AP Exams (Advanced Placement) AP History and Social Sciences Syllabus

In AP World History, what role did the Silk Roads play during the period 1200-1450?

They were overland trade networks connecting Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, facilitating exchange of luxury goods (silk, spices), technologies, religions, and diseases.

What was the Mongol Empire's contribution to networks of exchange (c. 1200-1450)?

The Pax Mongolica created a unified, secure trade zone across Eurasia, boosting Silk Road commerce and transferring technology and ideas between East and West.

What two major land-based 'gunpowder empires' arose in the period 1450-1750, and where?

Examples: the Ottoman Empire (Anatolia/Middle East), the Safavid Empire (Persia), and the Mughal Empire (South Asia)—all using gunpowder weapons to consolidate power.

What was the Atlantic system of forced labor that defined maritime empires (1450-1750)?

The transatlantic slave trade, part of triangular trade, forcibly transporting millions of enslaved Africans to the Americas to work plantations producing sugar, tobacco, and cotton.

What was the 'Columbian Exchange' staple crop that fueled population growth in Afro-Eurasia?

New World crops like potatoes and maize, which provided high-calorie food and drove population booms in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

What economic system did 18th-19th century industrialization help spread, characterized by private ownership and market competition?

Industrial capitalism—private ownership of the means of production with goods produced for profit in competitive markets.

What was the demographic consequence of the Industrial Revolution regarding settlement patterns (1750-1900)?

Rapid urbanization as people migrated from rural areas to cities for factory work, creating crowded industrial cities.

Define 'imperialism' as practiced by European powers during the New Imperialism of 1750-1900.

The policy of extending a nation's power through direct territorial acquisition or political/economic control over other peoples, exemplified by the Scramble for Africa.

What were the principal causes of World War I summarized by the acronym MAIN?

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism (with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as the spark).

What was decolonization, and during which period did it primarily accelerate?

The process by which colonies gained independence from imperial powers, accelerating after WWII (1945-1970s) across Asia and Africa.

Define 'globalization' as a defining feature of the contemporary world.

The increasing interconnection of economies, cultures, and populations worldwide through trade, technology, migration, and communication networks.

In AP European History, what intellectual movement defined the Renaissance, and what was its core idea?

Humanism—a focus on human potential, achievements, and the study of classical Greek and Roman texts (the studia humanitatis).

What event in 1517 is traditionally credited with launching the Protestant Reformation?

Martin Luther posting his Ninety-Five Theses, criticizing the Catholic Church's sale of indulgences.

What is 'absolutism,' and which French king (1643-1715) epitomized it?

A system in which the monarch holds total, centralized power justified by divine right. Louis XIV ('the Sun King') epitomized it ('L'etat, c'est moi').

What did the Scientific Revolution replace, and name a key figure who proposed heliocentrism.

It replaced reliance on classical/religious authority with empirical observation and reason. Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the heliocentric (sun-centered) model.

What core principle did Enlightenment thinker John Locke contribute to political theory?

That people possess natural rights (life, liberty, property) and that government rests on a social contract; rulers who violate rights may be overthrown.

What 1789 document of the French Revolution proclaimed liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty?

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

Define 'nationalism' as the force that reshaped 19th-century Europe (1815-1914).

Loyalty and devotion to one's nation, often based on shared language, culture, or ethnicity, driving unification movements (Germany, Italy) and independence struggles.

What was the purpose of the Congress of Vienna (1815)?

To restore balance of power and conservative order in Europe after Napoleon's defeat, redrawing borders and restoring legitimate monarchies.

What ideological division defined Cold War Europe after 1945?

The split between the U.S.-led capitalist West and the Soviet-led communist East, symbolized by the Iron Curtain dividing the continent.

In AP U.S. Government, what does 'federalism' mean?

The division of power between a central (national) government and regional (state) governments, each with its own areas of authority.

What are the three foundational features of the U.S. Constitution that limit government power?

Separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism (plus a Bill of Rights protecting individual liberties).

In AP Gov, distinguish a 'civil liberty' from a 'civil right.'

Civil liberties are constitutional protections from government action (e.g., free speech). Civil rights are protections against discrimination, guaranteeing equal treatment (e.g., equal protection).

What is the principle of 'judicial review,' and which case established it?

The power of courts to declare laws or executive actions unconstitutional, established in Marbury v. Madison (1803).

How does a bill become a federal law (interactions among branches)?

It must pass both the House and Senate in identical form, then be signed by the president (or have a presidential veto overridden by a two-thirds vote in both chambers).

In comparative government, distinguish a parliamentary system from a presidential system.

In a parliamentary system the executive (PM) is chosen by and accountable to the legislature; in a presidential system the executive is elected separately and the two branches are independent.

What distinguishes an authoritarian regime from a democratic one?

Authoritarian regimes concentrate power in a leader/elite with limited political freedoms and no genuine competitive elections; democracies feature competitive elections, rule of law, and protected civil liberties.

In AP Human Geography, what is the difference between a place's 'absolute' and 'relative' location?

Absolute location is its exact coordinates (latitude/longitude); relative location describes its position in relation to other places.

State the Demographic Transition Model's general trend across its stages.

As societies industrialize, they move from high birth and death rates (Stage 1) to low birth and death rates (Stage 4-5), with rapid population growth in the transitional middle stages.

In AP Human Geography, distinguish a 'centripetal' from a 'centrifugal' force in political geography.

Centripetal forces unify a state (shared language, nationalism); centrifugal forces divide it (ethnic conflict, religious differences).

What does the Burgess Concentric Zone Model describe about urban land use?

That cities grow outward from a central business district (CBD) in a series of concentric rings, each with different land uses and socioeconomic groups.