United States History
What the questions test
U.S. History items reward chronological command plus the ability to name the specific mechanism behind a development - which clause, which act, which amendment, which court case. Study by era, but cross-link by theme: federalism, citizenship and rights, economic regulation, and foreign policy.
Core concepts:
- Founding: colonial self-government, constitutional compromises (Great Compromise, Three-Fifths, Bill of Rights), Federalist–Antifederalist debate, Marshall Court.
- Expansion and fracture: westward expansion, sectionalism, Mexican–American War, Civil War, Reconstruction amendments (13th, 14th, 15th) and their erosion.
- Industrial and reform eras: Gilded Age industrialization, Populism, Progressivism, New Deal and the expansion of federal responsibility.
- Modern era: WWII, Cold War containment, Civil Rights movement and legislation (1954, 1964, 1965), late-20th-century conservatism.
Traps to expect
- Amendment confusion - 14th = citizenship/due process/equal protection; 15th = voting regardless of race; 19th = sex; 24th = poll tax; 26th = age 18.
- State vs. federal - many items hinge on whether an action was state or national authority.
- Cause vs. trigger - long-run causes (sectional economics) vs. immediate triggers (Fort Sumter).
- Myth-of-consensus answers - options that claim reform was universally welcomed are usually wrong.
Rule of thumb
For any reform, identify the problem named, the mechanism used, and the group excluded. That triad answers most Progressive, New Deal, and Civil Rights items.
Worked example: "Which development most directly increased federal power over individual states?" Reconstruction amendments are frequently the correct hinge - the 14th Amendment's due process and equal protection clauses created a national standard binding on states, unlike the First Amendment's original text.