In 2024, 379,385 students took the exam for the popular AP Social Studies course, and 63.7% scored 3 or higher. APWH can earn you college credits while you’re still in high school if you do well on the exam. The course overview covers a 2-semester introductory college World History course, but few colleges offer credit for both semesters.
The AP World History: Modern exam tests your historical thinking skills and comprehension of 6 themes. Practice tests will help you build your confidence and study as you prepare for the end-of-course exam.
How Will I Develop Skills in AP World History: Modern?
When you take the AP World History: Modern exam, you will need to be able to analyze information, understand opinions, make arguments, and present your point of view in a clear and convincing way. You will learn historical thinking skills and reasoning processes in your class.
Historical Thinking Skills
Throughout your AP World History: Modern course, you will acquire the following historical thinking skills:
Developments and Processes: To perform historical analysis and argumentation, you must know historical events, processes, people, and their actions. This skill gives you empirical knowledge that you can apply using more advanced skills.
Skills you will learn:
- Recognize a historical concept, development, or process
- Describe a historical concept, development, or process
Sourcing and Situations: Sources must be carefully evaluated to support, refute, or modify an argument to create a historical argument. You can use these skills to analyze sources and develop historical arguments.
Skills you will learn:
- Determine a source's viewpoint, purpose, historical context, and/or audience
- Explain a source's purpose, audience, and/or historical context
- Explain how a source's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience may limit its use(s)
Claims and Evidence in Sources: You will learn to analyze primary and secondary sources to support your claims. This analysis determines a source's argument and evidence.
Skills you will learn:
- Identify a claim or argument in a text or nontextual source
- Identify the source's supporting evidence
- Compare 2 sources' arguments or main ideas
- Explain how arguments are supported, modified, or refuted by evidence
Contextualization: History is not static, and it is incomprehensible without context. Historical context is important for comparison, causality, and continuity and change over time. This skill helps you analyze a historical context and enables you to develop thoughtful arguments.
Skills you will learn:
- Describe the historical context of a historic event or process
- Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context
Making Connections: Historical thinking involves analyzing patterns and making connections. This skill teaches you to find patterns between historical events and processes and explain historical connections.
Skills you will learn:
- Identify historical patterns and connections
- Compare 2 historical events or processes
Argumentation: You should be able to evaluate a proposition or scenario and must know historical evidence. As in the long essay question, you can practice writing claims with evidence. Writing claims with documents will help you with document-based questions.
Skills you will learn:
- Make a historical argument with specific and relevant evidence
- Explain historical evidence using historical reasoning
- Develop a complex argument using diverse and alternative evidence
Reasoning Processes
Reasoning processes, or cognitive methods used to draw conclusions about information, play an important role in AP World History: Modern. The ability to think critically and make inferences about historical events based on evidence in actual historical texts is fundamental. This is particularly important when establishing a claim for a question prompt.
Comparison, causation, and continuity and change are the 3 reasoning processes you will need to better understand exam questions.
6 Themes of AP World History: Modern
The APWH: Modern course consists of 6 overarching themes that help you make connections between concepts. These themes are designed to help you develop the historical thinking and analyzing skills that are required for the APWH: Modern exam. The College Board® defines these 6 themes, which can be found throughout the 9 AP World History units, as:
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Theme 1: Humans and the Environment (ENV): Human societies are shaped by the environment, and as populations grow and change, so do their environments. This theme focuses on the relationship between human societies and the environment.
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Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI): The evolution of ideas, beliefs, and religions reveals how groups in a society perceive themselves and how the interactions between societies and their beliefs frequently have political, social, and cultural consequences. This theme helps you understand how interactions among human societies shape cultural and political belief systems.
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Theme 3: Governance (GOV): Multiple internal and external factors contribute to the formation, growth, and decline of states. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures. They also acquire, retain, and exercise power in various ways and for multiple reasons. This theme explores the factors that determine the formation of political structures and governments.
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Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN): As societies develop, they influence and are influenced by the production, exchange, and consumption of goods and services. This theme explores economic systems and describes how human societies shaped these systems as they evolved.
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Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO): Political, economic, and cultural organizations are influenced by the process of forming groups in societies and the norms that govern the interactions between these groups and individuals.
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Theme 6: Technology and Innovation (TEC): Human adaptation and innovation have increased efficiency, comfort, and security, and technological advancements have shaped human development and interactions. This theme explores the AP World History key concepts related to intellectual innovation and helps you understand how scientific advancements have shaped your lifestyles.
Get exam-ready with our interactive study guide, designed to make complex AP World History topics simple and preparation stress-free.
9 Units and Topics of AP World History: Modern
The course is organized into 9 AP World History units that represent a sequence of historical developments and processes that have influenced human evolution. Colleges and universities consider these units, which cover a wide range of AP World History: Modern topics, essential if you’re seeking credit and/or placement.
