will help you quickly remember terms, and it will train your brain’s understanding of vocabulary.

Using flashcards is a great way to study and practice consistently. This tip is especially helpful studying for the multiple-choice section because you can write the information on flashcards in a question form, or use old questions to make your flashcards. They are also really great for last-minute or speedy study sessions because you can cover a large amount of material in a short.

AP® US History DBQ and Free Response: 9 Tips

1. Directly answer the question posed by the prompt

If we could only give you one piece of advice for your essay questions, it would be just to answer it. You will probably have this said to you repeatedly, and you are probably already tired of hearing it. But the reason people say it so much is because students tend not to do it! It doesn’t matter if you have the best-written paper of all time, or include a ton of historical facts if you don’t answer the question; you aren’t going to get all the points. Before you start outlining your answer or reading through documents, make sure you know what the question is really asking you.

For example, here is a sample question from the 2019 exam:

“1. Evaluate the extent to which the Progressive movement fostered political change in the United States from 1890 to 1920.”

The question points you directly toward the 1890-1920 Progressive movement, so your essay needs to address this particular AP® US History era—not FDR, not the Era of Good Feelings, not the ‘60s. It sounds simple, but it can be easy to spill into unrelated territory when writing these essays.

2. Pay attention to the rubric

The number one priority of a DBQ or FRQ is directly answering the question. Aside from that, you need to know what the AP® test is looking for in your answer. Understanding this rubric gives you a mental checklist to work through as you write your response.

While the AP® US History FRQ rubrics vary from question to question, they do follow a similar logic. The short response essay prompts are graded on a 0-3 score range, where you are awarded points by completing each analytical mini-task the prompt asks of you. The prompts often force you to answer a), b), and c) components related to a historical excerpt or text. Here is an outline of scoring guidelines from the 2019 exam .

The DBQ is evaluated on a 0-7 scale, and it is broken down into four different sections: a) thesis/claim, b) contextualization c) evidence, and d) analysis and reasoning. The thesis section evaluates the strength of your central claim. The contextualization component ensures that you describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt. The evidence section of the rubric requires that you use the content of at least three documents to address the topic of the prompt. And finally, the analysis and reasoning section evaluates how well you demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the historical development that is the focus of the prompt.

3. Do not merely summarize but analyze the documents

One common mistake students made during the 2020 exam involved summarizing rather than analyzing the documents. One way to strengthen your analytical skills is to approach the reading like an archaeologist looking to uncover hidden details, meanings, and implications.

As you read, highlight or underline moments that stick out to you—key phrases, vocabulary terms, textual evidence, etc. At the end of the document, write a sentence or two explaining the main idea of the document and which side of the argument it supports. This will be handy for outlining your essay and forcing you to dig deeper into the text, rather than merely restate it.

4. Group and organize the documents using SPICER

One challenge of the AP® US History exam is synthesizing tons of different sources and texts into a cohesive argument. The first step toward managing your sources is to organize them into a tableau based on the topic. This is where SPICER comes in handy.

SPICER is an acronym designed to help you organize historical information. Here is the layout:

• S – Social
• P – Political
• I – Intellectual
• C – Cultural
• E – Economic
• R – Religious

Most historical documents can be categorized into one of these six categories, and jotting off a big “E” or “S” to the side of the paper as you read will help you group and organize your documents into something more manageable.

5. Use at least three documents to support your argument

Since this exam tests your ability to engage critically with historical texts, you must use those texts to pose your argument. You want to make sure you use a lot of the documents and don’t force it. We recommend using at least three, and maybe five at the most.

Use the sources in a way that naturally supports your argument. Don’t merely throw the documents in randomly just to check them off the list. If you are writing an essay about the New Deal’s successes, then use sources that highlight and strengthen your argument. Use the sources as argument boosters.

6. Don’t “data dump ”

One of the rubric’s essential parts is that you need to bring in outside information and evidence to support your answer. However, don’t overload the reader with unnecessary information that doesn’t fit the context. Just because you know the date of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination does not mean you need to throw that into an essay about the first Great Awakening. Keep things in-line and balanced.

