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AP® United States History Exam
SECTION I, PART A: Multiple Choice
DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.
At a Glance
Time
55 minutes
Number of Questions
55
Percent of Total Grade
40%
Writing Instrument
Pencil required
Instructions
Section I, Part A, of this exam contains 55 multiple-choice questions. Fill in only the ovals for numbers 1 through 55 on your answer sheet. Because this section offers only four answer options for each question, do not mark the (E) answer circle for any question.
Indicate all of your answers to the multiple-choice questions on the answer sheet. No credit will be given for anything written in this exam booklet, but you may use the booklet for notes or scratch work. After you have decided which of the suggested answers is best, completely fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet. Give only one answer to each question. If you change an answer, be sure that the previous mark is erased completely. Here is a sample question and answer.
Sample Question
The first president of the United States was
(A) Millard Fillmore
(B) George Washington
(C) Benjamin Franklin
(D) Andrew Jackson
Sample Answer
Use your time effectively, working as rapidly as you can without losing accuracy. Do not spend too much time on any one question. Go on to other questions and come back to the ones you have not answered if you have time. It is not expected that everyone will know the answers to all of the multiple-choice questions.
Your total score on the multiple-choice section is based only on the number of questions answered correctly. Points are not deducted for incorrect answers or unanswered questions.
SECTION I, PART B: Short Answer
At a Glance
Time
50 minutes
Number of Questions
4
Percent of Total Score
20%
Writing Instrument
Pen with black or dark blue ink
Instructions
Section I, Part B of this exam contains 4 short-answer questions. Write your responses on a separate sheet of paper.
UNITED STATES HISTORY
SECTION I, Part A
Time—55 minutes
55 Questions
Directions: Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by four suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case and then blacken the corresponding space on the answer sheet.
Questions 1 - 3 refer to the following illustration and excerpt.
THE BURNING OF JAMESTOWN, 1676
“Whereas complaint has been made to this Board by Capt. William Pierce, Esq., that six of his servants and a negro of Mr. Reginald’s has plotted to run away unto the Dutch plantation from their said masters, and did assay to put the same in Execution upon Saturday night, being the 8th day July, 1640, as appeared to the Board by the Examinations of Andrew Noxe, Richard Hill, Richard Cookeson and John Williams, and likewise by the confession of Christopher Miller, Peter Milcocke and Emanuel, the foresaid Negro…the court taking the same into consideration as a dangerous precedent for the future time (if left unpunished), did order that Christopher Miller, a Dutchman (a prime agent in the business), should receive the punishment of whipping, and to have thirty stripes and so be burnt in the cheek with the letter R and to work with a shackle on his leg for one whole year and longer if said master shall see cause, and after his full time of service is expired with his said master to serve the colony for seven whole years, and the said Peter Milcocke to receive thirty stripes and to be Burnt in the cheek with the letter R, and after his term of service is Expired with his said master to serve the colony for three years, and the said Richard Cockson, after his full time Expired with his master, to serve the colony for two years and a half, and the said Richard Hill to remain upon his good behavior until the next offense, and the said Andrew Noxe to receive thirty stripes, and the said John Williams, a Dutchman and a [surgeon] after his full time of service is Expired with his master, to serve the colony for seven years, and Emanuel, the Negro, to receive thirty stripes and to be burnt in the cheek with the letter R and to work in shackles one year or more as his master shall see cause.”
Decisions of the General Court, 1640
1. The excerpt best supports which one of the following conclusions?
(A) English colonists sought to control the native populations through missions and religious conversions.
(B) Trade alliances with American Indians promoted the economic health of early Chesapeake settlements.
(C) A shortage of indentured servants led to the emergence of the African slave trade.
(D) The Chesapeake colonies relied on labor-intensive agriculture, a system which utilized both white and African indentured servants
2. Why were confrontations such as those in the excerpt rare in the New England colonies?
(A) New England populations were largely homogenous with economies based on subsistence farming, rather than cash crops
(B) Puritan law forbade the sale or ownership of slaves.
(C) Indentured servants in New England were largely treated fairly, serving for short terms before gaining freedom.
(D) Negotiations after King Philip’s War had ensured the return of indentured servants back to Europe.
3. Which of the following protests is most similar to the burning of Jamestown shown in the picture?
(A) The Whiskey Rebellion
(B) The Montgomery Bus Boycott
(C) Nat Turner’s Rebellion
(D) The Bonus Expeditionary Force march on Washington
Questions 4 - 6 refer to the illustration below.
4. The cartoon above supports which one of the following conclusions?
(A) After the British victory in the Seven Years’ War, many Indians sought revenge on British aristocrats.
(B) The French withdrawal from North America after the Seven Years’ War led to various conflicts between Indians and colonial settlers.
(C) During and after the Revolutionary War, American sentiment toward those loyal to Britain became increasingly hostile.
(D) Indian warriors were eager to fight alongside American patriots during the American Revolution.
