History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877

About this exam

The exam spans political, social, economic, cultural and diplomatic developments across roughly three centuries. Questions ask you to place events in sequence, identify causes and consequences, and interpret short passages and occasional images from the period.

Chronology carries real weight here. A large share of questions can be answered if you know which decade something belongs to and what else was happening at the same time.

It suits students who have taken a US history course recently, and adult learners who read history for pleasure and want to convert that reading into credit.

Topic breakdown

Topic weights published by College Board.

How to study for this exam

• Build a rough timeline with anchors: 1607, 1776, 1787, 1803, 1861 and 1865. Hang everything else off those.
• For each era, learn one political conflict, one economic shift and one social change. The exam samples all three.
• Pay attention to the causes of the Civil War and to Reconstruction, which are heavily represented.
• Practise with passage-based questions, since the exam often gives you a quotation and asks who wrote it or why.

How the practice test works

• Choose all units or a single unit to focus on.
• Set the number of questions and a time limit, or practise untimed.
• Filter by difficulty to warm up or push yourself.
• Retake as many times as you like — every attempt is free.
• Your recent sessions stay on this device so you can review them.

Common questions