7. Be specific when engaging with the documents

The most common problem during the 2019 exam was the lack of ability to demonstrate comprehension of the historical excerpts. Nine times out of ten, this issue stems from ambiguity, when students don’t wholly engage with the documents. Instead, students merely summarize or offer wishy-washy statements surrounding analysis.

Here’s an example from the 2019 exam of an ambiguous analysis:

“Women did not gain recognition after the Revolution, and they did not change in society.”

And here’s specific analysis:

“Crane asserted that after the Revolution, women did not receive recognition and their social status did not change, while Zagarri believed that women gained more opportunity, prestige, and a voice in politics and society.”

Notice how the latter digs explicitly into the evidence to uncover some sense of factuality surrounding the excerpt, and they demonstrate a complete understanding of the texts.

8. Find a compelling voice by employing a strong vocabulary

This can be tricky because it is all about finding a balance between too formal and not formal enough. You don’t want to write like a robot, stating only facts and not expressing any hints of personality, but you also don’t want it to be like a letter to a friend.

Of course, avoid “I” and “you” statements. The best way to shape a compelling writing voice is by displaying a strong command of the English language. Consult a US History-based verb sheet and consult blogs about finding your APUSH writing voice to help develop your vocabulary.

9. Take a stand on the topic

Writing AP® US History FRQs is, ultimately, about making an argument and supporting that argument well. When you are writing, it can be easy just to explain both sides of an argument and nothing else. All that does is show your ability to reword information and restate the prompt.

The essay section of the test wants to know how well you can synthesize lots of information into one cohesive argument. To do that, you have to take a side. Don’t be overly biased or make unreasonable claims; just use the evidence to support a specific claim rooted in facts. Got it?

Tips from the Pros: Teachers and Former Students

1. Pay attention in class!

AP® US History is a course that is usually pretty heavy on the lecture side. You won’t be able to rely on worksheets or handouts to get by in class. Instead, you will have to pay attention to what the teacher says and take great notes. Even if you don’t think you’ll ever look at your notes again, it is still worth writing things down because writing helps you remember things.

2. Participate in class discussion

The ultimate way to know that you are fully engaged in class is to be part of a class discussion. APUSH often offers tons of opportunities to get involved, state your opinion, and engage critically with court cases, political decisions, and more.

Teachers usually mix these in with lectures, and it is so important to be involved. It shows the teacher that you care, and it displays a good study ethic. When you get involved and contribute to the discussion, those ideas that you discussed will stick out in your mind. The best way to learn something is by being a part of something.

3. Develop an effective note-taking strategy

Since so much of APUSH class time typically involves lectures, you will need to develop a strong method of taking notes. While you can develop your own way of doing things, one tried and true method is the Cornell note-taking system. This method essentially has you divide the paper into three sections: notes, keywords/comments, and summary. Here’s a video that can explain further.

Cornell notes work particularly well for APUSH because they keep information organized and reflective.

4. Keep up with your assigned reading

Chances are, your teacher has a lot of reading for you to do throughout the year. After all, you have over 300 years of American history to traverse. There might not always be quizzes on the reading, but it is SO important that you do it because it will show up on the test. There is no way you can always catch up on an entire year’s worth of AP® US History reading, so it is essential to stay on top of things.

5. Form APUSH-related clubs or review groups.

Since APUSH is such a challenging course, teachers and students typically form review groups, history-related clubs, and more. Take them all up! Or start one of your own. Pick an era you find particularly interesting like the Civil War or the ‘20s and ask a teacher to sponsor a club or review group. It might not seem like the most fun to spend your free time learning about AP® US History, but I promise it is worth it. It is a great way to study and stay up to speed consistently.

6. You can never practice writing too much.

The DBQ and FRQ are pretty consistent topics of concern among APUSH students and for a good reason. They can be pretty tough and are usually obstacles between students and the grade they want. One of the hardest parts of this section is that it involves writing for a long time. Your hand will start to get tired, and you will slowly feel your brain turn to mush as you go. You have to build up a certain kind of stamina for writing long essays, and you can only do that by practicing. There is no shortage of practice questions, and classmates or teachers are usually willing to grade them for you.

