Curriculum Map

AP US History

College-level American history from Indigenous civilizations through the modern era. Aligned to the College Board AP US History Course and Exam Description. Emphasizes historical thinking, causation, and change over time.

14 Units

Early Units (Foundation)

Building Skills

Advanced Concepts

Capstone/Synthesis

Contact and Exploration (1491-1607)

Examines Indigenous societies of the Americas before European arrival and the transformative consequences of contact, exploration, and the Columbian Exchange.

3-4 days

Colonial America (1607-1754)

Examines the establishment of distinct colonial regions in British North America, labor systems including slavery, and the tensions within and between colonial societies.

3-4 days

Revolution and Republic (1754-1800)

Traces the path from the Seven Years' War through American independence, the Constitution's creation, and the contested first decade of the new republic.

3-4 days

Expansion and Reform (1800-1848)

Examines the Market Revolution's transformation of American society, Jacksonian democracy's contradictions, westward expansion, and the antebellum reform movements that reshaped American idealism.

3-4 days

Civil War Era (1844-1877)

Traces the sectional crisis from Manifest Destiny through the Civil War's causes, course, and consequences, culminating in Reconstruction's contested vision of freedom.

4-5 days

The Gilded Age (1865-1898)

Examines the transformative industrialization of post-Civil War America — the rise of big business, labor conflict, mass immigration, urbanization, and the Populist challenge to industrial capitalism.

3-4 days

Progressive Era and WWI (1890-1920)

Examines Progressivism's response to industrial capitalism, American imperialism in the Pacific and Caribbean, and the transformative experience of World War I and its aftermath.

3-4 days

The Twenties and the Great Depression (1920-1939)

Examines the cultural ferment and economic contradictions of the Roaring Twenties, the catastrophic collapse of the Great Depression, and Roosevelt's New Deal response.

3-4 days

World War II (1939-1945)

Analyzes the causes of World War II, American entry, the home front mobilization, diplomacy of the Allied coalition, and the moral complexities of the atomic age.

3-4 days

Cold War America (1945-1975)

Examines American foreign policy from containment through Vietnam, McCarthyism's domestic impact, the Korean War, and the escalating conflict in Southeast Asia.

3-4 days

Civil Rights and Social Movements (1945-1980)

Traces the civil rights movement from its postwar roots through legislative victories and the emergence of Black Power, alongside the women's movement, environmental activism, and other social movements of the 1960s-70s.

3-4 days

Conservative Resurgence (1968-1992)

Examines the rise of modern conservatism from Nixon's Southern Strategy through Reagan's revolution, the end of the Cold War, and the transformation of American political culture.

3-4 days

Modern America (1992-2010)

Examines post-Cold War America through the Clinton years, the contested 2000 election, the September 11 attacks and War on Terror, the Iraq War, and the 2008 financial crisis.

3-4 days

Contemporary Debates (2010-Present)

Examines the defining challenges of contemporary American life: polarization and democratic stress, immigration, inequality, technological disruption, and the ongoing struggle over American identity.

3-4 days

Learning Progression

This course is designed to be taken sequentially. Earlier units establish foundational concepts that later units build upon. While you can explore units in any order, following the numbered sequence provides the most coherent learning experience.