AP US History

Level: 11, 12
Semesters: 2
Prerequisites: Students are advised to take a Social Studies elective during their sophomore year. Students who have earned A’s in their Social Studies classes will be given precedence. Also, students on the AP English path tend to be better prepared for the level of rigor in this course.
Credit: 1

The AP US History course focuses on the development of historical thinking skills (chronological reasoning, comparing and contextualizing, crafting historical arguments using historical evidence, and interpreting and synthesizing historical narrative) and an understanding of content learning objectives organized around seven themes some of which include identity, peopling, and America in the world. In line with college and university US history survey courses’ increased focus on early and recent American history and decreased emphasis on other areas, the AP US History course expands on the history of the Americas from 1491 to 1607 and from 1980 to the present. AP US History is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester introductory college or university US history course. Consequently, the course requires a much higher volume of reading and writing than one would find in a traditional high school US History course.