7. Plan before you write

Remember that the FRQ section of the APUSH exam tests your ability to engage with history from a critical angle and demonstrate an understanding of a general historical timeline. To achieve this difficult task, create an outline or map of where you intend to take your argument.

In your outline, mark the specific moments of evidence you will use from the texts to support your argument, so when it comes time to write the essay, you will have a complete road map. Planning is essential to scoring a 5.

8. Always ask, “Why do we care?”

Students are conditioned to focus on names and dates instead of causes and results; “Why” gets them to start thinking in depth. Additionally, understanding the big picture behind this history will give purpose to your studies and help you see APUSH coursework from a wide-angle lens. History, in particular, is reliant on the big “why?”

9. Think like a test maker and not a test taker

One approach to scoring a 5 on this test is to approach the test from the creator’s perspective. Think about what the AP® question writer might have been looking to test you on when answering each question. Look for tricky phrasing, key words, or giveaway phrases that will help you score big. Understanding this is key to knowing how to answer the question.

Wrapping Things Up: The Ultimate List of AP® US History Tips

The AP® US History Exam is undoubtedly one of the most challenging AP® tests out there, and there is no way to ace it without adequate preparation. You must get a firm grasp on the AP® US History timeline, eras, DBQ’s, and more.

To begin preparing, create a regular study routine and stick to it. Use our AP® US History practice exams , create a study group, perfect your Cornell notes, and more. Participating in a solid array of study methods is the best way to ensure a high score on the exam.

If you made it to this point in the article, good job. You are already on your way to being ready for your APUSH exam. Work hard, use some of our helpful tips and ideas, and you are going to crush it.

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The Ultimate AP US History Study Guide

Advanced Placement (AP)

Studying for the AP US History course is an exercise in memorization and critical thinking. Multiple-choice questions ask you to read and analyze documents based on your historical knowledge. Essay questions require similar skills but with the added challenge of synthesizing your ideas into a coherent argument that incorporates both outside knowledge and evidence given to you.

In this comprehensive AP US History study guide, we will provide all the resources and strategies you need to prepare for the AP exam and any other test that comes your way in this course !

What's the Purpose of This AP US History Study Guide?

This guide will help you prepare for the AP US History test and other assessments you encounter throughout the school year in your AP US History class. It includes instructions for creating an effective study plan, a few helpful study tips, an overview of the content covered in the AP course, and a list of resources for practice questions.

This article is a one-stop-shop for all the information you need to master the AP US History curriculum.

Creating a Study Plan for AP US History: 5-Step Guide

You should start studying sooner rather than later for the AP US History exam because there's s o much information to remember. Ideally, you'll build on knowledge throughout the year and regularly review to avoid forgetting earlier parts of the course.

We recommend doing a holistic review after each in-class test that covers everything you've learned up to that point. You can then begin your final review for the AP test in March or April, which will give you an  entire month or two to spread out your studying.

Below are the steps we recommend following to prep for the AP US History test. The whole process should take you about 11 hours and 30 minutes .

Step 1: Take a Full-Length Practice Test

Time: 3 hours 15 minutes

The first step is to take a full, official AP US History practice test under realistic conditions. Time yourself in accordance with the actual test and write out both essays (DBQ and Long Essay) completely. Mark any multiple-choice questions you had to guess on—it's crucial to go over this information later even if you happen to guess correctly.

When you're done, score your practice test to see how well you would do on the real AP exam if you were to take it right now.

Depending on how much you're hoping to improve your AP US History test score, you might have to budget for more or less study time. If you're already scoring close to 5 (or a low 5), you might complete these steps once and find that you're satisfied with your results.

If you're scoring 2 or more points lower than you'd like, plan on going through this process several times.

Step 2: Catalog Your Mistakes and Guesses

Time: 1 hour

After you score your practice AP US History test, go through your mistakes and lucky guesses. Try to categorize the mistakes by content area so you can look for patterns and determine which parts of the course you need to study the most.