5. The Seven Years’ War is also popularly labeled the “French and Indian War.” Why?
(A) The French fought various Indian tribes throughout the Northeast for control of trapping rights and major waterways.
(B) The French were aided throughout the war by various Indian tribes fighting in alliance with them.
(C) Most Indian tribes sided with the British, defending their lands against French invaders from the North.
(D) Many French settlers, particularly in the Maritime provinces of Canada, intermarried with native peoples, and thus were allied against the British in subsequent territorial conflicts.
6. Which of the following best describes the causal link between the Seven Years’ War and the Revolutionary War?
(A) Britain’s defeat after the Seven Years’ War led to massive debt for the crown, prompting an effort to collect taxes from the Thirteen Colonies.
(B) Emboldened by their victories during the Seven Years’ War, colonial elites challenged the crown, pushing for independence before the working-class populace was ready to accept it.
(C) Britain’s massive debt after the Seven Years’ War resulted in a push for greater control over the Thirteen Colonies, sparking debate among colonists over the pursuit of independence.
(D) Disillusioned by their experiences in the Seven Years’ War, colonial militia members formed the Sons of Liberty, a radical group calling for independence from the crown.
Questions 7 - 9 refer to the following excerpt.
“…Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
“There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.”
President George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796
7. The sentiments expressed by Washington in his Farewell Address most warn against partisan divisions that occurred before which of the following conflicts?
(A) The War of 1812
(B) The Civil War
(C) The Nullification Crisis of 1832
(D) The Korean War
8. Washington’s Farewell Address best exemplifies which of the following political philosophies?
(A) Federalism
(B) Anti-Federalism
(C) Republicanism
(D) Sectionalism
9. Elsewhere in the Address, Washington promotes which of the following approaches to foreign policy?
(A) Neutrality
(B) Imperialism
(C) Isolationism
(D) Dollar Diplomacy
Questions 10 - 12 refer to the following excerpt.
“Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment….But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times.”
Thomas Jefferson, 1816
10. Which of following Amendments to the Constitution is most directly an example of the sentiments expressed above?
(A) The First Amendment, which guaranteed the right to free speech
(B) The Tenth Amendment, which allows powers not granted to the federal government be granted to the states
(C) The Nineteenth Amendment, which guaranteed all women the right to vote
(D) The Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the prohibition of alcohol
11. Which of the following best describes a contributing factor in the crafting of the United States Constitution?
(A) Individual state constitutions written at the time of the Revolution tended to cede too much power to the federal government, leading to a call for reform on the part of Anti-Federalists.
(B) The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led James Madison to question their efficacy and prompted a formation of the Constitutional Congress in 1787
(C) Difficulties over trade and foreign relations led to a repeal of overly restrictive tariffs required by the Articles of Confederation.
(D) Washington’s embarrassing failure at the Whiskey Rebellion led to Federalist demands for a new framework for federal power.
12. Which of the following statements is most accurate regarding the existence of political parties in the early United States?
(A) After the drafting of the Constitution, continued debates about states’ rights and competing economic interests led to the formation of political parties, such as the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.
(B) Although Washington warned against the influence of political parties, he reluctantly accepted the endorsement of the Federalist party.
(C) Political parties did not exist until the War of 1812, when Federalists asserted control over foreign policies with France and Britain.
(D) Two major political parties dominated early presidential elections until John Quincy Adams founded the Whig party in 1824.
Questions 13 - 17 refer to the following excerpt.
“Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country? The president of the bank has told us that most of the State banks exist by its forbearance. Should its influence become concentrated, as it may under the operation of such an act as this, in the hands of a self-elected directory whose interests are identified with those of the foreign stockholders, will there not be cause to tremble for the purity of our elections in peace and for the independence of our country in war? Their power would be great whenever they might choose to exert it; but if this monopoly were regularly renewed every fifteen or twenty years on terms proposed by themselves, they might seldom in peace put forth their strength to influence elections or control the affairs of the nation. But if any private citizen or public functionary should interpose to curtail its powers or prevent a renewal of its privileges, it cannot be doubted that he would be made to feel its influence.”
President Andrew Jackson, Veto of the Bank of the United States, 1832
13. In the excerpt above, which quote best explains why Jackson chose to veto the re-charter of the Second Bank?
(A) “but if any private citizen”
(B) “the president of the bank”
(C) “this monopoly”
(D) “interests are identified with those of foreign stockholders”
