Historical thinking skills · AP U.S. History, AP World History: Modern
Continuity and change over time
Also called: CCOT
Continuity and change over time: Analyzing what changed and what stayed the same across a period, and explaining why.
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What it means
Continuity and change over time (CCOT) asks you to track a development across a time frame. Strong CCOT arguments describe specific changes and continuities, explain the forces behind each, and judge their relative significance.
Recognizing continuity is often what makes an argument nuanced: even revolutionary periods leave much unchanged.
Example
After the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, a major change. Yet many formerly enslaved people remained tied to the land through sharecropping and debt, a continuity in economic dependence.
On the exam
CCOT is one of the three LEQ reasoning skills; explaining both continuity and change is one route to the complexity point.
Lessons and practice questions
Related terms
- CausationExplaining the causes and effects of historical developments, including their relative importance and short- and long-term consequences.
- PeriodizationDividing history into periods based on turning points, and evaluating how and why historians choose those boundaries.
- Complexity (AP history rubric)A sustained, nuanced understanding of a historical development, demonstrated through sophisticated argument or effective use of evidence.