What's on the AP African American Studies Unit 1 practice test
The standard version takes about 36 minutes and follows the timing and directions of the AP exam, sized to one unit:
- 20 Multiple Choice Questions (23 minutes)
- 1 Short Answer Question (13 minutes)
Questions are drawn from 141 multiple-choice questions and 17 FRQs written for Unit 1, Origins of the African Diaspora.
Sample AP African American Studies Unit 1 question
Dutty Boukman, a Vodun priest and leader of a group that escaped enslavement, sermon delivered at a planning meeting of rebels, Haiti, 1791
The god who created the sun which gives us light, who rouses the waves and rules the storm, though hidden in the clouds, he watches us. He sees all that the White man does. But the god of the White man inspires the White man with crime, while our god calls upon us to do good works. Our god who is good to us orders us to revenge our wrongs. Our god will direct our arms and aid us. Throw away the symbol of the god of the White man [the cross worn by Catholics around their necks] who has so often caused us to weep, and listen to the voice of freedom, which speaks in the hearts of us all.
Boukman's appeal to divine authority and natural cosmology rather than political argument most likely reflects what about his context and audience?
Shared Vodou authority enabled him to mobilize enslaved people.
He thought enslaved people lacked the capacity for political argument.
Religious language functioned as coded speech to evade colonial surveillance.
Enlightenment ideas did not dominate; African spiritualities remained central.
Explanation
Boukman's Vodou priesthood and his audience's shared beliefs explain his reliance on spiritual authority. Invoking 'our god' legitimized and mobilized resistance; the distractors either misread the meeting's purpose or invert the cultural influences.
Review Unit 1 before you start
- 1.1 What Is African American Studies?
- 1.2 The African Continent: A Varied Landscape
- 1.3 Population Growth and Ethnolinguistic Diversity
- 1.4 Africa's Ancient Societies
- 1.5 The Sudanic Empires: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
- 1.6 Learning Traditions
- 1.7 Indigenous Cosmologies and Religious Syncretism
- 1.8 Culture and Trade in Southern and East Africa
- 1.9 West Central Africa: The Kingdom of Kongo
- 1.10 Kinship and Political Leadership
- 1.11 Global Africans