Mention specific topics that I need to know in order to get these questions right, go in the order of the questions.
Questions:
Section I
PART A: MULTIPLE-CHOICE
Questions 1–4 refer to the following excerpt.
“May it . . . please your most excellent Majesty, that it may be declared . . . in
this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That
the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right
ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial crown and
parliament of Great Britain; . . . and [they] of right ought to have, full power
and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind
the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in
all cases whatsoever.”
The Declaratory Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1766
1. Which of the following contributed most directly to the enactment of the law in
the excerpt?
(A) The increasing divergence between colonial and British culture in the 1700s
(B) Debates over how Britain’s colonies should bear the cost of the Seven Years’
War (French and Indian War)
(C) The drafting of a declaration of independence for Britain’s colonies in
North America
(D) Conflicts between colonists and British army leaders over recognizing
Native American sovereignty
2. The actions described in the excerpt most immediately led to
(A) Parliament strengthening its approach to generating new tax revenue in the
North American colonies
(B) major and sometimes violent conflicts emerging between the various
colonial regions
(C) a colonial convention to call for independence from Britain
(D) Britain delegating greater authority to colonial assemblies
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3. Which of the following was the American colonists’ immediate response to the
attempts of the British Parliament to enforce the claims made in the excerpt?
(A) They acceded to Parliament’s authority to regulate colonial commerce.
(B) They denied the power of the British king over the colonies.
(C) They sought an alliance with France against Great Britain.
(D) They initiated boycotts of imported British goods.
4. Debates over the claims of the British Parliament in the excerpt most directly
contributed to which of the following later characteristics of the United States
government?
(A) The reservation of some governmental powers for the states
(B) The enforcement of term limits for the president
(C) The establishment of taxation power in Congress
(D) The practice of judicial review by the Supreme Court
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Questions 5–7 refer to the following excerpt.
“The Erie Canal poured into New York City [wealth] far exceeding that which
its early friends predicted. . . . In the city, merchants, bankers, warehousemen,
[and] shippers . . . seized the opportunity to perfect and specialize their
services, fostering round after round of business innovations that within a
decade of the opening of the Erie Canal had made New York by far the best
place in America to engage in commerce. . . .
“. . . Even before its economic benefits were realized fully, rival seaports
with hopes of tapping interior trade began to imagine dreadful prospects
of permanent eclipse. Whatever spirit of mutual good feeling and national
welfare once greeted [internal improvements] now disappeared behind
desperate efforts in cities . . . to create for themselves a westward connection.”
John Lauritz Larson, historian, Internal Improvement:
National Public Works and the Promise of
Popular Government in the Early United States, 2001
5. The excerpt best illustrates which of the following developments?
(A) The extension of commerce with Native Americans
(B) The expansion of access to markets
(C) The growth in the internal slave trade
(D) The increase in semisubsistence agricultural production
6. Which of the following developments in the early nineteenth century could best
be used as evidence to support the argument in the second paragraph of the
excerpt?
(A) The opposition of some political leaders to providing federal funds for
public works
(B) The failure of some infrastructure projects to recover their costs
(C) The recruitment of immigrant laborers to work on new transportation
projects
(D) The rise of a regional economy based on the production and export
of cotton
7. Which of the following later developments had an effect most similar to that
described in the excerpt?
(A) The invention of the mechanical reaper in the 1830s
(B) The annexation of Texas in the 1840s
(C) The growth of political party competition in the 1850s
(D) The completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the 1860s
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Questions 8–10 refer to the following excerpt.
“The normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of
freedom. That as our Republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery
in all our national [western] territory, ordained that ‘no person should
be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law,’ it
becomes our duty by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to
maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate
it; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, or
of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the
United States.”
Republican Party platform, 1860
8. Which of the following best serves as evidence for the claim that “our
Republican fathers . . . had abolished slavery in all our national territory”?
(A) The ban on the trans-Atlantic slave trade implemented in 1808
(B) The relationship of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to slavery
(C) The provisions of the Northwest Ordinance regarding slavery
(D) The agreement to count three-fifths of enslaved people for representation in
Congress
9. The ideas expressed in the excerpt were most directly influenced by the
(A) nativist movement
(B) free-soil movement
(C) Texas independence movement
(D) temperance movement
10. Republicans asserted that political leaders could not “give legal existence to
slavery in any territory of the United States” in order to express opposition
against the
(A) idea of popular sovereignty exemplified by the Kansas-Nebraska Act
(B) removal of American Indians from their homelands
(C) recruitment of laborers for Northern factories
(D) application of California for statehood
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Questions 11–14 refer to the following image from the 1940s.
Copyright © Boeing. All Rights Reserved
11. The image most directly reflects which of the following developments during
the early 1940s?
