US History 1 CLEP Exams

General Description

This is the first of two United States History exams offered through the CLEP program. This test covers the period of early colonization in the 16 th century up until around the end of the 19 century. The major part of this exam will be on the periods of 1790 till 1877. This period is where the new US nation would be tested by a number of economic, diplomatic, social, and cultural challenges. You will be expected to know a lot about all these factors and the major individuals and movements which shaped the new nation.


The US History CLEP exam is a bit longer then some of the others and instead of the usual 90 question it contains 120. As usual these are all multiple choice and you will have 90 minutes to complete the test.

Mark Allocation

As mentioned this exam covers a large section of American history but more emphasis will be put on the 1790-1877 part. The specific percentage breakdown of the time periods is:

30% 1500-1789
70% 1790-1877

You will need to know a lot of different topics throughout these periods. The following is the approximate percentages of each topic area:

35% Political institutions and behavior and public policy
25% Social developments
10% Economic developments
15% Cultural and intellectual developments
15% Diplomacy and international relations

Tips For The US History Exam 1

An obvious tip is to concentrate your studying more heavily towards the 1790-1877 era. Since this is more then double the earlier period then your time should be spent likewise. For studying resources most first year college level US history books will work fine. A great website for studying for free is US History.org.