Assume that uou are an apush teacher teaching me the required content and preparing for the ap exam and I am your student. 

[Details you need to know: The Unit at a Glance table shows the topics, related thematic
focus, suggested skills, and reasoning processes for each topic.
The Class Periods column has been left blank so that teachers
can customize the time they spend on each topic.
The suggested skill for each topic shows one way teachers
can link the content in that topic to a specific AP historical
thinking skill. The individual skill has been thoughtfully chosen
in a way that helps spiral those skills throughout the course. The
questions on the Personal Progress Checks are based on this
pairing. However, AP Exam questions may pair the content with
any of the skills. FIRST AND FINAL TOPIC PAGES IN EACH UNIT
Each unit’s first and final topics include key concepts, which
summarize the historical developments in the unit.
These topics encourage the use of the key concepts
and learning objectives in the unit to develop the skills of
contextualization and argumentation. TOPIC PAGES
The suggested skill offers a possible skill to pair with the topic.
The thematic focus of the topic is the long-term takeaway that
leaves a lasting impression on students.
Where possible, available resources are listed that might
help teachers address a particular topic in their classroom.
Learning objectives define what a student should be able
to do with content knowledge in order to progress toward an
enduring understanding.
Historical development statements comprise the knowledge
required to demonstrate mastery of the learning objective.
NEW (June, 2023)
The Optional Activities pages include optional activities
that can help teachers tie together the content and skill of a
particular topic.
Additionally, Optional Sources pages offer examples of
sources appropriate for a college-level course. None of the AP
Exam questions require students to have studied these specific
sources. ]

The content in the CED:
AP U.S. HISTORY
UNIT
Period 1:
1491–1607
1
4–6%
AP EXAM WEIGHTING
~8
CLASS PERIODS
33
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 33
Remember to go to AP Classroom
to assign students the online
Personal Progress Check for
this unit.
Whether assigned as homework or
completed in class, the Personal
Progress Check provides each
student with immediate feedback
related to this unit’s topics and skills.
Personal Progress Check 1
Multiple-choice: ~15 questions
Short-answer: 2 questions
§ Primary source (partial)
§ Primary source (partial)
Free-response: 1 question
§ Long essay (partial)
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 34
Thematic
Focus
Topic
Reasoning
Process Suggested Skill
Class Periods
~8 CLASS PERIODS
1.1 Contextualizing Period 1 Continuity and
Change
4.A Identify and describe a historical
context for a specific historical
development or process.
GEO
1.2 Native American
Societies Before
European Contact
Comparison 1.A Identify a historical concept,
development, or process.
WOR
1.3 European Exploration in
the Americas
Causation 1.A Identify a historical concept,
development, or process.
GEO
1.4 Columbian Exchange,
Spanish Exploration,
and Conquest
Causation 3.A Identify and describe a claim
and/or argument in a text-based or
non-text-based source.
SOC
1.5 Labor, Slavery, and
Caste in the Spanish
Colonial System
Causation 5.A Identify patterns among or
connections between historical
developments and processes.
WOR
1.6 Cultural Interactions
Between Europeans,
Native Americans, and
Africans
Comparison 3.B Identify the evidence used in a
source to support an argument.
1.7 Causation in Period 1 Causation 6.A Make a historically defensible
claim.
Go to AP Classroom to assign the Personal Progress Check for Unit 1.
Review the results in class to identify and address any student misunderstandings.
UNIT AT A GLANCE
Period 1: 1491–1607
4–6%  AP EXAM WEIGHTING ~8 CLASS PERIODS
UNIT
1
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 35
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
TOPIC 1.1
Contextualizing
Period 1
SUGGESTED SKILL
Contextualization
4.A
Identify and describe
a historical context for
a specific historical
development or process.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective A
Explain the context for
European encounters in the
Americas from 1491 to 1607.
PREVIEW: UNIT 1 KEY CONCEPTS
KC-1.1
As native populations migrated and settled
across the vast expanse of North America over
time, they developed distinct and increasingly
complex societies by adapting to and
transforming their diverse environments.
KC-1.1.I
Different native societies adapted to and
transformed their environments through
innovations in agriculture, resource use,
and social structure.
Spend a class period helping students understand some contexts for this unit. Considering
this unit’s key concepts (previewed below), select one or two for which your students will
most need context.
To understand context, your students could examine:
§ Change from and/or continuity with preceding historical developments.
§ Similarities and/or differences with contemporaneous historical developments in different
regions or geographical areas.
Whenever possible, draw upon students’ relevant prior knowledge, and anchor this
contextualization lesson in historical source material of varying formats such as visuals,
data, or written texts, or conduct an activity that engages students in exploring context.
