Two-Hundred APUSH Compare and Contrast Learning Opportunities

Each of these learning opportunities focuses on the “P1-P9 essential words, terms, and phrases

After many years of teaching APUSH, I’ve come to conclude that one of the best ways for my students to review for the exam in May is by comparing and contrasting the course’s “essential words, terms, and phrases”, and especially the words, terms, and phrases expressly mentioned in the CED.

With this in mind, I’ve produced this list of more than 200 compare-and contrast-learning opportunities:

1. Nixon's Vietnam War policy vs. Johnson’s Vietnam War policy
2. New Deal vs. Great Society
3. Sherman Antitrust Act vs. Clayton Antitrust Act
4. 13th Amendment vs. 14th Amendment vs. 15th Amendment
5. Plessy v. Ferguson vs. Brown v. Board of Education vs. Dred Scott
6. Martin Luther King’s Protest Tacts vs. Malcolm X’s Protest Tactices
7. Confederate Form of Government vs. Federal Form of Government
8. First Industrial Revolution vs. Second Industrial Revolution
9. First-Wave Feminism vs. Second-Wave Feminism
10. Emancipation Proclamation vs. Proclamation of 1763
11. Civil Rights Act vs. Voting Rights Act
12. Navigation Acts vs. Sugar Act vs. Stamp Act vs. Coercive Acts
13. Federal Home Loan Bank Act vs. Federal Securities Act vs. National Industrial Recovery Act vs. Social Security Act
14. CCC vs. WPA vs. TVA
15. Pacific Railway Act vs. Homestead Act
16. Medicaid vs. Medicare
17. Missouri Compromise (1820) vs. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
18. Social Gospel Movement vs. Gospel of Wealth
19. Herbert Hoover vs. Franklin Roosevelt’s Response to the Great Depression
20. Thomas Jefferson vs. Alexander Hamilton’s Vision for America
21. Henry Clay vs. Andrew Jackson’s Vision for America
22. Truman and the Korean War vs. MacArthur and the Korean War
23. Whiskey Rebellion vs. Shays Rebellion vs. Turner’s Rebellion vs. Stono Rebellion vs. Pueblo Revolt vs. Bacon’s Rebellion
24. John Calhoun vs. Henry Clay vs. Daniel Webster
25. Abraham Lincoln vs. Stephen Douglas
26. Articles of Confederation vs. U.S. Constitution
27. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
28. W. E. B. Du Bois vs. Booker T. Washington vs. Marcus Garvey
29. Horizontal Integration vs. Vertical Integration
30. Democratic-Republicans vs. Jeffersonian Republicans
31. Seneca Falls Convention vs. Constitutional Convention
32. Urban Flight vs. Urbanization vs. Urban Sprawl vs. Rural America
33. Patriot vs. Loyalist
34. Boston Tea Party vs. Boston Massacre
35. Market Revolution vs. Gilded Age
36. Emergency Quota Act vs. Chinese Exclusion Act
37. Election of 1800 vs. Election of 1844 vs. Election of 1912 vs. Election of 1980
38. Monroe Doctrine vs. Truman Doctrine vs. Roosevelt Corollary vs. Nixon Doctrine vs. Eisenhower Doctrine
39. Gilded Age vs. Progressive Era
40. First Red Scare (1917–1920) vs. Second Red Scare (1947–1957)
41. First Great Awakening (1730s–1740s) vs. Second Great Awakening (1800–1840)
42. Mexican-American War (1846–1848) vs. Spanish-American War (1898)
43. World War I (1914–1918) vs. World War II (1939–1945)
44. Korean War (1950–1953) vs. Vietnam War (1964–1973)
45. Mormon Migration vs. Sunbelt Migration vs. Exoduster Migration vs. Great Migration
46. First Political Party System vs. Second Political Party System
47. Dollar Diplomacy vs. Moral Diplomacy vs. Big Stick Diplomacy
48. Middle Colonies vs. New England Colonies
49. Spanish Colonizers vs. English Colonizers vs. British Colonizers
50. French Colonizers vs. English Colonizers
51. Mexican Cession vs. Louisiana Purchase
52. Mexican Cession vs. Southern Secession
53. Great Compromise vs. 3/5th Compromise
54. Manifest Destiny vs. American Isolationism
55. Marbury v. Madison vs. McCulloch v. Maryland
56. The Roaring Twenties vs. The Great Depression
57. The Harlem Renaissance vs. The Lost Generation
58. American Imperialism vs. The Cold War
59. The New England Puritans vs. The Southern Planters
60. Laissez-Faire Capitalism vs. New Deal Economics
61. The Salem Witch Trials vs. The Red Scare of the 1950s
62. The Gold Rush of 1849 vs. The Oil Boom of the 20th Century
63. The French and Indian War vs. The American Revolutionary War
64. The Alien and Sedition Acts vs. The Patriot Act
65. The Lewis and Clark Expedition vs. The Space Race
66. The Transcontinental Railroad vs. The Interstate Highway System
67. The Nullification Crisis vs. The Civil Rights Movement
68. The Progressive Era Reforms vs. The New Deal Reforms
69. The 19th Century Women’s Suffrage Movement vs. The Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s and 1970s
70. The Treaty of Versailles vs. The United Nations Charter
