AP U S HISTORY
DOCUMENT BASED QUESTIONS
*ETS, **Tomlin, ***Other
Colonial America
1.From the accompanying documents, analyze and evaluate the character, the contributions and the moral contradictions of the New England Puritans.***
2.Was American society, as evidenced by WethersfieldConnecticut, becoming more “democratic” in the period 1750-1790? Discuss with reference to property distribution, social structure, politics and religion.* [1976]
3.Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur? Use the documents and your knowledge of the colonial period up to 1700 to develop your answer.* [1993]
4.To what extent did the results of the French and Indian War [1754-1763] change everything for both the British and their American subjects?**
5.Although the thirteen American colonies were founded at different times by people with different motives and with different forms of colonial charters and political organization, by the Revolution the 13 colonies had become remarkably similar. Assess the validity of this statement.**
6.To what extent was the religious movement called The Great Awakening [1739-1745] the philosophical and intellectual cornerstone of the political thought that would justify the American Revolution?**
7.To what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution? Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1750 to 1776 to answer the question.* [1999]
8.To what extent and in what ways was the year 1763 a turning point in American History?***
9.In the late 18th century, American colonists felt passionately that the British were disregarding their rights. To what extent was the United States itself, as evidenced by its’ social, economic and political institutions undemocratic, even when measured against the standards of that time?**
The Revolution
1.The American Revolution was the result of the influence of a small group of radicals who used propaganda and personal influence to wage war against Great Britain. Using your knowledge of the period and the following documents, assess the validity of this statement.*
2.The Declaration of Independence claims that British rule was oppressive while some historians have called the Americans of the 1770s “the freest people on Earth.” Which interpretation do you feel is more accurate?**
3.At Paris in 1783, the American negotiators obtained a far more generous peace accord from the British than anyone had a right to expect. It was a strong foundation for the difficult nation building of the next fifty years. Assess the validity of this statement.**
4."The demand for no taxation without representation was the primary force motivating the American revolutionary movement, and for many it became a symbol for democracy." Assess the validity of this statement.**
5.When the thirteen British colonies won their independence in 1783 it had the worst possible consequences for Native Americans. Assess the extent of the validity of this statement.**
6.American cultural and political evolution and the momentous events, 1750-1800, were driven by radical rather than conservative influences which altered the status of the common man while threatening the power and prestige of what Hamilton called “the better sort.” Evaluate this statement, propose a relevant thesis statement and support with outside information and the attached documents.***
7.Between 1754 to 1774, a profound alteration of relationship occurred between the American colonists and their mother country, Great Britain. This changing relationship became painfully obvious to both parties with the opening of the American Revolution and active hostilities. Identify and explain the key factors which brought about this changing relationship using your own knowledge and the documents provided.***
8.Starting from positions of inferior privilege, activists among colonial African Americans took advantage of the turmoil of revolution and constitution building to advance as best they might their social, economic, and political rights. Assess the validity of this statement for colonial African Americans, describe the level of access achieved, and advance an argument which uses the documents provided and outside information to prove your thesis.***
9.Despite the view of some historians that the conflict between Great Britain and its thirteen North American colonies was economic in origin, in fact the American Revolution had its roots primarily in politics and other areas of American life. Assess the validity of this statement.**
Early National Period
1.From 1776 to 1801 was there any overall direction or thrust taken by American foreign policy under the Washington , Adams, and the early Jefferson administrations? Isolate and describe any such policy goals and support your thesis using the documents provided and your personal knowledge of that period.***
2.The political movement which led to the writing of the Constitution of 1787 represented an attempted conservative counter-revolution against the excesses of democracy which threatened chaos under the liberal Articles of Confederation. The political battle over ratification which followed proposal of the new Constitution resulted in a governing document which compromised between the two extremes of position. Assess the validity of this statement.***
3.Starting from positions of inferior privilege, activists among colonial women took advantage of the turmoil of revolution and constitution building to advance, as best they might the social, economic, and political rights. Assess the validity of this statement for colonial women, describe the level of access they achieved, and use both outside information and the documents provided to support arguments which prove your thesis.***
