AP® U.S. History Crash Course Book + Online

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PART I:

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1

FIVE KEYS FOR SUCCESS ON THE AP U.S. HISTORY EXAM

Your AP U.S. History (APUSH) textbook is very thick and contains thousands of names, dates, places, people, and events. Trying to review all of the information in your book from pre-Columbian Indian civilizations until modern times is a daunting task. Where would you begin? What would you emphasize? What information can you safely omit? Must you study everything?

Fortunately, preparing for the APUSH exam does not have to be a nightmare. By studying efficiently and strategically with this book, you can score a 4 or a 5 on the exam. Use the following five keys for success:

1. Understanding the APUSH Scale

The College Board evaluates student performance on all AP exams and assigns a score based on the following five-point scale:

5—extremely well qualified

4—well qualified

3—qualified

2—possibly qualified

1—no recommendation

An AP grade of 3 or higher indicates a student has mastery of course content that would be equivalent to a college-level introductory course. A number of colleges in recent years, however, do not give credit for an AP exam score below 4 or 5. Check with the college you’re interested in attending to see what score it requires to receive credit for your AP exam.

2. Understanding the APUSH Concept Outline

APUSH test writers use a detailed concept outline that tells them what they can and cannot ask. This topical outline is freely available. You can access it on the AP U.S. History page of the College Board website. It describes the nine periods of American history that are covered effective with the 2015 exam. As you see in the chart below, some of the periods overlap because historians disagree about how to fix their boundaries.

Each of the chapters that follow is organized according to this outline and begins with the key concepts of the chronological period.

3. Understanding the Format of the Exam

The revised AP U.S. History exam features four types of questions:

(1) multiple choice

(2) short answer

(3) document-based

(4) long essay

The multiple-choice section consists of 55 questions. You will have 55 minutes to answer them. This section is worth 40 percent of your grade. Each question requires analysis of a stimulus, such as an image (painting, cartoon, photograph, etc.), a primary or secondary source, a graph, or a map. You will need an understanding of U.S. history to respond correctly to the question, which will have one correct response and three distractors. The exam has been designed to emphasize your ability to use historical thinking skills rather than merely recalling memorized facts.

Short-answer questions are new to the AP U.S. History exam, beginning with the 2015 exam. You will have 50 minutes to answer four questions. There is no need to include a thesis in your response, but you need to use proper grammatical English and complete sentences. An outline or a bulleted list as your response is not acceptable.

The next type of question is the document-based question (DBQ). You will have 55 minutes to answer it. Using the documents provided (which can include graphs, pictures, cartoons, and written materials), you will be asked to analyze and synthesize historical evidence found in the documents. There will be between five and seven documents, and you will need to refer to all, or all but one, of the documents in your response.

For the long essay question, the final question type, you will choose one of two comparable prompts to which to respond. You will have 35 minutes to write your response, which should include a strong thesis statement supported by relevant historical evidence.

4. Using Your Crash Course to Build a Winning Strategy

This Crash Course book is based on a careful analysis of the APUSH Course Description topical outline. Chapter 2 contains 42 key terms that you absolutely, positively have to know. Chapters 3–11 provide you with a detailed chronological review of key points derived from the Course Description’s topical outline. Chapters 12–22 give you detailed information about key events, themes, and facts. And finally, Chapters 23–26 share test-taking strategies for each section of the APUSH exam.

If you have the time, review the entire book. This is desirable but not mandatory. You can study the chapters in any order. Each chapter provides you with a digest of key information that will be helpful for you to know for the various types of questions. Unlike most review books, the Crash Course summaries are not meant to be exhaustive. Instead, they are meant to focus your attention on the most essential material you need to study.

5. Using Additional Materials to Supplement Your Crash Course

Your Crash Course contains everything you need to know to score a 4 or a 5. You should supplement it, however, with materials provided by the College Board. The College Board’s AP Central website contains a wealth of materials, including a free practice exam. In addition, REA’s AP U.S. History All Access Book + Web + Mobile study system further enhances your exam preparation by offering a comprehensive review book plus a suite of online assessments (end-of-chapter quizzes, mini-tests, two full-length practice tests, and e-flashcards), all of which are designed to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses and help focus your study for the exam.

