Important U.S. History Facts

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I'm taking the AP US history exam on Friday, and I'm in the middle of cramming. Anybody have any quick facts/events to share?

I'll start: the Galloway plan was something Pennsylvania representative Joseph Galloway recommended during the first Congressional Congress (1774). He suggested that America stay with Britain and form its own American Parliament so that both sides could work together. It failed because of the Suffolk Resolves.

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 02:57 (eighteen years ago)

(actually, 'important' probably isn't the word I'm looking for...)

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 02:58 (eighteen years ago)

I don't remember my AP US History test being that detailed.


(holy shit that was a long time ago, I'm going to go drink myself to sleep now)

milo z, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 03:02 (eighteen years ago)

Perhaps you should be sitting outside the Circle K asking these questions.

Abbott, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:24 (eighteen years ago)

I don't have friends.

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:24 (eighteen years ago)

No, I meant like in Bill & Ted, sorry. If I knew more about U.S. History I'd totally help you. All I can say is snarky poop like "the teapot dome scandal wasn't about tea, pots or domes," but that wouldn't help. All best & good luck on your test.

You will be surprised to find how insanely easy 100-level college classes are compared to HS AP classes.

Abbott, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:30 (eighteen years ago)

My friendless, test-taking heart is really going out to you right now.

Abbott, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:31 (eighteen years ago)

Oooooops/sorry...revealing my pop culture naivete

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:32 (eighteen years ago)

Well, Bill & Ted are probably not on the test, so you'll be fine. To explain: they need to study for a history test, so they sit outside a Circle K & ask entering and exiting customers if they know about Napoleon and other needed test facts.

Abbott, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:35 (eighteen years ago)

John Hanson
Elias Boudinot
Thomas Mifflin
Richard Henry Lee
Nathan Gorman
Arthur St. Clair
Cyrus Griffin

Pleasant Plains, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:38 (eighteen years ago)

Thanks! Articles of Confederation forever!!!!

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:42 (eighteen years ago)

(holy shit that was a long time ago, I'm going to go drink myself to sleep now)
Seconded.

Sparkle Motion, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 05:16 (eighteen years ago)

1. Andrew Jackson was a genocidal fuckhead. Seriously, if there is a multiple choice question on Andrew Jackson, the answer will most certainly be "C. Genocidal Fuckhead".

2. Eugene V. Debs had the best presidential campaign button in the history of presidential campaign buttons:

http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/images/BB/debspin.gif

3. Emperor Joshua Norton I: Awesome.

I took the AP US and AP Euro tests on the same day, and got a three on both, which translated to 12 credits at the crappy state school where I went my freshman year. I didn't study one bit, which I regret not because I didn't get higher scores (which was mostly a result of having poor essay bullshit skills), but because cute smart girls at parties LOVE to talk about 19th century American history.

My only real advice is to blow through the multiple choice, only lightly marking answers you're not sure about. Then take a goodly amount of time on the essays, going back in the last five minutes or so, often having written essays on at least a few of the things asked in the multiple choice, to confirm or change your answers. Unless they changed it and their separate sections. I forget, as three years of COLLAGE PARTAYS have warped my brane.

en i see kay, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 05:25 (eighteen years ago)

^they're

Jeez, see what I mean?

en i see kay, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 05:26 (eighteen years ago)

My AP history teacher was one of the greatest people I've ever met.

Sparkle Motion, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 05:57 (eighteen years ago)

Me, too Sparkle...He's really a genius and a nice guy, too.

Oh, and unfortunately, the sections are divided. Whenever I take a practice test for multiple choice, I often have 10 minutes left, but I'm not that fast with essays (I always have trouble finding enough supporting evidence in my head...I know info, but I just need someone to prompt me so I can get it on paper).

And thanks for the info! I just finished reviewing Jacksonian era...he wasn't really genocidal apart from the whole Indian Removal Act (which is pretty fucked up), though, right?

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 06:20 (eighteen years ago)

Tape Store,

I took the AP US History exam two years ago and the only thing I can really remember is that there were a fuckload more questions about acts pertaining to Native Americans than I expected. Probably goes along with the Andrew Jackson/genocidal fuckhead thing mentioned upthread.

