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APUSH Unit 3 Review Guide

1/25/2025

Students who are studying for the APUSH exam will find my Unit 3 Review Guide helpful. Unit 3 of the AP® United States History course spans from the French and Indian War in 1754 through the election of Thomas Jefferson as president in 1800.

The review guide includes a brief overview of the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, debates over ratification between the Federalists and Antifederalists, and political conflicts during the administrations of George Washington and John Adams. A timeline of key events from Unit 3 will help students in their preparation for the APUSH exam.

APUSH Unit 3 Review Guide

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Vertical and Horizontal Integration

1/22/2025

During the so-called Gilded Age (the period of US history between Reconstruction and the Progressive Era), Americans witnessed the rise of big business. Industrial entrepreneurs, such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, nearly monopolized the steel and oil industries by growing their businesses to a scale beyond what would have been thought possible just a few decades earlier.

Andrew Carnegie's Vertical Integration

Andrew Carnegie stands outside of one of his steel mills (mage by Grok)

In order to make his steelmaking operation more efficient, Andrew Carnegie grew his business through a process of vertical integration by acquiring as many elements of his supply chain as possible. Since iron is necessary to make steel, Carnegie bought iron mines so that he could control the steelmaking process from the moment the raw iron ore was mined from the earth. This put Carnegie in a position where he didn't have to deal with any middle men who could have controlled and profited from the process at his expense.

John D. Rockefeller's Horizontal Integration

While Carnegie expanded his business vertically, John D. Rockefeller integrated the Standard Oil Company horizontally by buying out his competitors. When Rockefeller got started, there were around 50 oil refineries in the United States that were independently owned. By buying out his competitors one by one, Rockefeller gained the ability to exercise almost total control of the oil refining process across the United States. He owned over 90 percent of the oil refineries in the United States by 1900.

John D. Rockefeller reluctantly poses for a photo outside of one of his oil refineries (image by Grok)

Comparing Vertical and Horizontal Integration

Vertical and Horizontal Integration Comparison Table

Contemporary Examples of Vertical and Horizontal Integration

Large corporations continue to practice both vertical and horizontal integration today. In the 1980s, PepsiCo bought several fast-food restaurants, including KFC and Taco Bell, in order to have guaranteed outlets for the distribution of their products (PepsiCo has since divested from owning these restaurant chains). In 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram, an up-and-coming competitor in the social media space. By buying out a direct competitor, Facebook instantly made itself more relevant with teens who preferred Instagram's more mobile-friendly format.

This educational content correlates with Topic 6.6 (The Rise of Industrial Capitalism) in the AP® US History Course and Exam Description. AP® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this website.

Lecture on Vertical and Horizontal Integration

Many years ago, one of my US history students recorded an improvised outdoor mini-lecture, in which I explained the concepts of vertical and horizontal integration using the human body (specifically the children's movement-oriented song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes").

Click on the video link to see me explaining this concept to my students.

Trojan War WebQuest (World History)

9/21/2024

I have designed a webquest to introduce students to the Trojan War and Homer's Iliad. Teachers of World History courses in high schools should find this useful in their classrooms. I acknowledge a debt to Mr. Larson of Larson Luvs History, as I adapted a webquest that I found on his website for use in my own classroom. Many thanks to Mr. Larson for sharing his original work so that I did not have to create my webquest entirely from scratch!

DOWNLOAD WEBQUEST

The Trojan Horse (AI Generated)

The Trojan Horse (AI Generated)

Freedom of Religion (US Constitution 101)

9/12/2024

I am glad to share a sample chapter from my upcoming book, US Constitution 101, that will soon be published by Adams Media, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. Click here to read a sample chapter that addresses the protection of freedom of religion in the First Amendment.

Excerpted from US CONSTITUTION 101 by TOM RICHEY with PETER PACCONE.
Copyright © 2024 by SIMON & SCHUSTER, LLC.
Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

The Black Death (Lecture Notes for World History)

9/7/2024

I have created a one-page review handout with my lecture notes on the Black Death, the plague outbreak that ravaged through the European continent between 1346 and 1353. These notes focus on the origins of the Black Death, both medieval and modern understandings about how it spread, European reactions to the Black Death (including antisemitic violence), and the plague's long-term effects on European society in the Late Middle Ages (spoiler alert: things actually got better for a lot of people who survived the tragedy). A nod is also given to The Decameron, Boccaccio's frame story written during the Black Plague, that has recently inspired a Netflix series of the same name that is loosely based on the book.

Eugene V. Debs One-Page Handout (Portraits in US History)

7/31/2024

I have produced a one-page handout summarizing the accomplishments of Eugene V. Debs, who was a labor union organizer, a perennial presidential candidate, and an antiwar activist. Debs led the Pullman Strike, which was one of the most impactful strikes during the Gilded Age. He served six months in jail for his involvement in the strike (which the federal government deemed illegal because it interfered with the delivery of the mail). His experience in jail led to Debs becoming a socialist. Between 1904 and 1920, Debs ran four times as the Socialist Party's candidate for president. He was arrested in 1918 for encouraging young men to resist the draft during World War I. Although Debs had been given a ten-year sentence, President Warren G. Harding commuted his sentence in 1921.

