AP United States History
Encyclopedia
Advanced Placement United States History
(AP US History, APUS, APUSH, USAP, or USHAP; also AP American History (APAH) or American History AP (AHAP) in some schools) is a course and examination offered by the College Board
as part of the Advanced Placement Program
. It is consistently the most widely taken among all AP exams, with over 300,000 students participating in recent years.
, which is used by 40 percent of all AP US History classes. Students may use supplemental materials, such as review books, to prepare for the examination as well as resources found online such as flashcards or textbook outlines.
Other commonly used textbooks that meet the curriculum requirements include:
The College Board does not require that students taking this course take the AP test. However, some high schools may require students to take the exam in order to receive AP credit on their transcripts.
to modern times (from 1607 until nearly the present day.) In addition to traditional-style questions, there are often a few political cartoons, maps, and charts to interpret. The questions in this part tend to flow from easier questions to harder ones rather than chronologically.
Part II of the exam is the free-response section, composed of a document-based question
(DBQ) and two thematic essay
s, commonly called free-response questions (FRQs). Part II begins with the DBQ, which provides an essay prompt and 8-10 short primary sources (documents) or excerpts related to the prompt. Students are expected to write an essay responding to the prompt in which they utilize the documents in addition to outside information. The remainder of Part II consists of four essay prompts—two are from the pre-Civil War period and two are from the post-Civil War period. Students must write two essays: one from each set. There is a mandatory fifteen-minute reading period for students to read the prompts and the documents, take notes, and brainstorm; they may not begin writing the essay until this period has ended. They then have 115 minutes to write the three essays. It is recommended that students spend 45 minutes on the DBQ and 35 minutes on each essay, since the DBQ counts for more points than either essay, but the only timing enforced is the full 115 minute period.
In May 2011, the AP U.S. History Test was taken by 406,086 students worldwide, making it the most-taken AP test.
The grade distributions for 2007-2011 were:
Note: The above composite score cut points reflect the pre-2011 grading formula which deducted .25 points for every incorrect answer. Blank answers did not incur a point deduction.
History of the United States
The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
(AP US History, APUS, APUSH, USAP, or USHAP; also AP American History (APAH) or American History AP (AHAP) in some schools) is a course and examination offered by the College Board
College Board
The College Board is a membership association in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board . It is composed of more than 5,900 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. It sells standardized tests used by academically oriented...
as part of the Advanced Placement Program
Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
. It is consistently the most widely taken among all AP exams, with over 300,000 students participating in recent years.
Course
The AP US History course is designed to provide the same level of content and instruction that students would face in a freshman-level college survey class. AP US History classes generally use a college-level textbook as the foundation for the course. The most commonly used textbook is The American PageantThe American Pageant
The American Pageant, initially written by Thomas A. Bailey, is an American high school history textbook often used for AP United States History, AICE American History as well as IB History of the Americas courses. Since Bailey's death in 1983, the book has been updated by historians David M...
, which is used by 40 percent of all AP US History classes. Students may use supplemental materials, such as review books, to prepare for the examination as well as resources found online such as flashcards or textbook outlines.
Other commonly used textbooks that meet the curriculum requirements include:
- America's History (Henretta et al.)
- American History: A SurveyAmerican history: a surveyAmerican History: A Survey is a textbook first published in 1961 that was written initially by the historians Richard N. Current, T. Harry Williams, and Frank Freidel and later by Alan Brinkley, the Allan Nevins professor of history at Columbia University...
(BrinkleyAlan BrinkleyAlan Brinkley is the Allan Nevins Professor of History at Columbia University, where he was also Provost 2003–2009. He was denied tenure at Harvard University in 1986 despite being an award-winning teacher. He lives in New York City with his wife, Evangeline, daughter Elly, and dog Jessie...
) - American Passages (AyersEdward L. AyersEdward Lynn Ayers is an American historian. He is the current president of the University of Richmond, having served in this capacity since July 1, 2007. Prior to his appointment, he had been on the faculty of the University of Virginia since 1980, most recently as the Buckner W. Clay Dean of the...
et al.) - The American People (NashGary B. NashGary Baring Nash is an American historian.Nash was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Princeton University . He served in the U.S. Navy from 1955-58 on the John W. Weeks , where he was antisubmarine officer and then gunnery officer...
et al.) - The Enduring Vision (BoyerPaul S. BoyerPaul Samuel Boyer is a U.S. cultural and intellectual historian and is Merle Curti Professor of History Emeritus and former director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Madison...
et al.) - Give Me Liberty! (FonerEric FonerEric Foner is an American historian. On the faculty of the Department of History at Columbia University since 1982, he writes extensively on political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African American biography, Reconstruction, and historiography...