14. Which of the following events most directly caused the formation of the Second Bank of the United States?
(A) The failure of the Specie Circular
(B) Unregulated currency and federal debts after the War of 1812
(C) Efforts by Alexander Hamilton to stabilize the national economy
(D) Federalist counter-reaction to the extreme budget-cutting under Jefferson
15. The debate over the First Bank of the United States was significant because it raised the issue of
(A) whether the new government should issue paper currency
(B) how strictly the Constitution should be interpreted
(C) whether the United States should pay back its war debt to France
(D) whether the president had the power to act unilaterally on important economic issues
16. The election of 1824 marked a turning point in presidential politics because, for the first time,
(A) the presidency was won by someone who was not a member of the Federalist Party
(B) a presidential and vice-presidential candidate ran together on one ticket
(C) all the candidates campaigned widely throughout the states
(D) the system of choosing nominees by congressional caucus failed
17. John Taylor of Caroline was a Virginia senator who served in office from 1792 to 1824. He distrusted large banking institutions and generally defended the institution of slavery. He was once quoted as saying that “…if Congress could incorporate a bank, it might emancipate a slave.” Taylor is best categorized as
(A) a Jeffersonian Democrat
(B) a Jacksonian Democrat
(C) a Republican
(D) a Whig
Questions 18 - 21 refer to the map below.
18. Supreme Court decisions concerning American Indian tribes in 1831 and 1832
(A) reinforced the rights of states to remove Indians from disputed lands
(B) denied them the right to sue in federal court but affirmed their rights to land that was traditionally theirs
(C) voided previous treaties between Indian tribes and the United States on the grounds that the treaties were unfair
(D) ruled that the federal government had a unilateral right to relocate Indians to lands west of the Mississippi
19. Which of the following factors are most likely to have caused the migration shown in the map above?
(A) Federal Executive branch mandates
(B) Supreme Court judicial decisions
(C) Legislative incentives for homesteading in the West
(D) State legislative mandates for Indian removal
20. Which event in Native American history is LEAST similar to the migration depicted in the map above?
(A) The Trail of Tears
(B) King Philip’s War
(C) The Pequot War
(D) The Battle of Little Big Horn
21. Which of the following is true of the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887?
(A) In honoring communal landholdings, it reflected an appreciation of Indian culture.
(B) It was an attempt to assimilate the Indians into American society through individual land grants.
(C) It compensated Indians for the land they had lost at the Battle of Wounded Knee.
(D) It outlawed individual land ownership by Indian leaders.
Questions 22 - 25 refer to the following excerpt.
“On the 4th of March next this party [the Republican party] will take possession of the government. It has announced that the South shall be excluded from the common territory, that the judicial tribunal shall be made sectional, and that a war must be waged against slavery until it shall cease throughout the United States. The guarantees of the Constitution will then no longer exist; the equal rights of the states will be lost. The slaveholding states will no longer have the power of self-government or self-protection, and the federal government will have become their enemy.
“We, therefore, the people of South Carolina, by our delegates in convention assembled, have solemnly declared that the Union heretofore existing between this state and the other states of North America is dissolved; and that the state of South Carolina has resumed her position among the nations of the world, as [a] separate and independent state, with full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do.”
South Carolina defines the causes of secession, 1860
22. Which of the following was an immediate consequence of the secession of South Carolina?
(A) Southern Democrats appealed to the powers of Congress to stop military action against South Carolina.
(B) Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
(C) Other Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederacy.
(D) Jefferson Davis drafted Confederate soldiers into war, defending the siege on Fort Sumter.
23. The sentiments above are most consistent with which of the following ideologies?
(A) States’ Rights
(B) Nullification
(C) Neutrality
(D) Civil disobedience
24. In the excerpt above, the reference to “the sanctions of a more erroneous religious belief” most probably refers to
(A) Southern Baptist justification of slavery on the grounds of white racial superiority
(B) the Puritan abolition of slavery in New England states
(C) Jewish acceptance of slavery in the Torah
(D) Christian abolitionist rejection of slavery on moral grounds
25. Which of the following best explains why South Carolina chose to secede from the Union in 1860?
(A) The failures of the Compromise of 1850 hindered South Carolina’s trade relationships with Western states, leading to severe economic recession.
(B) The Battle of Fort Sumter occurred in Charleston, prompting public outrage over Union aggression.
(C) President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, thus undermining slavery in the South.
(D) Lincoln’s election on a Free-Soil platform led Southern politicians to conclude that secession was necessary.
Questions 26 - 28 refer to the following excerpt.
“The Opposition tells us that we ought not to govern a people without their consent. I answer, the rule of liberty that all just government derives its authority from the consent of the governed, applies only to those who are capable of self-government. We govern the Indians without their consent, we govern our territories without their consent, we govern our children without their consent. How do they know that our government would be without their consent? Would not the people of the Philippines prefer the just, human, civilizing government of this Republic to the savage, bloody rule of pillage and extortion from which we have rescued them? And, regardless of this formula of words made only for enlightened, self-governing people, do we owe no duty to the world? Shall we turn these peoples back to the reeking hands from which we have taken them? Shall we abandon them, with Germany, England, Japan, hungering for them? Shall we save them from those nations, to give them a self-rule of tragedy?…Then, like men and not like children, let us on to our tasks, our mission, and our destiny.”
