Europeans brought horses, cattle, wheat and sugarcane to the Americas. What else did they carry, against which Native peoples "had no defenses"?Library of Congress, 1492: An Ongoing Voyage, "Europe Claims America"; course topic 1.4
The peoples of Mesoamerica shared pictographic writing, monumental building and wide trade networks. On which crops was their diet chiefly based?Library of Congress, 1492: An Ongoing Voyage, "America"; course topic 1.2
Which people formed the largest group living in the islands of the Caribbean in 1492?Library of Congress, 1492: An Ongoing Voyage, "America"; course topic 1.2
Show all 58 questions (55 more)
Unit 2: Period 2, 1607 to 1754 4
In one form of the Atlantic "triangular trade," manufactured goods went from colonial America to West Africa. What was carried on the next leg, to the Caribbean and the Southern colonies?Library of Congress, The African American Odyssey, "Slavery: The Peculiar Institution"; course topic 2.4
The Maryland Toleration Act (September 21, 1649) provided that no person "professing to beleive in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth bee any waies troubled ... for or in respect of his or her religion." How far did the act go?Maryland Toleration Act (1649), Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 2.3
The Mayflower Compact (1620): the settlers "covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick" to frame "just and equal Laws." What does the agreement show?Mayflower Compact (1620), Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 2.3
What was the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s?Library of Congress, Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, "Religion in Eighteenth-Century America"; course topic 2.7
Unit 3: Period 3, 1754 to 1800 8
After the French and Indian War, British taxes angered the colonists. Which other British policy, by the State Department's account, added to their anger?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, 1754-63"; course topic 3.2
Article III of the Constitution says little about the federal courts. How did the First Congress fill the gap in 1789?Federal Judiciary Act (1789), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 3.9
George Washington, Farewell Address (1796): "warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party." What was Washington afraid of?George Washington, Farewell Address (1796), Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 3.10
James Madison, The Federalist No. 10: "the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property." What did Madison conclude about factions?The Federalist No. 10, Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 3.8
The Northwest Ordinance (1787), Article 3: "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." What does the article show about the new republic?Northwest Ordinance (1787), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 3.7
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved in the Continental Congress "that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states." What became of the resolution?Lee Resolution (1776), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 3.5
The Stamp Act Congress resolved (October 19, 1765) "That trial by jury is the inherent and invaluable right of every British subject in these colonies." Which feature of the Stamp Act were the delegates protesting?Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress (1765), Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 3.3
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776): "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil." Which view of government does Paine state?Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776), Project Gutenberg; course topic 3.4
Unit 4: Period 4, 1800 to 1848 8
Andrew Jackson wrote in his veto of 1832 that the Bank of the United States enjoyed "an exclusive privilege of banking under the authority of the General Government, a monopoly of its favor and support." What was his objection?Andrew Jackson, Veto Message Regarding the Bank of the United States (1832), Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 4.8
David Walker's Appeal (1829) quotes the Declaration of Independence: "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Why did Walker quote it?David Walker, Walker's Appeal, in Four Articles (1829), Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina; course topic 4.12
Harriet Robinson wrote of the Lowell mill girls of the 1830s: "The most prevailing incentive to labor was to secure the means of education for some male member of the family." What does this show about why many young women took mill work?Harriet Robinson, "Lowell Mill Girls", Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.6
In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) Chief Justice John Marshall concluded that "the power to tax involves the power to destroy." What did the Court decide?McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 4.2
The National Archives says that the Louisiana Purchase and later expansions "exposed the sectional weaknesses between the North and South." Why?Louisiana Purchase Treaty (1803), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 4.3
The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments (1848): "He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise." Which right is claimed here?Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls (1848), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.11
Which nation resisted removal to the West in a war fought in Florida from 1835 to 1842?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830"; course topic 4.8
Who led the call in Congress for war with Great Britain in 1812?Treaty of Ghent (1814), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 4.4
Unit 5: Period 5, 1844 to 1877 8
Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1861): "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war." What was Lincoln telling the seceded states?Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address (1861), Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 5.7
The Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863) calls itself "an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity." On what ground did Lincoln rest it?Emancipation Proclamation (1863), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 5.9
How did freed people respond to the schools that opened in the South after the Civil War?Library of Congress, The African American Odyssey, "Reconstruction and Its Aftermath"; course topic 5.10
Stephen Douglas, first debate with Abraham Lincoln, Ottawa, Illinois (August 21, 1858): "this great principle of popular sovereignty, which guaranties to each State and Territory the right to do as it pleases on all things, local and domestic." How would Douglas have settled the question of slavery in the territories?First Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Ottawa, Illinois (1858), National Park Service, Lincoln Home National Historic Site; course topic 5.6
What was one result of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 for people who had already escaped slavery?Library of Congress, The African American Odyssey, "Abolition, Anti-Slavery Movements, and the Rise of the Sectional Controversy"; course topic 5.4
Which amendment answered the Dred Scott ruling by declaring all persons born in the United States to be citizens?Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) and 14th Amendment (1868), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 5.10
Which president oversaw the annexation of Texas, the Oregon Treaty with Great Britain and the end of the Mexican-American War?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Annexation of Texas, the Mexican-American War, and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1845-1848"; course topic 5.2
Why did the United States pay Mexico $10 million for the land of the Gadsden Purchase, finalized in 1854?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Gadsden Purchase, 1853-1854"; course topic 5.2
Unit 6: Period 6, 1865 to 1898 8
Andrew Carnegie wrote in his 1889 essay on wealth that the rich man becomes "the sole agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer." What did Carnegie argue?Andrew Carnegie, "The Gospel of Wealth" (1889), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 6.6
The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) begins: "the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities." What was new about this law?Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 6.9
The Dawes Act (1887) let the president "allot the lands in said reservation in severalty to any Indian located thereon." What change in federal policy did this mark?Dawes Act (1887), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 6.3
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 set the Black Hills aside for the exclusive use of the Sioux. Why did the promise fail?Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 6.3
Justice John Marshall Harlan, dissenting in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): "Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens." What had the majority upheld?Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 6.4
The Populist Party platform of 1892 declared: "the railroad corporations will either own the people or the people must own the railroads." What did the party demand?Populist Party Platform of 1892, The American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara; course topic 6.13
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) outlaws every combination "in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations." On which power of Congress did the act rest?Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 6.12
Which event led Congress to pass the Pendleton Act of 1883, which filled federal jobs by competitive examination?Pendleton Act (1883), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 6.13
Unit 7: Period 7, 1890 to 1945 8
The 19th Amendment (ratified August 18, 1920): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." How long had the amendment been before Congress?19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote (1920), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 7.4
How did Congress respond in 1988 to the wartime confinement of Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066?Executive Order 9066: Resulting in Japanese-American Incarceration (1942), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 7.12
In the 1940 campaign Franklin Roosevelt promised: "your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars." In March 1941 he signed the Lend-Lease Act. How did he square the two?Lend-Lease Act (1941), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 7.11
In the Teller Amendment of April 1898 the United States said it "hereby disclaims any disposition ... to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island." Which island, and what followed?Platt Amendment (1903), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 7.3
President Franklin Roosevelt to Congress, December 8, 1941: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked." What did he ask Congress to do?Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan (1941), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 7.11
What did Germany offer Mexico in the Zimmermann telegram of January 1917?Zimmermann Telegram (1917), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 7.5
Which change in the role of the federal government did the Social Security Act of 1935 mark?Social Security Act (1935), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 7.10
Which events led President Theodore Roosevelt to announce his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904?Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 7.2
Unit 8: Period 8, 1945 to 1980 8
Brown v. Board of Education (May 17, 1954): "Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Which earlier ruling did the decision overturn?Brown v. Board of Education (1954), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 8.6