Chapter 2

KEY TERMS

I. PERIOD 1: 1491–1607

1. COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE

The Columbian Exchange refers to the exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between Europe and the New World following the discovery of America in 1492.

New World crops such as corn, tomatoes, and potatoes had a dramatic effect on the European diet. At the same time, Old World domesticated animals such as horses, cows, and pigs, had a dramatic effect on life in the New World.

European diseases, such as smallpox, decimated the population of the New World, while venereal diseases were carried back to Europe from the Americas.

II. PERIOD 2: 1607–1754

2. MERCANTILISM

Mercantilism, the economic philosophy guiding Great Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, viewed colonies as existing only to benefit the mother country. Like other mercantile powers, Great Britain sought to increase its wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by establishing a favorable balance of trade with its colonies.

3. HALF-WAY COVENANT

The Puritans established the Half-Way Covenant to ease requirements for church membership and retain control. The Half-Way Covenant allowed the baptism of the children of baptized, but unconverted, Puritans.

4. ENLIGHTENMENT

The Enlightenment was an eighteenth-century philosophy stressing that reason could be used to improve the human condition and that the natural world provided models for human institutions.

Enlightenment thinkers such as Thomas Jefferson stressed the idea of natural rights. This idea can clearly be seen in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

5. THE FIRST GREAT AWAKENING

This term refers to a wave of religious revivals that spread across the American colonies during the 1730s and 1740s as the power of the Puritans waned.

III. PERIOD 3: 1754–1800

6. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

The 1787 Constitutional Convention sought to correct weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation by creating a strong central government that shared powers with the states.

7. SEPARATION OF POWERS

This term refers to the division of power among the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. Alexander Hamilton defended the principle of separation of powers when he wrote,

There is no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers. . . .

8. CHECKS AND BALANCES

This refers to a system in which each branch of government can check the power of the other branches. For example, the president can veto a bill passed by Congress, but Congress can override the president’s veto.

9. HAMILTON’S FINANCIAL PLANS

Hamilton sought to create a sound financial footing for the new republic by assuming state debts, creating a national bank, and imposing tariffs to protect home industries.

IV. PERIOD 4: 1800–1848

10. JUDICIAL REVIEW

The Supreme Court can strike down an act of Congress by declaring it unconstitutional. This principle was established in the case of Marbury v. Madison.

11. AMERICAN SYSTEM

Chiefly proposed by Henry Clay, the American System was a set of proposals designed to unify the nation and strengthen its economy by means of protective tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements such as canals and new roads.

12. REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD/CULT OF DOMESTICITY

This idea refers to the idealization of women in their roles as wives and mothers.

The concept of republican motherhood suggested that women would be responsible for raising their children to be virtuous citizens of the new American republic.

13. TRANSCENDENTALISM

Transcendentalism was a philosophical and literary movement of the 1800s that emphasized living a simple life and celebrating the truth found in nature and in personal emotion and imagination. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were the foremost transcendentalist writers.

14. UTOPIAN COMMUNITIES

A number of small, self-sufficient communities developed in the nineteenth century in an attempt to achieve perfection. Perfectionism was the belief that humans can use conscious acts of will to create communities based on cooperation and mutual respect.

Utopian communities such as Brook Farm, New Harmony, and Oneida reflected the blossoming of perfectionist aspirations.

15. THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING

This refers to a wave of religious enthusiasm that spread across America between 1800 and 1830. Middle-class women played an especially important role in the Second Great Awakening by making Americans aware of the moral issues posed by slavery. The Second Great Awakening also led to reformist zeal for causes such as prison reform and anti-liquor laws.

16. JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY

This term refers to a set of political beliefs associated with Andrew Jackson and his followers. Jacksonian democracy included respect for the abilities and aspirations of the common man, expansion of white male suffrage, appointment of political supporters to government positions, and opposition to privileged Eastern elites.

17. NULLIFICATION

Nullification is a legal theory that a state in the United States has the right to nullify (invalidate) any federal law that the state deems unconstitutional. The concept was first introduced by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in 1798.