Once you've identified what you need to learn, move on to reviewing the actual content. Make a list in descending order of the topics that correspond to the highest number of missed multiple-choice questions and missed points on short-answer and free-response questions.

Step 3: Study Relevant Content Areas and Practice Multiple-Choice Questions

Time: 2 hours

Use the list you made in the previous step to guide your review of the AP US History content. Start with the areas for which you need a little refresher, and work your way up to the big issues you had on the diagnostic test .

When you're satisfied that you've fixed the gaps in knowledge that led to your errors, you should do some practice APUSH multiple-choice questions to make sure you really know your stuff (you can find them in review books or on one of the sites listed later in this article).

Step 4: Practice Planning and Writing Essays

You'll need to practice writing essays before taking the AP US History test so you feel comfortable with the time constraints and requirements. This is especially true for the Document-Based Question , which has a unique format.

After examining the problems with your essays from the original diagnostic test, practice your skills on additional free-response questions . For the sake of saving time, you don't necessarily need to write out entire essays, but you should at least make rough outlines that include all the components of a successful essay .

If you struggled a lot with time on your initial AP practice test, then we'd recommend going through another timed free-response section in full, so you can practice moving more quickly.

Step 5: Take a Second Full Practice Test

Once you've gotten more familiar with the APUSH material, take a second full AP practice test to assess your progress . If you find that you've improved to a satisfactory level, you might stop there and just do some light review until the exam.

If you're still not happy with your results, repeat this process , and make sure that you're really absorbing the material as you study.

3 Essential AP US History Study Tips

The following tips for AP US History will help you make the most of your time as you work your way through the process outlined above. The APUSH exam assesses your historical knowledge differently than other tests you might have taken in the past do. Make sure your study methods lend themselves to the format!

#1: Make Thematic Connections

The ultimate goal of AP US History is for you to be able to connect individual events to the main themes of the course and draw conclusions about historical trends based on your analysis.

As you study, don't just look at events in isolation— e xamine how they relate to other events of the time and how they might've resulted from different cultural and political attitudes . What were the outcomes of particular events, and how and why did they feed into other, larger trends?

Ask yourself to dig deeper. Doing so help you on both in-class assessments and the AP test.

#2: Read and Repeat

When you read content notes for AP US History, you might think you have a fact committed to memory but forget it when it appears on a test. The best way to combat this is to pause every couple of minutes and try to remember the facts that you just reviewed without looking back at your notes ; you'll immediately know whether you're absorbing the information or not.

If you're having trouble remembering a particular fact, try to make a distinctive connection with something else that's easier to remember.

For example, say you were trying to remember which items were taxed by the Townshend Acts. (It was glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea.) You could think of the mnemonic GuLPP iT to remember them. It also makes sense because all the taxes were repealed except for the one on tea, which you can gulp!

Maybe this sounds super weird, but we often find that the weirder the method of remembering something is, the more likely it will stick in your mind .

#3: Practice Writing Essay Questions

The free-response section is the biggest challenge on the AP US History exam because you have to plan and write two coherent essays (one DBQ and one Long Essay) in less than two hours. It's imperative that you do lots of practice before the AP test to prevent your essays from being disorganized or lacking in focus. You can consult the College Board site for links to past AP US History free-response questions .

Make sure you always have a strong thesis statement and all the points in your essay relate directly back to it. Plan out your essay before you start writing to keep yourself on track.

You should also t ry to include relevant outside knowledge but only if it pertains directly to your argument and the question itself. Don't just spew out everything you know about the topic!

AP US History Course Content: Themes and Units

AP US History covers history in what is now the United States from 1491 to the present. There are eight main themes in the course separated into nine units, or time periods. For each of these themes, we'll go over the main historical topics associated with it.

