AP U.S.
HISTORY
AP TIPS
EXPLORATION AND
COLONIZATION
Information in this Unit is often used in free response questions that deal
with the causes of imperialism, inter-imperialist competition, and the clash
of cultures.
• Many of the causes for imperialism have been reviewed as causes for
Manifest Destiny, American Imperialism of the late 19th Century, and in
foreign policy dealings with the Cold War.
• Desire for new markets to relieve under-consumption and
overproduction, cheaper sources of raw materials, spread of
religious/social/political ideologies, and building military strength.
• In all of these cases the desire to expand has led the Center (Mother)
nation into conflict – either military or economic. (The Seven Years
War, the American Revolution, The Mexican War, the Spanish-American
War, World War I, The Cold War – Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan).
• Whenever the Imperialist acquires new lands it causes a clash of
cultures with indigenous peoples (Spanish and Latin Americans –
Aztec and Inca, The United States and Native Americans, Europeans
and Africans/Asians, etc.)
THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION AND
CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD
Many of the problems and abuses that occurred in the years
immediately following the end of the American Revolution
can be traced to the weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation in addressing these concerns. Making this
connection is important in understanding why the Articles of
Confederation were inadequate for the new nation and why
early on some questioned the new government’s usefulness.
The Constitution is at the heart of American History. You
must be able to identify the ways in which the constitution
was designed to allow the government to meet changing
conditions and attitudes.
FORMING A NEW
NATION
A free response question that relates to the Jeffersonian Movement,
presidency, or the “Revolution of 1800” may in part ask you to relate the
meaning of these terms in relation to the alternative perspective, the
Hamiltonian Movement.
• Historians have debated the two perspectives for decades, and their
observations will help you make a thorough analysis. The contrasts
between the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian movements listed in your notes
represent one way of looking at the issue.
• Historians who see these distinctions go on to contend that the Jeffersonian
movement was one that advanced democracy in the United States. Further
it was the first example of political liberalism – reforming the political and
economic system – in the 19th Century: under Jefferson, the government
was viewed as the guardian of the people against the abuses of the upper
classes.
• Conversely, Hamilton is often seen as wanting to further the privileges and
objectives of the northern commercial/capitalist interests. Consequently,
Hamilton and Jefferson inhabit opposite ends of the political spectrum.
FORMING A NEW
NATION(CONT.)
Other historians do not see the contrast between Jefferson and Hamilton this way.
To them, there are basically no substantial differences between Hamilton and
Jefferson or between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, because both
represented the interests of the upper classes, whether northern capitalists or
southern planters.
What is more, Jefferson was a pragmatist who was not tied to any particular
philosophical approach to government but adjusted to what was expedient, as
expressed in his first inaugural address: “We are all Republicans, we are all
Federalists”. Some would argue that he was attempting to provide a smooth
transition from one political party to another. Other historians point to two
important examples that show Jefferson was not consistent with the ideals he
preached.
• The First was an abandonment of his strict interpretation of the constitution when he
purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. No clause in the Constitution gave
him the authority to do so ; he did what was “necessary and proper”, the argument of
those holding a loose interpretation.
• The second example is that despite his opposition to the Bank of the United States,
upon becoming president he did not seek to eliminate it but simply allowed its charter
to expire.
Taking into account these conflicting opinions will make for a more compelling free
response.
EXPANSION AND
REFORM
Take note that internal political factors sometimes inhibited territorial
aggrandizement – for example, the internal debate that ensued over Cuba
and the Ostend Manifesto.
Major territorial acquisitions:
• Original 13 States (1783): Treaty of Paris – All land east of the Mississippi
River
• Louisiana Purchase (1803): Purchased from France for $15 Million –
825,000 Square Miles
• Florida (1819): Adams-Onis Treaty: U.S. pays $5 Million
• Texas (1845): Initially declared itself independent from Mexico (Lone Star
Republic), annexed by the United States and became a slave state.
• Oregon (1846): Forty-ninth parallel established by the U.S. and Britain as the
boundary for Oregon.
• Mexican Cession (1848): Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexican defeat
leads to the loss of its northern territories, for which the U.S. paid $15 Million.