Albert J. Beveridge, “The March of the Flag,” 1898
26. The sentiment expressed by Beveridge best exemplifies which of the following?
(A) Imperialism
(B) Anti-imperialism
(C) Isolationism
(D) Manifest Destiny
27. The United States became politically engaged with the Philippines after what military conflict?
(A) Mexican-American War
(B) World War II
(C) Spanish-American War
(D) The Boxer Rebellion
28. Which of the following rationales does Beveridge employ in his argument?
(A) The closing of the western frontier impels the United States to expand its territory overseas.
(B) Governing territories confers economic benefits to both European and nonwhite nations.
(C) Powerful nations have a moral duty to govern less developed nations.
(D) Racial superiority confers responsibility to the United States and Europe over the affairs of developing nations.
Questions 29 - 33 refer to the following excerpt.
“Whereas the laws and treaties of the United States, without interfering with the free expression of opinion and sympathy, or with the commercial manufacture or sale of arms or munitions of war, nevertheless impose upon all persons who may be within their territory and jurisdiction the duty of an impartial neutrality during the existence of the contest; And Whereas it is the duty of a neutral government not to permit or suffer the making of its waters subservient to the purposes of war;
“Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, in order to preserve the neutrality of the United States…do hereby declare and proclaim….
“That the statutes and the treaties of the United States and the law of nations alike require that no person, within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, shall take part, directly or indirectly, in the said wars, but shall remain at peace with all of the said belligerents, and shall maintain a strict and impartial neutrality….”
Woodrow Wilson, 1914
29. The statement above was most likely prompted by which of the following world events?
(A) Cuban revolt against Spanish control
(B) Adolph Hitler’s invasion of Poland
(C) Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia
(D) Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia
30. The statement above is most in harmony with the sentiments in which of the following speeches?
(A) Washington’s Farewell Address
(B) George H. W. Bush’s “A Thousand Points of Light”
(C) Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
(D) Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy”
31. All of the following increased federal government power during World War I EXCEPT the
(A) War Industries Board
(B) Food Administration
(C) Espionage Act
(D) Dawes Plan
32. Which of the following statements about the Treaty of Versailles is true?
(A) The United States Senate rejected it because it treated Germany too leniently.
(B) The United States Senate rejected it because it required increased American involvement in European affairs.
(C) The United States Senate approved it, with reservations concerning the division of Eastern Europe.
(D) It was never voted on by the United States Senate.
33. Which of the following statements is most accurate?
(A) After World War I, debates intensified over American involvement overseas.
(B) After World War I, Americans generally favored the new era of American involvement overseas.
(C) American involvement in World War I was an extension of a long tradition of involvement overseas.
(D) American involvement in World War I was a direct result of “dollar diplomacy.”
Questions 34 - 36 refer to the following excerpt.
“Since the foundations of the American commonwealth were laid in colonial times over 300 years ago, vigorous complaint and more or less bitter persecution have been aimed at newcomers to our shores. Also the congressional reports of about 1840 are full of abuse of English, Scotch, Welsh immigrants as paupers, criminals, and so forth. Old citizens in Detroit of Irish and German descent have told me of the fierce tirades and propaganda directed against the great waves of Irish and Germans who came over from 1840 on for a few decades to escape civil, racial, and religious persecution in their native lands. The “Know-Nothings,” lineal ancestors of the Ku-Klux Klan, bitterly denounced the Irish and Germans as mongrels, scum, foreigners, and a menace to our institutions, much as other great branches of the Caucasian race of glorious history and antecedents are berated to-day….But to-day it is the Italians, Spanish, Poles, Jews, Greeks, Russians, Balkanians, and so forth, who are the racial lepers…..In this bill we find racial discrimination at its worst—a deliberate attempt to go back 84 years in our census taken every 10 years so that a blow may be aimed at peoples of eastern and southern Europe, particularly at our recent allies in the Great War—Poland and Italy.”
Robert H. Clancy, Congressional Record, 68th Congress, 1st Session, 1924
34. The excerpt above is most likely a response to
(A) World War I patriotism
(B) immigration quotas
(C) labor strikes
(D) the Red Scare
35. What best accounts for the sharp increase of immigrants during the period 1880–1910?
(A) Many Southern and Eastern Europeans turned to America for financial gain and political freedom.
(B) Irish farmers were forced to leave their homes due to agricultural disasters.
(C) Germans were seeking ways to avoid military conscription.
(D) The United States welcomed immigrants by providing housing and employment.
36. Which one of the following legislative acts is most closely an example of nativism?
(A) The Wagner Act of 1935
(B) The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
(C) The Espionage Act of 1917
(D) The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
Questions 37 - 41 refer to the graph below.
37. The graph above is consistent with which of the following true statements about the era portrayed?
(A) Unemployment rates began to drop with the election of Herbert Hoover in 1933.
(B) Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal produced a constant decrease in U.S. unemployment rates.
