Captain F. D. Lugard wrote in 1893: "To allow other nations to develop new fields, and to refuse to do so ourselves, is to go backward." Which rationale for empire does the sentence voice?Capt. F. D. Lugard, The Rise of Our East African Empire (1893), Internet Modern History Sourcebook, Fordham University; course topic 6.1
How did King Leopold II of Belgium persuade other European states at the Berlin Conference to let him take the Congo?Wikipedia, "Congo Free State"; course topic 6.1
Rudyard Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden" (1899) exhorted the United States to take colonial control of which country?Wikipedia, "The White Man's Burden"; course topic 6.1
Social Darwinism claimed to apply which idea to human societies?Wikipedia, "Social Darwinism"; course topic 6.1
What was the "civilizing mission" (in French, mission civilisatrice)?Wikipedia, "Civilizing mission"; course topic 6.1
Which ideologies does the course say were used to justify imperialism from 1750 to 1900?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.2.III; course topic 6.1
Show all 56 questions (50 more)
Topic 6.2: State expansion 12
As late as the 1870s Europeans controlled about 10% of Africa, all of it near the coasts. By 1914 which countries remained outside European control?Wikipedia, "Scramble for Africa"; course topic 6.2
At the Berlin Conference the powers agreed on a common framework for recognizing European "effective occupation" of African coastal territory. Which means of expansion does this show?Wikipedia, "Berlin Conference"; course topic 6.2
The Congo Free State was privately owned by King Leopold II. What happened to it in 1908?Wikipedia, "Congo Free State"; course topic 6.2
The Dutch East India Company went bankrupt and was formally dissolved in 1799. What became of its possessions?Wikipedia, "Dutch East India Company"; course topic 6.2
In the 19th century the Imperial Russian Army conquered all of Central Asia, and most of the land became known as Russian Turkestan. The conquest is an example of a stateWikipedia, "Russian conquest of Central Asia"; course topic 6.2
The Royal Niger Company, chartered by the British government, existed only from 1879 to 1900. Why does it matter in the history of Nigeria?Wikipedia, "Royal Niger Company"; course topic 6.2
The Treaty of Shimonoseki ended the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Which island did China cede to Japan under it?Wikipedia, "Treaty of Shimonoseki"; course topic 6.2
The Treaty of Waitangi of 1840 was written when the New Zealand Company was establishing a colony for large numbers of settlers. Who made the agreement with Māori leaders?Wikipedia, "Treaty of Waitangi"; course topic 6.2
Under the Treaty of Paris of 1898, which power took over Guam and the Philippines from Spain?Wikipedia, "Treaty of Paris (1898)"; course topic 6.2
What happened to members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations after the Indian Removal Act of 1830?Wikipedia, "Trail of Tears"; course topic 6.2
What was French West Africa, which existed from 1895 until 1958?Wikipedia, "French West Africa"; course topic 6.2
Which statement about the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885 on Africa is accurate?Wikipedia, "Berlin Conference"; course topic 6.2
Topic 6.3: Indigenous responses to state expansion 11
According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka, what would proper practice of the Ghost Dance bring?Wikipedia, "Ghost Dance"; course topic 6.3
At Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 a Zulu army equipped mainly with iron spears and cow-hide shields met a British force. What was the result?Wikipedia, "Battle of Isandlwana"; course topic 6.3
By the course framework, which two forms did anti-imperial resistance take?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.2.II.C; course topic 6.3
How was the Sokoto Caliphate founded in 1804?Wikipedia, "Sokoto Caliphate"; course topic 6.3
In 1827 the Cherokee Nation adopted a written constitution. What kind of government did it create?Wikipedia, "Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)"; course topic 6.3
In 1856 the young Xhosa prophet Nongqawuse said that spirits had told her what the Xhosa people should do. What was it?Wikipedia, "Nongqawuse"; course topic 6.3
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began among sepoys in the army of the East India Company. Which grievance spread quickly through their ranks?Wikipedia, "Indian Rebellion of 1857"; course topic 6.3
José Gabriel Condorcanqui took the name Túpac Amaru II and in 1780 called for rebellion in Spanish-ruled Peru. Whom did the name recall?Wikipedia, "Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II"; course topic 6.3
Muhammad Ahmad led the Sudanese in the war that began in 1881. What had he proclaimed himself to be?Wikipedia, "Mahdist War"; course topic 6.3
Samori Ture resisted which colonial power in West Africa from 1882 until his capture in 1898?Wikipedia, "Samori Ture"; course topic 6.3
What was the most notable result of the Congress of Berlin of 1878?Wikipedia, "Treaty of Berlin (1878)"; course topic 6.3
Topic 6.4: Global economic development 8
By the course framework, why did export economies grow around the world between 1750 and 1900?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.1.II.A; course topic 6.4
Charles Goodyear discovered a process of vulcanization in 1839. What followed for the Amazon?Wikipedia, "Amazon rubber cycle"; course topic 6.4
During the American Civil War, imports of baled cotton to Britain were interrupted. What followed in Egypt?Wikipedia, "Lancashire Cotton Famine"; course topic 6.4
In the 1870s the ships Le Frigorifique and Paraguay carried meat from Argentina to France. What made the trade possible?Wikipedia, "Refrigerated cargo ship"; course topic 6.4
Miners arrived in their thousands after diamonds were found in 1871 on a hill that became known as the Big Hole. Which town grew up there?Wikipedia, "Kimberley, Northern Cape"; course topic 6.4
Why did British traders seek palm oil from West Africa during the Industrial Revolution?Wikipedia, "Palm oil"; course topic 6.4
Why did the Brazilian rubber market decline?Wikipedia, "Amazon rubber cycle"; course topic 6.4
Why was guano, which the course lists as an industry of Peru and Chile, in demand on farms abroad?Wikipedia, "Guano"; course topic 6.4
Topic 6.5: Economic imperialism 5