• Gadsden Purchase (1853): U.S. purchase of a strip of land from Mexico for
$10 Million to complete a southern transcontinental railroad.
EXPANSION AND
REFORM (CONT.)
In constructing an essay, how does one make connections between
events, movements, and effects and the intellectual origins that shaped
them? Often students will write about the philosophical or ideological
influences of a period separate from what was actually happening at
that time. A more effective and analytical approach is to use the ideas
to explain motivations and causation.
For example, in making a connection between the Second Great
Awakening, transcendentalism, romanticism, and the reform spirit of
the antebellum period.
• You may assert that these movements asked individuals to get in touch
with their own emotions rather than their sense of reason.
• Thus, while an individual in the antebellum period might present a
reasonable economic and social justification for the existence of slavery,
one responding to emotional visions of enslavement and degradation
might very well come to the conclusion that the institution of slavery was
simply barbaric.
THE CIVIL WAR AND
RECONSTRUCTION
There are usually numerous causes that explain
why an event happened. Some are more important
than others, but an understanding of the many
causes will allow you to write a fuller freeresponse or DBQ essay, in addition to scoring well
on the multiple choice section of the AP Exam.
If you are explaining why the Civil War occurred, a
response such as “To free the slaves” would be
seriously inadequate.
• To preserve the Union
• To establish the authority of the Federal Government
• To reaffirm States’ Rights
THE CIVIL WAR AND
RECONSTRUCTION
(CONT.)
A good way to organize your understanding of the causes of the war is to
consider if the war was reconcilable or irreconcilable. In other words,
could it have been prevented? The fact that it did happen does not mean
that it had to happen.
For example, some historians claim that a generation of bumbling
politicians in the 1850s could not match the compromises reached by
Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster prior to 1850.
Other historians contend that fire-eaters in the South and radical
abolitionists in the North exacerbated the relationship between more
moderate politicians, making compromise impossible.
Still others argue that a dual civilization – the South based on a culture of
slavery, the North on a culture of wage labor – could no longer be
sustained under the same government.
Lincoln may have had something like this in mind when he declared: “A
house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government
cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. It will become all one
thing or all the other”.
THE CIVIL WAR AND
RECONSTRUCTION
(CONT.)
As much as any period in U.S. History, historians hold widely divergent
views about the causes, ramifications, successes, and failures of
Reconstruction.
You should attempt to read as widely as possible on the interpretive
nature of the debate over this topic. Should the College Board offer a
free response question or a DBQ on Reconstruction, an understanding
of various historians interpretations will provide you with a broader
grasp of its significance as well as relevant interpretations around
which you can develop your own view.
• Can the Government legislate morality?
• What types of issues prevented the short-term success of the 13th, 14th,
and 15th Amendments?
• What role did Military Occupation play in both the utilization of rights by
African Americans and in intensifying post-Reconstruction sectionalism?
• In what ways did the formation of the “Solid South” affect the Southern
African American population.
THE CIVIL WAR AND
RECONSTRUCTION (CONT.)
Students sometimes ask whether they should incorporate
contemporary ideas and issues into their free response and DBQ
essays. Believing that history is a continuum in which the forces that
shape our contemporary world have their historical antecedents, you
can make connections between past and present events.
For example, Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus rights is relevant
to a discussion of the Patriot Act. Make certain, however, that you
maintain your focus on the specific question that is asked of you.
• A question on Lincoln, the Civil War, and habeas corpus should not get
lost in a political discussion on governmental powers in combatting
terrorism since 9/11.
Also, do not incorporate an issue into your discussion if you know little
or nothing about it. College Board readers can identify these.
BECOMING AN
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
A College Board essay dealing with this period will most certainly require
you to understand the causes and effects of the enormous expansion of the
U.S. economy in the Post-Civil War period.
• Business Deregulation: you must have a handle on Laissez-faire economics
and Monopoly Capitalism. Men like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie,
J.P. Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt amassed huge amounts of wealth. At
one point 4% of the nation’s population owned 80% of the wealth.
• The “Robber Barons”, as they became known, used the principle of Social
Darwinism to justify their unfair business practices, destruction of
competition, and exploitation of workers.