Required Course Content
continued on next page
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 36
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
PREVIEW: UNIT 1 KEY CONCEPTS
KC-1.2
Contact among Europeans, Native Americans,
and Africans resulted in the Columbian
Exchange and significant social, cultural,
and political changes on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean.
KC-1.2.I
European expansion into the Western
Hemisphere generated intense social,
religious, political, and economic competition
and changes within European societies.
KC-1.2.II
The Columbian Exchange and development
of the Spanish Empire in the Western
Hemisphere resulted in extensive
demographic, economic, and social changes.
KC-1.2.III
In their interactions, Europeans and Native
Americans asserted divergent worldviews
regarding issues such as religion, gender
roles, family, land use, and power.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective A
Explain the context for
European encounters in the
Americas from 1491 to 1607.
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 37
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
Introducing Historical Context
This activity introduces students to a conceptual understanding of historical context. For
reference, please see the definition of contextualization in the Course and Exam Description.
 Duration: ~20 mins
Sequence: Start of lesson
1. Begin by explaining that context is much like the set of a play or movie. Ask students
to imagine watching their favorite movie with the actors performing the entire script
in front of a plain white background. Note that while it would be possible to follow
the story, it would be more difficult to fully understand. Historical context is similar to
the set or background in a movie in that it provides a broader understanding of the
historical developments under consideration by taking into account other political,
economic, cultural, or social developments that helped shape the period.
2. Textbooks generally start with an introduction to each unit that “sets the stage” for the
period. Organize students into small groups and ask them to read the introduction to
each unit in this period from their textbook.
3. Ask students to discuss the introductions and summarize the history of the period from
1491 to 1607 in a brief statement. For example they might characterize this period as
an age of discovery or an age of dramatic change. Then ask students to complete the
following sentence frame.
§ This period in history is an age of __________________________________________
because ___________________________________________________________________.
Conclude the activity with a class debrief that concentrates on what is meant by placing
events in historical context. Discuss how the introduction in the textbook “sets the stage” for
the information in the unit by providing background information and a broad overview of the
period.
TOPIC 1.1
Contextualizing
Period 1
SUGGESTED SKILL
Contextualization
4.A
Identify and describe
a historical context for
a specific historical
development or process.
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 38
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
THEMATIC FOCUS
Geography and the Environment GEO
Geographic and environmental factors, including competition over and debates
about natural resources, shape the development of America and foster regional
diversity. The development of America impacts the environment and reshapes
geography, which leads to debates about environmental and geographic issues.
TOPIC 1.2
Native American
Societies Before
European Contact
SUGGESTED SKILL
Developments
and Processes
1.A
Identify a historical
concept, development,
or process.
AVAILABLE RESOURCE
§ Professional
Development
> Teaching and
Assessing Module—
Period 1: 1491–1607,
Focus on Research
“Native North America:
A Place of History”
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective B
Explain how and why various
native populations in the
period before European
contact interacted with
the natural environment in
North America.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
KC-1.1.I.A
The spread of maize cultivation from presentday Mexico northward into the present-day
American Southwest and beyond supported
economic development, settlement,
advanced irrigation, and social diversification
among societies.
KC-1.1.I.B
Societies responded to the aridity of the Great
Basin and the grasslands of the western Great
Plains by developing largely mobile lifestyles.
KC-1.1.I.C
In the Northeast, the Mississippi River Valley,
and along the Atlantic seaboard, some
societies developed mixed agricultural and
hunter-gatherer economies that favored the
development of permanent villages.
KC-1.1.I.D
Societies in the Northwest and present-day
California supported themselves by hunting
and gathering, and in some areas developed
settled communities supported by the vast
resources of the ocean.
Required Course Content
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 39
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL SOURCES
Teachers have the flexibility to include in their syllabus primary and secondary sources that
align with local standards and priorities. The following optional sources and activity are not
required AP course content, but are instead simply examples of sources appropriate for a
college-level course. None of the AP Exam questions require students to have studied these
specific sources. These sources represent a variety of persons and perspectives relevant to
U.S. history, rather than an endorsement of their ideas or values. AP students are not asked to
affiliate themselves with the cultural or political values in these sources, but instead to analyze
such documents for the historical information they can yield.
TOPIC 1.2
Native American
Societies Before
European Contact
Examples and Sources
KC-1.1.I.A
Maize cultivating societies:
§ Hohokam: “The Hohokam,” Arizona Museum of Natural History, 2021,
arizonamuseumofnaturalhistory.org. This online exhibit includes a collection of
archaeological artifacts and accompanying descriptions and interpretations.
§ Pueblo: The Journey of Coronado, 1540–1542, trans. and ed. George Parker Winship
(New York, 1904), pp. 37–42. This narrative includes the earliest recorded description of
Acoma Pueblo, the oldest continually inhabited community in North America.