Before that, though, here's a quick overview of the AP US History units and what percentage of the AP exam they each make up:

Source: 2019-20 AP US History Course and Exam Description

Theme 1: American and National Identity

Focuses on how and why definitions of American and national identity and values have developed among the diverse and changing population of North America as well as on related topics, such as citizenship, constitutionalism, foreign policy, assimilation, and American exceptionalism.

Theme 2: Work, Exchange, and Technology

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

Theme 3: Geography and the Environment

Focuses on the role of geography and both the natural and human-made environments in the social and political developments in what would become the United States.

Theme 4: Migration and Settlement

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.

Theme 5: Politics and Power

Focuses on how different social and political groups have influenced society and government in the United States and how political beliefs and institutions have changed over time.

Theme 6: America in the World

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.

Theme 7: American and Regional Culture

Focuses on the how and why national, regional, and group cultures developed and changed as well as how culture has shaped government policy and the economy.

Theme 8: Social Structures

Focuses on how and why systems of social organization develop and change as well as the impact that these systems have on the broader society.

AP US History Content: Notes and Outlines

In this section, we'll give you notes on the AP US History course content so you can study the facts and connect them to the themes above.

The content is divided into nine units and historical periods. Under each time period, we'll list important topics with links to notes you can use. Every period also includes a link to at least one timeline of significant events. It's helpful to have these handy, so you get a better grasp of the chronology (which will be very helpful for free-response questions).

The timelines are from AP Study Notes , while the rest of the notes are from a different site called APnotes.net , which gives a more succinct overview of the content, with key dates and major events in bold. Overall, this resource is great for a quick review.

We recommend looking at the chapter outlines on AP Study Notes  to see a longer, more detailed description of historical trends and events in the United States.

Period 1: 1491-1607

• Timeline of Significant Events (1650 and earlier)
• "New World" beginnings
• Early English settlement

Period 2: 1607-1754

• Timeline of Significant Events (1650-1750)
• Settlement of the Northern colonies
• American life in the 17th century
• Colonial society leading up to the Revolution
• The fight for control of North America

Period 3: 1754-1800

• Timeline of Significant Events (1750-1775)
• The road to the American Revolution
• Timeline of Significant Events (1775-1800)
• Seceding from the British Empire
• The Confederation and the Constitution
• Starting up a new government

Period 4: 1800-1848

• Timeline of Significant Events (1800-1825)
• The Jeffersonian Republic
• Nationalism and the second war for independence
• Formation of a national economy
• Timeline of Significant Events (1825-1850)
• The rise of a mass democracy
• The ferment of reform and culture
• Controversy over slavery

Period 5: 1844-1877

• Timeline of Significant Events (1850-1875)
• Manifest destiny and its legacy
• The sectional struggle
• Leading up to the Civil War
• Civil War Part 1
• Civil War Part 2
• Reconstruction

Period 6: 1865-1898

• Timeline of Significant Events (1875-1900)
• Politics in the Gilded Age
• Industrial progress
• Development of cities
• Agricultural revolution and the West
• American imperialism

Period 7: 1890-1945

• Timeline of Significant Events (1900-1920)
• America on the world stage
• Progressivism and Theodore Roosevelt's presidency
• Wilsonian progressivism at home and abroad
• World War I
• Timeline of Significant Events (1920-1940)
• The Roaring Twenties
• Economic Boom and Bust
• The Great Depression and the New Deal
• FDR Presidency and the Road to WW2
• World War II

Period 8: 1945-1980

• Timeline of Significant Events (1940-1960)
• Start of the Cold War
• Eisenhower Era
• Timeline of Significant Events (1960-1970)
• Political and social unrest in the sixties
• Timeline of Significant Events (1970-1980)
• Stagnation in the seventies

Period 9: 1980-Present

• Timeline of Significant Events (1980-1990)
• Resurgence of Conservatism
• Clinton presidency and post-Cold War era
• Timeline of Significant Events (2000-Present)
• The start of the new century

Quick Reference Sheets

Here are some quick reference sheets you can use for further AP US History prep.