By the course framework, how was trade in commodities such as opium, cotton and palm oil organized?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.1.II.C; course topic 6.5
By the course framework, where did industrialized states and their businesses mainly practice economic imperialism?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.2.I.E; course topic 6.5
In 1882 the government of Argentina contracted a businessman to build a new port for Buenos Aires, where ships had been unloading onto barges. Why does the course cite the port?Wikipedia, "Puerto Madero"; course topic 6.5
The Second Opium War ended in a second defeat for the Qing. What did it force on China?Wikipedia, "Second Opium War"; course topic 6.5
Which pairing matches a commodity to its trade as the course lists it?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.1.II.C; course topic 6.5
Topic 6.6: Causes of migration 8
An agreement known as girmit set the terms for an indentured worker from India. What did it outline?Wikipedia, "Indian indenture system"; course topic 6.6
By the course framework, what did new methods of transportation allow many migrants to do?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.4.I.B; course topic 6.6
By the course framework, where did both internal and external migrants increasingly relocate in the 19th century?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.4.I.B; course topic 6.6
From the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 until 1868 the British penal system transported about 162,000 convicts from Great Britain and Ireland to Australia. Which kind of migration is this, in the course's terms?Wikipedia, "Convicts in Australia"; course topic 6.6
The Indian indenture system began shortly after the abolition of slavery. At whose behest was it first put in place?Wikipedia, "Indian indenture system"; course topic 6.6
Japanese labourers who went to Hawaii in the 1800s worked chiefly in which industry?Wikipedia, "Japanese in Hawaii"; course topic 6.6
Lebanese migrants in colonial economies found that European merchants often monopolized large-scale trade. Where did the newcomers find their opening?Wikipedia, "Lebanese diaspora"; course topic 6.6
What drove over a million people to emigrate from Ireland between 1845 and 1852?Wikipedia, "Great Famine (Ireland)"; course topic 6.6
Topic 6.7: Effects of migration 6
By the course framework, how did receiving societies respond to immigrants?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.4.III.C; course topic 6.7
By the course framework, migrants tended to be male. What followed for women in the societies they left?College Board, AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description, key concept KC-5.4.III.A; course topic 6.7
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States and was first meant to last 10 years. What became of it?Wikipedia, "Chinese Exclusion Act"; course topic 6.7
More than 30,000 labourers, most of them from Punjab and Gujarat, were contracted to build the Uganda Railway. What lasting effect did their arrival have?Wikipedia, "Uganda Railway"; course topic 6.7
What is a Chinatown, in the terms the course uses for the effects of migration?Wikipedia, "Chinatown"; course topic 6.7
What was the key feature of Australia's Immigration Restriction Act 1901?Wikipedia, "White Australia policy"; course topic 6.7
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to Unit 6 (Consequences of Industrialization, c. 1750 to c. 1900) 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 2026-10-14. Each fact was read on 2026-10-14 in the public page named under its question: a key concept of the course description, Captain Lugard's The Rise of Our East African Empire at the Internet Modern History Sourcebook of Fordham University, or a Wikipedia article. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents named under each question.
How it works
This AP World History Unit 6 practice test has 56 questions of our own on Consequences of Industrialization, about 1750 to 1900: imperialism, resistance and migration. It is unofficial and is not affiliated with the College Board, the owner of AP.
Read the full guide
What Unit 6 covers
The College Board's course description, effective fall 2026 and read October 14, 2026, gives Unit 6 eight topics. Seven have a set here: rationales for imperialism (6 questions), state expansion (12), indigenous responses (11), global economic development (8), economic imperialism (5), causes of migration (8) and effects of migration (6). The eighth, causation in the imperial age, is a skill practiced on the other seven. No topic is weighted in the description; the counts are ours.
Where the answers come from
Under each answer is the public page where its fact was read: a key concept of the course description, Captain Lugard's own case for empire at Fordham University, or a Wikipedia article.
For each empire note who expanded, where, and by which means: war, treaty, purchase or a company's charter.
Pair every push with a pull: famine or poverty at home, and plantation, mine or railway work abroad.
Questions and answers
What is Unit 6 in AP World History?
Consequences of Industrialization, about 1750 to 1900: why states built empires, how they expanded, how colonized peoples resisted, the export economies and economic imperialism that followed, and why people migrated and what came of it.
What should a Unit 6 study guide for AP World History cover?
Topics 6.1 to 6.8, with a named example for each: Social Darwinism, the Congo Free State, the 1857 rebellion in India, rubber or guano exports, the Opium Wars, indentured labor and the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Is Unit 6 the imperialism unit?
Yes. Topics 6.1 to 6.5 run from the rationales for empire to economic imperialism in Asia and Latin America, and topics 6.6 and 6.7 are migration. The unit stops at about 1900, where Unit 7, Global Conflict, begins.
How much of the AP World History exam is Unit 6?
Between 12 and 15%, by the College Board's course page, like Units 3, 4 and 5. The description suggests about 12 to 15 class periods, fewer than for Unit 5.
Is this the real AP World History Unit 6 test?
No. Teachers assign the College Board's Progress Check for Unit 6 in AP Classroom, about 20 multiple-choice questions by the description. Every question here was written for this page from a topic of the published outline.