KC-1.1.I.B
Societies of the Great Basin and Great Plains:
§ Apache: “True Account of the Expedition of Onate toward the East, 1601,” in Spanish
Exploration in the Southwest, 1542–1706, ed. Herbert Eugene Bolton (New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1916), pp. 252–53. Contains the earliest documentary account of the
Apaches.
§ Shoshone: Rebecca Hein, “The Mountain Shoshone,” WyoHist.org. This article about the
Mountain Shoshone highlights recent archaeological finds.
§ Ute: David Rich Lewis, “Ute Indians - Northern,” Utah History Encyclopedia. This article
discusses the Utes’ adaptations to the environments of the Great Basin and Rocky
Mountains. Suggested excerpt: the first three paragraphs.
KC-1.1.I.C
Societies of the Northeast, Mississippi River Valley, and Atlantic seaboard:
§ Delaware/Lenape: Walter Licht, et al., “The Original People and Their Land: The Lenape,
Pre-History to the 18th Century,” West Philadelphia Collaborative History. This article
highlights both Lenape seasonal mobility and fixed agricultural settlements. Suggested
excerpt: the “Lenape Culture” section.
§ Secotan: John White, watercolors and of Indigenous people around Roanoke colony,
1585–1587, British Museum or Theodor Debry, engravings of the Indigenous people
around Roanoke colony, 1590, John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. These
images capture many aspects of Algonquian life on the eve of colonial contact.
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 40
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
§ Haudenosaunee (Iroquois): “Iroquois Creation Story, 1816,” in The Journal of Major
John Norton, 1816, ed. Carl F. Klinck and James J. Talman, (Toronto: Champlain Society,
1970), pp. 88–91. While this version of the Haudenosaunee creation story dates from
the 19th century, it reflects earlier traditions, providing a look at belief systems among
the Haudenosaunee before the arrival of Europeans.
KC-1.1.I.D
Societies of the Northwest and California:
§ Aleuts: Charles Martinson, “Unangan/Aleut Culture,” unimak.us. Martinson provides an
ethnological and early historical discussion of Aleut people. Suggested excerpt: the
section titled “Culture of the Unangan People.”
§ Chinook: Kenneth M. Ames, Cameron M. Smith, William L. Cornett, and Elizabeth A.
Sobel, “Chinook Culture,” The Virtual Meier Site, web.pdx.edu/~b5cs/virtualmeier
/society.html. This ethnological and early historical account of the Chinook people
comes from “Archaeological Investigations (1991–1996) at 45Cl1 (Cathlapotle), Clark
County, Washington.” This report includes writings by archaeologists and primary
source readings.
§ Tlingit: “Tlingit Exhibition,” American Museum of Natural History, www.amnh.org/
exhibitions/permanent/northwest-coast/tlingit. This is a digital exhibit drawn from the
museum’s collections of Tlingit material culture.
TOPIC 1.2
Native American
Societies Before
European Contact
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 41
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
Create Representations
Students create a map to demonstrate the diversity of the Indigenous societies of North
America. Provide students with access to one suggested optional source from each
geographic region for this activity.
 Durations: ~40 mins
Sequence: Anytime
1. For homework, ask students to read the sections in their textbook about Indigenous
societies before European arrival. In class, give students a blank physical map of North
America.
2. On the map, ask students to identify one society for each of the following geographical
regions:
a. Southwest
b. Great Basin and Great Plains
c. Northeast, Mississippi River Valley, and Atlantic Seaboard
d. Northwest and California
3. Ask students to describe two characteristics about the environments of their selected
societies using the notes taken from reading their textbook. Allow students to reference
their textbook and/or the internet in class if they are missing information about any of
the regions.
4. Ask students to read or view one source about each of the regions and identify
examples of the societies’ interaction with the environment on their map.
To conclude, ask at least one student to share for each region so their classmates can
add more notes to their map. During this share-out emphasize the diversity of Indigenous
societies and their environments. This representation in a visual form can serve as a quick way
to review this information.
TOPIC 1.2
Native American
Societies Before
European Contact
SUGGESTED SKILL
Development and
Processes
1.A
Identify a historical
concept, development, or
process.
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 42
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective C
Explain the causes of
exploration and conquest
of the New World by various
European nations.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
KC-1.2.I.A
European nations’ efforts to explore and
conquer the New World stemmed from a
search for new sources of wealth, economic
and military competition, and a desire to
spread Christianity.
THEMATIC FOCUS
America in the World WOR
Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations,
and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly
important role in the world.
TOPIC 1.3
European Exploration
in the Americas
SUGGESTED SKILL
Developments
and Processes
1.A
Identify a historical
concept, development,
or process.
