AP United States History AP 美国历史
📌 Course at a glance
· 9 units · key topics drilled across the official outline
· Next exam: 2026-05-08 · 2026-05-08
📝 Full chapter-by-chapter lecture walkthroughs are being written. This page is the course outline — every unit and topic that will be covered, with key concepts you can already start to recognise. Use it as a study map; the chapter notes drop in over the coming weeks.
What you can already do today (free)
- 📺 Watch curated YouTube videos on every topic (links from the chapter pages as they release)
- 🎯 Take 1 free diagnostic quiz to see your starting level
- 📊 Browse the full course outline below to plan your study path
With All-Access (free 7-day trial):
- 🧠 Memory Curve spaced review with email reminders
- 📝 Unlimited MCQ / FRQ practice
- 📑 Mock exams and progress analytics
Course outline
Unit 1 · Period 1: 1491-1607 第一时期：1491-1607
Exam weight: 4-6%
1.1 — Native American Societies Before European Contact 欧洲接触前的美洲原住民社会
· Cultural diversity of Native Americans · Agriculture and settled societies · Trade networks · Social structures
1.2 — European Exploration and Early Contact 欧洲探险与早期接触
· Columbian Exchange · Spanish conquest · Missionary activities · Motives for exploration
1.3 — Columbian Exchange and Its Effects 哥伦布大交换及其影响
· Exchange of plants and animals · Spread of disease · Population changes · Ecological impact
1.4 — Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System 西班牙殖民体系中的劳动、奴隶制与等级制度
· Encomienda system · Caste system · Forced labor · Colonial economy
1.5 — Cultural Interactions Between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans 欧洲人、美洲原住民和非洲人之间的文化互动
· Cultural exchange and conflict · Spread of religion · Language fusion · Social adaptation
Unit 2 · Period 2: 1607-1754 第二时期：1607-1754
Exam weight: 6-8%
2.1 — European Colonization of the Americas 欧洲对美洲的殖民
· Establishment of English colonies · Jamestown · Plymouth · Differences in colonial motives
2.2 — The Chesapeake and New England Colonies 切萨皮克与新英格兰殖民地
· Tobacco economy · Puritan communities · Indentured servants · Colonial differences
2.3 — Transatlantic Trade and the Growth of Slavery 跨大西洋贸易与奴隶制的发展
· Triangular trade · Atlantic slave trade · Plantation economy · Slave codes
2.4 — Colonial Society and Culture 殖民地社会与文化
· Social hierarchy · Great Awakening · Enlightenment ideas · Colonial education
2.5 — Interactions Between American Indians and Europeans 美洲印第安人与欧洲人的互动
· Land disputes · Fur trade · Military alliances · Cultural conflict and adaptation
2.6 — Colonial Governance and Self-Government 殖民地治理与自治
· Virginia House of Burgesses · Mayflower Compact · Colonial assemblies · Limited self-government
Unit 3 · Period 3: 1754-1800 第三时期：1754-1800
Exam weight: 10-17%
3.1 — The French and Indian War 法国与印第安人战争
· Anglo-French rivalry · Colonial expansion · Treaty of Paris 1763 · War debts
3.2 — Taxation Without Representation 无代表权不纳税
· Stamp Act · Townshend Acts · Boston Tea Party · Colonial resistance
3.3 — Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution 美国革命的哲学基础
· Enlightenment ideas · Natural rights · Social contract theory · Influence of Locke and Rousseau
3.4 — The American Revolution 美国独立战争
· Declaration of Independence · Continental Army · Key battles · French alliance · Treaty of Paris 1783
3.5 — The Articles of Confederation 邦联条例
· Weaknesses of confederation government · Shays' Rebellion · Interstate conflicts · Need for constitutional reform
3.6 — The Constitutional Convention 制宪会议
· Virginia Plan · New Jersey Plan · Great Compromise · Three-Fifths Compromise · Federalism
3.7 — Ratification Debates 批准辩论
· Federalist Papers · Anti-Federalists · Bill of Rights · Federal vs. state power debate
3.8 — The New Republic 新共和国
· Washington's presidency · Hamilton's financial plan · Formation of political parties · Foreign policy challenges
Unit 4 · Period 4: 1800-1848 第四时期：1800-1848
Exam weight: 10-17%
4.1 — The Rise of Democratic Politics 民主政治的兴起
· Jeffersonian democracy · Jacksonian democracy · Expansion of suffrage · Party system
4.2 — The Market Revolution 市场革命
· Transportation revolution · Early industrialization · Cotton economy · Changes in labor
4.3 — Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny 西进运动与天定命运
· Louisiana Purchase · Oregon Trail · Mexican-American War · Manifest Destiny
4.4 — The Second Great Awakening and Reform Movements 第二次大觉醒与改革运动
· Religious revival · Abolition movement · Women's rights movement · Temperance movement · Education reform
4.5 — Slavery and the Southern Economy 奴隶制与南方经济
· King Cotton · Slavery system · Slave culture and resistance · Slave laws
4.6 — The Sectional Crisis 地区危机
· Missouri Compromise · Nullification Crisis · States' rights debate · Growing North-South tensions
4.7 — Native American Removal 印第安人驱逐
· Indian Removal Act · Trail of Tears · Cherokee resistance · Supreme Court rulings
