AP®︎ US History Unit 5: Notes & Study Guide
Prepare for your quiz, test, or the AP exam with a comprehensive review on Unit 5 of AP US History – Period 5 (1844–1877).
Unit 5: Period 5 (1844–1877)
This unit traces the expansion of U.S. territory, the growing sectional conflict over slavery, and the Civil War. It also examines the successes and failures of Reconstruction and efforts to rebuild the South and redefine citizenship.
Begin with Topic 5.1: Contextualizing Period 5To review Unit 5, go through each of the 12 topics below.
Everything you actually need to know for your Unit 5 test, pulled directly from the AP® U.S. History curriculum.
Contextualizing Period 5
Contextualizing Period 5
- How Expansion Turned Sectional Tension into a National Crisis
- The Main Forces Shaping the Period
- From Compromise to Secession
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
- What Manifest Destiny Meant
- Why Americans Moved West
- How the United States Expanded West in the 1840s and 1850s
The Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War
- How the Mexican-American War Happened
- Support and Opposition to the War
- How the United States Won the War
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850
- Why the Compromise of 1850 Happened
- Regional Positions and the Main Proposed Solutions
- How Congress Built the Compromise
Sectional Conflict: Regional Differences
Sectional Conflict: Regional Differences
- How Regional Differences Deepened Sectional Conflict
- Immigration and Nativism in the North and West
- The Sectional Economies and Free Labor vs Enslaved Labor
Failure of Compromise
Failure of Compromise
- Why Compromise Over Slavery in the Territories Failed
- The Kansas–Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas
- Violence and Court Decisions Deepened Sectional Conflict
Election of 1860 and Secession
Election of 1860 and Secession
- How Lincoln’s Election Changed the Political Balance
- The Election of 1860
- Why Secession Happened
Military Conflict in the Civil War
Military Conflict in the Civil War
- Why the Union Won the Civil War
- The Starting Balance of Strengths and Weaknesses
- How Strategy and Leadership Shifted the War to the Union
Government Policies During the Civil War
Government Policies During the Civil War
- How Lincoln Changed the Meaning of the Civil War
- From Union First to Emancipation Policy
- African Americans and the Destruction of Slavery
Reconstruction
Reconstruction
- What Reconstruction Changed
- Competing Plans for Reconstruction
- How the Federal Government Tried to Protect Freedom
Failure of Reconstruction
Failure of Reconstruction
- What the Failure of Reconstruction Was
- Why Freedom Fell Short Economically
- How White Supremacy Destroyed Reconstruction Politics
Comparison in Period 5
Comparison in Period 5
- What the Civil War Changed in American Values
- The Four Biggest Effects of the Civil War
- Which Effect Was Most Significant
Notes
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