71. The Era of Good Feelings vs. The McCarthy Era
72. The Monroe Doctrine vs. The Marshall Plan
73. The California Gold Rush vs. The Comstock Lode
74. Exodusters vs. Great Migration
75. Mill Girls of the Industrial Revolution vs. Women in the Workforce During WWII
76. Cult of Domesticity vs. Flapper Culture of the 1920s
77. Jane Addams’ Hull House vs. Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute
78. Abigail Adams’ “Remember the Ladies” vs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Seneca Falls Declaration
79. Declaration of Independence vs. Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”
80. The Oregon Trail vs. The Trail of Tears
81. The Homestead Act vs. The Dawes Act
82. The Know-Nothing Party vs. The Civil Rights Movement
83. The Gilded Age vs. The Silicon Valley Boom
84. The Boston Massacre vs. The Kent State Shootings
85. The 18th Amendment (Prohibition) vs. The 21st Amendment (Repeal of Prohibition)
86. The Federalists vs. The Democratic-Republicans in the Early Republic
87. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 vs. The Compromise of 1850
88. The Fugitive Slave Act vs. The Emancipation Proclamation
89. The Battle of Gettysburg vs. The Battle of Midway
90. Sharecropping vs. The New Deal’s Agricultural Adjustment Act
91. The Scopes “Monkey” Trial vs. The O.J. Simpson Trial
92. The Teapot Dome Scandal vs. The Watergate Scandal
93. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire vs. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
94. The League of Nations vs. The United Nations
95. The Reconstruction Era vs. The Civil Rights Era (1960s)
96. The Dust Bowl vs. Climate Change Policies in the 21st Century
97. The Apollo Moon Landing vs. The Mars Rover Missions
98. The Vietnam War Draft vs. The All-Volunteer Military Force Post-Vietnam
99. The First Bank of the United States vs. The Federal Reserve System
100. The Louisiana Purchase vs. The Alaska Purchase
101. The War of 1812 vs. The Spanish-American War
102. The Nullification Crisis vs. Secession and the Civil War
103. The Oregon Trail vs. The Underground Railroad
104. The California Gold Rush vs. The Klondike Gold Rush
105. The Transcendentalist Movement vs. The Harlem Renaissance
106. The Seneca Falls Convention vs. The 1963 March on Washington
107. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates vs. The Kennedy-Nixon Debates
108. The Sinking of the Lusitania vs. The Attack on Pearl Harbor
109. The New Deal Programs vs. The Great Society Programs
110. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 vs. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
111. Native American Societies Pre-Columbus vs. Post-Columbian Contact
112. The Mayflower Compact vs. The Virginia House of Burgesses
113. The Stamp Act vs. The Townshend Acts
114. The Declaration of Independence vs. The Bill of Rights
115. The XYZ Affair vs. The Cuban Missile Crisis
116. Lewis and Clark Expedition vs. Apollo 11 Moon Landing
117. The War Hawks vs. The Dove Movement in the Vietnam Era
118. The Erie Canal vs. The Panama Canal
119. The Indian Removal Act vs. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
120. The Dred Scott Decision vs. Brown v. Board of Education
121. The Industrial Revolution in the North vs. The Agricultural South Pre-Civil War
122. The Spanish Flu Pandemic vs. The COVID-19 Pandemic
123. The Roaring Twenties vs. The Dot-com Bubble
124. The Black Tuesday Stock Market Crash vs. The 2008 Financial Crisis
125. Japanese Internment Camps vs. Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp
126. The Civilian Conservation Corps vs. Modern Green New Deal Proposals
127. The Tet Offensive vs. The Invasion of Iraq in 2003
128. The Feminist Movement of the 1970s vs. The #MeToo Movement
129. The Challenger Disaster vs. The Columbia Disaster
130. The Watergate Scandal vs. The Clinton Impeachment
131. The Creation of NATO vs. The Establishment of the United Nations
132. The Bracero Program vs. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)
133. The Montgomery Bus Boycott vs. The 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests
134. The Stonewall Riots vs. The Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage
135. The War on Drugs vs. The Legalization of Cannabis
136. The Rise of Suburbia in the 1950s vs. The Gentrification of Urban Neighborhoods
137. The 2000 Presidential Election Recount vs. The 2020 Presidential Election Disputes
138. Metacom’s War vs Pontiac’s Rebellion
139. Trail of Tears vs. Long Walk of the Navajo
140. Immigration Act of 1924 vs. 1965 Immigration Act
141. Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) vs. Sand Creek Massacre