APUSH Teacher Creations

• Interactive timeline of major historical events in the US through 2015

CourseNotes

• Political parties in US History
• Important political documents in US History
• Important Supreme Court cases

Additional AP US History Resources to Test Your Knowledge

Here are some print and online resources you can use to review for the AP US History exam and smaller portions of the curriculum throughout the school year.

AP US History Review Books

Though not free, AP prep books can be excellent resources for your prep. Here are a few books we recommend getting your hands on :

• The Princeton Review's Cracking the AP US History Exam, 2022 Premium Edition
• Kaplan's AP US History Prep Plus 2020 & 2021
• REA's AP US History Crash Course for the 2020 Exam, 5th Edition

Read our full article on the best review books for APUSH for more details and advice!

Official College Board Materials

The following AP US History practice questions come directly from the College Board, so they're the most accurate representations of what you can expect on the actual test. Try to save these resources for later in your studying to get an accurate reading of your strengths and weaknesses when you're about to take the exam.

Note that older materials (pre-2019) are not aligned with the current exam format , so you will have to tweak your prep a bit to make them work.

• 2020 AP US History Course and Exam Description
• 2017 APUSH Practice Exam
• APUSH Free-Response Questions, 2015-2020 and 2021

Get more guidance on how to use official practice resources in our collection of APUSH practice tests .

Unofficial Practice Materials

Although College Board materials are the gold standard when it comes to APUSH prep, there are some good-quality unofficial resources you can make use of, too. Here are the best ones.

Quizlet Flashcards and Quizzes

These student-created sets of flashcards cover every single aspect of AP US History. You can study different sets depending on where you are in the course or which areas need the most improvement. After studying the terms, you can play games to review them and test your factual recall!

Historyteacher.net Mini Practice Quizzes

This site offers mini practice quizzes for every topic covered in the APUSH course . There are multiple-choice questions as well as "short-answer" questions (you get a drop-down menu of 12 answer choices). These won't help much with the more analytical elements of the test, but if you want to test your knowledge of facts, they'll serve you well.

Albert.io AP US History Practice Quizzes

Albert provides a series of quizzes on every topic in the current APUSH curriculum. As you go through them, the site gives you stats showing how you performed on questions of varying difficulty levels . This should help you figure out whether you've truly mastered the material.

Practice Quizzes for The American Pageant , 12th Edition

This helpful site contains chapter-by-chapter practice quizzes based on an old edition of The American Pageant APUSH textbook. Questions are multiple choice and true/false. This resource is more helpful for factual recall than for analysis questions.

CourseNotes AP US History Practice Quizzes

CourseNotes offers a total of six pages of multiple-choice quizzes on all the topics you need to know for the AP US History exam. Nice!

Varsity Tutors AP US History Practice Quizzes

A well-known test-prep company, Varsity Tutors has short multiple-choice practice quizzes on every APUSH topic as well.

Matching and Multiple-Choice Short Practice Quizzes

This website has sets of matching and multiple-choice questions for every period in US History.

They've got questions; YOU'VE got answers!

Wrap-Up: Making the Most of This AP US History Study Guide

AP US History covers eight major themes across nine time periods. It's hard to study this much material, which is why it's good to have a game plan!

To recap, the steps we recommend taking for your APUSH prep are:

#1: Take a full practice test #2: Catalog your mistakes #3: Study relevant content areas and practice multiple-choice questions #4: Practice planning and writing essays #5: Take a second full practice test

You can repeat these steps as necessary depending on how much you need to improve. As you review, also keep a few key tips in mind:

• Make thematic connections
• Read and repeat
• Practice writing essays frequently

Use the AP US History notes and resources provided above to get yourself up to speed. Also, make sure to start studying for the final exam at least one or two months before test day, so you're not going to be forced to cram for it!

What's Next?

Want more practice with Document-Based Questions? We've got an in-depth article on the best resources for DBQs that you can use in your studying.

Need even more APUSH study materials? Check out our complete list of free AP US History practice tests .

You can also check out our complete study guide to the New York US History Regents Exam . If you take it right after the AP US History exam, you might not need to study much at all!

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, ap us history exam prep tips.