(C) A full economic recovery did not occur until the U.S. involvement in World War II.
(D) A brief economic recovery in 1937 sparked a sudden increase in U.S. employment.
38. Which of the following was NOT a major contributing factor to the onset of the Great Depression?
(A) Technological advances had allowed farmers and manufacturers to overproduce, creating large inventories.
(B) The federal government interfered too frequently with the economy, causing investors to lose confidence.
(C) Stock investors had been allowed to speculate wildly, creating an unstable and volatile stock market.
(D) Major businesses were controlled by so few producers that the failure of any one had a considerable effect on the national economy.
39. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 sought to lessen the effects of the Depression by
(A) paying farmers to cut production and, in some cases, destroy crops
(B) purchasing farms and turning them into government collectives
(C) instituting an early retirement program for farmers over the age of 50
(D) encouraging farmers to increase production
40. The dismal plight of the “Dust Bowl” refugees was captured in
(A) Harriet Beecher Stowes’ Uncle Tom’s Cabin
(B) F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
(C) Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy
(D) John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
41. In response to several unfavorable Supreme Court rulings concerning New Deal programs, Franklin Roosevelt
(A) urged the voting public to write letters of protest to Supreme Court justices
(B) submitted four separate Constitutional amendments broadening the powers of the presidency
(C) abandoned the New Deal and replaced it with a laissez-faire policy
(D) proposed legislation that would allow him to appoint new federal and Supreme Court judges
Questions 42 - 47 refer to the following excerpt.
“We found that not only was it a civil war, an effort by a people who had for years been seeking their liberation from any colonial influence whatsoever, but also we found that the Vietnamese whom we had enthusiastically molded after our own image were hard put to take up the fight against the threat we were supposedly saving them from.
“We found most people didn’t even know the difference between communism and democracy. They only wanted to work in rice paddies without helicopters strafing them and bombs with napalm burning their villages and tearing their country apart. They wanted everything to do with the war, particularly with this foreign presence of the United States of America, to leave them alone in peace, and they practiced the art of survival by siding with whichever military force was present at a particular time, be it Viet Cong, North Vietnamese or American.”
John Kerry, 1971
42. The conflict described above is most likely a result of which of the following doctrines?
(A) Imperialism
(B) Containment
(C) “Big-stick” diplomacy
(D) Isolationism
43. The most important factor in the defeat of Democratic presidential candidates in the elections of 1952 and 1968 was
(A) the American public’s desire to avoid conflict and return to a more conservative political and social life
(B) the Democratic Party platform pledge to increase taxes in order to pay off the national debt
(C) the Democratic candidates’ controversial positions on civil rights legislation
(D) the Democratic Party’s unequivocal support of the Equal Rights Amendment
44. The two political issues that most concerned the Counterculture Movement of the 1960s were
(A) U.S. involvement in Vietnam and flag burning
(B) the civil rights movement and censorship
(C) U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the civil rights movement
(D) censorship and the draft
45. Which of the following pairs of words best characterizes the differences between the approaches of Presidents Lyndon Johnson (1963–1969) and Richard Nixon (1969–1974) to the Vietnam conflict?
(A) Aggression vs. pacifism
(B) Competency vs. failure
(C) Insurgence vs. retreat
(D) Appeasement vs. provocation
46. Which of the following best characterizes the policy of détente?
(A) Direct confrontation
(B) Covert sabotage
(C) Decolonization
(D) Mutual coexistence
47. From the quote above, it is reasonable to infer that
(A) many Vietnamese viewed the United States as a colonial influence
(B) most Vietnamese were opposed to Communism
(C) most Vietnamese favored Communism
(D) some Viet Cong fought alongside American troops in opposition to North Vietnam
Questions 48 - 50 refer to the following excerpt.
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing…the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack….The attack yesterday…has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas….As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.”
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, radio address, December 8, 1941
48. The above statements were most likely made after which major event?
(A) The bombing of Pearl Harbor
(B) The sinking of the U.S.S Maine
(C) The bombing of the U.S.S. Liberty
(D) The Boxer Rebellion
49. Which of the following was the most immediate consequence of the events described in the excerpt above?
(A) Trade embargoes with Japan extending up through the 1980s
(B) The Battle of Normandy
(C) The internment of Japanese-Americans
(D) The bombing of Nagasaki
50. Which of the following statements best characterizes the economic consequences of the declaration of war described above?
(A) Decreased trade with Asian nations precipitated economic recession in both the United States and Europe.
(B) The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe allowed the United States to emerge as one of the most prosperous nations on Earth.
(C) Cold War tensions isolated the economies of both the Soviet Union and the United States, leading to economic struggle for both nations.
(D) Japan was subsequently required to pay reparations to the United States, forcing it into a prolonged depression.
Questions 51 - 53 refer to the following excerpt.
