AP Content Format & Thematic Weighting

Period Covered

 

 

 

Pre-Columbian to 1789

 

1790-1914

 

1915 to the present

Approximate Percentage of Test (Multiple-choice section only)

 

 

 20%

 

 45%

 

35%

      Whereas the multiple-choice section may include a few questions from the period since 1980, neither the DBQ nor any of the four essay questions in Parts B and C will deal exclusively with this period.

 

      Together, the multiple-choice and free-response sections cover political institutions, behavior, and public policy; social change, and cultural and intellectual developments; diplomacy and international relations; and economic developments.

 

Material Covered

 

 

 

Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

 

Social change, and cultural and intellectual developments

 

Diplomacy and international relations

 

Economic developments

Approximate Percentage of Test (Multiple-choice section only)

 

 

 35%

 

 

 40%

 

 

 15%

 

 10%

 

             The U.S. History Development Committee’s note on social and cultural history:

 

             Much recent scholarship in U.S. history merges social and cultural history.  Based on college curriculum survey data, the Development Committee decided to combine these two categories into one called social change, and cultural and intellectual developments.

 

             A substantial number of social, cultural, and economic history questions deal with such traditional topics as the impact of legislation on social groups and the economy or the pressure brought to bear on political processes by social, economic, and cultural developments.  Because historical inquiry is not neatly divided into categories, many questions pertain to more than one area.   – Source: College Board, AP U.S. History Workshop, 2008-2009