I've created a new handout that explains how each of the three estates of the Old Regime (clergy, nobility, and the "third") differed from one another during the Old Regime before the French Revolution. The handout also gives clarity regarding the different divisions of the Third Estate (bourgeoisie, sans-culottes, and peasantry) and how they differed from each other.

The 2022 AP US History Free-Response Questions have been released to the public! Click here to view the questions on the College Board's website.

Click here to view my sample responses to the 2022 APUSH SAQ items.

Click here to view my sample response(s) to the 2022 APUSH DBQ. This file will be updated to include several sample responses that would earn different point values.

This year's LEQ 2 asked students to assess the relative importance of causes for the settlement of the British colonies. Click here to see a set of sample responses I've put together for LEQ 2.

The free-response section of the 2022 AP European History exam has been released. Click here to view the questions.

Every year, people ask me for my take on the questions, so I am making an effort to put my teachable sample responses for the 2022 exam in one place where they can be easily accessed. I call these teachable sample responses because they are created not only to guide graders on what it might take to get a certain score, but I also create these samples so that they can be shown to students as examples of good writing.

This post is under construction and I will be updating some of these files in the coming weeks.

Click here to access my sample responses for the Short-Answer Question (SAQ) section of the 2022 AP European History exam.

Click here to access my response to the 2022 AP European History DBQ on the English Civil War. I will be updating this file soon to include some samples other than the one I wrote in response so that teachers and students can see samples that would earn several scores.

As the years pass, more technologies have been adopted into classrooms, both virtual and in-person. In
fact, Campus Technology’s report on edtech adoption talks about some of the technologies that have seen an
increase in use within the past three years. These include video-recording and distribution tools, accessibility tools, as well as virtual labs and simulations. The edtech experts from New Globe suggest that these technologies can improve student learning capabilities because of the added engagement. Technology also generates data that helps teachers create better lessons for their students.

Incidentally, one of the major applications of tech in education is in testing. From e-proctoring to test simulations, below are some of the ways technology has improved testing.

The pandemic has caused many classrooms to shift online, therefore making tests difficult to supervise. In
fact, Texas A&M University has found 800 cases of academic fraud online. Luckily, there is curated software nowadays that monitor students’ tests like ProctorU, which has online remote proctoring services that offer features like auto proctoring and live proctoring. They use an AI-based system to oversee examinations. Another choice for monitoring tests is Examus, which is software that analyzes online user behaviour through a webcam for facial recognition and emotion detection.

​Manually making tests is time-consuming. A study by the University of Washington reveals that standardized
assessments take up teachers’ time and focus away from quality lesson planning. However, with test-making
programs, they can still formulate and administer exams without it consuming most of their time.

Some examples of test-making programs include Edulastic and Crowdsignal. Edulastic allows teachers to make standard-aligned assessments and get feedback as soon as possible. Likewise, Crowdisgnal has features that permit the creation of online polls, quizzes, and questions. Students can use devices like smartphones, tablets, or computers to answer, and the results can be collected to provide statistics for educators.

Checking each students’ paper is a laborious process. Fortunately, there are programs that collect and provide data on students’ test answers like Formative and GoSoapBox. Formative permits educators to assign activities, receive students’ results in real-time and provide immediate individual feedback. Test data will inform teachers where students experience difficulty, thus allowing them to adjust and steer discussions as needed.

On the other hand, GoSoapBox has a unique feature called a confusion meter. This enables students to indicate when and where they’re confused with the material to let the teacher know when to slow down. It also has options to create polls and Q&A features for better communication.

Finally, materials that can help teachers in making tests become more accessible online have been even more
important. As previously stated, creating tests demands a lot of time from teachers. To combat this, testing guides are provided here at TomRichey.net for you to use at your convenience. There are even ready-made exams that can test students’ knowledge and how they retain information. We've also included Document-Based Question rubrics, multiple-choice questions, and Long Essay Question rubrics that can serve as a test-making guide.

With the support from technology, students’ learning capabilities can improve, and teachers’ instructing abilities can be heightened. The way tests are created, conducted, and supervised has also been enhanced for the benefit of both students and educators. Through the appropriate application of technology in the classroom, education will continue to progress.

Perugino’s Delivery of the Keys is arguably the most recognizable painting in the Sistine Chapel that was painted by someone other than Michelangelo. It depicts a biblical scene in which Jesus gives the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven - shown as literal keys here – to Peter and tells him that He will build His Church on the rock of Peter and his profession of faith.
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This scene is particularly important because it explains the Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy, as the pope claims to be the successor to Peter, the first Bishop of Rome. Those who enter the pope’s personal chapel are reminded of the basis for the pope’s claim to authority over all Christians.

In a pandemic year in which most APUSH classes were running behind content-wise, nobody expected the DBQ to be from the post-WWII era! But then, that's exactly what the AP US History Test Development Committee did this year! The 2021 APUSH DBQ topic addressed the social consequences of the prosperity that followed World War II, with a timeframe between 1940 and 1970.

You may find my APUSH DBQ rubric helpful while taking a look at this sample essay, as each of these points is specifically targeted in the sample essay.

A few days after the 2021 free-response questions were released, I solved the 2021 DBQ within the one-hour time limit. I found that while the topic was not equally easy to argue from both sides, it was very easy to craft an argument against liberalism in British India while also making a counter-argument that liberalism was present in British India to an extent. Although this did not occur to me during the first pass, there is a way to create an argument for liberalism being the driving influence of British governance in India if one would take the critical newspaper articles and point out how they show a lack of censorship.

