The AP U.S. History Exam gives you the opportunity to demonstrate how well you've mastered the content of a college-level course. There's no way around it — you're expected to know dates, names, and places. But the test goes beyond memorizing historical details. On both the multiple-choice and free-response sections, you're called on to think historically — to identify cause-and-effect relationships, understand the chronological context, determine major turning points, and evaluate documents and draw conclusions from them.