UNIT 1: The Global Tapestry
(c.1200 to 1450 | 8%-10% | class periods 10-13)
The sections in Unit 1 are broken down by geography, so each covers what happened politically in a region from c.1200 to 1450. You will learn how tightly connected these regions are and how distinct empires and societies interact — an important aspect of Unit 1 and AP World History: Modern as a whole. The most frequently applied historical skill in Unit 1 is comparison. You will research and compare a variety of empires and states using the SPICE (Social, Political, human-environmental Interactions, Cultural, Economic) framework.
The themes explored in this unit are:
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
- Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
- Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Developments in East Asia from c. 1200 to c. 1450 |
Continuity and Change | 4A. Describe the historical context of a historical event or process |
| 1.2 | Developments in Dar al-Islam from c. 1200 to c. 1450 |
Causation | 1A. Recognize a historical concept, development, or process |
| 1.3 | Developments in South and Southeast Asia from c. 1200 to c. 1450 |
Comparison | 3A. Identify a claim or argument in a text or non-text source |
| 1.4 | State Building in the Americas |
Continuity and Change | 3B. Identify the source's supporting evidence |
| 1.5 | State Building in Africa | Continuity and Change | 1B. Describe a historical concept, development, or process |
| 1.6 | Developments in Europe from c. 1200 to c. 1450 |
Causation | 1A. Recognize a historical concept, development, or process |
| 1.7 | Comparison in the period from c. 1200 to c. 1450 |
Comparison | 6A. Make a historical argument |
UNIT 2: Networks of Exchange
(c.1200 to 1450 | 8%-10% | class periods 10-13)
This unit will teach you about how the economy has changed from c.1200 to 1450 and how global trade networks define the post-classical era from 600 CE to 1450 CE. During the classical and post-classical periods, trade networks made it easier for people to trade goods and ideas. Unit 2 covers important networks of economic exchange such as the Silk Road, Indian Ocean trade routes, and Trans-Saharan trade routes and their effects on culture, the environment, technology, and the global economy.
The themes explored in this unit are:
- Theme 1: Humans and the Environment (ENV)
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
- Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
- Theme 6: Technology and Innovation (TEC)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | The Silk Roads | Causation | 4A. Describe the historical context of a historical event or process |
| 2.2 | The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World | Causation | 5A. Identify historical patterns and connections |
| 2.3 | Exchange in the Indian Ocean | Causation | 5A. Identify historical patterns and connections |
| 2.4 | Trans-Saharan Trade Routes | Causation | 1B. Describe a historical concept, development, or process |
| 2.5 | Cultural Consequences of Connectivity | Causation | 2A. Determine a source's viewpoint, purpose, historical context, and/or audience |
| 2.6 | Environmental Consequences of Connectivity | Causation | 5A. Identify historical patterns and connections |
| 2.7 | Comparison of Economic Exchange | Comparison | 6B. Evidence should be specific and relevant |
UNIT 3: Land-Based Empires
(c.1450 to 1750 | 12%-15% | class periods 10-13)
This unit's takeaway is that rulemaking is complicated. Large territory, diverse population, and external factors result in many ruling styles, strategies, and methodologies.
The themes explored in this unit are:
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Empires Expand | Causation | 1B. Describe a historical concept, development, or process |
| 3.2 | Empires: Administration | Comparison | 4A. Describe the historical context of a historical event or process |
| 3.3 | Empires: Belief Systems | Continuity and Change | 2B. Explain a source's purpose, audience, and/or historical context. |
| 3.4 | Comparison in Land-Based Empires | Comparison | 6B. Evidence should be specific and relevant |
UNIT 4: Transoceanic Interconnections
(c. 1450 to 1750 | 12%-15% | class periods 22-25)
This unit examines the connection between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia and how this interaction translated into colonization. God, Gold, and Glory are the "three Gs" of colonial expansion. Europeans went on the road to spread Christianity, amass wealth, and gain personal glory. The purpose of this unit is to look at how these motivations led to global expansion and connections.