) - Liberty, Equality, Power (Murrin et al.)
- Out of Many (Faragher et al.)
- A People and a Nation (NortonMary Beth NortonMary Beth Norton is an American historian. She is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History Department of History at Cornell University. Norton was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and her Master of Arts and Ph.D. ...
et al.)
The College Board does not require that students taking this course take the AP test. However, some high schools may require students to take the exam in order to receive AP credit on their transcripts.
Exam
The AP US History exam lasts 3 hours and 5 minutes and consists of two parts. Part I includes 80 multiple choice questions with each question containing five choices. Students have 55 minutes to complete this part of the exam. The questions cover American History from the colonial eraThirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
to modern times (from 1607 until nearly the present day.) In addition to traditional-style questions, there are often a few political cartoons, maps, and charts to interpret. The questions in this part tend to flow from easier questions to harder ones rather than chronologically.
Part II of the exam is the free-response section, composed of a document-based question
Document-based question
A document-based question , also known as data-based question, is an essay or series of short-answer questions that is constructed by students using one's own knowledge combined with support from several provided sources...
(DBQ) and two thematic essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s, commonly called free-response questions (FRQs). Part II begins with the DBQ, which provides an essay prompt and 8-10 short primary sources (documents) or excerpts related to the prompt. Students are expected to write an essay responding to the prompt in which they utilize the documents in addition to outside information. The remainder of Part II consists of four essay prompts—two are from the pre-Civil War period and two are from the post-Civil War period. Students must write two essays: one from each set. There is a mandatory fifteen-minute reading period for students to read the prompts and the documents, take notes, and brainstorm; they may not begin writing the essay until this period has ended. They then have 115 minutes to write the three essays. It is recommended that students spend 45 minutes on the DBQ and 35 minutes on each essay, since the DBQ counts for more points than either essay, but the only timing enforced is the full 115 minute period.
In May 2011, the AP U.S. History Test was taken by 406,086 students worldwide, making it the most-taken AP test.
Scoring
The multiple-choice section and the free-response section each account for 50% of the final score. For the former, each multiple-choice question answered correctly earns 1.125 points. As of the 2011 exam a wrong answer does not take away from the overall test score. A perfect score on the multiple-choice section is 90. For the free-response, the DBQ is worth 45% of the section's total value, while the two thematic essays are each worth 27.5% (55% combined).Grade distribution
In the 2007 administration, 311,000 students took the exam from 10,465 schools. In the 2008 administration, 346,641 students took the exam. In the 2009 administration, 360,173 students took the exam. In the 2010 administration, 387,416 students took the exam. In the 2011 administration, 406,086 students took the exam.The grade distributions for 2007-2011 were:
| Score | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 11.0% | 8.5% | 11.0% | 11.0% | 11.0% |
| 4 | 19.9% | 18.2% | 19.3% | 18.8% | 20.8% |
| 3 | 22.2% | 21.4% | 22.1% | 22.9% | 21.0% |
| 2 | 26.1% | 25.4% | 25.2% | 25.9% | 26.7% |
| 1 | 20.8% | 26.5% | 22.2% | 21.4% | 20.5% |
| Mean | 2.75 | 2.57 | 2.72 | 2.72 | 2.75 |
Composite score range
The College Board has released information on the composite score range (out of 180) required to obtain each grade:| Final Score | Range (1996) | Range (2001) | Range (2002) | Range (2006) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 117-180 | 114-180 | 115-180 | 106-180 |
| 4 | 96-116 | 92-113 | 94-114 | 85-105 |
| 3 | 79-95 | 74-91 | 76-93 | 68-84 |
| 2 | 51-78 | 42-73 | 46-75 | 47-67 |
| 1 | 0-50 | 0-41 | 0-45 | 0-46 |
Note: The above composite score cut points reflect the pre-2011 grading formula which deducted .25 points for every incorrect answer. Blank answers did not incur a point deduction.