4.From 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an effective government. Using your knowledge of the period and the following documents, assess the validity of this statement.* [1985]
5.The debate over the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 revealed bitter controversies over a number of issues. Discuss the issues involved and explain why these controversies developed.* [1977]
6.The foreign policy of the Adams administration, 1797-1801, was timid, ineffective and totally unprotective of American interests and honor . Assess the validity of this statement.**
7.The wise and comprehensive federal land policy under the Articles of Confederation set the course of American national development upon a firm foundation that avoided the problems of colonial American under the British. Assess the validity of this statement.**
8.The Constitution, as ratified, represented a major defeat for those who wished for greater democracy in the young American nation . Assess the validity of this statement.**
9.The hasty and ill conceived expansion of United States territory 1775-1825 set the United States upon a course of sectional collision. Assess the validity of this statement.**
10.Early United States foreign policy was primarily a defensive reaction to perceived or actual threats from Europe. Assess the validity of this generalization with reference to United States foreign policy during the period from 1789 to 1825. Assess the validity of this statement.**
11.Between 1776 and 1823 a young and relatively weak United States achieved considerable success in foreign policy when confronted with the two principal European powers, Great Britain and France. Assess the validity of this statement**
12.During the period, 1789-1808, there emerged in America “the first party system” under the primary leadership of Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison. How and why did this first party system come about, even though, political parties had been conspicuously omitted from political consideration in the Constitution of United States?***
13.Because the Anti-Federalists won their major points at Philadelphia, the majority of their leaders were able to support the new Constitution and avoid further dissention that could have led to the dissolution of the Union. Assess the validity of this statement.**
14.The achievements of diplomats are in the long run more decisive than generals. Assess the validity of this statement for the period 1775-1815.**
15.Analyze the major concerns generated by the writing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Confine yourself to the period 1786-1792.***
Jeffersonians
1.With respect to the federal Constitution, the Jeffersonian Republicans are usually characterized as strict constructionists who were opposed to the broad constructionism of the Federalists. To what extent was this characterization of the two parties accurate during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison? In writing your answer, use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1801-1817. [1998] *
2.President James Monroe conceived a limited role for the United States in protecting its’ strategic interests in the western hemisphere when he announced the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. He would have been appalled by subsequent interpretations of his ‘doctrine’ by William Seward, Richard Olney, Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. Assess the validity of this statement.**
3.Instead of accomplishing its goal of settling the increasingly heated arguments over the issue of slavery, the Missouri Compromise offered only a temporary solution. Actually it fueled the rising sectional disputes and growing animosity between the North and South. Inevitably this would lead to dissolution of the Union. Using your knowledge of the period and the following documents, assess the validity of this statement.**
4.The War of 1812 was foisted upon an unwilling nation by a Congress controlled by a group of congressmen called the “War Hawks” whose main goal was the conquest of Canada. Assess the validity of this statement.**
5.The War of 1812, known mainly for its divisions among Federalists and Republicans over support of the war, resulted in a united nation confident of its abilities and optimistic about its future. Assess the validity of this statement.***
6.The labeling of the period 1816-1824 as “The Era of Good Feeling” is one of the most inappropriate examples of periodization in American historical scholarship. Assess the validity of this statement.**
7.Despite the nationalistic sentiments expressed during the Era of Good Feelings, sectionalism was in fact of much greater importance in explaining both the economics and the politics of the period. Assess the validity of this statement.***
8.The Supreme Court established many of the most fundamental principles of American Constitutional law under the authority of Chief Justice John Marshall. Using the documents below and your knowledge of the court cases, define these basic principles.**
9. “To what extent was President Thomas Jefferson’s foreign policy the master or servant of events, 1801-1809?”**
Jacksonians
1.Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. Certainly he saw himself as a hero, and many others saw him that way also. How do you see him and his impact on the United States?**
2.The Abolitionist Movement did not speed the end of slavery, but simply made it impossible to end it without a destructive civil war? Assess the validity of this statement using the documents below and your knowledge of United States history 1800-1861.**