(A) The wartime repression of civil liberties
(B) The emergence of the United States as a world power
(C) The limited access to consumer goods during wartime
(D) The wartime mobilization of United States society
12. The image was most likely intended to promote
(A) popular support for federal civil rights legislation to end discrimination
(B) the belief that women should have rights equal to those of men
(C) the movement of women into jobs traditionally held by men
(D) access to union membership for all workers regardless of race or gender
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13. Production activities like those depicted in the image most directly contributed to
(A) calls to limit arms and naval destroyers for the major world powers
(B) critical wartime provisioning for the Allies that led to victory
(C) efforts to rebuild Western Europe’s postwar economy
(D) concerns about the political influence of the military-industrial complex
14. In the 1950s, the activities of workers such as those depicted in the image would
be most challenged by
(A) a culture of conformity that emphasized domestic ideals for women
(B) an increased need for dual incomes in suburban middle-class families
(C) the rise of a second-wave feminist movement in the United States
(D) the long-term decline of industrial production in the United States
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Questions 15–17 refer to the following excerpt.
“The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George
Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume
the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced
by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts
our hearts.
“I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your
ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. . . .
“I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our
Government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken
at home and abroad.
“In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my
instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always
the best policy in the end. My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare
is over.”
President Gerald Ford, Remarks on Taking the Oath of Office, 1974
15. The remarks in the excerpt were most likely given in response to which of the
following?
(A) Political scandals resulting from the president’s illegal campaign activity
(B) Accusations that the adoption of national wage and price controls
constituted socialism
(C) The growing concern over escalating antiwar protests and the shooting of
students at Kent State University
(D) The discovery that the president had ordered invasions of Cambodia
and Laos
16. The “strained” bond referenced in the excerpt most directly reflected which of
the following?
(A) Increased United States involvement in Vietnam
(B) A declining economy and rising energy prices
(C) Growing federal support for returning power to states
(D) Decreasing public trust in the federal government
17. The events discussed in the excerpt led to which of the following political
changes?
(A) Democrats consolidated political support in areas of the South that
Republicans had previously dominated.
(B) Republicans overcame divisions within their party with Ronald Reagan’s
election as president in 1980.
(C) Third-party candidates won increasing numbers of electoral college votes in
presidential elections.
(D) Congress announced a bipartisan proposal for a Contract with America to
regain voters’ trust.
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PART B: SHORT-ANSWER QUESTION WITH SECONDARY SOURCE
The following is an example of short-answer question 1 found on the AP Exam.
Note that on the actual AP Exam, students will answer three short-answer questions.
1. “Of all the amusements that bedazzled the single working woman, dancing
proved to be her greatest passion. After a long day laboring in a factory or shop,
young women dressed themselves in their fanciest finery, put on their dancing
shoes, and hurried out to the neighborhood hall, ballroom, or saloon equipped
with a dance floor. . . . By the 1910s, over five hundred public dance halls opened
their doors each evening throughout greater New York. . . .
“New ballrooms and dance palaces offered a novel kind of social space for
their female patrons, enhancing and legitimizing their participation in a
public social life. The commercial culture of the dance halls meshed with
that of working-class youth in a symbiotic relationship, reinforcing emergent
values and ‘modern’ attitudes.”
Kathy Peiss, historian, Cheap Amusements: Working Women and
Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York, 1986
“As strikers thronged the public streets of New York City [in 1909],
demonstrated in parades and mass meetings, and picketed in front of
factories, they challenged established assumptions about the identity and
appearance of political actors and access to public space. These working-class,
largely immigrant women comprised a subordinated group long denied an
active voice in recognized political forums. By occupying the arena of labor
politics through a mass strike, they demanded a voice.”
Nan Enstad, historian, Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure:
Working Women, Popular Culture, and Labor Politics at the Turn of the
Twentieth Century, 1999
Using the excerpts above, answer (a), (b), and (c).
(A) Briefly describe ONE important difference between Peiss’ and Enstad’s
historical interpretations of women’s emergence in the public sphere at the
turn of the twentieth century.
(B) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event, development, or
circumstance from the period 1880–1929 that is not specifically mentioned
in the excerpts could be used to support Peiss’ argument.
(C) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event, development, or
circumstance from the period 1880–1929 that is not specifically mentioned
in the excerpts could be used to support Enstad’s argument.
1. Evaluate the relative importance of different causes for the expanding role of the
United States in the world in the period from 1865 to 1910.
Document 1
Source: Treaty concerning the Cession of the Russian Possessions in
North America by his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias to the
United States of America, June 20, 1867.
His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias agrees to cede to the United
States, by this convention, immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications
thereof, all the territory and dominion now possessed by his said Majesty
on the continent of America and in the adjacent islands, the same being
contained within the geographical limits herein set forth. . . .
The inhabitants of the ceded territory, according to their choice . . . may
return to Russia within three years; but if they should prefer to remain in the
ceded territory, they, with the exception of uncivilized native tribes, shall be
admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of
citizens of the United States, and shall be maintained and protected in the
free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. The uncivilized tribes
will be subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may, from
time to time, adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country. . . .
In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States agree to pay . . .
seven million two hundred thousand dollars in gold.
Document 2
Source: Josiah Strong, Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis,
1885.