I got a 3 on it but I needed a 4 to exempt history at GaTech :( Thank goodness for European History! (which was a lot easier and more interesting)

Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 06:25 (eighteen years ago)

My AP history teacher was one of the greatest people I've ever met.

mine was a huge bitch, though she was fairly young and I think fell into a cynical trap in her life -- hopefully she's mellowed out by now.

Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 06:27 (eighteen years ago)

And the Debs thing is a reference to his conviction after the Supreme Court case, right? (with the anti-draft pamphlets?)

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 06:27 (eighteen years ago)

I'll probably get a 3, but I too need a 4. I always wondered how AP World/Europe worked...it's such a longer time period. Are they just less extensive? Should I take AP Euro next year? Right now, I'm signed up for African-American Experience because it seemed easy/interesting, but the same guy who teaches US also teaches Euro. I could listen to him for hours.

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 06:30 (eighteen years ago)

I think AP Euro is just everything since like the Enlightenment, so it's not that much longer. It's been a while since I took it though.

31g, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 06:43 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah my AP Euro teacher was fucking amazing and he also taught US -- I just got stuck with the horror of horrors APUSH teacher ;_;

Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 06:44 (eighteen years ago)

and yeah AP Euro is Enlightement to present I believe -- it's just MUCH less minutae to study, which is why I preferred it to AP US. Also much more interesting forays into philosophy, science, and the arts rather than just following presidential terms

Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 06:46 (eighteen years ago)

Oooh...I didn't even mention my AP English Lang. exam next week. I've learned waaaay more about writing from Ilx than I have from English teacher, who doesn't even prepare us for the test...she tells us funny stories, though!

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 07:00 (eighteen years ago)

She actually merits her own thread...but I'll keep it all here, even though it has nothing to do with the subject.

Anyway, this year, I started this drinking game during her class. I don't think she's caught on yet...but it goes something like this:
1 swig whenever she laughs instead of answering the question
2 swigs if she uses the phrase 'here's the p0o'
2 swigs if she agrees with disagreeing view points
3 swigs if she says 'I like what y0u're thinking!'
etc. etc.

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 07:06 (eighteen years ago)

If you're drinking screwdrivers, you are the guy who sat in front of me in that class caught in a time warp and I claim my ten confederate dollars.

en i see kay, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 07:15 (eighteen years ago)

Ten of these, you mean?

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/tapestore/Nort10d.jpg

Tape Store, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 07:36 (eighteen years ago)

Hoisted on my own petard!

Man, my AP US teacher kicked ass as well. She was this great, short, skinny woman in her late fourties with ridiculous, near-Einstein hair. Pretty much the perfect representation of her personality.

A friend of mine, who was in the class with me, saw her in the supermarket the other day. She saw him, her face lit up, and she said "Steve! You should get the buffalo burgers, they're so lean!" and then held up said burgers.

en i see kay, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 07:41 (eighteen years ago)

Important facts about my AP Euro teacher:

1) He was a former college professor and knew like 100x more than any of my other humanities teachers.
2) He would make incredibly corny jokes, like smashing an alarm clock to demonstrate the industrial revolution's regimentation of time. He made fun of students all the time too.
3) He would talk shit on the school administration to such a ridiculous extent that I seriously worried he would get fired (crossref w/ 1?).

It was the only class I had in high school that I remember really enjoying.

31g, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:16 (eighteen years ago)

I think all AP Euro teachers have to act like that or something

Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:18 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, I'm getting stupidly nostalgic over here but I'm sure every high school has one or two teachers like that.

31g, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:20 (eighteen years ago)

My AP teacher made our class read six Gore Vidal novels.

tokyo rosemary, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 12:35 (eighteen years ago)

If you know anything about literature, art, and music, the multiple choice questions about them are really easy.


If you take European History, study the Cold War. Half the essay questions seemed to be about it, and we really didn't study it in depth in class.

tokyo rosemary, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 12:39 (eighteen years ago)

Ha! My teacher uses the patard phrase often.

And we talked about sitting on flagpoles today. I now understand that Harvey Danger song!

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 02:38 (eighteen years ago)

My AP US teacher was what seemed like a little old lady (in reality, probably early 50s) and a complete dick. Hated disagreements, had a tendency to get facts wrong, yelled at me for not saying the pledge, was very gung ho on patriotic history.

milo z, Thursday, 10 May 2007 02:52 (eighteen years ago)

Wait, mine did as well.