• The hazardous working conditions, poverty wages, and long hours that
workers were forced into on a daily basis led to the formation of labor unions
– The American Federation of Labor, Knights of Labor, United Mine Workers.
• The Government, Big Business (obviously), and the public (after the
Haymarket Square Riot) all opposed and obstructed the formation of labor
unions. Not until the National Industrial Recovery Act – then the National
Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) – were labor unions protected by the
federal government during the New Deal.
BECOMING AN
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
(CONT.)
Because the heart of the Populist Movement was centered in
predominantly rural areas and more often than not focused on agrarian
issues, it is easy to lose sight of the other forces that were drawn into the
Movement. Take note of the various components of the Populists when
discussing them in a free response essay.
• The Populists sought to forge an alliance between poor white subsistence
farmers and African American tenant farmers/sharecroppers.
• The Populists also tried to appeal to Labor Unions and radical political
parties – The American Socialist Party.
• They opened their membership to women
• Their downfall came when the movement merged with the Democrat Party –
after failing to bring together the diverse groups previously mentioned – and
adopting “free silver” as it main platform.
• The Party lost what was essentially a referendum on Populism in the
Election of 1896 when William Jennings Bryan (Cross of Gold Speech) lost
to William McKinley.
AMERICAN
IMPERIALISM
According to the renowned historian Frederick Jackson Turner, the
frontier helped shape the democratic attributes of the American
character and culture.
• In his famous 1893 essay, “The Significance of the Frontier in American
History”, Turner put forth a thesis that as Americans moved to the West,
they had consistently regenerated the societies and cultures they had
previously created in the East.
• In the process, they had cultivated a unique American system based on
democratic values and individualism.
Turner’s thesis has prompted considerable discussion between
historians who support his view and those who challenge it.
Keep this in mind should you be presented with a College Board free
response question that deals with topics such as Jacksonian
Democracy, Manifest Destiny, and the New Imperialism of the late 19th
Century.
AMERICAN
IMPERIALISM (CONT.)
Some social scientists maintain that U.S. Foreign Policy should not be shaped by
theoretical and ethical justifications, but by Realpolitik – The “Politics of Reality” –
the practical and realistic needs and concerns of the nation.
• Much of this discussion will come down to the Machiavellian concept of the “Ends
Justifying the Means or the Means Justifying the Ends”.
• Does a nation base its policy on need and self-preservation or does the nation base
its policy on morality and human rights?
They hold that U.S. economic imperatives and political/military objectives helped
shape the foreign policy adopted by the United States beginning in the late 19th
Century.
• The realization of a global empire was a realistic and necessary objective of U.S.
policymakers, they contend.
Others argue that morality should be a primary factor in adopting a foreign policy,
for the implementation of a policy based on realpolitik has its limitations and
unintended consequences.
• U.S. imperialism resulted in deteriorating relations with Latin America that had to be
repaired prior to World War II, then were sent back into disrepair during the Cold War.
A brief discussion of realpolitik as it applies to U.S. foreign policy (in any period)
may add a compelling dimension to a free response question that asks you to
address foreign affairs.
THE PROGRESSIVE
MOVEMENT
During the Progressive Era four Constitutional Amendments were adopted.
Keep them in mind for AP free response essays:
• The Sixteenth Amendment (1913): provided for an income tax. Previous
attempts to create an income tax has been deemed unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court. The tax was meant to offset lower tariffs.
• The Seventeenth Amendment (1913): replaced the method of selecting U.S.
Senators as prescribed in the Constitution – by State Legislatures – with
direct election of Senators by popular vote.
• The Eighteenth Amendment (1919): prohibited the manufacture, sale, and
transportation of intoxicating liquors within the United States. Many
reformers blamed alcohol for many of societies problems. The ban on
alcohol led to speakeasies, bootlegging, government corruption, and
organized crime – a period known as the Era of Lawlessness. (the ban was
lifted in 1933 by the 21st Amendment repealing the 18th.
• The Nineteenth Amendment (1920): granted women the right to vote in
federal elections (numerous states – particularly in the West – had already
passed legislation allowing women to vote in State elections). No state could
deny or abridge this right.
