AP African American Studies case studies
AP African American Studies · Put your knowledge to work in context.
AP African American Studies is a College Board Advanced Placement course and exam. It is an interdisciplinary course that examines the diversity of African American experiences through direct encounters with rich and varied sources, extending from early African kingdoms to the ongoing challenges and achievements of the contemporary moment. It suits high school students who want college-level work in African American studies and are ready to analyze primary and secondary sources across disciplines rather than memorize a single narrative. The exam is fully digital, taken in the Bluebook testing app, and assesses the course content and skills in the framework. The AP African American Studies case studies are 4 cases and about 1,339 words.
1Reading Kongo's Christian Century Through Two Sources
A student compares two sources on the Kingdom of Kongo after 1491. Source A is a letter from Afonso I (r.
334 words, about 2 min2A Virginia County's Manumission Petitions, 1782–1806
After Virginia's 1782 law allowing private manumission, a county court records 41 manumissions over 24 years. Of these, 29 freed enslaved people described as elderly or infirm; 8 freed people described as 'faithful' servants with conditions (e.g., freedom at the owner's death); 3 were self-purchase by enslaved people who paid in installments; 1 was a group of children freed by a Quaker meeting.
330 words, about 2 min3Was the Great Migration a Break or a Continuation?
A city's Black population grows from 9,000 in 1910 to 44,000 in 1930. New arrivals cluster in two wards where rents rise 60% in a decade and where a 1924 zoning ordinance restricts where Black residents may buy property.
288 words, about 1 min4Two Strategies, One Goal: Evaluating Civil Rights Tactics, 1960–1965
An organizer in a mid-sized southern city in 1963 must choose between two plans. Plan A: a downtown lunch-counter sit-in campaign targeting segregated businesses, aiming for mass arrests that generate national press coverage.
387 words, about 2 min