AP® African American Studies
Course Summary
Embark on a journey through African American Studies, tracing the path from ancient kingdoms to contemporary challenges and achievements. Explore migration, identity, resistance, resilience, and the arts through primary texts, visual and data sources. Hone interdisciplinary skills in source analysis, argumentation, and the application of disciplinary knowledge. Cultivate critical thinking and an appreciation for the cultural complexities of Black communities in the United States, contextualized within Africa and the African diaspora.
This course prepares you for the AP® African American Studies exam.
Course Prerequisite(s):
There are no prerequisites for this course. Students should be able to read a college-level textbook and write grammatically correct sentences. In addition, students should be able to analyze images, think critically and write essays using evidence.
Curriculum
This is a 2-semester course. We do not recommend taking both semesters simultaneously.
Unit 1: Origins of African Diaspora
- Features & Complexities of Black Studies
- Africa: Geographic Features
- Bantu Expansion Origins, Causes & Effects
- Early East & West African Empires
- Early African Kingdoms & City-States
- Economics & Politics in Early Africa
- Overview of the Mali Empire
- West African Education Models
- Syncretic Practices in Early West African Societies
- Great Zimbabwe's Stone Architecture
- Overview of the Swahili Coast
- Kongo Kingdom: Politics, Faith & Economics
- Women's Role in Early West & Central Africa
- Pre-Slave Trade Ties: Africa & Europe
Unit 2: Freedom, Enslavement & Resistance
- Ladinos as the first Africans in U.S.
- Transatlantic Slave Trade
- Middle Passage: Conditions for the Enslaved
- Slave Narratives
- Slave Ships: General Features & Diagrams
- African Resistance to Slavery
- Slave Auctions
- Black Authors & Slave Auctions
- Cotton: Cash Crop & Industry in the Slave Era
- Specialized Roles for Slaves
- Economic Effects of Slave Labor
- American Law & Slavery
- What is Partus Sequitur Ventrem?
- How African Americans Defined & Classified Themselves
- African American Forms of Self-Expression
- Enslaved Africans' Influence on Musical Styles
Unit 3: Resistance & Revolt
- Stono Rebellion
- Legacy of the Haitian Revolution
- Daily Forms of Resistance & Revolt
- Actions of Free Blacks in the North & South
- Black Female Activism in the 19th Century
- Who are the Maroons?
- Maroon Communities
- Maroon Wars Across the African Diaspora
- Enslavement of Africans in Brazil
- U.S. Slavery Expansion: Impact on Black & Indigenous Communities
- Radical Resistance: 19th Century Emigrationists
- Resistance Strategy: Black Political Thought
Unit 4: Abolition & Freedom
- Harriet Tubman & the Underground Railroad
- Courage in African American Art & Photography
- Black Women: Objectification & Resistance
- Gender's Impact on Slave Narratives & Political Movements
- African Americans in the Civil War
- Events that Ended Legal Slavery in the United States
- Juneteenth
Unit 5: The Practice of Freedom
- Reconstruction Era & Black Citizenship
- Freedmen's Bureau & Family Bonds
- Black Codes
- Defeat of Reconstruction
- Disenfranchisement & Jim Crow
- Plessy v. Ferguson
- Anti-Black Violence during the Nadir
- The Fight Against Early 20th Century White Supremacy
- W.E.B. Du Bois
- Debates about African Americans' Identity
- Racial Uplift
- Black Women: Pillars of Progress
- Economic Stability & Wellbeing in the Early 20th Century
- Impacts of Higher Learning
Unit 6: Renaissance, Education & Migration
- The New Negro Movement
- African Americans & Visual Media in the 20th Century
- Harlem Renaissance Poets & Poetry
- Black American Origins in Music, Film & Theater
- The Birth of Black History
- The Black Intellectual Tradition
- The Great Migration
- Afro-Caribbean Migration
- Marcus Garvey & the UNIA
Unit 7: Movement & Debates
- Négritude & Negrismo
- Black Anticolonial Political Thought
- WWII & the G.I. Bill
- Segregation
- Locked Out: The Key to Housing Inequality
- Civil Rights Champions: The Big Four
- Civil Rights & Legislative Achievements
- Women's Grassroots Power
- Global Arts in Black Freedom Movements
- Faith, Music & Civil Rights
- Origins of the Nation of Islam
- Civil Rights to Black Power: A Shift in Focus
Unit 8: Contemporary Black Culture
- The Black Panther Party
- The Black Arts Movement
- Black is Beautiful
- Feminism, Womanism & Intersectionality
- Interlocking Systems of Oppression
- Breaking Barriers: Black Economic Ascent
- Polls to Power: Black Political Progress
- Black America: Growing & Changing
- Contemporary Religion & Faith
- African American Music Evolution
- Hip-Hop: From Bronx Roots to Global Culture
- Black Representation on Stage & Screen
- Breaking Barriers: Black Athletes Pave the Way
- Black Innovations in Science & Tech
- African American Studies & Afrofuturism