Required Course Content
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 43
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL SOURCES
Teachers have the flexibility to include in their syllabus primary and secondary sources that
align with local standards and priorities. The following optional sources and activity are not
required AP course content, but are instead simply examples of sources appropriate for a
college-level course. None of the AP Exam questions require students to have studied these
specific sources. These sources represent a variety of persons and perspectives relevant to
U.S. history, rather than an endorsement of their ideas or values. AP students are not asked to
affiliate themselves with the cultural or political values in these sources, but instead to analyze
such documents for the historical information they can yield.
TOPIC 1.3
European
Exploration in
the Americas
Examples and Sources
KC-1.2.I.A
Motivation for exploration and conquest:
§ Christopher Columbus: Christopher Columbus, letter to Luis de St. Angel from his
first voyage to the Americas, 1493. In this letter, published soon after Columbus’s
return to Spain in 1493, he recounts his first impressions of Caribbean islands.
§ Samuel de Champlain: Samuel de Champlain, “To the Queen Regent,” in Voyages of
Samuel de Champlain, 1604–1618, ed. W. L. Grant (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,
1907), p. 17. In this letter, Champlain summarizes his rationale for exploration.
§ Richard Hakluyt: Richard Hakluyt, A Discourse Concerning Western Planting (1584).
Hakluyt lays out 23 broad reasons why Queen Elizabeth I should establish colonies in the
Americas. Suggested excerpt: simply the titles alone of chapters one through nineteen
provide a effective overview and summary.
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 44
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
Identifying Historical Causation
Students use Richard Hakluyt’s writing to identify Great Britain’s rationale for exploration and
conquest.
 Duration: ~15 mins
Sequence: Anytime
1. While this document contains 23 reasons for Queen Elizabeth I to establish colonies in
the New World, ask students to focus on the first 10 reasons Hakluyt provides.
2. Give students the following broad reasons for European exploration listed in the Course
Framework: wealth, military competition, and the desire to spread Christianity.
3. Ask students to highlight excerpts that illustrate when Hakluyt describes any of
the three reasons– wealth, military competition, and desire to spread Christianity –
mentioned above. If possible, instruct students to use different highlighter colors to
identify their findings.
Conclude the activity by guiding students through a discussion that addresses where in the
document students located historical causes of exploration and conquest.
TOPIC 1.3
European
Exploration in
the Americas
SUGGESTED SKILL
Developments and
Processes
1.A
Identify a historical
concept, development, or
process.
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 45
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
THEMATIC FOCUS
Geography and the Environment GEO
Geographic and environmental factors, including competition over and debates
about natural resources, shape the development of America and foster regional
diversity. The development of America impacts the environment and reshapes
geography, which leads to debates about environmental and geographic issues.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective D
Explain causes of the
Columbian Exchange and
its effect on Europe and the
Americas during the period
after 1492.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
KC-1.2.I.B
The Columbian Exchange brought new crops
to Europe from the Americas, stimulating
European population growth, and new sources
of mineral wealth, which facilitated the
European shift from feudalism to capitalism.
KC-1.2.I.C
Improvements in maritime technology and
more organized methods for conducting
international trade, such as joint-stock
companies, helped drive changes to
economies in Europe and the Americas.
KC-1.2.II.A
Spanish exploration and conquest of the
Americas were accompanied and furthered by
widespread deadly epidemics that devastated
native populations and by the introduction of
crops and animals not found in the Americas.
TOPIC 1.4
Columbian Exchange,
Spanish Exploration,
and Conquest
SUGGESTED SKILL
Claims and
Evidence in Sources
3.A
Identify and describe
a claim and/or argument
in a text-based or
non-text-based source.
Required Course Content
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 46
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL SOURCES
Teachers have the flexibility to include in their syllabus primary and secondary sources that
align with local standards and priorities. The following optional sources and activity are not
required AP course content, but are instead simply examples of sources appropriate for a
college-level course. None of the AP Exam questions require students to have studied these
specific sources. These sources represent a variety of persons and perspectives relevant to
U.S. history, rather than an endorsement of their ideas or values. AP students are not asked to
affiliate themselves with the cultural or political values in these sources, but instead to analyze
such documents for the historical information they can yield.
Examples and Sources
KC-1.2.I.B
New crops and mineral wealth to Europe:
§ Potato: Charles C. Mann, “How the Potato Changed the World,” Smithsonian Magazine,
(November 2011). In this article, Mann highlights the global impact of the spread of the
potato. Suggested excerpt: the first six paragraphs.
§ Potosí: Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa, Compendium and Description of the West Indies,
(c. 1620). Espinosa describes the labor of enslaved Indigenous people in the silver mines
of Potosi. Suggested excerpt: multiple selections from this volume are available online.