The themes explored in this unit are:
- Theme 1: Humans and the Environment (ENV)
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
- Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
- Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO)
- Theme 6: Technology and Innovation (TEC)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | Technological Innovations from 1450 to 1750 | Causation | 4A. Describe the historical context of a historical event or process |
| 4.2 | Exploration: Causes and Events from 1450 to 1750 |
Causation | 5B. Compare 2 historical events or processes |
| 4.3 | Columbian Exchange | Causation | 3B. Identify the source's supporting evidence |
| 4.4 | Maritime Empires Established | Continuity and Change |
2A. Determine a source's viewpoint, purpose, historical context, and/or audience |
| 4.5 | Maritime Empires Maintained and Developed | Continuity and Change |
3A. Identify a claim or argument in a text or non-text source |
| 4.6 | Internal and External Challenges to State Power from 1450 to 1750 |
Causation | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 4.7 | Changing Social Hierarchies from 1450 to 1750 | Continuity and Change |
3D. Explain how arguments are supported, modified, or refuted by evidence |
| 4.8 | Continuity and Change from 1450 to 1750 |
Continuity and Change |
6C. Explain historical evidence using historical reasoning |
UNIT 5: Revolutions
(c.1750 to 1900 | 12%-15% | class periods 20-23)
This unit covers numerous revolutions and global movements that occurred from c.1750 to1900 including the Atlantic Revolutions, the Enlightenment, and Industrialization. It examines these events, their origins, and their global impact.
The themes explored in this unit are:
- Theme 1: Humans and the Environment (ENV)
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
- Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
- Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO)
- Theme 6: Technology and Innovation (TEC)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | The Enlightenment | Continuity and Change | 3A. Identify a claim or argument in a text or non-text source |
| 5.2 | Nationalism and Revolutions in the Period from 1750 to 1900 |
Causation | 3C. Compare 2 sources' arguments or main ideas |
| 5.3 | Industrial Revolution Begins |
Causation | 1B. Describe a historical concept, development, or process |
| 5.4 | Industrialization Spreads in the Period from 1750 to 1900 |
Continuity and Change | 5A. Identify historical patterns and connections |
| 5.5 | Technology of the Industrial Age |
Causation | 1B. Describe a historical concept, development, or process |
| 5.6 | Industrialization: Government’s Role from 1750 to 1900 |
Causation | 5A. Identify historical patterns and connections |
| 5.7 | Economic Developments and Innovations in the Industrial Age |
Continuity and Change | 5B. Compare 2 historical events or processes |
| 5.8 | Reactions to the Industrial Economy from 1750 to 1900 |
Causation | 2B. Explain a source's purpose, audience, and/or historical context. |
| 5.9 | Society and the Industrial Age |
Continuity and Change | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 5.10 | Continuity and Change in the Industrial Age |
Continuity and Change | 6C. Explain historical evidence using historical reasoning |
UNIT 6: Consequences of Industrialization
(c.1750 to 1900 | 12%-15% | class periods 12-15)
This unit talks about how the industrialized countries of Europe, along with the U.S. and Japan, governed more land overseas than before. It also explores the impact of the imperialist economy and colonialism on early capitalists and colonies.
The themes explored in this unit are:
- Theme 1: Humans and the Environment (ENV)
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
- Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
- Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | Rationales for Imperialism from 1750 to 1900 |
Causation | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 6.2 | State Expansion from 1750 to 1900 |
Comparison | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 6.3 | Indigenous Responses to State Expansion from 1750 to 1900 |
Causation | 2C. Explain how a source's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience may limit its use(s) |
| 6.4 | Global Economic Development from 1750 to 1900 |
Continuity and Change | 2B. Explain a source's purpose, audience, and/or historical context |
| 6.5 | Economic Imperialism from 1750 to 1900 |
Causation | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 6.6 | Causes of Migration in an Interconnected World |
Causation | 5B. Compare 2 historical events or processes |
| 6.7 | Effects of Migration | Causation | 5B. Compare 2 historical events or processes |
| 6.8 | Causation in the Imperial Age |
Causation | 6D. Develop an argument using diverse and alternative evidence |
UNIT 7: Global Conflict
(c.1900 to the present | 8%-10% | class periods 9-12)
Global conflict created power shifts, and power shifts altered the status quo of nation states from 1900 onward. This unit covers how industrialization, nationalism, and the World Wars posed greater challenges to dominant nations and resulted in imperialism and interregional conflicts.
The themes explored in this unit are
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
- Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
- Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO)
- Theme 6: Technology and Innovation (TEC)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | Shifting Power After 1900 | Continuity and Change | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context. |
| 7.2 | Causes of World War I | Causation | 1B. Describe a historical concept, development, or process |
| 7.3 | Conducting World War I | Continuity and Change | 3B. Identify the source's supporting evidence. |
| 7.4 | Economy in the Interwar Period | Comparison | 2C. Explain how a source's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience may limit its use(s) |
| 7.5 | Unresolved Tensions After World War I |
Continuity and Change | 2C. Explain how a source's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience may limit its use(s) |
| 7.6 | Causes of World War II | Causation | 2C. Explain how a source's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience may limit its use(s) |
| 7.7 | Conducting World War II | Comparison | 3D. Explain how arguments are supported, modified, or refuted by evidence |
| 7.8 | Mass Atrocities After 1900 | Causation | 5B. Compare 2 historical events or processes |
| 7.9 | Causation in Global Conflict | Causation | 6D. Develop a skills argument using diverse and alternative evidence |
UNIT 8: Cold War and Decolonization
(c.1900 to the present | 8%-10% | class periods 14-17)
This unit covers the large-scale effects of World War II on the balance of global politics and the global stage. It also explores how World War II ushered in new powers and trends that eventually gave rise to the modern world. The post-war independence movements in Africa and Asia served as the impetus for the decolonization trend, which later gave rise to the Cold War.