Hey, I need some advice! I'll be taking the AP US History exam this year and I need tips to properly prepare for it. What are the best study methods, resources, and tricks you've used to get a good score? I could really use some guidance!

Preparing for the AP US History exam can be a daunting task, but with the right study strategies and resources, you can increase your chances of scoring well. Here are some tips for effective prep:

1. Understand the exam structure: The APUSH exam is divided into four sections: multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, a document-based question, and a long essay question. Familiarize yourself with each section, the question types, and the grading rubric to know what to expect on exam day.

2. Use reputable resources: CollegeBoard releases official course outlines, practice questions, and exam details. Leverage these materials to guide your studies. Additionally, consider using widely-praised review books like The Princeton Review's "Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam" or the Barron's AP U.S. History guide.

3. Analyze historical documents: Practice analyzing primary sources, as this skill is crucial for the document-based question (DBQ) and the long essay question. Work on understanding the main points, historical contexts, and differing perspectives within these sources.

4. Strengthen your historical thinking skills: Focus on the key historical thinking skills assessed by the APUSH exam – contextualization, comparison, causation, continuity and change over time, and argumentation. These skills are necessary for analyzing documents, writing essays, and answering short-answer questions effectively.

5. Create and review timelines: Develop a comprehensive timeline of key events, people, and themes in U.S. History. Regularly review this timeline to help solidify your understanding of the historical chronology and the connections between different events.

6. Leverage practice exams: Take full-length, timed practice exams to simulate the actual test environment. This helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, manage your time effectively, and become more comfortable with the exam format. Make sure to review your answers and understand why you got questions right or wrong.

7. Join study groups: Collaborate with peers in study groups to discuss difficult topics, exchange ideas, quiz each other, and support each other's learning. This can be a powerful way to retain information and stay motivated.

8. Break concepts into smaller chunks: Rather than trying to tackle the entire curriculum at once, break it down into smaller periods and themes. Focus on understanding key concepts, events, and people within each time period before moving onto the next.

9. Watch educational videos: Supplement your textbook reading and class notes with educational videos, like Crash Course, Khan Academy, or Tom Richey's YouTube channels. These videos can help explain complicated concepts in a more digestible format.

10. Stay consistent with your studies: Set aside regular study time each week to review material, practice questions, and complete practice exams. Avoid cramming in the days leading up to the test. Instead, approach your APUSH exam preparation with sustained effort, and give yourself ample time to master the content.

Remember, persistence, planning, and practice are the keys to success on the AP US History exam. Stay dedicated to your goal, and make the best use of the resources and study strategies mentioned above. Good luck!

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How to Write a DBQ Essay for APUSH

The Document Based Question (DBQ) essay is a key feature of the APUSH exam. And at 25% of your total score, it’s an important feature! Keep reading and you will get some great tips on how to write a DBQ for the APUSH exam.

What is a DBQ essay?

As I stated in a previous post on what the APUSH exam is all about , the goal of the exam is to test your historical thinking skills. Historians write arguments based on documents, and for this exam, you will, too.

For a DBQ essay, you will receive several documents of varying length. You will be asked to respond to some historical prompt that will require you to use the documents as evidence in your response. The great thing about a DBQ is that a lot of information you need to answer the question is in the documents themselves – score! However, you do need to have some background knowledge to make sense of the documents (we will practice this later in the post). The documents could be tables, charts, personal letters, or any other source that the exam creators believe would help you answer the question. Generally speaking, the documents will represent multiple perspectives on one topic.

It will be your job to synthesize those various perspectives into a coherent response.

Let’s walk through a sample DBQ topic for the APUSH exam.

Before we get too far into this, it’s important that you note that College Board, the organization that writes the APUSH exam, has made some major changes starting in 2015. I will be taking you through the 2015 sample the College Board provided for students to practice, but, as you will see in a second, it’s important that you practice as much as possible in order to read the documents quickly. Just make a note that the format may be slightly different if you review an exam prior to 2015.

Let’s say that you come across this prompt for a DBQ question:

Compare and contrast views of United States overseas expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Evaluate how understandings of national identity, at the time, shaped these views.

