A ship with only square sails needed the wind behind it. What let the caravel go where such ships could not?World History Encyclopedia, "Caravel"; course topic 4.1
At Sagres in 1419, Prince Henry of Portugal brought together experts in navigation, cartography, astronomy, mathematics and ship design. What came out of this effort in the mid-15th century?World History Encyclopedia, "Prince Henry the Navigator" and "Caravel"; course topic 4.1
The course lists the lateen sail, the compass and astronomical charts together as examples of what?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, topic 4.1, illustrative examples; course topic 4.1
How was the carrack used differently from the smaller caravel?World History Encyclopedia, "Carrack"; course topic 4.1
What did navigators of the early modern period use the marine astrolabe to find?World History Encyclopedia, "Astrolabe"; course topic 4.1
Show all 56 questions (51 more)
Topic 4.2: Exploration: causes and events 10
Asked in Calicut in 1498 what the Portuguese sought so far from home, one of Vasco da Gama's men answered that they "came in search of Christians and of spices." What does the answer show about Portuguese exploration?Vasco da Gama, Round Africa to India, 1497-1498, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.2
By what route did Vasco da Gama reach India in 1498?World History Encyclopedia, "Vasco da Gama"; course topic 4.2
English, French and Dutch crossings of the North Atlantic in this period were often sent out with what goal?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, topic 4.2, historical developments; course topic 4.2
Goa, taken by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, played what part in the Portuguese empire?World History Encyclopedia, "Portuguese Goa"; course topic 4.2
How did Vasco da Gama's second voyage to India, in 1502 to 1503, differ from his first?World History Encyclopedia, "Vasco da Gama"; course topic 4.2
In the Indian Ocean the Portuguese required ships to carry a cartaz. What was it?World History Encyclopedia, "Portuguese Empire"; course topic 4.2
What did the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 do?World History Encyclopedia, "Treaty of Tordesillas"; course topic 4.2
What drew Prince Henry of Portugal to send ships down the coast of West Africa?World History Encyclopedia, "Prince Henry the Navigator"; course topic 4.2
Which phrase best describes the Portuguese empire in Africa and Asia in the 16th century?World History Encyclopedia, "Portuguese Empire"; course topic 4.2
Which rulers sponsored Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492, and what was he looking for?World History Encyclopedia, "Christopher Columbus"; course topic 4.2
Topic 4.3: Columbian Exchange 7
Sugar, rice, tobacco and cotton plantations became a new source of wealth in the Americas. How were such cash crops chiefly grown, and for whom?World History Encyclopedia, "Sugar & the Rise of the Plantation System"; course topic 4.3
What does the term Columbian Exchange describe?World History Encyclopedia, "Columbian Exchange"; course topic 4.3
What effect did the potato have after it reached Europe?World History Encyclopedia, "Columbian Exchange"; course topic 4.3
Which animals arrived in the Americas on Columbus's second voyage, of 1493 to 1496?World History Encyclopedia, "Columbian Exchange"; Library of Congress, "1492: An Ongoing Voyage", "Europe Claims America"; course topic 4.3
Which foods does the course name as brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, topic 4.3, illustrative examples; course topic 4.3
Which group of crops traveled east across the Atlantic from the Americas?World History Encyclopedia, "Columbian Exchange"; course topic 4.3
Which part of the Columbian Exchange did the most harm to the peoples of the Americas?World History Encyclopedia, "Columbian Exchange"; Library of Congress, "1492: An Ongoing Voyage", "Europe Claims America"; course topic 4.3
Topic 4.4: Maritime empires established 11
After Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch merchants entered the Indian Ocean, what happened to the trade networks already there?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, topic 4.4, historical developments; course topic 4.4
The Asante state of West Africa took shape under Osei Tutu in the late 17th century. What marked it during the era of the Atlantic slave trade?Wikipedia, "Asante Empire"; course topic 4.4
