The new curriculum framework organizes US history into nine periods and presents each period with a conceptual focus. (@AP Central)

 

Period 1

1491–1607

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

 

Period 2

1607–1754

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

 

Period 3

1754–1800

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.

 

Period 4

1800–1848

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

 

Period 5

1844–1877

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.

 

Period 6

1865–1898

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.

 

Period 7

1890–1945

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.

 

Period 8

1945–1980

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

 

Period 9

1980–present

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.

 

 

 

WHAT’S NEW ?

 

Historical Thinking Skills in APUSH: The curriculum framework begins by describing the historical thinking skills that are central to the study and practice of history. These are organized into four types of skills: chronological reasoning, comparison and contextualization, crafting historical arguments from historical evidence, and historical interpretation and synthesis. Teachers should develop these historical thinking skills with students on a regular basis over the span of the course. The historical thinking skills provide opportunities for students to learn to think like historians, most notably to analyze evidence about the past and to create persuasive historical arguments. Focusing on these practices enables teachers to create learning opportunities for students that emphasize the conceptual and interpretive nature of history rather than simply memorization of events in the past.

 

SKILL TYPE
Students demonstrate these directly when writing LE (Long Essay) or DBQ (Document Based Essay)

 

I.  Chronological Reasoning

1. Historical Causation

2. Patterns of Continuity and Change

3. Periodization

II. Comparison & Contextualization

4.  Comparison

5.  Contextualization

III. Crafting Historical Arguments

6.  Historical Argumentation

7.  Appropriate Use of Relevant Historical Interpretation.

IV.  Historical Interpretation and Synthesis

8.  Interpretation

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THEMES in APUSH (BAGPIPE)

Thematic Learning Objectives: The framework presents a set of learning objectives, organized by seven major themes that describe what students should know and be able to do by the end of the AP U.S. History course. These represent the major historical understandings that colleges and universities want AP students to have developed in order to merit placement out of the introductory college U.S. history survey course. Students should use a range of historical thinking skills to investigate the thematic learning objectives.

 

 

Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture

Belief Systems

CUL

America in the World

America in the World

WOR

Environment and Geography

Geography and Environment

ENV

Politics and Power

P

POL

Identity

I

ID

Peopling; migration

Peopling

PEO

Work, Exchange, Technology

E(Econ)= Exchange, Work,  Technology

WXT