The themes explored in this unit are:
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
- Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
- Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | Setting the Stage for the Cold War and Decolonization | Continuity and Change | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 8.2 | The Cold War | Causation | 2B. Explain a source's purpose, audience, and/or historical context |
| 8.3 | Effects of the Cold War | Comparison | 5B. Compare 2 historical events or processes |
| 8.4 | Spread of Communism After 1900 | Causation | 2C. Explain how a source's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience may limit its use(s) |
| 8.5 | Decolonization After 1900 | Comparison | 5B. Compare two historical events or processes |
| 8.6 | Newly Independent States | Continuity and Change | 3D. Explain how arguments are supported, modified, or refuted by evidence |
| 8.7 | Global Resistance to Established Power Structures After 1900 | Causation | 2B. Explain a source's purpose, audience, and/or historical context |
| 8.8 | End of the Cold War | Causation | 3D. Explain how arguments are supported, modified, or refuted by evidence |
| 8.9 | Causation in the Age of the Cold War and Decolonization | Causation | 2B. Explain a source's purpose, audience, and/or historical context |
UNIT 9: Globalization
(c.1900 to the present | 8%-10% | class periods 8-11)
This unit covers 1900 to the present. It looks at globalization and the way it has transformed political and economic institutions across the world.
The themes explored in this unit are:
- Theme 1: Humans and the Environment (ENV)
- Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI)
- Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
- Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
- Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO)
- Theme 6: Technology and Innovation (TEC)
| Topic | Reasoning Process | Historical Thinking Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.1 | Advances in Technology and Exchange After 1900 | Continuity and Change | 5A. Identify historical patterns and connections |
| 9.2 | Technological Advances and Limitations After 1900: Disease | Continuity and Change | 5B. Compare 2 historical events or processes |
| 9.3 | Technological Advances: Debates About the Environment After 1900 | Causation | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 9.4 | Economics in the Global Age | Continuity and Change | 2C. Explain how a source's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience may limit its use(s) |
| 9.5 | Calls for Reform and Responses After 1900 | Continuity and Change | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 9.6 | Globalized Culture After 1900 | Continuity and Change | 4B. Explain how a historical development or process fits into a larger context |
| 9.7 | Resistance to Globalization After 1900 | Causation | 2C. Explain how a source's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience may limit its use(s) |
| 9.8 | Institutions Developing in a Globalized World | Causation | 3C. Compare 2 sources' arguments or main ideas |
| 9.9 | Continuity and Change in a Globalized World | Continuity and Change | 6D. Develop a skills argument using diverse and alternative evidence |
Make your exam prep easier with our expert-crafted AP World History course, designed for quick learning and long-term retention.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What college course is equivalent to AP World History: Modern?
The AP World History: Modern course is equivalent to an introductory World History course in college.
Is there any prerequisite course I must take before taking AP World History: Modern?
No. There are no prerequisites for AP World History: Modern.
Have there been any changes to the AP World History: Modern course in recent years?
The College Board® updated the AP World History: Modern document-based question (DBQ) and long-essay question (LEQ) rubrics for the 2023-24 school year. The change affected the DBQ and LEQ scoring. The exam format, course framework, and skills assessed on the exam remain unchanged.
How hard is the AP World History: Modern exam?
Because of the amount of content covered throughout the course, the AP World History: Modern exam is challenging. In 2024, only 11.9% of the test takers scored a 5, and 63.7% scored a 3 or above.
How do I begin preparing for the AP World History: Modern exam?
Follow these 4 steps to build confidence, increase knowledge, and prepare for the AP World History: Modern exam:
- Try UWorld’s AP World History QBank and take practice tests to determine your level of knowledge.
- Build a study plan (and stick to it) before your exam date.
- Use an online learning tool with exam-like practice questions and detailed answer explanations.
- Track your progress to see where you are doing well and where you can improve.
References
- (2019). Unit Guides. AP World History. AP® World History Modern Course and Exam Description. College Board. Retrieved on December 30, 2024, from https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/2019-05/ap-world-history-modern-course-and-exam-description_0.pdf.
- (2024). Rubrics Updated for 2023-24. AP World History: Modern. College Board. Retrieved on December 30, 2024, from https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-world-history.
- (2024). Past AP World History: Modern Score Distributions. Student Score Distributions AP exams. College Board. Retrieved on December 30, 2024, from https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions/ap-world-history
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