142. New Immigrants vs. Old Immigrants
143. Chinese Exclusion Act vs. Immigration Act of 1924
144. Northwest Territory vs. Trans-Appalachian Territory vs. Louisiana Territory
145. Continental Army vs. Red Coats
146. Modern Democracy vs. Fledgling (Emerging) Democracy
147. Suffrage vs. Birth of Women’s Suffrage Movement
148. Puritan vs. Pilgrim
149. Model of Christian Charity vs. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
150. Cereal Crop vs. Cash Crop vs. Staple Crop
151. Imperial Control vs. Salutary Neglect
152. Slave Labor vs. Free Labor vs. Indentured Servant
153. Political vs. Cultural vs. Economic vs. Social
154. Debate over Representation and Compromise vs. Debate over Slavery and Compromise
155. Abigail Adams’ “Remember the Ladies” vs. “Letters from an American Farmer” vs. Washington’s Farewell Speech vs. James Madison’s Letter to George Washington (1787)
156. The Alien and Sedition Acts vs. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
157. Feudalism vs. Mercantilism
158. Southern Way of Life (1800–1848) vs. Southern Way of Life (1754–1800)
159. New Republic vs. Early Republic
160. Maize Cultivation vs. Tobacco Cultivation vs. Cotton Cultivation
161. Republican Motherhood vs. Republican Values vs. A Republic
162. Push Factors vs. Pull Factors
163. First Industrial Revolution vs. Second Industrial Revolution
164. Strict Construction vs. Loose Construction
165. Antebellum vs. Postbellum
166. 1st BUS vs. 2nd BUS
167. Mexican Cession vs. Annexation of Texas
168. Louisiana Territory Settlers vs. Northwest Territory Settlers vs. Mexican Cession Settlers
169. Free Trade vs. Protective Trade
170. Erie Canal vs. Cumberland (National) Road vs. B&O Railroad vs. Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike
171. Northern Antebellum Railroad Lines vs. Southern Antebellum Railroad Lines
172. First Political Party System vs. Second Political Party System
173. Democrats (Andrew Jackson) vs. Whigs (Henry Clay)
174. Cult of Domesticity vs. Republican Motherhood
175. Public Sphere vs. Private Sphere
176. Lowell Mills Girls vs. Seneca Falls Women
177. Local Markets vs. Distant Market
178. Louisiana Purchase vs. Mexican Cession
179. War of 1812 vs. Mexican-American War (1846–1848)
180. Indian Removal Act (1830) vs. Trail of Tears (1831–1877) vs. Worcester v. Georgia
181. Temperance vs. Prohibition
182. Emancipation vs. Abolition
183. Declaration of Independence vs. Declaration of Sentiments
184. Old Light Minsters vs. New Light Ministers
185. Island Hopping vs. D-Day
186. American Expeditionary Forces vs. Tuskegee Airmen
187. Relief vs. Recovery vs. Reform
188. Containment Policy vs. Detente
189. Liberalism vs. Conservatism
190. Ronald Regan’s Domestic Policy vs. Ronald Regan’s Foreign Policy
191. Military Industrial Complex vs. United Nations Peacekeeping
192. Cold War vs. Civil Rights Movement
193. New South vs. Old South
194. Laissez Faire vs. Keynesian Economics
195. Positive Social Good Pro-Slavery Argument vs. States Rights Pro-Slavery Argument
196. Moderate Republican vs. Radical Republican (during Reconstruction)
197. Emancipation Proclamation vs Gettysburg Address
198. Free Soil Movement vs. Abolitionist Movement
199. Quakes vs. Puritans
200. Annexation of Hawaii vs. Annexation of Texas

Sidenote #1:

If you’re a teacher, consider uploading questions to Class Companion that prompt students to explore and understand some of the compare-and-contrast learning opportunities appearing above. Some examples:

1. Describe the difference between Laissez-Faire and Keynesian Economics.
2. Explain what FDR meant when using the words “relief, recovery, and reform.”
3. Describe the difference between push and pull factors.
4. Describe the difference between the Lowell Mills and the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments in terms of the history of women in America.
5. Describe the difference between the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Immigration Act of 1924.
6. Contrast Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.

By assigning these topics either in class or as homework on Class Companion, you’ll be encouraging students to engage with key historical themes and concepts, enhancing their understanding and retention of the material.

Sidenote #2:

If you’re a student, ask your teacher to upload to Class Companion questions like the ones appearing above to help deepen your understanding of various historical topics and themes and to facilitate a more interactive and engaging learning experience.

Sidenote #3:

To learn more about Class Companion, you can check out each of the short videos provided below.