AP American History textbooks are very thick and contain hundreds of terms. If all of these terms had an equal chance of appearing on your APUSH exam studying would be a nightmare. Fortunately, help is on the way. Here is Part I of my famous list of the Golden Dozen APUSH terms. Six or seven of these terms appeared on the 2024, 2025, and 2026 APUSH exams. I am confident that an equal number will be used on the 2027 exam!
TERM 1: THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE
This key Period 1 term refers to the exchange of plants, animals, people, and microbes between the New World, Europe, and Africa in the 150 years following the discovery of America in 1492.
Nutritious New World foods such as maize (corn) and potatoes improved the European diet, lengthened life spans, and stimulated a surge in economic activity that contributed to the region’s ongoing shift from feudalism to capitalism.
European diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza had a devastating impact on the Native American population. The collapse of entire New World communities enabled European colonists to more easily gain control over Native American lands. The Spanish then began to import enslaved Africans as a new source of labor for their Caribbean sugar plantations.
TERM 2: THE ENCOMIENDA SYSTEM
This key Period 1 term refers to the system used by the Spanish Crown to reward important officials with an encomienda, a grant conferring the right to demand tribute and labor from the local Native Americans. The Spanish used the encomienda system to organize and exploit Native American labor.
The encomienda system produced widespread abuses. In his Short History of the Destruction of the Indies, Bartolome de Las Casas described Spanish officials as “ravening wolves” who perpetrated unspeakable atrocities on Native Americans. The abuses of the encomienda system played a key role in sparking the Pueblo Revolt in 1680.
TERM 3: TRANSATLANTIC TRADE
This key Period 2 term refers to the exchange of goods and labor between Africa, the Americas, and Europe. The complex web of trade routes led to the emergence of a thriving transatlantic economy.
West Indian sugar, Chesapeake tobacco, British manufactured goods, and West African slaves dominated TRANSATLANTIC TRADE. At the same time, many ships also carried books, newspapers, pamphlets, and letters. This transatlantic print network spread Enlightenment ideas to influential colonial leaders.
TERM 4 – REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD
Neither the revolutionary ferment nor the new Constitution changed the legal status of women. But the spirit of republicanism did lead to the conclusion that every citizen had a stake in maintaining the nation’s hard-won liberty.
REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD is a key Period 3 term that began to emerge after the Revolutionary War. Its advocates stressed that the new American republic offered women the important role of raising their children to be virtuous and responsible citizens. By instructing their children in the principles of liberty, women played a key role in shaping America’s moral and political character. This role placed a new emphasis upon increasing educational opportunities for women.