APUSH Resources

Step-by-Step Approach:

1. Read the Prompt Carefully: Identify the time period, historical thinking skill, and what you need to argue.
2. Analyze Documents (15 min): Read all 7 documents, identify their point of view, purpose, and historical context.
3. Group Documents: Organize documents into 2-3 categories that support your argument.
4. Write a Strong Thesis: Make a clear, defensible claim that addresses all parts of the prompt.
5. Use Evidence Effectively: Cite at least 6 documents and explain how they support your argument.
6. Include Outside Evidence: Add at least one piece of historical evidence not found in the documents.
7. Show Complexity: Acknowledge multiple perspectives or causes/effects to earn the complexity point.

Time Management: 15 min reading, 45 min writing. Aim for 4-5 body paragraphs.

LEQ Requirements:

1. Thesis (1 point): Make a historically defensible claim that responds to all parts of the prompt.
2. Contextualization (1 point): Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
3. Evidence (2 points): Provide specific examples relevant to the prompt. Need 2+ examples for full credit.
4. Analysis & Reasoning (2 points): Explain how your evidence supports your argument and show historical thinking.

Tips: Choose the prompt you know best. Use specific historical examples with dates. Connect your evidence to your thesis throughout. Show cause/effect, comparison, or continuity/change over time.

SAQ Format:

• Part A, B, C: Each part is worth 1 point. Be specific and concise.
• Time: Spend about 12 minutes per SAQ (3 SAQs total = 40 minutes).
• Structure: Answer directly, provide specific evidence, and explain when asked.
• Common Mistakes: Being too vague, not answering the question asked, or writing too much.

Strategy: Read all parts first, answer in order, be specific with names/dates/events, and don't overthink it!

Antebellum:

The period before the Civil War (1815-1861).

Articles of Confederation:

The first constitution of the United States (1781-1789), creating a weak central government.

Bicameral:

A legislature with two houses (e.g., Congress has House and Senate).

Columbian Exchange:

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and ideas between the Old and New Worlds.

Containment:

Cold War policy of preventing the spread of communism.

DBQ (Document-Based Question):

Essay question requiring analysis of historical documents.

Emancipation:

The freeing of enslaved people.

Federalism:

Division of power between national and state governments.

Franchise:

The right to vote.

Free Soil:

Opposition to the expansion of slavery into new territories.

Gilded Age:

Period (1870s-1900) of economic growth but social problems.

Great Awakening:

Religious revivals in the 1730s-1740s and 1800s-1830s.

Imperialism:

Policy of extending a nation's power through territorial acquisition.

Isolationism:

Policy of avoiding involvement in foreign affairs.

Manifest Destiny:

19th-century belief in U.S. expansion across North America.

Nullification:

State's right to invalidate federal laws it deems unconstitutional.

Popular Sovereignty:

Policy allowing territories to decide on slavery themselves.

Reconstruction:

Period (1865-1877) of rebuilding the South after the Civil War.

Republicanism:

Political ideology emphasizing civic virtue and representative government.

Sectionalism:

Loyalty to one's region over the nation as a whole.

Thesis:

A clear, defensible claim that responds to the prompt.

Total War:

Warfare targeting both military and civilian resources.

Unilateral:

Action taken by one nation without consulting others.

Veto:

Executive power to reject legislation.

Writ of Habeas Corpus:

Legal protection against unlawful imprisonment.