Unit 5 · Period 5: 1844-1877 第五时期：1844-1877
Exam weight: 10-17%
5.1 — Causes of the Civil War 内战原因
· Compromise of 1850 · Kansas-Nebraska Act · Dred Scott case · John Brown's raid
5.2 — The Election of 1860 and Secession 1860年大选与分裂
· Lincoln's election · Southern secession · Formation of the Confederacy · Fort Sumter
5.3 — The Civil War 美国内战
· Northern and Southern advantages and disadvantages · Key battles · Emancipation Proclamation · Total war
5.4 — Reconstruction 重建时期
· Presidential vs. Congressional Reconstruction · 13th-15th Amendments · Freedmen's Bureau · Reconstruction Acts
5.5 — The End of Reconstruction 重建的终结
· Compromise of 1877 · Jim Crow laws · Black Codes · Ku Klux Klan · Rise of racial segregation
5.6 — Society and Culture During the Civil War Era 内战时代的社会与文化
· Changing roles of women · Impact of immigration · Draft controversies · Social impact of war
Unit 6 · Period 6: 1865-1898 第六时期：1865-1898
Exam weight: 10-17%
6.1 — The Rise of Industrial Capitalism 工业资本主义的兴起
· Railroad expansion · Steel industry · Captains of industry and robber barons · Vertical and horizontal integration
6.2 — The Gilded Age 镀金时代
· Political corruption · Political machines · Civil service reform · Social Darwinism
6.3 — Labor and Unions 劳工与工会
· Labor movement · Knights of Labor · American Federation of Labor · Strikes and labor conflicts
6.4 — Immigration and Urbanization 移民与城市化
· New immigration waves · Urban development · Chinese Exclusion Act · Nativism
6.5 — The West and the Closing of the Frontier 西部与边疆的终结
· Homestead Act · Indian Wars · Cowboy culture · Frederick Turner's Frontier Thesis
6.6 — Populism and Agrarian Discontent 民粹主义与农业不满
· Farmers' Alliance · People's Party (Populists) · Free silver movement · Bryan and the 1896 election
6.7 — African Americans in the Post-Reconstruction South 重建后南方的非裔美国人
· Racial segregation · Plessy v. Ferguson · Booker T. Washington · W.E.B. Du Bois
Unit 7 · Period 7: 1890-1945 第七时期：1890-1945
Exam weight: 10-17%
7.1 — The Progressive Era 进步时代
· Progressive reforms · Muckrakers · Antitrust legislation · Women's suffrage
7.2 — American Imperialism 美国帝国主义
· Spanish-American War · Philippine-American War · Extension of the Monroe Doctrine · Big Stick policy
7.3 — World War I 第一次世界大战
· Neutrality policy · Reasons for entry · Wartime domestic mobilization · Fourteen Points · Treaty of Versailles
7.4 — The 1920s: Prosperity and Cultural Change 1920年代：繁荣与文化变革
· Roaring Twenties · Harlem Renaissance · Consumer culture · Prohibition · Cultural conflicts
7.5 — The Great Depression 大萧条
· Stock market crash · Economic collapse · Hoover's response · Unemployment and poverty
7.6 — The New Deal 新政
· Roosevelt's New Deal · Three R's (Relief, Recovery, Reform) · Social Security · New Deal coalition · Supreme Court conflict
7.7 — World War II 第二次世界大战
· Pearl Harbor · War economy · Japanese American internment · D-Day · Atomic bombs
7.8 — Postwar Diplomacy 战后外交
· Founding of the United Nations · Yalta Conference · Potsdam Conference · Origins of the Cold War
Unit 8 · Period 8: 1945-1980 第八时期：1945-1980
Exam weight: 10-17%
8.1 — The Cold War 冷战
· Containment policy · Truman Doctrine · Marshall Plan · NATO · Arms race
8.2 — The Red Scare and McCarthyism 红色恐慌与麦卡锡主义
· Anti-communist movement · McCarthy hearings · Loyalty reviews · Hollywood blacklist
8.3 — The Civil Rights Movement 民权运动
· Brown v. Board of Education · Montgomery Bus Boycott · Martin Luther King Jr. · Civil Rights Act of 1964 · Voting Rights Act of 1965
8.4 — The Vietnam War 越南战争
· Domino theory · Military escalation · Anti-war movement · Paris Peace Accords
8.5 — The Great Society 伟大社会
· Johnson's domestic agenda · Medicare and Medicaid · War on Poverty · Education legislation
8.6 — Social Movements of the 1960s-1970s 1960-1970年代的社会运动
· Feminist movement · Chicano movement · Native American movement · Counterculture movement · Environmental movement
8.7 — The Presidency of Richard Nixon 理查德·尼克松的总统任期
· Normalization of U.S.-China relations · Detente · Watergate scandal · Presidential resignation
8.8 — The 1970s: Economic Challenges 1970年代：经济挑战
· Oil crisis · Stagflation · Ford and Carter administrations · Iran hostage crisis
Unit 9 · Period 9: 1980-Present 第九时期：1980至今
Exam weight: 4-6%
9.1 — The Reagan Revolution 里根革命
· Rise of conservatism · Reaganomics · Tax cuts · Government reduction
9.2 — The End of the Cold War 冷战结束
· Arms control negotiations · Dissolution of the Soviet Union · Fall of the Berlin Wall · Unipolar world
9.3 — Globalization and Technology 全球化与科技
· Internet revolution · Global economic integration · Free trade agreements · Technological innovation
9.4 — Immigration and Demographic Changes 移民与人口变化
· Growth of Latino immigration · Cultural diversity · Immigration policy debate · Demographic changes
9.5 — Post- America 后的美国
· War on Terror · Patriot Act · Iraq War · Homeland security · Civil liberties debate