KC-1.2.I.C
Improvements in maritime technology:
§ Caravel: George Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Lisbona,” in Civitates Orbis Terrarum,
(1572). This image of Lisbon, Portugal, shows the lateen (or triangular) sails on caravels,
which the Portuguese developed to allow ships to travel the Atlantic at greater speeds
and distances than earlier vessels with a single square sail.
§ Magnetic compass: Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean: A Life of Christopher
Columbus (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1942), pp. 187–189. Morison describes the
impact of the magnetic compass on early modern sailing.
KC-1.2.II.A
Epidemics:
§ Crowd Diseases: Alan Taylor, American Colonies: The Settling of North America (New
York: Penguin, 2001), pp. 39–43. Taylor describes how the, densely populated urban
centers of Europe bred highly contagious “crowd diseases,” and why Indigenous
populations in the Americas were vulnerable to these diseases.
§ Smallpox: William Bradford, Of Plimoth Plantation, (1606–1646). The 1634 entry of book
two includes an account of a smallpox epidemic among the Indigenous population of
southern New England in 1633–34. Suggested excerpt: the section titled “Sickness
Among the Natives.”
TOPIC 1.4
Columbian
Exchange,
Spanish
Exploration,
and Conquest
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 47
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
KC-1.2.II.A
Crops and animals introduced to the Americas:
§ Cattle: Lion Gardener, “His Relation of the Pequot Warres, June 12, 1660,” in Collections
of the Massachusetts Historical Society, third series, volume 3 (Cambridge: E.W. Metcalf
and Company, 1833), p. 154. Gardener quotes the Narragansett Sachem Miantonomi’s
call for Indigenous people to unite against colonial encroachment, including trespass
and damage by cattle and other livestock.
§ Horses: “Lienzo de Tlaxcala,” ca. 1550, New Mexico Digital Collections, University of
New Mexico Library. Created in the mid-sixteenth century, the Lienzo de Tlaxcala depicts
the conquest of the Aztec Empire by Hernan Cortès. Note the prevalence of Spanish
soldiers on horseback.
§ Pigs: Virginia General Assembly, “Act CXXXVIII Concerning the Indians,” March 1662.
This is a Virginia law to prevent Indigenous people from killing English hogs and other
livestock.
§ Wheat: Bill Pensack, “Colonial Pennsylvania Mills,” One-Minute Essays. The
accompanying map visualizes the economic impact of wheat, from personal
consumption, to milling, to barreling, to trade.
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 48
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
Discussion
Students explore the impact of the Columbian Exchange by identifying and describing the
arguments made by historians in the suggested secondary sources treating potatoes, crowd
disease and wheat.
 Duration: ~30 mins
Sequence: Anytime
1. Ask students to read/review the section in their textbook about the Columbian
Exchange. Start by providing an overview of the Columbian Exchange including a map
with the main crops, animals, diseases, and sources of mineral wealth associated with
this topic.
2. Next, ask them to identify one example for each of the following categories.
a. Most significant crop introduced to Europe (e.g. potato)
b. Most significant disease introduced to the Americas (e.g. smallpox)
c. Most significant animal introduced to the Americas (e.g. horses)
3. Then, assign each student one of the three secondary sources suggested for this
topic (potato, crowd disease, or wheat). Ask students to read their assigned secondary
source and describe the author’s argument in a few sentences.
Conclude by asking a few students to share their descriptions of the authors’ arguments. In
a whole class discussion, ask students to reconsider their list from step 2. How does their list
compare to the arguments made by the authors of each source?
TOPIC 1.4
Columbian
Exchange,
Spanish
Exploration,
and Conquest
SUGGESTED SKILL
Claims and
Evidence in Sources
3.A
Identify and describe a
claim and/or argument in
a text-based or non-textbased source.
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© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 49
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
THEMATIC FOCUS
Social Structures SOC
Social categories, roles, and practices are created, maintained, challenged, and
transformed throughout American history, shaping government policy, economic
systems, culture, and the lives of citizens.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective E
Explain how the growth
of the Spanish Empire in
North America shaped
the development of social
and economic structures
over time.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
KC-1.2.II.B
In the encomienda system, Spanish colonial
economies marshaled Native American labor
to support plantation-based agriculture and
extract precious metals and other resources.
KC-1.2.II.C
European traders partnered with some West
African groups who practiced slavery to forcibly
extract enslaved laborers for the Americas. The
Spanish imported enslaved Africans to labor in
plantation agriculture and mining.
KC-1.2.II.D
The Spanish developed a caste system that
incorporated, and carefully defined the status
of, the diverse population of Europeans,
Africans, and Native Americans in their empire.
TOPIC 1.5
Labor, Slavery, and
Caste in the Spanish
Colonial System
SUGGESTED SKILL
Making Connections
5.A
Identify patterns among
or connections between
historical developments
and processes.
AVAILABLE RESOURCE
§ Professional
Development
> Teaching and
Assessing Module—
Period 1: 1491–1607,
Focus on Research
“Spanish Colonialism”
Required Course Content
Return to Table of Contents
© 2020 College Board
AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 50
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL SOURCES
Teachers have the flexibility to include in their syllabus primary and secondary sources that
align with local standards and priorities. The following optional sources and activity are not
required AP course content, but are instead simply examples of sources appropriate for a
college-level course. None of the AP Exam questions require students to have studied these
specific sources. These sources represent a variety of persons and perspectives relevant to
U.S. history, rather than an endorsement of their ideas or values. AP students are not asked to
affiliate themselves with the cultural or political values in these sources, but instead to analyze
such documents for the historical information they can yield.
Examples and Sources
KC-1.2.II.B
Encomienda System
§ Directory of Confessors: “Directorio Para Confesores: ‘Lords Who Hold Temporal
Government Over Vassals,’ (Mexico, 1585),” in Colonial Lives Documents on Latin
American History, 1550–1850, ed. Richard Boyer and Geoffrey Spurling (New York:
Oxford, 2000), pp. 35–36. This document, a training exercise for priests, addresses the
relationship between encomenderos and Indigenous people.
KC-1.2.II.C
Slave Trade
§ Portugal: “Extracts from a letter of Dom João III to the king of Kongo,“ in The
Portuguese in West Africa, 1415–1670, ed. Malyn Newitt (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2010), pp. 152–153. In this letter, the king of Portugal discusses the
export of enslaved people from Africa.
KC-1.2.II.D
Incorporation of diverse populations:
§ Requerimiento: Juan López de Palacios Rubios, “El Requerimiento,” (1513). This
Spanish document was designed to be read in Spanish to the Indigenous people of the
Americas.
TOPIC 1.5
Labor, Slavery,
and Caste in
the Spanish
Colonial System
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 51
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
Making Connections
Students will read El Requerimiento by Juan López de Palacios Rubios and identify relevant
connections between this source and the encomienda and caste systems.
 Duration: ~30 mins
Sequence: Anytime
1. As preparation for this activity, ask students to read the section in their textbook
about social structures in Spanish Colonial America and have them define the terms
encomienda and caste system.
2. Organize students in pairs. Ask them to review their homework and identify a relevant
connection to the source after reading it in class. Provide the following questions to
help students get started.
§ Are there any parts in the source that are connected to the encomienda system?
§ Are there any parts in the source that are connected to the caste system?
§ What evidence can you provide from your homework assignment to support either
connection?
§ What makes these connections relevant?
If you would like to extend this activity, point out that the next topic will discuss “divergent
worldviews” and provide students with a definition. Then ask students:
§ How does this source demonstrate divergent worldviews of the Spanish and Indigenous
peoples?
Close this activity with a debrief that emphasizes how social structures and economic
systems relate to the El Requerimiento.
TOPIC 1.5
Labor, Slavery,
and Caste in
the Spanish
Colonial System
SUGGESTED SKILL
Making Connections
5.A
Identify patterns among
or connections between
historical developments
and processes.
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 52
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
THEMATIC FOCUS
America in the World WOR
Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations,
and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly
important role in the world.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective F
Explain how and why
European and Native
American perspectives
of others developed and
changed in the period.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
KC-1.2.III
In their interactions, Europeans and Native
Americans asserted divergent worldviews
regarding issues such as religion, gender roles,
family, land use, and power.
KC-1.2.III.A
Mutual misunderstandings between Europeans
and Native Americans often defined the early
years of interaction and trade as each group
sought to make sense of the other. Over time,
Europeans and Native Americans adopted
some useful aspects of each other’s culture.
KC-1.2.III.B
As European encroachments on Native
Americans’ lands and demands on their labor
increased, native peoples sought to defend
and maintain their political sovereignty,
economic prosperity, religious beliefs,
and concepts of gender relations through
diplomatic negotiations and military resistance.
Required Course Content
TOPIC 1.6
Cultural Interactions
Between Europeans,
Native Americans,
and Africans
SUGGESTED SKILL
Claims and
Evidence in Sources
3.B
Identify the evidence used
in a source to support
an argument.
AVAILABLE RESOURCES
§ Classroom Resources
> White–Native
American Contact in
Early American History
§ Classroom Resources
> Lesson Plans for
AP U.S. History:
English–Indian
Encounters
§ Professional
Development
> Teaching and
Assessing Module—
Period 1: 1491–1607,
Focus on Research
“Encounters and
Contingency”
continued on next page
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 53
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
KC-1.2.III.C
Extended contact with Native Americans and
Africans fostered a debate among European
religious and political leaders about how
non-Europeans should be treated, as well
as evolving religious, cultural, and racial
justifications for the subjugation of Africans and
Native Americans.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective F
Explain how and why
European and Native
American perspectives
of others developed and
changed in the period.