“In the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”
Abigail Adams, in a letter to John Adams, 1776
“Special legislation for woman has placed us in a most anomalous position. Women invested with the rights of citizens in one section—voters, jurors, office-holders—crossing an imaginary line, are subjects in the next. In some States, a married woman may hold property and transact business in her own name; in others, her earnings belong to her husband. In some States, a woman may testify against her husband, sue and be sued in the courts; in others, she has no redress in case of damage to person, property, or character. In case of divorce on account of adultery in the husband, the innocent wife is held to possess no right to children or property, unless by special decree of the court. But in no State of the Union has the wife the right to her own person, or to any part of the joint earnings of the co-partnership during the life of her husband. In some States women may enter the law schools and practice in the courts; in others they are forbidden. In some universities girls enjoy equal educational advantages with boys, while many of the proudest institutions in the land deny them admittance, though the sons of China, Japan and Africa are welcomed there. But the privileges already granted in the several States are by no means secure.”
Susan B. Anthony, “Declaration of Rights for Women,” July 4, 1876
51. The sentiments expressed in the first excerpt by Abigail Adams best exemplify which of the following ideologies?
(A) Second-wave feminism
(B) Jeffersonian democracy
(C) Republican motherhood
(D) Libertarianism
52. The sentiments expressed in the second excerpt by Susan B. Anthony are most likely in support of
(A) the Equal Rights Amendment
(B) universal suffrage
(C) states’ rights
(D) prohibition
53. The excerpts above best support which of the following conclusions?
(A) The Second Great Awakening, along with various social reform movements, secured full rights for women by the turn of the nineteenth century.
(B) Before 1876, American women had no right to own property or vote in national elections.
(C) Women’s rights movements flourished in response to inconsistent legislation and unequal distributions of power throughout the nation.
(D) American feminists in the nineteenth century largely focused on suffrage, shunning other social issues such as abolition and prison reform.
Questions 54 - 55 refer to the following excerpt.
“Americans have more freedom and broader rights than citizens of almost any other nation in the world, including the capacity to criticize their government and their elected officials. But we do not have the right to resort to violence—or the threat of violence—when we don’t get our way. Our founders constructed a system of government so that reason could prevail over fear. Oklahoma City proved once again that without the law there is no freedom. Criticism is part of the lifeblood of democracy. No one is right all the time. But we should remember that there is a big difference between criticizing a policy or a politician and demonizing the government that guarantees our freedoms and the public servants who enforce our laws.”
President Bill Clinton, “What We Learned in Oklahoma City,” 2010
(Written on the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing)
“If there would not have been a Waco, I would have put down roots somewhere and not been so unsettled with the fact that my government…was a threat to me. Everything that Waco implies was on the forefront of my thoughts. That sort of guided my path for the next couple of years.”
Timothy McVeigh, Oklahoma City bomber, 2001
“Madam Attorney General, I am extremely disappointed in the decisions that have been made out of the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. In Philadelphia, we had a mayor that bombed people out of an eviction. In Jonestown, we lost the life of my colleague, Congressman Ryan,…because of a miscalculation about cult people. We had Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army. We had Wounded Knee with the Indians. Now, when in God’s name is the law enforcement at the Federal level going to understand that these are very sensitive events that you cannot put barbed wire, guns, FBI, Secret Service around them, send in sound 24 hours a day and night and then wonder why they do something unstable? The root cause of this problem was that it was considered a military operation, and it wasn’t. This is a profound disgrace to law enforcement in the United States of America, and you did the right thing by offering to resign…”
U.S. Representative John Conyers, Events Surrounding the Branch Davidian Cult Standoff in Waco, Texas: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, 1993
54. The above excerpts most closely support which of the following inferences?
(A) In the 1990s, anti-government sentiment, in response to excessive uses of federal power to resolve domestic conflicts, inspired militia groups and lone vigilantes, such as Timothy McVeigh.
(B) In 1993 Attorney General Janet Reno launched an offensive against the Branch Davidian cult led by Timothy McVeigh, later drawing criticism from Congress for her heavy-handed approach.
(C) Fearing a rise in anti-government sentiment after the Oklahoma City bombing, Attorney General Janet Reno sent troops to quell the Branch Davidian Cult Standoff, and later faced congressional criticism.
(D) Attorney General Janet Reno resigned from office in part due to Congressional pressure put on President Clinton by Representative John Conyers.
55. In the third excerpt, Representative Conyers refers to “Wounded Knee” as an example of
(A) a violent cult
(B) a federal misuse of power
(C) the site of a bombing
(D) a recent conflict between federal agents and Lakota Indians
UNITED STATES HISTORY
SECTION I, Part A
Time—50 minutes
4 Questions
Directions: Read each question carefully and write your responses on a separate sheet of paper.
Use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable. On test day, you will be able to plan your answers in the exam booklet, but only your responses in the corresponding boxes on the free-response answer sheet will be scored.
Question 1 is based on the following excerpt.
