APUSH Unit 1–9 Study Guide (High-Yield Roadmap)

Units 1–2 • 1491–1754 • Native America → Colonies

Unit 1: Early America & Contact

• Native regional diversity
• European motives (God, Gold, Glory)
• Columbian Exchange impact
• Spain vs France vs England approaches

Unit 2: Colonies

• New England vs Middle vs South differences
• Bacon’s Rebellion → slavery shift
• Great Awakening, self-governance
• Mercantilism tensions w/ Britain

Skills: comparison, causation

Unit 3 • 1754–1800 • Revolution & Republic

High-yield for DBQ & LEQ

• Revolution causes: taxes, rights, identity
• Articles of Confederation issues
• Constitution & Federalist vs Anti-Fed debates
• Washington/Adams policies & precedents

Essay themes: Was the revolution revolutionary? Strength of AoC?

Units 4–5 • 1800–1877 • Market → Civil War → Reconstruction

Unit 4: Early Republic → Jackson

• Hamilton vs Jefferson visions
• Market Revolution, reform movements
• Jacksonian democracy, Bank War

Unit 5: Civil War & Reconstruction

• Slavery + expansion conflicts
• War + Emancipation
• Radical vs Presidential reconstruction
• End → Jim Crow

Common DBQ: causes of Civil War / Reconstruction success?

Units 6–7 • 1865–1945 • Gilded Age → WWII

Unit 6: Industrialization

• Monopolies & labor conflict
• Immigration, nativism
• Westward expansion impact

Unit 7: Progressives → Depression → WWII

• Progressive reforms
• Imperialism & WWI debates
• 1920s culture conflict
• Great Depression & New Deal

DBQ often about gov role & economic policy shifts.

Units 8–9 • 1945–Present • Cold War → Modern America

Unit 8: Cold War & Civil Rights

• Containment + proxy wars
• Civil Rights movements
• McCarthyism

Unit 9: Modern U.S.

• Reagan conservatism
• Globalization & immigration
• Government debate & partisanship

Great for continuity & change essays.

Connect Units to Skills

• Scoring system
• DBQ rubric
• LEQ rubric
• Time strategies
• Avoid mistakes