AMERICAN
INVOLVEMENT IN WORLD
WAR I
In explaining any historical effect, you should distinguish between short- and longterm causes. U.S. intervention in World War I did not suddenly occur.
For example, German violations of American neutrality had long been a source of
tension between the two nations.
• You could even enter into your essay that America’s commitment to the rights of
neutrals dated all the way back to the War of 1812, which the U.S. entered primarily
because of Britain’s policy of impressment.
However, there were important short-term causes of President Wilson’s decision to
declare war on the Central Powers:
• Germany’s decision to renew U-boat attacks on neutral shipping – resuming their
policy of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.
• The Zimmerman Note, which had a profound impact on American public opinion.
• The Russian Revolution, which overthrew the Romanov Dynasty – and satisfied
Wilson’s concerns regarding a U.S. alliance with an autocratic Russia and allowed
him to claim that the war was being fought to make the world safe for democracy.
• The communists would have been no better for Wilson, but their first order of business
was to withdraw Russia from World War I.
BOOM AND BUST
What was it about the 1920s that seems so important and unique that it deserves a separate chapter? As
with all historical questions, the answer is very much interpretive.
Some historians see the period as essentially one in which Americans became increasingly identified with
consumerism and materialism. Repudiating the reforms associated with the pre-World War I era and
embracing conservatism and even racism and reactionary politics.
• Conservative, pro-business Presidents fostered a climate conducive to business expansion. Easy
Credit, Installment Plan Purchasing, Buying on Margin in the Stock Exchange, and more caused an
economic boom that was propped up on credit and caused massive spikes in personal debt.
• Challenges to the stability of such rampant consumerism were seen as threats (Civil Rights protests,
Communist and Anarchist agitators, job competition from minorities, women, and immigrants were
all frowned upon by mainstream culture).
Other historians see the reaction by more traditional and conservative citizens as a legitimate attempt to
preserve the values they associated with being an American, which was expressed, for example: in
nativism and antimodernism.
• Urbanization, immigration, and the Great Migration were destroying traditional American (rural)
values.
What is more, many Americans were responding to what they viewed as an unhealthy expansion of
federal power as a not unexpected consequence of the development and expansion of the American
economy.
• The Mellon Tax Plan defined the Conservative approach to shrinking the government through
deregulation, tax cuts for the wealthy, and a “trickle down” approach to the economy.
To be sure, this is a sampling of interpretations, but you should be conscious of divergent perspectives,
as well as how many of the issues that shaped an earlier historical period are contemporary concerns
as well.
• For example can we find any themes associated with the 1920s (deregulation,
consumerism, reactionary politics, etc.) in the decades of the 1950s or 1980s?
BOOM AND BUST
(CONT.)
When studying this period, students are frequently overwhelmed or
confused by the vast assortment of New Deal programs, legislature, and
agencies. You will find that organizing agencies according to the particular
purpose – work relief, agricultural assistance, industrial regulation, etc. – ,
by date, or by category – Relief, Recovery, or Reform.
Important programs include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Civilian Conservation Corps
Emergency Bank Act (Bank Holiday)
Agricultural Adjustment Act
National Industrial Recovery Act
Wagner Act (reaffirmed protection of Labor Unions)
Glass-Steagall Act (FDIC)
Social Security Act
Works Progress Administration (Federal Arts Program)
Securities and Exchange Commission
Tennessee Valley Authority
AMERICAN
INVOLVEMENT IN WORLD
WAR II
In order to comprehend the conflict in ideologies that shaped the economic and
political structures of the combatants, the following definitions may be helpful:
• Fascism (Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain): An authoritarian, anti-democratic economic
and political system that subordinates the individual to the needs of the state and
national party. For example, trade unions are outlawed because they promote the
interests of laborers, not of the nation. Obedience to the nation’s leader borders on
cult-like
• Communism (The Soviet Union): A social, political, and economic system in which
private ownership of the means of production is controlled by the state. A key
objective of communism is to rid society of class-based interests and the exploitation
of the working class by Capitalist, imperialist, fascist oppressors.
• Democratic-Republicanism (The United States and Great Britain): A political system
in which certain basic rights and privileges are guaranteed to all citizens, who in turn
have the right to elect representatives to serve their interests and those of the nation
at various levels of government.