3.The decision of the Jackson administration to move the Cherokee Indians to Indians west of the Mississippi River in the 1830s was more a reformulation of national policy that had been in effect since the 1790s than a change in that policy. Assess the validity of this statement with reference to the moral, political, constitutional and practical concerns that shaped national Indian policy between 1789 and the mid 1830s.* [1980]
4.What was the most important factor that led to the development of American industry after the War of 1812?**
5.Until the 1980s, the policy of the United States Government toward the Native American population was one of deception and genocide.**
6.What factors led to the woman’s movement in the 1840s and what goals were women seeking?*
7.Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty and equality of economic opportunity. In the light of the following documents and your knowledge of the 1820’s and 1830’s, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians view of themselves?* [1990]
8.By 1836, the Abolitionists had radicalized the antislavery movement. Evaluate this statement using the documents and your knowledge of United States history 1776-1836.***
9.How and why did the lives and status of Northern middle class Americans women change during the period 1776-1876? *[1981]
10.To what extent were economic and social differences in the North and the South increasing in the first half of the 19th century?**
11.To what extent would you describe the changes in transportation between 1815 and 1860 as a revolution? **
12.To what extent did the “Era of Good Feelings” (1816-1824) mark the appearance of issues that transformed the nature of American politics in the next thirty years." **
13.To what extent did Jackson's economic policies hinder the growth of American industry?**
14.“Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals.” Assess the validity of this statement in the United States with specific reference to the years 1825-1850. Use the following documents and your knowledge of the period 1825-1850 in constructing your response. [2002]
Manifest Destiny
1.To what extent did the natural environment shape development of the West beyond the Mississippi and the lives of those who lived and settled there? How important were other factors? Use both the evidence from the documents below and your knowledge of United States history 1840-1890 to compose your answer.* [1992]
2.In whose interest, and for what reasons was the Mexican War fought in 1845-1848?***
3.America's war with Mexico has been labeled, both then and since, an unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression and territorial aggrandizement. Using the documents as well as your knowledge of the diplomatic history of the years from 1836 to 1846, evaluate this assertion.**
Sectionalism
1.By the 1850s the Constitution, originally shaped as an instrument of national unity, had become a source of sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed to the failure of the Union it had created. Use both the evidence from the documents below and your knowledge of United States history 1840-1890 to compose your answer.* [1987]
2.To what extent was President-elect Abraham Lincoln responsible for the defeat of the Crittenden Compromise proposal on the expansion of slavery?* [1974]
3.“Instead of accomplishing its goal of settling the increasingly heated arguments over the issue of slavery, the Compromise of 1850 actually it fueled the rising sectional disputes and growing animosity between the North and South. Inevitably this would lead to dissolution of the Union.” Using your knowledge of the period and the following documents, assess the validity of this statement.**
4.John Brown’s raid on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in October 1859, involved a handful of abolitionists, freed no slaves, and was over in two days. Although many Northerners condemned the raid, by 1863 John Brown had become a hero and a martyr in the North. To what extent and in what ways do the views about John Brown expressed in the documents illustrate changing North-South relations between 1859 and 1863?* [1982]
5.The Civil War settled with fire the questions surrounding the nature of the Union, but because they lost the war does not mean the Southerners were necessarily wrong (Of course they were wrong about slavery). Was the Union a compact of states, or a covenant of the people?**
6.To what extent was the election of Abraham Lincoln a mandate for the abolition of slavery in the United States?***
7."The Civil War was not inevitable; it was the result of extremism and failures of leadership on both sides." Assess this statement, using the following documents and your knowledge of the period from 1830 to 1860. **
8.To what extent did, “the failure of the Whig Party to responsibly address the issues of the day” lead to its demise, and the subsequent failure to solve the problems of the 1850s?**
9.Using your knowledge of the time period 1820-1850, assess the validity of the following statement. Although the Great Triumvirate worked for years to hold the Union together, their actions and political ideas lead to the downfall of the Union.**
Civil War and Reconstruction
1.The removal of General George McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac was a loss for the army and a victory for the interfering politicians in Washington. Use both the evidence from the documents below and your knowledge of United States history during the period 1861-3 to compose your answer.***
2.Assess the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln’s decision to hold FortSumter and Jefferson Davis’s decision to take it. Use both the evidence from the documents below and your knowledge of United States history during the period 1860-1 to compose your answer.***