6 Early Contact with the New World (1491–1607) Colonization of North America (1607–1754)
7 Conflict and American Independence (1754–1800)
8 Beginnings of Modern American Democracy (1800–1848)
9 Toward the Civil War and Reconstruction (1844–1877)
10 The Industrial Revolution (1865–1898)
11 The Early Twentieth Century (1890–1945)
12 The Postwar Period and Cold War (1945–1980)
13 Entering Into the Twenty-First Century (1980–Present)
The history review is meant to serve as a supplement to the textbook you use in class. It is not a substitute for your textbook. However, it does cover all major subjects and terms that are likely to appear on the AP U.S. History Exam. If you are familiar with everything in this review, you should do very well on the AP Exam.
In the following content review chapters, you will find a summary of those events and actions that the writers of the AP Exam consider important. Because historical events often exemplify ESP trends (economic, social, and political trends), and because that’s what makes those events important to historians (and to test writers), this review focuses on those connections. We have tried to make this section as interesting and as brief as possible while remaining thorough.
You may need to come back to these chapters more than once. Your goal is to obtain mastery of the content you are missing, and a single read of a chapter may not be sufficient. At the end of each chapter, you will have an opportunity to reflect on whether you truly have mastered the content of that chapter.
Additionally, we’ve provided review questions at the end of each chapter to quiz your retention of what you’ve read. Please note that these multiple-choice questions differ from the ones you’ll see on the AP U.S. History Exam in that they refer to the content covered in the chapter and NOT to a specific source document. For source-based multiple-choice questions, see our Practice Tests as well as the drills in Chapter 5.