In AP® World History, unit 5 focuses on the revolutions from 1750 CE to 1900 CE and accounts for 12-15% of the material on the exam. The following guide will be updated periodically with hyperlinks to excellent resources. As you are reviewing for the modern era, focus on the key concepts and use the essential questions to guide you.
After studying on your own, invite some friends to a study with me online session to discuss the main points of the unit and review anything that you may be confused on. It is a great way to for everyone to feel supported while studying!
👉 Watch AP World teacher Patrick Lasseter give an overview of
The Age of Revolutions
- Columbian Exchange increased movement of products, ideas, people, and diseases around the world → increased population
- Industrialization came about as a result of increased wealth & demand
- European states practiced Imperialism for more materials and access to markets
- Political shifts occurred as a result, led by rebellions and revolts
- More and more people migrated because of economic opportunity and political turmoil
- Major causes and effects of economic strategies of different states and empires
STUDY TIP: You will never be asked specifically to identify a date, even for MCQs. However, knowing the order of events will help immensely with cause and effect. For this reason, we've identified the most important dates to know.
1762: Rousseau publishes the Social Contract
1765: James Watt invents steam engine
1776: American Revolution begins
1789: French Revolution begins
1801: Haitian Revolution
1815: Latin American Revolutions begin
1848: Seneca Falls Convention organized by feminists & abolitionists
1868: Meiji Restoration
Watch the
AP World History 5-Hour Cram Finale for a comprehensive last minute cram session covering the entire WHAP curriculum including every unit, every time period, and every type of question you will come against during the exam.
Here is a breakdown of the review schedule and timeline:
30 min - Overview: sorting by theme, region, and time periods
1 hour - 1200-1450 CE
1 hour = 1450-1750 CE
1 hour = 1750-1900 CE
1 hour = 1900-Present
30 min = Final thoughts: time management, strategies, and pep talk!
STUDY TIP: Use the following essential questions to guide your review of this entire unit. Keep in mind, these are not meant to be practice LEQ questions! Each question was written to help you summarize the key concept.
- How did the enlightenment lead to revolutions?
- What were the causes and effects of the major revolutions?
- What factors led to the Industrial Revolution?
- What effect did industrialization have on traditional industries?
- How did new technology increase economic production?
- What methods did states use to industrialize?
- How did economic ideology change as a result of industrialization?
- How did industrialization spark reform?
- What effect did industrialization have on society?
STUDY TIP: Content from the modern era has appeared on the DBQ, SAQ, and LEQ essays a whopping seventeen times, especially relating to the Industrial Revolution. Take a look at a few of these questions before you review the key concepts & vocabulary below to get a sense of how you will be assessed. Then, come back to these later and practice writing as many as you can!
**The AP World History exam was revised in 2017, so any questions from before then are not representative of the current exam format or rubric. You can still use prior questions to practice, however DBQs will have more than 7 documents, the LEQ prompts are worded differently, and the rubrics are completely different. Use questions from 2002-2016 with caution.
Need help with writing? Watch how to increase your score:
*The following outline was adapted from the AP® World History Course Description as published by College Board in 2019 found here. This outline reflects the most recent revisions to the course.
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Read: AP World History -
The Enlightenment
- New ideas emphasizing reason and individualism gained traction
- Revolutions were ignited because of the tension between new ideas and old traditions
- Key philosophers led the way with new ideas
- Thomas Hobbes → social contract
- John Locke → natural rights (life, liberty, & the pursuit of property), right to overthrow gov’t if rights are not protected
- Baron Montesquieu → checks and balances, different branches of gov’t
- Voltaire → religious freedom
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau → expanded social contract, will of the people
- Adam Smith → laissez-faire economics, free market, capitalism
- Thomas Paine → advocated for US freedom from Britain, anti-church
- Philosophers questioned religion, Deism embraced divinity and reason
Enlightenment -ISMs
empiricism | knowledge from observation and experiments, rather than religious |
socialism | the public / the workers should own the means of production |
classical liberalism | reflected enlightenment ideas pushing back on traditional politics, society, and economics |
classical conservatism | natural social order, belief in traditional monarchies & nobility, unapologetically elitist |
nationalism | intense loyalty to others who speak your language and/or share your culture |
utopian socialism | ideal societies designed to maximize harmony - shared ownership, positive workplaces, equal rights |
feminism | belief that women’s rights are human rights |
abolitionism | movement to end slavery and extend rights |
zionism | desire for Jewish homeland in Middle East |
anti-semitism | hostility toward Jews |
Its crucial to understand the roles played by nationalism and revolution during this period on a global scale. Additionally, make sure you have a solid grasp on the Atlantic Revolutions and making comparisons.