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 54
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL SOURCES
Teachers have the flexibility to include in their syllabus primary and secondary sources that
align with local standards and priorities. The following optional sources and activity are not
required AP course content, but are instead simply examples of sources appropriate for a
college-level course. None of the AP Exam questions require students to have studied these
specific sources. These sources represent a variety of persons and perspectives relevant to
U.S. history, rather than an endorsement of their ideas or values. AP students are not asked to
affiliate themselves with the cultural or political values in these sources, but instead to analyze
such documents for the historical information they can yield.
Examples and Sources
KC-1.2.III
Divergent worldviews:
§ Doctrine of Discovery: John Winthrop, General Observations, May 1629, Higginson
Copy, Massachusetts Historical Society. As leader of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony, Winthrop asserts that Christians have the right to take land from people they
determined to be “savages.” Suggested excerpt: Objection 5.
§ Matrilineage: Jan V. Noel, “Revisiting Gender in Iroquoia,” in Gender and Sexuality
in Indigenous North America, 1400–1850, ed. Sandra Slater and Fay A. Yarbrough
(Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2011), pp. 69–70. The conclusion to
Noel’s essay provides a summary of recent scholarship related to the role of women in
Haudenosaunee society.
§ Nomadism: Nicolas Denys, The Description and Natural History of the Coasts of North
America (Acadia), ed. and trans. William F. Ganong (Toronto: The Champlain Society,
1908), pp. 405–406, 419–20, 422–24, 426–33. These pages describe nomadic life
among Indigenous hunter-gathers in what is now northern Maine and the Canadian
Maritimes, as told by a French colonist.
§ Gender roles: Reuben Gold Thwaites, ed., The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents:
Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610–1791, 73 vols.
(Cleveland, 1896–1901), Vol. 59, p. 129. In this account, a Jesuit missionary describes
gender roles among the Illinois in New France.
KC-1.2.III.B
Indigenous military resistance:
§ Cupul Uprising: Nancy M. Farriss, Maya Society under Colonial Rule: The Collective
Enterprise of Survival (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. 22–23. Farriss
compares the reaction of several Indigenous communities to the arrival of the Spanish.
§ Mixton War: “Lienzo de Tlaxcala,” c. 1550. This multi-panel illustration tells the story of
the conquest of Mexico from the perspective of the Tlaxcalans, an enemy of the Aztec.
Lienza 58, “Xochiphilla” depicts Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and the Tlaxcalans battling
with the Caxcanes in the Mixtón War, providing an Indigenous artist’s depiction of the
battle.
§ Taino Rebellion: Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim, Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History
from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900, (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1998),
pp. 44–46. Chapter 3 summarizes Taino resistance in the context of the encomienda
system and the African slave trade.
TOPIC 1.6
Cultural
Interactions
Between
Europeans, Native
Americans,
and Africans
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Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
KC-1.2.III.C
Debates among Europeans about how non-Europeans should be treated:
§ Bartolomé de las Casas: Bartolomé de las Casas, “A Brief Account of the Destruction
of the Indies” (1542). Bartolomé de las Casas provides an account of the Spanish
treatment Indigenous people. Suggested excerpt: the section titled “The Cruelties of the
Spaniards Committed in America.”.
§ Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda: Juan Ginés de Sepulveda, Second Democrates, or On
the Just Cause of War Against the Indians (1547). The primary Spanish opponent of
de las Casas in the debate over Spanish treatment of Indigenous people, Sepulveda
argued that the Indigenous inhabitants of Spain’s empire were naturally fit for conquest
and enslavement. Suggested excerpt: several websites include short excerpts of this
document that are abridged for classroom use; select one that includes a comparison of
the Spanish and Indigenous societies.
§ New Laws of 1542: Henry Stevens (Jr. ), The New Laws of the Indies for the Good
Treatment and Preservation of the Indians (London: Chiswick Press, 1893), pp. xii–xiv.
Partly due to the influence of Catholic figures such as de las Casas and partly out of
a desire to diminish the power and sovereignty of his increasingly wealthy subjects
in the New World, Charles V abolished the enslavement of Indigenous people via the
New Laws of 1542. Suggested excerpt: the pages of this book are numbered in two
sequences of Roman numerals; pages xii–xiv of the second set of Roman numerals.
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Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
Identifying Historical Evidence
Students develop a process for analyzing an author’s argument. Provide each student with a
copy of the excerpt from Nancy M. Farriss’s Mayan Society under Colonial Rule on the Cupul
Uprising and complete each of the steps listed below for this source.
