AP U.S. History Practice Questions

Work through these APUSH multiple-choice practice questions to test your exam readiness.

AP U.S. History Free Practice Question #1

“At the time the first Europeans arrived, the Indians of the Great Plains between the Rocky Mountains and the forested areas bordering on the Mississippi lived partly by corn culture but mostly by the buffalo on foot with bow and arrow. Although Europeans regarded all Indians as nomads (a convenient excuse for denying them the land they occupied), only the Plains Indian really were nomadic. Even they did not become so until about A.D. 1550, when they began to break wild mustangs, offspring of European horses turned loose by the Spaniards.”

—”The Oxford History of the American People” by Samuel Eliot Morison, Oxford University Press, New York City, 1965

The excerpt suggests that Europeans used the lifestyle of American Indian tribes to justify

A. warfare and eradication of the native population

B. the creation of an extensive trade network

C. expansion into native lands

D. the creation of the encomienda system

Answer 1

C: American Indian tribes believed that groups collectively possessed the lands to farm and hunt. In fact, their culture had no concept of the private ownership of land by individuals. In contrast, Europeans valued land as a possession owned by an individual or a family, and they regarded land as a source of wealth. It was convenient for Europeans to assume that nomadic tribes did not claim ownership of any land; (C) is correct. Europeans often took over native lands without eradicating their native population, making (A) incorrect. (B) is incorrect because trade networks were not relevant to enforcing the concept of land ownership. The Spanish encomienda system, in which the Spanish crown granted the colonists the right to use native labor to develop an area of land, was not operational in the territory of the Great Plains tribes, making (D) incorrect.

AP U.S. History Free Practice Question #2

ARTICLE 2. His Majesty consents to withdraw all his troops and garrisons from all posts and places within the boundary lines assigned by the treaty of peace to the United States. The evacuation is to take place on or before the 1st of June, 1796. All settlers in those parts to enjoy private property rights and become citizens of the United States in one year unless allegiance is declared to His Britannic Majesty.

ARTICLE 6. Gives to British subjects the power of recovering debts due to them by American citizens previous to the treaty of peace; which debts have not been recovered hitherto, on account of some legal impediments. The United States agree to make full and complete compensation to the creditors who have suffered by those impediments. The amount of the losses and damages is to be ascertained by five commissioners — two to be appointed by Great Britain, two by the President of the United States, and one by the other four.”

Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation (Jay’s Treaty), 1794

One of the major terms of Jay’s Treaty was that the British wouldA. could not guarantee that British debts that existed before the war would be paid
A. remove troops and garrisons from American homes and buildings
B. repay debts they had collected fromAmericans after the war
C. remove British soldiers from forts in American territories according to the Treaty of Paris
D. evacuate British citizens from the Northwest territory

Answer 2

B: With the commercial relationship between English and American merchants intertwined before the Revolution, many English merchants were still owed money by Americans. The government agreed to consume these debts and pay them to the British in exchange for the British meeting the terms of the treaty. Choice (B) is thus correct.

AP U.S. History Free Practice Question #3

Refer to the following text:

1.1 “Resolved, That such laws as conflict, in any way, with the true and substantial happiness of woman, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and of no validity; for this is superior in obligation to any other.

Resolved, That all laws which prevent woman from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of no force or authority.

Resolved, That woman is man’s equal—was intended to be so by the Creator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized as such.

Resolved, That the women of this country ought to be enlightened in regard to the laws under which they live, that they may no longer publish their degradation, by declaring themselves satisfied with their present position, nor their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they want.

Resolved, That inasmuch as man, while claiming for himself intellectual superiority, does accord to woman moral superiority, it is pre-eminently his duty to encourage her to speak, and teach, as she has an opportunity, in all religious assemblies.”

——Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, 1848

Based on the text, the main purpose of the Seneca Falls convention was to

A. declare the right to vote for women in the Northern states

B. advocate the education of women through establishing all-female colleges

C. assert the rights of women as equals to men morally, socially, and politically

D. demand that the word women be added to the Declaration of Independence along with the word men

Answer 3

C: The Seneca Falls Convention was called for women to assert their rights. They believed they should have equal rights, and many were fighting against the “cult of domesticity,” which declared that a woman’s place was in the home. Choice (C) is therefore correct.

AP U.S. History Free Practice Question #4

The alignment of free and slaves states shown on the map in the quiz above directly led to
A. the passage of the Northwest Ordinance
B. the formation of the Republican Party
C. repudiation of Manifest Destiny
D. an increase in nativist sentiment

Answer 4

B: Increasing tension over the possible expansion of slavery into the Kansas and Nebraska territories, due to the popular sovereignty provision in the Kansas-Nebraska Act, led to a major party realignment in the mid-1850s, including the creation of the Republican party. Choice (B) is correct.

AP U.S. History Free Practice Question #5

“The President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister . . . met together . . . [and] make known . . . their hopes for a better future . . .

First, their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other;

Second, . . . no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples . . . ;

Third, . . . the right of all peoples to choose [their] form of government . . . ;

Fourth, . . . access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world . . . ;

Fifth, . . . the fullest [economic] collaboration between all nations . . . ;

Sixth, after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, . . . freedom from fear and want;

Seventh, . . . traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance;

Eighth, . . . the establishment of a . . . permanent system of general security, [and] disarmament . . . ”

—The Atlantic Charter, 1941

The ideas expressed in the passage most directly reflect which of the following continuities in United States history?

A. The impact migration and population patterns had on American life

B. The impact changes in transportation and technology had on American society

C. The difficulty of maintaining a balance between liberty and order

D. The difficulty of finding acceptable ways to pursue international and domestic goals

Answer 5

D: While the Atlantic Charter established an idealized set of world goals, the decision to act on those goals involved complex questions of federal policy, public opinion, and the economic resources necessary to achieve public policy goals at home and abroad. (D) is correct. (A) and (B) are incorrect because neither address the international affairs of the United States. While the Atlantic Charter outlined Roosevelt and Churchill’s intention to ensure the liberty of men, (C) is incorrect because it did not directly lead to difficulty maintaining a balance between liberty and order in the United States.

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APUSH Quiz 2