APUSH Periods 1–2 — Contact and Colonial Societies, 1491–1754

The first two periods of AP United States History, 1491 to 1607 and 1607 to 1754, together carry roughly 10 to 14 percent of the exam. They are short units, but their questions are demanding, because they ask you to compare empires and regions rather than follow one story. This material is built around those comparisons.

It begins with the Columbian Exchange and what it moved in both directions, then turns to Spain's empire: the casta system that ranked people by Spanish, Native and African ancestry, and the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which drove the Spanish out of New Mexico for twelve years and changed how they ruled when they returned. French and Dutch colonization are set against the English model: New France, small and built on the fur trade and Native alliances, and New Netherland, a diverse commercial colony that became New York. A direct comparison of Spanish and English colonization draws the threads together.

The second half covers the British colonies and the Atlantic world: mercantilism and the Navigation Acts; the scale and destinations of the Atlantic slave trade; South Carolina's rice economy, the Stono Rebellion and the harsher slave code that followed; King Philip's War and the end of Native independence in southern New England; the diversity and toleration of Pennsylvania and the Middle Colonies; and the Enlightenment's arrival in colonial intellectual life.

The twelve quiz questions ask you to compare, explain causes and identify consequences, and one is built on a clearly labeled invented source, a customs officer's report on smuggling, in the way the exam builds questions on a document. Explanations point out the reversals exam writers like to use, such as swapping the Spanish and English patterns of settlement.

The seventeen flashcards cover the systems, colonies, wars and movements of the two periods, from the encomienda to salutary neglect.

The category's material on 1491 to 1800 already covers pre-contact Native societies, Las Casas and the encomienda, the New England and Chesapeake colonies, the shift to racial slavery, the House of Burgesses and the Great Awakening; this material adds the other empires and regions. Use it during Units 1 and 2 in class or in review before the May exam.

  • Explain the demographic, economic and environmental effects of the Columbian Exchange
  • Compare Spanish, French, Dutch and English approaches to colonization and to Native peoples
  • Explain how mercantilism and the Navigation Acts shaped colonial trade
  • Describe the Atlantic slave trade and resistance to slavery, including the Stono Rebellion
  • Describe the distinctive features of the Middle Colonies and the influence of the Enlightenment

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the College Board AP U.S. History course framework (course and exam description effective fall 2026), Units 1 and 2, Periods 1–2: 1491–1754, topics on the Columbian Exchange, Spanish colonization, European colonization, the regions of British colonies, transatlantic trade and interactions between American Indians and Europeans. The customs report quoted in one question is invented for practice.

Sample question

Which statement best describes an effect of the Columbian Exchange in the sixteenth century?

See the answer

American crops such as maize and potatoes spread to Europe and Africa, while European diseases such as smallpox killed a large share of the Native population of the Americas

The exchange moved plants, animals, people and microbes in both directions. Maize and potatoes fed population growth in Europe, Africa and Asia; horses, cattle and pigs transformed American landscapes and ways of life; and epidemics of diseases to which Native Americans had no previous exposure caused catastrophic population losses. Bullion was important but only part of the exchange.

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