President Dwight Eisenhower, Farewell Address (January 17, 1961): "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." What was his warning?President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 8.7
President Harry Truman told Congress on March 12, 1947: "It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." What did this Truman Doctrine commit the country to?Truman Doctrine (1947), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 8.2
President Truman's Executive Order 9981 (July 26, 1948) declared "equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin." What did the order begin?Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 8.6
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution (August 7, 1964) approved the president's resolve "to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States." How was it later used?Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 8.8
What persuaded President Lyndon Johnson and Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965?Voting Rights Act (1965), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 8.10
What turned public opinion against Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954?Censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1954), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 8.3
Why did many Black veterans gain less than white veterans from the G.I. Bill of 1944?Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 8.4
Unit 9: Period 9, 1980 to the present 3
President George W. Bush told Congress on September 20, 2001: "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there." What policy was he announcing?George W. Bush, Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People (September 20, 2001), archived White House site, National Archives; course topic 9.6
President Reagan said at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin on June 12, 1987: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" What was he demanding?Ronald Reagan, Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin (1987), Ronald Reagan Presidential Library; Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Collapse of the Soviet Union"; course topic 9.3
President Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address (January 20, 1981): "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Which view does this express?Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address (1981), Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 9.2
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the nine units of the College Board's AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-us-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf, and to the exam page https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-united-states-history/exam, both read 2026-10-08. Each fact was read on 2026-10-08 in the public page named under its question: the National Archives' Milestone Documents, the Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State, the Avalon Project at Yale Law School, the Library of Congress, the National Park Service, The American Presidency Project (University of California, Santa Barbara), the Internet History Sourcebooks Project at Fordham University, Project Gutenberg, Documenting the American South (University of North Carolina), the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the archived White House site of President George W. Bush. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents named under each question.
How it works
This AP United States History practice test has 58 questions of our own across the nine periods, most built on a line from a period document. It is unofficial: the College Board is not affiliated with it and does not endorse it.
Read the full guide
The real multiple-choice section
By the College Board's exam page, read October 8, 2026, Section I, Part A of the AP U.S. History Exam asks 55 multiple-choice questions in 55 minutes for 40% of the score. Exam mode gives a round of that length against that clock.
The nine periods
Periods 3 to 8 each carry 10 to 17% of the exam, Period 2 carries 6 to 8%, and Periods 1 and 9 carry 4 to 6% each. The bank keeps to those shares: eight questions each for Periods 3 to 8, four for Period 2, three each for Periods 1 and 9.
Where the answers come from
The page named under each explanation is where its fact can be checked, often the document at the National Archives or Yale's Avalon Project.
Date the source first. A choice about Reconstruction cannot fit a speech of 1832, so the year alone removes answers.
On the real exam one source carries three or four questions, and some sources are images, maps or graphs. Here every question stands alone.
Questions and answers
Are AP US History practice tests like this one official?
No. All 58 questions are ours, made from the published course outline and from public documents. No real, released or sample College Board question is copied or reworded, and a score on this page predicts no AP score.
How long is the AP US History exam?
3 hours 15 minutes of testing: 55 minutes of multiple choice, 40 for the three short answers, and 1 hour 40 minutes shared by the document-based question and the long essay.
Is an online AP US History practice test like the real digital exam?
In length only. The real exam is fully digital and taken in the College Board's Bluebook app, which has its own test previews. Exam mode here runs in a browser and copies the 55 questions and 55 minutes, nothing else.
Does this AP US History test practice cover the essays?
No, only the multiple choice: four choices to a question, as in Section I, Part A. The short answers, the document-based question and the long essay are the other 60% of the exam score and are not practiced on this page.
What periods are on the AP US History exam?
Nine: 1491 to 1607, 1607 to 1754, 1754 to 1800, 1800 to 1848, 1844 to 1877, 1865 to 1898, 1890 to 1945, 1945 to 1980, and 1980 to the present. Some periods overlap by a few years, as the course dates them.