AP European History · Exam guide
AP European History Evidence Bank: Specific Examples by Unit for the LEQ and DBQ
The evidence points on the DBQ and LEQ reward specific facts used to support a claim. Use this table to build a short bank of dated, concrete examples for each unit. For each one, be ready to say what it was, when it happened, and which claim it proves.
How to use the bank
- Learn two or three examples for each unit, not all of them.
- Practice a one-sentence description for each: what happened, when, and the effect.
- Match each example to an argument. Evidence only helps when it supports a claim.
The bank
| Period or unit | Specific evidence you can use | Good for arguments about |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 (c. 1450 to c. 1648) | The Medici in Florence. Gutenberg's printing press, about 1450. Machiavelli's The Prince, 1513. Erasmus's Praise of Folly, 1511. Columbus's first voyage, 1492. Thomas More's Utopia, 1516. | Humanism, the new monarchies, technology, and exploration. |
| Unit 2 (c. 1450 to c. 1648) | Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, 1517. Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy, 1534. Calvin's Institutes, 1536. The Council of Trent, 1545 to 1563. The Peace of Augsburg, 1555. The Edict of Nantes, 1598. The Peace of Westphalia, 1648. | Religious change, the role of rulers, and the wars of religion. |
| Unit 3 (c. 1648 to c. 1815) | Louis XIV and Versailles. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685. The Glorious Revolution, 1688. Peter the Great and the founding of St. Petersburg. Frederick the Great's Prussia. | Absolutism versus constitutionalism and state building. |
| Unit 4 (c. 1648 to c. 1815) | Newton's Principia, 1687. Locke's Second Treatise, 1689. Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws, 1748. The Encyclopedie edited by Diderot. Rousseau's Social Contract, 1762. Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792. | The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and challenges to authority. |
| Unit 5 (c. 1648 to c. 1815) | The Estates-General of 1789. The fall of the Bastille, July 14, 1789. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, 1789. The Reign of Terror, 1793 and 1794. Napoleon's Civil Code, 1804. Waterloo, 1815. | Revolution, radicalization, and the spread of French ideas. |
| Unit 6 (c. 1815 to c. 1914) | The Great Reform Act of 1832. The Factory Act of 1833. The repeal of the Corn Laws, 1846. The Zollverein, 1834. The Public Health Act of 1848. | Industrialization, urban life, reform, and economic change. |
| Unit 7 (c. 1815 to c. 1914) | The revolutions of 1848. Italian unification under Cavour and Garibaldi, 1861. German unification under Bismarck, 1871. The emancipation of Russian serfs, 1861. Darwin's Origin of Species, 1859. The Dreyfus Affair, 1894. | Nationalism, liberalism, and the reorganization of Europe. |
| Unit 8 (c. 1914 to present) | World War I, 1914 to 1918. The Russian Revolution, 1917. The Treaty of Versailles, 1919. Mussolini's march on Rome, 1922. Hitler's appointment as chancellor, 1933. The Munich Agreement, 1938. The Holocaust. | Total war, dictatorship, and the failure of the interwar settlement. |
| Unit 9 (c. 1914 to present) | Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, 1946. The Marshall Plan, 1947. NATO, 1949. The Berlin Wall, 1961. The Prague Spring, 1968. The revolutions of 1989. The Maastricht Treaty, 1992. | The Cold War, the division and reunification of Europe, and integration. |
Turning an example into evidence
It names the example but says nothing specific about its effect.
It describes the example, dates it, and ties it to the argument.
Common mistakes
- Naming an event with no description of what it did.
- Using the same example for every prompt.
- Using evidence from outside the period.
- Memorizing dates without learning the effect.
Frequently asked questions
How many examples should I memorize for each unit?
Two or three that you can describe in a sentence are better than ten you can only name.
Does evidence have to be from the exact years of the prompt?
It should fit the time frame, and evidence from just before or after can serve as context.
Can I use one example in different essays?
Yes, if it supports the claim in each.
Is this list complete?
No. It is a starting bank. Build your own from the lessons.
Where can I find the official scoring rules?
Exam formats change a little from year to year, so check the current course and exam description on the College Board site before test day.
Keep practicing
The AP European History course has five practice prompts for the DBQ and LEQ, plus short-answer sets, with a writing space that scores your response against the 7-point and 6-point rubrics. These free lessons also build the skills the free-response section tests:
- Free lesson 1.9: causation, why the Renaissance and exploration happened
- Free lesson 1.1: Renaissance humanism and the Italian city-states
See the AP European History course Free lessons and lesson list
More AP European History guides (7)
Start here
- AP European History DBQ Rubric Explained: How the 7 Points Are Scored
- AP European History LEQ Rubric Explained: How the 6 Points Are Scored
- AP European History SAQ Explained: How the Short-Answer Questions Are Scored
Free-response and writing
- AP European History Thesis and Contextualization: Two Points You Can Plan Before You Write
- AP European History Sourcing and Complexity: How to Earn the Last Analysis Points
- AP European History Mini-DBQ: Limits on Royal Power, 1650 to 1790
Multiple choice
AP is a registered trademark of the College Board, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse this site. This guide is our own explanation of the question types and scoring. For the official scoring guidelines, see the College Board.