“The Democrats represented a wide range of views but shared a fundamental commitment to the Jeffersonian concept of an agrarian society. They viewed the central government as the enemy of individual liberty. The 1824 “corrupt bargain” had strengthened their suspicion of Washington politics….Jacksonians feared the concentration of economic and political power. They believed that government intervention in the economy benefited special-interest groups and created corporate monopolies that favored the rich. They sought to restore the independence of the individual—the artisan and the ordinary farmer—by ending federal support of banks and corporations and restricting the use of paper currency, which they distrusted. Their definition of the proper role of government tended to be negative, and Jackson’s political power was largely expressed in negative acts. He exercised the veto more than all previous presidents combined. Jackson and his supporters also opposed reform as a movement. Reformers eager to turn their programs into legislation called for a more active government. But Democrats tended to oppose programs like educational reform mid the establishment of a public education system. They believed, for instance, that public schools restricted individual liberty by interfering with parental responsibility and undermined freedom of religion by replacing church schools. Nor did Jackson share reformers’ humanitarian concerns. He had no sympathy for American Indians, initiating the removal of the Cherokees along the Trail of Tears.”
Mary Beth Norton, A People and a Nation, Volume I: to 1877 (2007)
“FREE-SOIL PARTY—a political party in the United States, which was organized in 1847-1848 to oppose the extension of slavery into the Territories. It was a combination of the political abolitionists many of whom had formerly been identified with the more radical Liberty party the anti-slavery Whigs, and the faction of the Democratic party in the state of New York, called “Barnburners,” who favoured the prohibition of slavery, in accordance with the “Wilmot Proviso,” in the territory acquired from Mexico. The party was prominent in the presidential campaigns of 1848 and 1852. At the national convention held in Buffalo, N.Y., on the 9th and 10th of August 1848, they secured the nomination to the presidency of ex-President Martin Van Buren, who had failed to secure nomination by the Democrats in 1844 because of his opposition to the annexation of Texas, and of Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, for the vice-presidency, taking as their “platform” a Declaration that Congress, having “no more power to make a slave than to make a king,” was bound to restrict slavery to the slave states, and concluding, “we inscribe on our banner ‘Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Man,’ and under it we will fight on and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions.”
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911
1. Using the excerpts above, answer parts a, b, and c.
(A) Briefly explain ONE major difference between the Democrat and Free-Soil Parties as described in the excerpts above.
(B) Briefly explain how someone supporting Norton’s interpretation could use ONE piece of evidence from the early 1800s not directly mentioned in the excerpt.
(C) Briefly explain ONE piece of evidence regarding the Free-Soil Party not directly mentioned in the excerpt.
2. United States historians have debated the role of Jeffersonian democracy during the period 1800–1824.
(A) Choose ONE of the events listed below and explain why your choice represents a shift in the ideals of Jeffersonian democracy during the period 1800–1824. Provide at least ONE piece of evidence to support your explanation.
• The Louisiana Purchase
• The War of 1812
• The Monroe Doctrine
(B) Briefly explain why ONE of the other options is not as persuasive as the one you chose.
(C) Explain one other event or historical issue not included in this list that you think represents a shift in the ideals of Jeffersonian democracy.
Question 3 is based on the following excerpt.
3. Use the image above and your knowledge of history to answer parts a, b, and c.
(A) Explain the point of view in the image regarding ONE of the following:
• Family life
• The role of women
• Social class
(B) Explain how ONE element of the image expresses the point of view you identified in Part A.
(C) Explain how the point of view you identified in Part A helped to shape ONE significant historical event prior to 1800.
4. Answer a, b, and c.
(A) Briefly explain ONE reason for the popularity of the Progressive movement during the first two decades of the twentieth century.
(B) Briefly explain a SECOND reason for the popularity of the Progressive movement during the same period.
(C) Briefly explain ONE example of how the American people resisted changes brought about by the Progressive movement during the same period.
END OF SECTION I
AP® United States History Exam
SECTION II: Free Response
DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.
At a Glance
Total Time
90 minutes
Number of Questions
2
Percent of Total Score
40%
Writing Instrument
Pen with black or dark blue ink
Reading Period
Time
15 minutes. Use this time to read the questions and plan your answer to Question 1, the document-based question.
Writing Period
Time
75 minutes
Question 1 (DBQ): Mandatory
Question 1 (DBQ)
Suggested Time
40 minutes
Percent of Total Score
25%
Question 2 or 3: Choose One Question
Answer either question 2 or 3
Suggested Time
35 minutes
Percent of Total Score
15%
Instructions
The questions for Section II are printed in the orange Questions and Documents booklet. You may use that booklet to organize your answers and for scratch work, but you must write your answers in this Section II: Free Response booklet. No credit will be given for any work written in the Questions and Documents booklet.
