Dear Prospective Advanced Placement U.S. History Student:
Welcome to AP US History! If you are in receipt of this information, then you have been enrolled in AP U.S. History
for the 2017 – 2018 school year. This is a demanding, but hopefully rewarding course, which will require you to do
some preparation before you arrive in August. It is a two-semester survey of American history from the age of
exploration to the present. Solid reading and writing skills, along with a willingness to devote considerable time to
homework and study are necessary to succeed. Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay
writing, and the interpretation of primary and secondary sources. By achieving a passing score on the required AP
Exam, students can earn college credit. Additionally, students will also take the Georgia Milestone assessment at
the end of the year.
Required Materials
 Spiral Notebook
o 3-subject
o College-ruled
o 11 x 8.5
 Glue sticks
 Colored pencils
 Index cards (4 x 6)
 Post-it Notes
DO NOT write in the notebook. Set-up instructions will
be given on the first day of school
Assignments
 Watch and take notes on the following YouTube videos
o APUSH Period 1 Review – www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rSS9Y53jVI
o APUSH Period 2 Review - www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LNT1WxmqdI

Notecards
o Create a notecard for each of the terms listed below using 4x6 index cards
o On one side of the card write the term
o On the other side of the card, include the following items in the order listed below
 Date(s): for an event, include the YEAR(S) it happened; for a person, include the YEARS they
lived
 Historical Era
 Definition
 Historical Significance
Terms
Period 1 Terms (Era: Exploration) 1491 – 1607
1. Hernando Cortez
2. Encomienda
3. Conquistadors
4. Mercantilism
5. Pueblo Revolt
6. Columbian Exchange
Period 2 Terms (Era: Colonization) 1607 – 1754
1. Bacon’s Rebellion (see example on back)
2. Headright system
3. House of Burgesses
4. Navigation Acts
5. Indentured Servant
6. Virginia Company (joint-stock company)
7. John Smith
8. John Rolfe
9. Middle Passage
10. Powhatan
11. Separatists
12. Puritans
Example
Bacon’s Rebellion
Date: 1676
Historical Era: Colonial Era
Definition: Nathaniel Bacon, frustrated by being shut out of
the lucrative Indian trade by William Berkeley (royal
governor of Virginia) as well as by the lack of protection
provided to backcountry farmers, turned a large group of
landless former indentured servants against the political
and economic elite of the colony. They attacked Jamestown
and burned it to the ground.
Historical Significance: Because many indentured servants
participated in Bacon’s Rebellion, Virginia planters became
more interested in slaves as a potential source of labor.
Illustrates the class tensions between Eastern elite and
backcountry westerners. These tensions would be eased
after Bacon’s Rebellion as the Eastern elite offered more
economic and political opportunities to poor whites. Class
tensions were replaced by racial tensions.