AP US History
A comprehensive journey through American history from pre-Columbian societies to the modern era.
to track your progress through this course.
Period 1: 1491–1607
Pre-contact Native societies, European exploration, and the collisions that reshaped two hemispheres.
Everything in this unit condensed into one sheet — perfect for last-minute review.
What this unit covers
Period 1 begins before Europeans arrive and ends at the founding of Jamestown. You study the enormous diversity of Native American societies across North America, Spanish and Portuguese exploration, the Columbian Exchange, the Spanish colonial labor and caste systems (encomienda, casta), and the cultural collisions and exchanges between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans.
Why it matters on the exam
This is the smallest unit (4–6% of the exam), and contextualizing Period 1 mostly serves as setup: the environment shapes settlement patterns, and the debates over Native humanity and labor (Las Casas vs. Sepúlveda) launch themes that spiral through the whole course. Expect Period 1 content to appear as context in SAQs and as the opening move in LEQs about colonization.
How to study it
Organize by cause and effect: environment → Native social organization; European motives (God, gold, glory) → exploration; contact → Columbian Exchange → demographic catastrophe and labor demand → African slavery. Know regional Native examples by name so you can cite specific evidence, not generalities.
Topics in this unit
Community Forum
(0)No posts yet — be the first to start a discussion!