Before you Read

You have 7 documents to read in the suggested time of 15 minutes. How is that even possible?!

Well, no one ever said it was going to be easy. But it is possible. When you get that prompt, or any other DBQ prompt like it, what you do before you read the documents will be just as important as what you end up writing. Before you even read the content of the documents, you should:

• Recall what you know about the time period.
• Read the source information for each document.
• Recognize the possible opinions that could be compared and contrasted.

Let’s dig into each of those steps.

1. Recall what you know

This DBQ is interested in U.S. overseas expansion in the late 19th and early 20th century. What do you know about U.S. overseas expansion during that time period? Perhaps you remember something about the Spanish-American War of 1898, which falls into our time period. Perhaps you remember that the U.S. got some territory as a result of that war. Even if you can’t remember exactly what territory, this puts you in a much better position to get started.

2. Read the source information

Take these two documents below as an example.

Before I read the document, I see that Jane Addams titled her speech “Democracy or Militarism.” Based on the title alone, I can begin to make some inferences that this document is not likely to be positive about any overseas expansion that would most certainly require military force.

Before I even read this document, I can see that William Jennings Bryan is campaigning for the presidency. However, I cannot recall there ever being a President Bryan, meaning that he was unsuccessful in his campaign. Perhaps what he was saying was not popular enough to get enough votes.

These inferences help me make sense of the document later on.

3. Recognize possible opinions

Again, before I read the documents closely, I recognize that this is a compare/contrast question. Before I even read this document, I’m going to make the following table so that I can group documents later on.

This table will help me more easily write my essay.

I know that your instinct will be to see the clock and think, OH MY GOSH, I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO BE DOING ALL THIS PREP WORK, MS. BERRY!!!!

Fight that instinct, because these steps will help you write a more coherent essay.

While you read

This part is tough. You have quite a few documents to make sense of in a short amount of time. But, as you are reading as fast as you can, you should be actively annotating the document for the following:

• Words, phrases, and/or visual cues that help you place the document into a group that helps you answer the question .
• Words, phrases, and/or visual cues that help you activate background knowledge .
• Words, phrases, and/or visual cues that help you understand the document’s bias .

You will have to practice this multiple times to get good at it; there’s really no way around that. But you have a plan of attack. So work your plan to make your plan work!

As you write

When you are writing your DBQ, use the five paragraph essay to your advantage. I am sure you know lots of other things that could turn this answer into a novel, but the most important thing for this task is to make sure that you get enough of your ideas on the page so that your APUSH exam scorer knows that you know.

• First paragraph: introduction with a thesis statement
• Second paragraph: documents FOR expansion (As you write, make sure to mention who is for expansion and compare/contrast that with who is against it.)
• Third paragraph: documents AGAINST expansion (As you write, make sure to mention who is against expansion and compare/contrast that with who is for it.)
• Fourth paragraph: documents with ambiguity or complicated arguments (You should compare these documents to BOTH groups.)
• Fifth paragraph: Conclusion that reiterates your argument

You may be thinking, why do I need that fourth paragraph? That seems needlessly complicated, to look for documents that are complicated.

Well, you are trying to score well on this DBQ, right? (Remember: it’s 25% of your overall score!)

You get a point for being able to do the following:

“Develop and support a cohesive argument that recognizes and accounts for historical complexity by explicitly illustrating relationships among historical evidence such as contradiction, corroboration, and/or qualification.” AP Scoring Guide

You will want that point!

I’ve given you a lot of information; but this information will become more like second nature the more you practice! For a summary, look at the table below.

And happy studying!

In summary: Strategies for writing the DBQ Essay

Allena Berry loves history; that should be known upfront. She loves it so much that she not only taught high school history and psychology after receiving her Master’s degree at Stanford University, she is now studying how students learn history at Northwestern. That being said, she does not have a favorite historical time period (so don’t bother asking). In addition to history, she enjoys writing, practicing yoga, and scouring Craigslist for her next DIY project or midcentury modern piece of furniture.

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