John C. Calhoun was also a proponent of the doctrine of nullification. Inspired by his leadership, a convention in South Carolina declared the tariffs of both 1828 and 1832 unenforceable in that state.

V. PERIOD 5: 1844–1877

18. MANIFEST DESTINY

This refers to the nineteenth-century belief that the United States had an obligation to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean.

19. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY

Popular sovereignty is the principle that the settlers of a given territory have the sole right to decide whether slavery will be permitted there.

Popular sovereignty led to a divisive debate over the expansion of slavery into the territories. The first great test of popular sovereignty occurred in Kansas following passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

20. RECONSTRUCTION

Implemented by Congress, Reconstruction focused on reorganizing the governments of the Southern states after the Civil War and allowing them to reenter the Union.

VI. PERIOD 6: 1865–1898

21. SOCIAL GOSPEL

The Social Gospel refers to a nineteenth-century reform movement based on the belief that Christians have a responsibility to confront social problems such as poverty actively. Led by Christian ministers, advocates of the Social Gospel argued that real social change would result from dedication to both religious practice and social reform.

22. GOSPEL OF WEALTH

This was the belief that the wealthy were the guardians of society and, as such, had a duty to serve and lead society in humane ways. Andrew Carnegie was the foremost advocate of the Gospel of Wealth.

23. SOCIAL DARWINISM

This refers to the belief that in society, as in nature, a natural evolutionary process occurs, with the fittest surviving. Wealthy business and industrial leaders such as John D. Rockefeller used Social Darwinism to justify their success. He wrote:

The growth of a large business corporation is merely survival of the fittest . . . the American Beauty rose can be produced in the splendor and fragrance which brings cheer to its beholder only by sacrificing the early buds which grow up around it. This is not an evil tendency in business. It is merely the working out of a law of nature and a law of God.

24. FRONTIER THESIS

This term refers to the argument by historian Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make American society more democratic and shaped American values. Turner especially emphasized the importance of cheap, unsettled land and the inspirational power of the frontier to spur democracy. Here is an illustrative quote:

From the beginning of the settlement of America, the frontier regions have exercised a steady influence toward democracy . . . American democracy is fundamentally the outcome of the experience of the American people in dealing with the West . . . .

25. NEW IMMIGRANTS

This term refers to the massive wave of immigrants who came to the United States between 1880 and 1924.

The Old Immigrants came primarily from England, Germany, and Scandinavia. The New Immigrants came primarily from small farms and villages in Southern and Eastern Europe.

26. NATIVISM

Nativists favored the interests of native-born people over the interests of immigrants.

The Know-Nothings of the 1840s were the first nativist political party, but nativism grew stronger with the arrival of large new immigrant groups. Nativists usually directed their greatest hostility toward Irish and German Catholic immigrants.

27. VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION

Vertical integration occurs when a company controls both the production and distribution of its product. For example, Andrew Carnegie used vertical integration to gain control over the U.S. steel industry.

Horizontal integration occurs when one company gains control over other companies that produce the same product. For example, John D. Rockefeller used horizontal integration in the oil industry.

VII. PERIOD 7: 1890–1945

28. POPULISM

This term refers to the mainly agrarian movement developed in the 1890s that supported the unlimited coinage of silver, government ownership of the railroads, and other policies that favored farmers and the working class.

29. PROGRESSIVISM

Progressivism sought to use government to help create a more just society. They fought against impure foods, child labor, corruption, and trusts. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were prominent Progressive presidents.

30. MUCKRAKERS

These were early twentieth-century journalists who exposed illegal business practices, social injustices, and corrupt urban political bosses. Leading muckrakers included Upton Sinclair, Jacob Riis, and Ida Tarbell.

31. ROARING TWENTIES

This refers to the period of social unrest and tension that occurred in the 1920s with immigration restrictions, the rise of fundamentalism, and changing sexual values.

32. PROHIBITION

From 1919 to 1933, it was illegal to buy, sell, or transport alcohol throughout the United States. It led to a rise in organized crime and defiance of the law until the constitutional amendment establishing prohibition