How did Portuguese traders, arriving in the late 15th century, affect the Kingdom of Kongo?World History Encyclopedia, "Kingdom of Kongo"; course topic 4.4
The New Laws of the Indies, 1542: by no cause "can an Indian be made a slave, and we will that they be treated as our vassals of the Crown of Castile." What happened to these laws?The New Laws of the Indies, 1542, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.4
The same edict of 1635 orders "a thorough investigation" wherever "the teachings of padres (Christianity)" are practiced. What does this add to our picture of Tokugawa policy?Asia for Educators, Columbia University, "The Edicts of the Tokugawa Shogunate: Excerpts from the Edict of 1635"; course topic 4.4
The Tokugawa edict of 1635: "Japanese ships are strictly forbidden to leave for foreign countries." What was the shogunate trying to do?Asia for Educators, Columbia University, "The Edicts of the Tokugawa Shogunate: Excerpts from the Edict of 1635"; course topic 4.4
Under the viceroy Francisco de Toledo, communities in Peru had to supply a seventh of their male workers for mines, agriculture and public works. This Spanish mit'a is an example ofWikipedia, "Mit'a"; course topic 4.4
What was a hacienda in Spanish America?World History Encyclopedia, "Encomienda"; course topic 4.4
What was an encomienda in the Spanish colonies of the Americas?World History Encyclopedia, "Encomienda"; course topic 4.4
What was the haijin of Ming and early Qing China?Wikipedia, "Haijin"; course topic 4.4
Which statement about slavery within Africa between 1450 and 1750 matches the course?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, topic 4.4, historical developments; course topic 4.4
Topic 4.5: Maritime empires maintained and developed 11
By 1460 the island of Madeira was the largest sugar producer in the world. Why does that matter for the later history of the Atlantic?World History Encyclopedia, "Sugar & the Rise of the Plantation System"; course topic 4.5
Colbert, minister to Louis XIV, 1664: French goods sent abroad "would also bring us returns in money-and that, in one word, is the only aim of trade and the sole means of increasing the greatness and power of this State." Which idea is he stating?Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Memorandum on Trade, 1664, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.5
From 1565 to 1815 the Manila galleons sailed between the Philippines and Acapulco. What did they carry in each direction?World History Encyclopedia, "Manila Galleon"; course topic 4.5
How did Spain move American silver home across the Atlantic?World History Encyclopedia, "Spanish Treasure Fleets"; course topic 4.5
In 1602 the Dutch States General united six rival firms into the Dutch East India Company. What kind of business was it?World History Encyclopedia, "Dutch East India Company"; course topic 4.5
In the same memorandum Colbert complains that the Dutch draw four million livres a year from France for carrying its goods by sea. What does the complaint show?Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Memorandum on Trade, 1664, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.5
The mines of Potosí in the Andes were found in 1545. What did they become for Spain?World History Encyclopedia, "The Silver of the Conquistadors"; course topic 4.5
The Spanish built the monastery of Santo Domingo on top of the Coricancha, the Inca Temple of the Sun in Cuzco. What did the choice of site announce?World History Encyclopedia, "Coricancha"; course topic 4.5
What did the royal charter of 1600 give the English East India Company?World History Encyclopedia, "East India Company"; course topic 4.5
What is mercantilism designed to do?Wikipedia, "Mercantilism"; course topic 4.5
Which sequence describes the triangular trade of the Atlantic?World History Encyclopedia, "Transatlantic Slave Trade"; course topic 4.5
Topic 4.6: Challenges to state power 5
The Fronde of 1648 to 1653 was a civil war in France. What set it off?World History Encyclopedia, "Louis XIV of France"; course topic 4.6
Metacom's War, also called King Philip's War, was fought in New England from 1675 to 1678. Who fought it?World History Encyclopedia, "King Philip's War"; course topic 4.6
Nzinga ruled Ndongo from 1624 and Matamba from 1631 until her death in 1663. Against which power did these kingdoms struggle?Wikipedia, "Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba"; course topic 4.6
What was Palmares, which lasted in colonial Brazil from 1605 until 1694?Wikipedia, "Palmares (quilombo)"; course topic 4.6