Portrait of Eugene V. Debs

Read more about Eugene V. Debs, the iconic American labor leader:

Download Eugene Debs Handout

Sample Responses for the 2024 APUSH Exam

7/5/2024

I have been working on sample responses for the 2024 AP US History exam. Currently, I have produced a complete set of sample responses for the three LEQ prompts in Set 1. I will continue to update this post as I complete more sample responses.

Sample LEQ Responses (2024 AP US History Exam - Set 1)

LEQ 2 (Causes of Conflict Between Native Americans and Europeans, 1500-1763)
LEQ 3 (Causes of the Growth of National Culture, 1800-1848)
LEQ 4 (Effects of Movements for Social Change, 1945-1980)

Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this product.

Sample Responses for the 2024 AP Euro Exam

6/30/2024

I have been working on sample responses for the 2024 AP European History exam. Currently, I have produced a complete set of sample responses for the three LEQ prompts in Set 1. I will continue to update this post as I complete more sample responses.

Sample SAQ Responses (2024 AP European History Exam - Set 1)

Click here to view sample responses to the SAQs from the 2024 AP European History exam {Set 1].

Sample LEQ Responses (2024 AP European History Exam - Set 1)

LEQ 2 (Changes in European Art from 1450 to 1700)
LEQ 3 (Changes in International Relations within Europe from 1789 to 1815)
LEQ 4 (Economic Changes in Europe from 1945 to 1989)

Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this product.

2023 AP® US Government and Politics FRQ Answers

5/15/2023

The College Board has released the FRQ prompts for the 2023 AP® US Government and Politics exam. Two sets of prompts have been released. You may click here to download Set 1 and click here to download Set 2.

I have created a set of sample responses to both FRQ sets that will be helpful to students and teachers who are looking for answers for the 2023 exam questions. These answers reflect both my own experience teaching the course as well as valuable feedback from colleagues who examined the initial draft. You may click the links below to download the sample FRQ responses for both released versions of the 2023 AP® US Government and Politics exam.

DOWNLOAD 2023 SET 1 ANSWERS

Download 2023 Set 2 Answers

Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this product.

National Unification and Diplomatic Tensions (AP Euro Topic 7.3)

2/6/2023

The wave of nationalism that raced through Europe in the nineteenth century resulted in the unifications of Germany and Italy. During the ill-fated Revolutions of 1848, nationalists in Germany and Italy tried unsuccessfully to unify their nations on the basis of shared language and culture. In Germany, the Frankfurt Parliament failed to secure the support of the Prussian king, who refused the "pig crown" offered to him by the coalition of liberals and nationalists. In Italy, Mazzini and Garibaldi briefly took Rome and established a republic before being forced to surrender to French troops that were allied with the pope. The French intervention in 1848 to stop an attempted liberal-nationalist revolution was an example of Metternich's Concert System working exactly as it was designed to work.

Free AP Euro Study Guide Topic 7.3 German Unification

The Crimean War (1853-1856) represented a turning point in the German and Italian Unification movements because it placed European powers on opposite sides of the battlefield for the first time since the Napoleonic Wars. France and Britain joined forces to stop Russia's incursions into Ottoman territory in Crimea. The Crimean War ended an era of cooperation between the Great Powers, while also showing the need for modernization of European armies to make better use of the technologies of the Second Industrial Revolution.

Camillo Cavour, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, saw the Crimean War as an opportunity to build strategic alliances with France and Britain. At the time, the Kingdom of Sardinia was the most powerful state in Italy, and Cavour hoped to win French support for Sardinia's plans take control of Austrian-held lands in Northern Italy. The plan worked, with France sending troops to support Sardinia in a war against Austria in 1859. Both France and Sardinia gained territory as a result of their military cooperation. By 1861, the Kingdom of Sardinia had conquered all of the Italian Peninsula with the notable exceptions of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia and the Papal States.

Portrait of Camillo Cavour

Tom Richey · Iron Chancellor - Otto Von Bismarck German Unification Rap

Meanwhile, Otto von Bismarck rose to prominence in Prussian politics. A member of the landed Junker nobility, Bismarck sought to unify Germany under Prussian dominance. In order to do this, Austria had to be defeated and left outside of a unified Germany. In 1815, Austria had been the dominant German state, but Prussia was ready to challenge Austria after a campaign of aggressive industrialization. Under Bismarck's leadership, Prussia modernized its military to incorporate modern technologies, such as telegraphs, railroads, and heavy artillery. In 1866, Prussia handily defeated Austria in the Seven Weeks' War, resulting in the formation of the North German Confederation. In 1870, Bismarck led a coalition of German allies against France in the Franco-Prussian War. After France was defeated, the victorious Germans met at Versailles to proclaim the German Empire.

My three-part lecture series on German Unification will be helpful to students who want to know more.

France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War paved the way for the final unification of Italy, as French troops were the only barrier stopping the newly-proclaimed Kingdom of Italy from conquering the Papal States. When war with Prussia began, France called its troops home from Italy to defend the homeland. In 1870, Italian military forces marched victoriously into Rome, completing the process of Italian Unification.

Want to learn more?

For a broad overview of political and intellectual developments in the late-nineteenth century, which is the focus of Unit 7 in the AP European History course, take a look at my overview lecture on Marco Learning's YouTube channel: