The concept outline presents a chronological framework for investigating the different periods of U.S. history in the AP U.S. History course. Teachers will use the key concepts within the various periods to build students’ understanding of the learning objectives that will be assessed on the AP Exam (see Section II, Thematic Learning Objectives).

 

Historical Periods

The course outline is structured around the investigation of course themes and key concepts in nine chronological periods. These periods, from pre- Columbian contacts in North America (represented symbolically by the date 1491) to the present, provide a temporal framework for the course.  

 

A Note About Periodization

Following the example of many subfields within U.S. history as well as the approach adopted by most U.S. history textbooks, the concept outline reflects an acknowledgment that historians differ in how they apply boundaries between distinct historical eras. Indeed, the ability to interpret the nature of change and continuity in various periods is a key element of the historian’s craft.

 

As a result, a number of the periods show some degree of overlap, depending on the kinds of key concepts being developed in that period. For example, Period 4, which begins in 1800, emphasizes antebellum reform and social change (with 1848 as an ending point because of the Seneca Falls Convention). Period 5 focuses on how expansion led to debates over slavery, thus beginning with Manifest Destiny and the election of James K. Polk in 1844; it spans the Civil War and Reconstruction and ends with the Compromise of 1877. The emphasis in Period 6 on economic development logically begins with the end of the Civil War in 1865 and ends on the eve of the Spanish-American War in 1898. Period 7 uses 1890 as the appropriate starting date for America’s rise to global power, a major conceptual focus of the period.

 

The distinctions in the outline between historical eras deserve further scrutiny and investigation by students, since the development of chronological reasoning and a sense of change and continuity are critical thinking skills for the study of history. Useful activities might be for students to explain the periods that overlap in the curriculum framework, examine different periodizations of U.S. history used by different textbooks or historians, or propose a periodization scheme of their own. 

 

How to Use the Concept Outline

The concept outline is designed to provide teachers with clarity regarding the concepts that students may be asked to analyze on an AP Exam. There are five key points teachers should keep in mind when using this concept outline:

 

1. The concept outline provides teachers with a summary of the concepts typically analyzed in current, college-level American history survey courses, but its statements should serve as a focus of debate and discussion in classrooms.

 

All developments that college and university faculty have identified as necessary for college credit have been included below in a series of key concept statements about each period (presented in an outline form using Roman numerals and letters). While the multiple-choice questions on the AP Exam will expect that students are familiar with these developments, the free-response section of the exam will ask students to critically analyze these concepts by using historical examples (individuals, events, documents) of their choosing. For example, an essay question might include the prompt, “Some historians argue that ...” and ask students to support, refute, or modify this assertion, using specific evidence to justify their answers. This approach provides the maximum degree of flexibility in instruction across states, districts, schools, and teachers, while also providing clarity regarding the concepts typically required for credit and placement.

 

It is the nature of history as a discipline that claims and statements about the past are subject to differences in interpretation. But because the concept outline is the result of careful research into colleges’ requirements for credit and placement, it is essential for the AP Program to provide teachers with visibility into these findings.

Teachers should help students view these concepts as claims, based on current scholarship about United States History, that are typically analyzed in a college- level survey course. Like all historical claims, the statements in the concept outline should be examined in light of primary sources and evidence as well as historical research.

 

2. The concept outline gives teachers the freedom to select course content (individuals, events, documents, etc.) of their own choosing to help their students analyze the statements included therein.

 

In order to help students investigate the key concepts, teachers must select specific groups, events, individuals, dates, or other historical details that they consider relevant. In addition, rather than trying to cover all possible examples of a particular concept, teachers should select fewer examples to teach in depth.

 

Example: Rather than giving cursory treatment to every example of America’s “economic, diplomatic, and military initiatives in the Western Hemisphere” in the period 1800–1848 (Key Concept 4.3.I.A), teachers should choose one to teach well. AP Exam questions will not require that all students know the same example of such initiatives. Instead, AP Exam questions will reward students for writing accurately about the initiative(s) their teacher chose for focus.

 

To help teachers and students organize and track the historical examples and evidence they are studying throughout the course, we have created a document entitled “AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework: Evidence Planner” that includes space for teachers to insert the specific content (individuals, events, documents, etc.) they are choosing to focus on. Some teachers may find it helpful to provide this planning tool to their students to help them track and review the content their teacher chooses for analyzing each concept. This resource can be downloaded at www.collegeboard.org/apush.

 

3. Gray boxes containing possible examples were inserted in the framework only where teachers reported uncertainty regarding what content they might choose to teach for a particular concept. These boxes indicate content that is relevant for a particular concept, but this content is illustrative — not mandatory.

 

When the new framework was first reviewed by AP U.S. History teachers, they indicated that it would be useful to provide examples for teaching some of the concepts. For most concepts, AP U.S. History teachers know exactly what figures, events, and sources they will focus on, but for others, they asked that the framework provide suggestions. Gray boxes were inserted only for concepts for which teachers indicated a need for ideas. For example, AP teachers reviewing the concept outline clearly identified which concepts called for inclusion of Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, but they were uncertain what examples might be effective for the teaching of Concept 8.2.III.C (attacks on postwar liberalism). Therefore, the Committee inserted a gray box for that concept, suggesting the examples of Students for a Democratic Society and the Black Panthers. In no way does this signal that it is more important to teach the Black Panthers than Martin Luther King, Jr. Rather, this gray box signals that AP teachers were already confident in their inclusion of King and Parks elsewhere in the outline, but uncertain where they might choose to include the Students for a Democratic Society.

 

4. The concept outline includes codes that help teachers and students ask important questions and draw meaningful connections among the concepts.

The Roman numeral sections of the outline have been coded to indicate a connection to the learning objectives on pages 21–27; the codes appear in parentheses following each Roman numeral statement. This coding will help teachers see how the learning objectives, which are the source of all AP Exam questions, can be applied to the various statements in the concept outline.

 

In other words, these codings provide teachers with a clear sense of how the learning objectives give teachers and students the liberty to support, modify, or challenge these concepts. In addition, this coding helps teachers make thematic connections across the chronology of the concept outline. The codes are as follows:

ID — Identity
WXT — Work, exchange, and technology
PEO — Peopling
POL — Politics and power
WOR — America in the world
ENV — Environment and geography — physical and human

CUL — Ideas, beliefs, and culture

 

For example, the codes for three learning objectives — (PEO-1) (ENV-1) (ENV-2) — appear with the first Roman numeral statement under Key Concept 1.1, indicating that exam questions about Key Concept 1.1.I will be derived from those three learning objectives.

 

5. The concept outline is a living document.

The AP U.S. History Development Committee welcomes feedback regarding areas where clarification or changes would improve the AP U.S. History concept outline. The website www.collegeboard.org/apush provides a feedback link that will enable the Development Committee to receive and review such feedback.

 

Any updates to AP course materials are made during the summer between school years, and AP teachers are always notified via email of any changes. 

 

from: http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-us-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf