Advanced Placement (AP) United States History (also known as AP U.S. History or APUSH () is a college-level course and examination offered by College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program. Course The AP U.S. History course is designed to provide the same level of content and instruction that students would face in a freshman-level college survey class. The course covers 9 periods of US History, spanning from the pre-Columbian era to the present day. The percentage indicates the exam weighting of each content area: AP U.S. History classes generally use a college-level textbook as the foundation for the course. Textbooks Commonly used textbooks that meet the curriculum requirements include: America's History (Henretta et al.) American History: A Survey (Brinkley) American Passages (Ayers et al.) The American Pageant (Bailey et al.) The American People (Nash et al.) By the People (Fraser) The Enduring Vision (Boyer et al.) Give Me Liberty! (Foner) Liberty, Equality, Power (Murrin et al.) Out of Many (Faragher et al.) A People and a Nation (Norton et al.) Conservative criticism American conservatives have criticized the course framework for downplaying American exceptionalism and failing to foster patriotism. In 2015, a bill to replace the course framework was passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ Education Committee, but later withdrawn. The course framework was revised in 2015 in response to the criticism. In 2014, student protests in Colorado were held over plans by the Jefferson County Public Schools district board to revise the AP US History curriculum to emphasize citizenship, patriotism, and respect for authority. Exam The AP U.S. History exam lasts 3 hours and 15 minutes and consists of two sections, and Section I is divided into two parts. Section I, part A includes 55 multiple choice questions with each question containing four choices. The multiple choice questions cover American History from just before European contact with Native Americans to the present day. Questions are presented in sets of two to five questions organized around a primary source or an image (including, but not limited to, maps and political cartoons). Section I, part B includes three short-answer questions. The first two questions are required, but students choose between the third and fourth questions. In total, students are given 95 minutes (55 for the multiple choice section and 40 for three short-answer questions) to complete section I. Section II of the exam is the free-response section, in which