It seems to me that God, with infinite wisdom and skill, is training the
Anglo-Saxon race for an hour sure to come in the world’s future. Heretofore
there has always been in the history of the world a comparatively unoccupied
land westward, into which the crowded countries of the East have poured
their surplus populations. But the widening waves of migration, which
millenniums ago rolled east and west from the valley of the Euphrates, meet
today on our Pacific coast. There are no more new worlds. The unoccupied
arable lands of the earth are limited, and will soon be taken. The time is
coming when the pressure of population on the means of subsistence will
be felt here as it is now felt in Europe and Asia. Then will the world enter
upon a new stage of its history—the final competition of races, for which
the Anglo-Saxon is being schooled. . . . Then this race of unequaled energy,
with all the majesty of numbers and the might of wealth behind it—the
representative, let us hope, of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the
highest civilization—having developed peculiarly aggressive traits calculated
to impress its institutions upon mankind, will spread itself over the earth.
Document 3
Source: Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Interest of America in Sea Power,
Present and Future, 1897.
To affirm the importance of distant markets, and the relation to them of
our own immense powers of production, implies logically the recognition
of the link that joins the products and the markets,—that is, the carrying
trade; the three together constituting that chain of maritime power to which
Great Britain owes her wealth and greatness. Further, is it too much to say that,
as two of these links, the shipping and the markets, are exterior to our own
borders, the acknowledgment of them carries with it a view of the relations of
the United States to the world radically distinct from the simple idea of selfsufficingness? . . . There will dawn the realization of America’s unique position,
facing the older worlds of the East and West, her shores washed by the oceans
which touch the one or the other, but which are common to her alone.
Despite a certain great original superiority conferred by our geographical
nearness and immense resources,—due, in other words, to our natural
advantages, and not to our intelligent preparations,—the United States is
woefully unready, not only in fact but in purpose, to assert in the Caribbean
and Central America a weight of influence proportioned to the extent of
her interests. We have not the navy, and, what is worse, we are not willing to
have the navy, that will weigh seriously in any disputes with those nations
whose interests will conflict there with our own. We have not, and we are
not anxious to provide, the defence of the seaboard which will leave the navy
free for its work at sea. We have not, but many other powers have, positions,
either within or on the borders of the Caribbean.
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Document 4
Source: The Boston Globe, May 28, 1898.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress #LC-USZ62–91465
Document 5
Source: John Hay, United States Secretary of State, The Second Open Door
Note, July 3, 1900.
To the Representatives of the United States at Berlin, London, Paris, Rome,
St. Petersburg, and Tokyo Washington, July 3, 1900
In this critical posture of affairs in China it is deemed appropriate to define
the attitude of the United States as far as present circumstances permit this
to be done. We adhere to the policy . . . of peace with the Chinese nation, of
furtherance of lawful commerce, and of protection of lives and property of
our citizens by all means guaranteed under extraterritorial treaty rights and
by the law of nations. . . . We regard the condition at Pekin[g] as one of virtual
anarchy. . . . The purpose of the President is . . . to act concurrently with the
other powers; first, in opening up communication with Pekin[g] and rescuing
the American officials, missionaries, and other Americans who are in
danger; secondly, in affording all possible protection everywhere in China to
American life and property; thirdly, in guarding and protecting all legitimate
American interests; and fourthly, in aiding to prevent a spread of the disorders
to the other provinces of the Empire and a recurrence of such disasters. . . .
The policy of the Government of the United States is to seek a solution which
may bring about permanent safety and peace to China, preserve Chinese
territorial and administrative entity, protect all rights guaranteed to friendly
powers by treaty and international law, and safeguard for the world the
principle of equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire.
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Document 6
Source: Puck, a satirical magazine, November 20, 1901.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress #LC-DIG-ppmsca-25583
Document 7
Source: President Theodore Roosevelt, Fourth Annual Message to Congress,
December 6, 1904.
There are kinds of peace which are highly undesirable, which are in the long
run as destructive as any war. Tyrants and oppressors have many times made a
wilderness and called it peace. Many times peoples who were slothful or timid
or shortsighted, who had been enervated by ease or by luxury, or misled by false
teachings, have shrunk in unmanly fashion from doing duty that was stern and
that needed self-sacrifice, and have sought to hide from their own minds their
shortcomings, their ignoble motives, by calling them love of peace. . . .
It is our duty to remember that a nation has no more right to do injustice
to another nation, strong or weak, than an individual has to do injustice to
another individual; that the same moral law applies in one case as in the other.
But we must also remember that it is as much the duty of the Nation to guard
its own rights and its own interests as it is the duty of the individual so to do. . . .
It is not true that the United States feels any land hunger or entertains any
projects as regards the other nations of the Western Hemisphere save such
as are for their welfare. All that this country desires is to see the neighboring
countries stable, orderly, and prosperous. Any country whose people
conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a nation
shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in
social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need
fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an
impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society,
may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some
civilized nation, and . . . the exercise of an international police power.
2. Evaluate the extent to which the ratification of the United States Constitution
fostered change in the function of the federal government in the period from
1776 to 1800.