The proctor will announce the beginning and end of the reading period. You are advised to spend the 15-minute period reading the question and planning your answer to Question 1, the document-based question. If you have time, you may also read Questions 2 and 3. Do not begin writing in this booklet until the proctor tells you to do so.
Section II of this exam requires answers in essay form. Write clearly and legibly. Circle the number of the question you are answering at the top of each page in this booklet. Begin each answer on a new page. Do not skip lines. Cross out any errors you make; crossed-out work will not be scored.
Manage your time carefully. The proctor will announce the suggested time for each part, but you may proceed freely from one part to the next. Go on to Question 2 or 3 if you finish Question 1 early. You may review your responses if you finish before the end of the exam is announced.
After the exam, you must apply the label that corresponds to the long-essay question you answered—Question 2 or 3. For example, if you answered Question 2, apply the label . Failure to do so may delay your score.
UNITED STATES HISTORY
SECTION II
Total Time—90 minutes
Question 1 (Document-Based Question)
Suggested reading period: 15 minutes
Suggested writing period: 40 minutes
Directions: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise. You are advised to spend 15 minutes reading and planning and 40 minutes writing your answer.
In your response you should do the following.
• State a relevant thesis that directly addresses all parts of the question.
• Support the thesis or a relevant argument with evidence from all, or all but one, of the documents.
• Incorporate analysis of all, or all but one, of the documents into your argument.
• Focus your analysis of each document on at least one of the following: intended audience, purpose, historical context, and/or point of view.
• Support your argument with analysis of historical examples outside the documents.
• Connect historical phenomena relevant to your argument to broader events or processes.
• Synthesize the elements above into a persuasive essay that extends your argument, connects it to a different historical context, or accounts for contradictory evidence on the topic.
1. To what extent was the breakup of the Union in 1861 a result of the conflict over slavery and to what extent was it due to other factors? Using your knowledge of the antebellum period, construct an essay that explains the reasons the nation went to war and what circumstances led to this point of national crisis.
Use the documents and your knowledge of the time period 1844–1861 to construct your answer.
Document 1
Source: “Annexation,” by John L. O’Sullivan, United States Magazine and Democratic Review, July 1845
Why, were other reasoning wanting, in favor of now elevating this question of the reception of Texas into the Union, out of the lower region of our past party dissension, up to its proper level of a high and broad nationality, it surely is to be found, found abundantly, in the manner in which other nations have undertaken to intrude themselves into it, between us and the proper parties to the case, in a spirit of hostile interference against us, for the avowed object of thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.
Document 2
Source: President James K. Polk’s War Message to Congress, May 11, 1846
As war exists, and notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, exists by the act of Mexico herself, we are called upon by every consideration of duty and patriotism to vindicate with decision the honor, rights and dignity of this country.
Document 3
Source: Representative David Wilmot, from the Congressional Globe, 29th Congress, 2nd session, Appendix, February 8, 1847
But, sir, the issue now presented is not whether slavery shall exist unmolested where it now is, but whether it shall be carried to new and distant regions, now free, where the footprint of a slave cannot be found. This, sir, is the issue. Upon it I take my stand, and from it I cannot be frightened or driven by idle charges of abolitionism.
I ask not that slavery be abolished, I demand that this government preserve the integrity of free territory against the aggressions of slavery—against its wrongful usurpations.
Sir, I was in favor of the annexation of Texas…Yes, sir, here was an empire larger than France given up to slavery. Shall further concessions be made by the North? Shall we give up free territory, the inheritance of free labor? Must we yield this also?
…But, sir, we are told that the joint blood and treasure of the whole country being expended in this acquisition, therefore it should be divided, and slavery should be allowed to take its share. Sir, the South has her share already.
…Now, sir, we are told that California is ours, that New Mexico is ours—won by the valor of our arms. They are free. Shall they remain free? Shall these fair provinces be the inheritance and homes of the white labor of freemen or the black labor of slaves? This, sir, is the issue.
Document 4
Document 5
Source: Roger Taney, in the Supreme Court opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857
The right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution….No word can be found in the Constitution which gives Congress a greater power over the slave property or which entitles property of that kind to less protection than property of any other description.
Document 6
Document 7
END OF DOCUMENTS FOR QUESTION 1
Question 2 or Question 3
Suggested writing period: 35 minutes
Directions: Choose EITHER question 2 or question 3. You are advised to spend 35 minutes writing your answer.
In your response you should do the following.
• State a relevant thesis that directly addresses all parts of the question.
• Support your argument with evidence, using specific examples.
• Apply historical thinking skills as directed by the question.
• Synthesize the elements above into a persuasive essay that extends your argument, connects it to a different historical context, or connects it to a different category of analysis.
2. Evaluate the extent to which it was social and economic issues within the United States that influenced U.S. foreign policy in the 1920s.
3. Evaluate the extent to which farmers and factory workers did not easily adapt to changes stemming from industrialization in the years 1865–1900.
STOP
END OF EXAM