The French Revolution is one of the most important events in modern European history, setting the stage for the spread of popular government not only in Europe, but also onto every inhabited continent. While the French Revolution could be explained in an infinite number of ways, I am highlighting five causes in this post.

Napoleon ruled in the autocratic style of an absolute monarch. Although legislative bodies existed in France during Napoleon’s reign, they had little real power, having been stripped of it by the Constitution of Year XII (1804). If the principle of representative government was the cornerstone of the French Revolution, Napoleon definitely did not advance its values.

While Napoleon’s autocratic rule violated the principle of representative government, there is no doubt that Napoleon enjoyed the support of the majority of the French people and considered himself an agent acting on their behalf. The Constitution of Year XII, which elevated Napoleon from First Consul to Emperor, was ratified by the French people in a plebiscite, or national referendum, with over 99 percent of voters voting in favor of Napoleon becoming emperor and claiming the powers that came with it. Additionally, he claimed the title of “Emperor of the French,” rather than “Emperor of France,” in recognition that his power came from the French people rather than by divine right. Although the people were not directly involved in governing through elected representatives, Napoleon gave a nod to the principle of popular sovereignty under the social contract and used his power to deliver popular reforms, such as the Concordat of 1801, re-establishing the Catholic Church as the “majority religion” of the French people.

The Napoleonic Code established a uniform system of laws that applied equally to everyone in the French nation. There were no aristocratic privileges (e.g., tax exemptions for an entire class of people) of the sort that had existed under the Old Regime. This new system of laws recognized the people of France as a nation rather than a collection of three estates.

Some exceptions to equality under the law existed under the Napoleonic Code, such as it being more difficult for women to sue for divorce than men (she only had grounds if her husband brought his mistress into the family home, thereby embarrassing her) and the re-establishment of slavery in the French colonies. However, it should be noted that under the Old Regime, legal divorce did not exist in France, at all, and Britain did not have a similar law until 1857.

Under Napoleon’s leadership, France made great strides toward equality of opportunity. He expanded access to education, creating lycées that provided a free secondary education to students who could pass the entrance exams. This expanded access to education created unprecedented opportunities for young people from common backgrounds to enter the civil service, the officer corps of the military, or the Catholic hierarchy. Under Napoleon, promotions in the military and civil service were based on merit, rather than social status or noble birth.

If the French Revolution was chiefly about promoting liberal values of free speech, press, and religion, Napoleon would get mixed reviews. His government employed censors , who screened literature and newspapers for offensive content and criticism of the government. However, while the Concordat of 1801 re-established the Catholic Church as the “majority religion” of France, it stopped short of declaring it as the state religion. Napoleon allowed full religious toleration during his reign and even granted Protestant ministers similar subsidies as he gave to Catholic priests. Napoleon’s rule has often been compared to that of the Enlightened Absolutists, as several of his reforms can be seen as implementing liberalism from above.

The Old Regime was made up of the three estates. The laws and the administration of justice varied from region to region. The people of France were bound together only as subjects loyal to the King of France. The Revolution sought to create a French nation that consistently French across regions and did not differentiate legally between members of social classes.

Napoleon advanced the idea of French nationalism by creating a single law code for all of France that established equality under the law, his continued use of the revolutionary Tricolor flag, the restoration of the Catholic Church as the official “majority religion,” and proclaiming himself as the Emperor of the French (People).

​In the schools established by Napoleon, French was the only language of instruction. This spread the French language to parts of France where it had not been spoken or understood under the Old Regime. French was also established as the only language of the legal system.

Napoleon also presided over the peak of France’s national greatness and military power. The French people loved him for this, eagerly rallying around the emperor of their own choosing after his escape from his first exile in Elba. During the Hundred Days, Napoleon re-established himself as the Emperor of the French until he was deposed again after being defeated at Waterloo by the foreign military forces of the Seventh Coalition.

Perhaps, the greatest defense that Napoleon could make that he did not undermine the values of the French Revolution was that he personified these values with his own extraordinary life. Napoleon was born to a minor noble family in Corsica (an island off the coast of France that is technically French, but not “seen” as French).

Under the Old Regime, Napoleon would have risen only to the middling officer ranks but would never have been placed in command of an army. Napoleon’s journey from being born to minor provincial nobility to becoming the Emperor of France is, in and of itself, one of the great stories of the French Revolution and its upending of the Old Regime and its system of aristocratic privilege.

When is the 2021 AP European History exam? This year, it's a complicated question, as the exam will be administered three times in early May, late May, and early June.

The first exam administration, which will occur on May 7 at 12 PM local time, will be in the traditional paper/pencil format. The second and third exam administrations, which will occur on May 19 and June 2, at 12 PM EDT, will be administered in a digital format. The digital exams will be administered both in proctored settings at schools and also at home in circumstances permitted by the College Board.

The first administration of the AP Euro exam will be in the traditional paper/pencil format and will include all of the standard elements of a traditional exam (multiple choice, short answer, DBQ, and LEQ). It will be offered at schools in a traditional setting with standard proctoring and test security protocols.

Click here to learn more about Marco Learning's Student Support prep courses for the 2021 AP Euro exam!

The second and third administrations of the AP Euro exam will be administered in a digital format, which will be offered both in proctored settings at schools and at home (the setting will be determined by your school's AP coordinator). Due to test security concerns, the digital exam WILL NOT include a Long Essay Question (LEQ), which will be replaced by two additional Short-Answer Questions (SAQs). The multiple choice and Document-Based Question (DBQ) will appear in the same format as the standard exam, but the SAQ section will be slightly different. 

More information on AP exam dates is available on the College Board's website. All information here is current as of the date of posting and is subject to change.