Enlightenment ideas sparked revolutions as people fought oppression
- American Revolution
- Seven Years’ War increased British debts, so they taxed colonies
- At first, America just wanted representation in tax decisions
- Unable to come to an agreement, America declared independence
- Colonists got the W and established a new constitutional government
- New Zealand Wars
- Maori tribes occupied New Zealand from 1200s to 1840
- Britain annexed New Zealand in 1840 and increased control
- Maori tribes rebelled in spurts for 40 years, increasing Maori nationalism
- By 1872, the British had won
- French Revolution
- France in economic ruin after Seven Years’ War & American Revolution
- Three Estates (Clergy, Nobility, Commoners) met, but the common people were outvoted despite having 97% of the population
- The Third Estate broke away and established the National Assembly
- After storming the Bastille, the king was forced to accept the National Assembly as a new government
- The new government was unstable because radicals continued to spiral, leading to the Reign of Terror, which had everyone accused of treason
- Napoleon quelled the chaos and established himself as emperor
- Haitian Revolution
- Inspired by the revolutions in France and America, the slaves on the French colony of Haiti revolted against white masters in 1791
- Maroon communities joined the revolt led by Toussaint L’Ouverture
- The new Haiti established equality and citizenship for all and redistributed land for the formerly enslaved and free black people
- Then the French betrayed L’Ouverture and doubled down on squashing the rebellion with near genocidal tactics
- By 1803, pressure from Britain pulled Napoleon’s attention away from Haiti, leaving the French vulnerable
- Haiti was declared independent, the first black led country in the west
- Latin American Creole Revolutions
- Social hierarchy based on race and ethnicity caused tensions as the creoles resented the Spanish Crown for favoring Peninsulares
- Creoles wanted more political power, opposed Spanish mercantilism
- Mestizos also wanted a share of power
- Simon Bolivar led the independence movement and war through Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru
- Creoles established new constitutional governments that abolished slavery, but continued to oppress Indigenous communities and women
- Puerto Rico & Cuba
- Led by Enlightened poet Lola Rodriguez de Tio
- Last Spanish colonies, uprisings throughout the end of the 19th century
- Italian Unification
- Italy was divided between several small kingdoms and city states
- Count di Cavour practiced realpolitik to manipulate the unification
- Realpolitik is the politics of reality, policy in pursuit of power
- Aligned with Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi to get it done
- German Unification
- Established by Otto von Bismarck who also used realpolitik to engineer three wars in order to manipulate German unification
- German Empire founded in 1871, nationalism continued to increase for decades eventually leading to the World Wars
- Balkan Nationalism
- The Ottoman Empire was in slow decline for most of the 19th century
- Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania experienced waves of nationalism
The Industrial Revolution had sweeping impacts on society, and tends to come up frequently on the exam, especially the LEQ and SAQ portions.
⚡ Read: AP World History -
Spread of Industrialization
- China also went through a period of internal reforms
- Self-strengthening movement was a set of policies to modernize
- Hundred Days of Reform abolished civil service exam, eliminated corruption, and reforms in medicine
- Some felt modernization was a threat to traditional culture and opposed foreign influence → Boxer Rebellion
- By 1911, China chose to become a republic
- Japan’s reforms affected traditional customs
- Samurai were dissolved and carrying a sword was outlawed
- Some defended their right to wear traditional clothing
- Japan quickly adopted democratic traits like public education, free press, labor unions, and individual liberties
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Watch: AP World History - 🎥
Q&A Study Session on Unit 5
STUDY TIP: These are the concepts and vocabulary from unit 5 that most commonly appear on the exam. Make sure they are in your study packet and create a Quizlet deck to make sure you are familiar with these terms!
American Revolution
- assembly line
- balance of power
- Berlin Conference
- Boer Wars
- bourgeoisie
- Boxer Rebellion
- capitalism
- cash crops
- Cecil Rhodes
- Charles Darwin
- Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang)
- classical liberalism
- communism
- Congress of Vienna
- conservatism
- consumerism
- corvee laborers
- cult of domesticity
- Declaration of Independence
- Declaration of the Rights of Man / Rights of Woman
- Deism/Deists
- Empress Cixi
- enclosure movement
- export economies
- extraterritoriality
- factory system
- fossil fuel
- French Revolution
- Great Game
- imperialism
- indentured servants
- Indian National Congress
- industrialization
- interchangeable parts
- Karl Marx
- King Leopold II
- labor unions
- laissez-faire
- Maori
- Maroons
- means of production
- Meiji Restoration
- millenarian movement
- monopoly
- Napoleon Bonaparte
- nationalism
- Open Door Policy
- Opium War
- Otto von Bismarck
- Pan-Africanism
- penal colony
- Qing Dynasty
- raw materials
- realpolitik
- romanticism
- Roosevelt Corollary
- salons
- Scramble for Africa
- Self-Strengthening Movement
- separation of powers
- sepoy mutiny
- Simon Bolivar
- Sino-Japanese War
- Social Darwinism
- socialism
- Suez Canal
- Sun Yat-sen
- Taiping Rebellion
- Tanzimat
- tenement
- Toussaint L’Ouverture
- Trans-Siberian Railroad
- Transcontinental Railroad
- Treaty of Nanking
- Treaty of Portsmouth
- urbanization
- utilitarianism
- utopia
- Wahhabis
- White Australia Policy
- white-collar
- working class
- Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement
- Young Turks
- Zionism
- Zulu Kingdom