Where do you go to school?

en i see kay, Thursday, 10 May 2007 03:08 (eighteen years ago)

i fucking killed this test

river wolf, Thursday, 10 May 2007 03:22 (eighteen years ago)

R0Ck Bridge (Columbia, M0)...you?

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 03:44 (eighteen years ago)

Ben Franklin ate the world's first ever French Fry!

King Boy Pato, Thursday, 10 May 2007 03:51 (eighteen years ago)

Okay, just a regional thing, I guess. H1ghland, 1L, about 3 hours east of you.

Though I did used to drive out to Columbia for shows every once in a while. Good Indian food and an arcade, as I remember.

en i see kay, Thursday, 10 May 2007 03:56 (eighteen years ago)

The Ottawa Indians ate some of the new world's first ever French guys!

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 03:56 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, my teacher is from Southern Missouri and calls himself a hick, but he seems far from it...

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 03:58 (eighteen years ago)

Ottawa Indians OTM

Dimension 5ive, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:28 (eighteen years ago)

My AP history teacher complained to my mother on a parents' night that I asked too many questions she didn't know the answers to. My mom decided not to tell me this until a couple of years later, and then I was kind of sad because I thought she was okay and didn't realize she had a problem with me.

Maria, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:29 (eighteen years ago)

waaaah, there were not AP teachers in my school.

Maria :D, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:36 (eighteen years ago)

she didn't have a "problem" with you, she was bragging to your momz about how smart you are!

Maria :D, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:37 (eighteen years ago)

your mom didn't tell you cuz she didn't want to swell your head/inflate your anti-authoritarianism.

Maria :D, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:39 (eighteen years ago)

I occasionally ask my teacher questions I wouldn't expect him to know (e.g. "Who created most newsreels?"), but he always knows the answer+ (e.g. They were primarily funded by XXXX, a man born to xxx and yyy, two migrant workers...XXXX worked on farms until he was 17, when he joined the Army and-oddly enough-found a camera on the side of the road...He actually fought in the Battle of blah, etc. etc.)

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:45 (eighteen years ago)

Haha. I teach 11th grade U.S. History (regular, not AP). I got a 5 on the test way back when. Wonder if I still would now...

Super Cub, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:46 (eighteen years ago)

Should I raise my hand before asking a question?

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:51 (eighteen years ago)

Not in my classroom.

Super Cub, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:56 (eighteen years ago)

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/tapestore/teacherteacher.jpg

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 05:16 (eighteen years ago)

Here's one that I never got a straight answer to:

In 1896, William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan in that year's presidential election. McKinley, of course, was the Republican candidate. Bryan, however, was not only nominated by the Democrats, but by the Populist Party as well. The only difference in the two Bryan tickets was that different vice-presidential candidates were listed on the ballot.

So here's my question: If 40% of the electoral college had gone to McKinley, 30% to Bryan/Democrat, and 30% to Bryan/Populist, who would've become president, and if Bryan, who would've served as his vice-president?

Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 10 May 2007 05:22 (eighteen years ago)

That would have been a question for Mr. Fuller.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/tapestore/381px-Melville_Weston_Fuller_Chief_.jpg

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 05:30 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, and I searched "AP US History" on Youtube, and I now feel a little bit better about the test.

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 05:38 (eighteen years ago)

(y'know...since my teacher doesn't make us write irrelevant songs about John Hancock)

Tape Store, Thursday, 10 May 2007 05:39 (eighteen years ago)

goo goo g'joob (xpost to fuller)

remy bean, Thursday, 10 May 2007 05:42 (eighteen years ago)

So here's my question: If 40% of the electoral college had gone to McKinley, 30% to Bryan/Democrat, and 30% to Bryan/Populist, who would've become president, and if Bryan, who would've served as his vice-president?

I'm glad my students don't come up with questions like that.

Super Cub, Thursday, 10 May 2007 05:59 (eighteen years ago)

hahaha TS that hippie classroom is awesome

Curt1s Stephens, Thursday, 10 May 2007 07:16 (eighteen years ago)

I think it would have just gone to the House, since the electoral college votes would have been for two separate ballots, regardless of who was on said ballots. That's an interesting as hell question, though.

Alright, stop making me miss high school. NOT COOL.

en i see kay, Thursday, 10 May 2007 07:42 (eighteen years ago)


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