What was the outcome of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680?Wikipedia, "Pueblo Revolt"; course topic 4.6
Topic 4.7: Changing social hierarchies 7
A Jewish writer on the exiles of 1492: those who reached Turkey "the King of Turkey received kindly, as they were artisans. He lent them money." What does the Ottoman welcome illustrate?"The Expulsion from Spain, 1492 CE", Internet Jewish History Sourcebook, Fordham University; course topic 4.7
Busbecq wrote that Ottoman towns had detachments of Janissaries "to protect the Christians, Jews, and other helpless people from outrage and wrong." Taken with the welcome given to Jews in 1492, this suggests that the Ottoman stateOgier Ghiselin de Busbecq, The Turkish Letters, 1555-1562, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.7
In colonial Spanish America, what did the word casta come to mark?Wikipedia, "Casta"; course topic 4.7
In July 1645 the Qing regent Dorgon ordered every Han man to shave his forehead and braid his remaining hair into a queue like that of the Manchus. What was the order meant to show?Wikipedia, "Queue (hairstyle)"; course topic 4.7
In spring 1492, soon after the conquest of Granada, what did Ferdinand and Isabella order?"The Expulsion from Spain, 1492 CE", Internet Jewish History Sourcebook, Fordham University; course topic 4.7
What was an Ottoman timar?Wikipedia, "Timar"; course topic 4.7
Who were the boyars of Russia?Wikipedia, "Boyar"; course topic 4.7
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to Unit 4 (Transoceanic Interconnections, c. 1450 to c. 1750) of the College Board's AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-world-history-modern-course-and-exam-description.pdf, read 2026-10-09. Each fact was read on 2026-10-09 in the public page named under its question: the Internet History Sourcebooks Project at Fordham University (Vasco da Gama's journal, Colbert, the New Laws of 1542, the expulsion of 1492, Busbecq), Asia for Educators at Columbia University (the Tokugawa edict of 1635), the Library of Congress exhibition 1492: An Ongoing Voyage, the World History Encyclopedia and Wikipedia. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents named under each question.
How it works
This AP World History Unit 4 practice test has 56 questions of our own on Transoceanic Interconnections, about 1450 to 1750. The practice is unofficial, and the College Board, owner of AP, is not affiliated with it.
Read the full guide
What Unit 4 covers
The College Board's course description, read October 9, 2026, gives Unit 4 eight topics. Seven have a set here: technology (5 questions), exploration (10), the Columbian Exchange (7), maritime empires established (11), maritime empires maintained (11), challenges to state power (5) and social hierarchies (7). The eighth, continuity and change, is a skill you practice on all of them. The counts are ours; the description weights no topic.
Where the answers come from
Each answer names the public page where its fact was read: Vasco da Gama's journal, Colbert and the New Laws of 1542 at Fordham University, the Tokugawa edict at Columbia University, the Library of Congress, the World History Encyclopedia or Wikipedia.
Sort each development into change or continuity: new sea routes and labor systems against trade networks and elites that carried on.
Follow the silver: from Potosí to Spain in convoy, and to Manila by galleon to pay for Asian goods.
Questions and answers
What is Unit 4 in AP World History?
Transoceanic Interconnections, about 1450 to 1750: new ships and navigation, European voyages, the Columbian Exchange, maritime empires and their labor systems, resistance to state power, and changing social hierarchies.
Is this an AP World History Period 4 practice test?
It is the Unit 4 test, on 1450 to 1750. The fourth date range in the course description is 1900 to the present, Units 7 to 9, though the description still lists a teaching module titled Period 4 under Unit 4.
How much of the AP World History exam is Unit 4?
Between 12 and 15%, by the College Board's course page. The description suggests 22 to 25 class periods for its eight topics, more than for any other unit.
Is this the real AP World History Unit 4 test?
No. Teachers assign the College Board's Progress Check for Unit 4 in AP Classroom, about 15 multiple-choice questions by the description. Nothing here is taken from it or from any exam, and each question names the public page behind its answer.