• Totalitarianism (Germany, Italy, Japan, the Soviet Union): Similar in several respects
to a fascist society, a totalitarian system requires obedience to the leader (cult of
personality) and the needs of the state. Consequently, the government controls most
aspects of society, such as education (state-sponsored brain washing) and the legal
system.
THE COLD WAR AT
HOME AND ABROAD
The post-war decades were filled with turmoil, especially the 1960s. In order to
understand this decade better, you need a working knowledge of the countercultural
movements that shaped American domestic life. The decade was characterized by the
rebelliousness of America’s youth in response to what many perceived as the socially
stifling mores and lifestyles of the 1950s:
• Many of the nation’s “Baby Boomers” sought to combat the social ills they saw as
fundamentally undemocratic: racism, poverty, inequality, and American foreign policy
(Containment, Brinksmanship, etc.) – especially in Vietnam. In the early 1960s, for
example, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was formed with the intention of
democratizing the institutions that shaped American life, such as universities and the
government.
• A new generation of feminists (led by Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem) re-engaged the
Women’s Rights Movement, which worked to raise the consciousness of women
themselves and society as a whole and pressed for profound changes (Equal Pay Act,
Equal Rights Amendment, Title IX) in both social and political life.
• Minority groups began using a variety of methods (Civil Disobedience, Militant Resistance,
etc.) to press for greater freedom and the acknowledgement of basic freedoms provided by
the Constitution. Leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Caesar Chavez, Malcolm X, Russell
Means, etc. provided leadership to the various efforts to gain social, economic, and political
freedom.
• The Hippie Movement expressed their pacifist agenda in opposition to the War in Vietnam
through music, new clothing styles, and challenges to traditional social values (Sex, Drugs,
and Rock n’ Roll – Peace and Love). The Haight-Ashbury district became the epicenter of
the Hippie Movement and Woodstock its Mecca. The transformation of the Beatles may be
the best example of the Hippie Movement’s impact on society.
THE COLD WAR AT HOME AND
ABROAD (CONT.)
Who started the Cold War? The responsibility for starting the Cold War has been an
enduring topic of discussion among historians for over half a century. Predictably, a
simple answer is not the case here. For the most part historians are seriously
divided in their analysis of the causes of the Cold War:
• One perspective claims that ideology was at the center of the conflict. That is, there
existed an ideological incompatibility between the United States, which stood for
freedom and democracy, and the Soviet Union, which was grounded in tyranny and
imperialism. Thus, the United States adopted a policy that at the very least would
contain the “Evil Empire” or, possibly, even assist in its demise.
• Another viewpoint is that the Cold War was less an expression of ideology than an
objective by which each power could enhance its national interests. As for the
Soviets, they were practicing the same policies of expansionism and distrust of the
outside world as they had under the tsars. For example, the Soviets often distrusted
Nuclear disarmament plans believing they were meant to trick them and keep them
from fulfilling their goal of nuclear parity with the United States.
• For other historians, the onus for starting the Cold War rests with both the United
States and Soviet Union. The Cold War could have been prevented had it not been
for misperceptions, misguided idealism, and unfounded suspicions.
• A fourth view places the blame for starting the Cold War on the United States. During
the Bolshevik Revolution the U.S. had supported the counterrevolutionaries. The
Soviets would always argue that imperialism was in the nature of Capitalism and
distrusted American objectives as a consequence. This perspective would argue that
an aggressive and exploitative American foreign policy was to blame for the Soviet’s
lack of trust in the Western World.
1980S TO PRESENT
Note some of the comparisons that can be drawn between different
periods in United States History. For example, historians have drawn
some parallels between the 1920s and the 1980s.
Both decades were dominated by political conservatives: (1920s)
Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover (1980s) Reagan and Bush served as
President. The economic approach in the two decades is also similar:
(1920s) The Mellon Tax Plan and (1980s) Supply-Side Economics –
Reaganomics – featured tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations
meant to stimulate capital investment.
Be careful not to over-play the comparisons between the two decades
as each is unique in its own way, but know that these similarities do
exist.