 Duration: ~30 mins
Sequence: Anytime
1. Ask students to read the source and think about what the author is trying to explain.
§ What do you think the passage is about?
§ Describe what the passage is about in a few of your own words in the margin next to
the passage.
2. Direct students to look at the source again and consider the author’s claims.
§ Can you identify where the author has made their points or claims clearly in one
place?
§	Underline the place where you see the main points or claims written in the passage.
3. Ask students to think about the author’s reasoning.
§ Does the author give any reasons for making the claims?
§ What reasons does the author include for why they are making their claims or why
they think they are right?
§ Put parentheses around any of the author’s reasons for making their claims.
4. Ask students to look for evidence in the source.
§ Does this passage include any evidence that supports the claims? What ‘proof’ does
the author include to show their claims is a strong one?
§ Circle any evidence that you think supports the author’s claims.
§ Draw an arrow from each piece of evidence you circled to the claim it supports.
Review the students’ work to confirm that they are able to identify claims, reasoning, and
evidence in the source. Emphasize that their ability to effectively analyze and understand
arguments is important for history class and a wide range of academic and real world
situations.
TOPIC 1.6
Cultural
Interactions
Between
Europeans, Native
Americans,
and Africans
SUGGESTED SKILL
Claims and
Evidence in Sources
3.B
Identify the evidence used
in a source to support an
argument.
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Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective G
Explain the effects of the
development of transatlantic
voyages from 1491 to 1607.
REVIEW: UNIT 1 KEY CONCEPTS
KC-1.1
As native populations migrated and settled
across the vast expanse of North America over
time, they developed distinct and increasingly
complex societies by adapting to and
transforming their diverse environments.
KC-1.1.I
Different native societies adapted to and
transformed their environments through
innovations in agriculture, resource use,
and social structure.
TOPIC 1.7
Causation in Period 1
SUGGESTED SKILL
Argumentation
6.A
Make a historically
defensible claim.
AVAILABLE RESOURCE
§ External Resource
> Gilder Lehrman
Institute’s AP U.S.
History Study Guide
The final topic in this unit focuses on the skill of argumentation and so provides an
opportunity for your students to draw upon the key concepts and historical developments
they have studied in this unit. Using evidence relevant to this unit’s key concepts, students
should practice the suggested skill for this topic.
Required Course Content
continued on next page
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Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
REVIEW: UNIT 1 KEY CONCEPTS
KC-1.2
Contact among Europeans, Native Americans,
and Africans resulted in the Columbian
Exchange and significant social, cultural,
and political changes on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean.
KC-1.2.I
European expansion into the Western
Hemisphere generated intense social,
religious, political, and economic competition
and changes within European societies.
KC-1.2.II
The Columbian Exchange and development
of the Spanish Empire in the Western
Hemisphere resulted in extensive
demographic, economic, and social changes.
KC-1.2.III
In their interactions, Europeans and Native
Americans asserted divergent worldviews
regarding issues such as religion, gender
roles, family, land use, and power.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Unit 1: Learning Objective G
Explain the effects of the
development of transatlantic
voyages from 1491 to 1607.
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AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description Course Framework V.1 | 59
Period 1: 1491–1607
UNIT
1
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
Guided Discussion
Students review historical developments from Period 1 and use this knowledge to develop a
claim or thesis statement.
 Duration: ~30 mins
Sequence: Anytime
1. Display the learning objective for this topic, “Explain the effects of the development
of transatlantic voyages from 1491 to 1607.” Lead a whole class brainstorm by asking
students to look back at their notes and call out effects of the voyages of the Spanish
to the Americas. Record their responses on the left side of the board.
2. List the eight AP U.S. History Themes across the top of the right side of the board (page
21 of the Course and Exam Description). Ask individual students to come to the board
and move one of the effects from the left to the appropriate theme on the right. Then
ask them to briefly explain why they chose this theme. Continue until all of the effects
are sorted under a theme. As students sort the effects, note that some themes are
more relevant than others in this period.
3. Ask students to write down the five effects that they feel are most important. Ask
several students to share and lead a class discussion. Circle the five effects that most
students agreed were important.
4. Based on the results of step 3, ask students to decide which theme was most impacted
by transatlantic voyages. Now guide students in writing a claim or thesis statement that
does the following.
§ Write a sentence that identifies which theme was most impacted by the transatlantic
voyages.
§ Write a second sentence that provides a few examples of the impact of this theme.
Ask a few students to share. If they are struggling, provide a model like this. “The transatlantic
voyages of the Europeans most affected the environment of America. For example, the
Columbian Exchange introduced new diseases and animals.” Close by explaining how a clear
thesis statement helps readers understand historical arguments.
TOPIC 1.7
Causation in
Period 1
SUGGESTED SKILL
Argumentation
6.A
Make a historically
defensible claim.
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