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AP US History : DBQs 1973 Through 2007

For your benefit, I have tried to organize pa s t DBQ s chronologically by topic (date of que stion i s in parenthe ses). There are 40 que stion s here covering 34 year s of the e xam – you will note that some of the year s have two e xams li s ted. The se que s tion s can serve a s useful review tool s; thinking through their re spon ses can be very helpful.

EARLY PERIOD TO 1800

1. Although New England and the Che sapeake region were both settled largely by people of Engli sh origin, by 1700 the region s had evolved into two di s tinct societie s . Why did thi s difference in development occur? U se the document s AND your knowledge of the colonial period up to 1700 to develop your an swer. (1993)

2. In what way s did the French and Indian War (1754-63 ) alter the political, economic, and

ideological relation s between Britain and it s American colonie s? Use the document s and your knowledge of the period 1740-1766 in con s truct ing your re spon se. (2004)

3. To what e x tent had the coloni s ts developed a sense of their own identity and unity a s

American s by the eve of the Revolution? U se the document s and your knowledge of the period 1750 to 1776 to an swer the que s tion. (1999)

4. To what e x tent did the American Revolution fundamentally chan ge American society? In

your an swer, be sure to addre ss the political, social, and economic effect s of the Revolution in the period 1775 to 1800. (2005)

5. Was American society, a s evidenced by Wether s field, Connecticut, becoming more

“ democratic ” in the period from the 1750’ s to the 1780’ s? Di scuss with reference to property di s tribution, social s tructure, politic s , and religion. (1976 – old- style DBQ answered primarily from the document s given rather than from documentary and out s ide evidence)

6. How and why did the live s and s tatu s of middle-cla s s women change between 1776 and

1876? (1981)

7. Discuss the changing ideal s of American womanhood between the American Revolut ion (1770’s) and the outbreak of the Civil War. What factor s fos tered the emergence of “ republican motherhood ” and the “ cult of dome s ticit y ” ? Ass ess the e x tent to which the se ideal s influenced the live s of women during thi s pe riod. In your an swer, be sure to con s ider the i ss ues of race and cla ss . Use the document s and your knowledge of the time period in con s tructing your re spon se. (2006)

8. From 1781 to 1789, the Article s of Confederation pr ovided the United State s with an

effective government. Evaluate the validity of thi s s tatement. (1985)

9. The debate over the Alien and Sedition Act s of 1798 revealed bitter controver s ies on a number of i ss ues. Discuss the i ss ues involved and e xplain why the se controver s ies developed. (1977 – an old- s tyle DBQ an swered primar ily from the document s given rather than from documentary and out s ide evidence)

1800-1850

1. With re spect to the federal Con s titution, the Jeffer sonian Republican s are usually characterized a s strict con s tructioni s ts who were oppo sed to the broad con s tructioni sm

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of the Federali s ts . To what e x tent wa s thi s characterization of the two partie s accurate during the pre s idencie s of Jeffer son and Madi son? In writing your an swer, u se the document s and your knowledge of the period 1801-1817. (1998)

2. His torian s have traditionally labeled the period after the Wa r of 1812 the “E ra of Good

Feeling s .” Evaluate the accuracy of thi s label, con s idering the emergence of nationali sm and sectionali sm. Use the document s and your knowledge of the period 1815-1825 to con s truct your an swer. (2002, form B)

3. Jack sonian Democrat s viewed them selve s as the guardian s of the United State s

Cons titution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. In light of the following document s and your knowledge of the 1820 s and 1830s , to what e x tent do you agree with the Jack sonian s ’ view of them selve s? (1990)

4. The deci s ion of the Jack son admini stration to remov e the Cherokee Indian s to land s wes t

of the Mi ss iss ippi River in the 1830 s was more a re formulation of the national policy that had been in effect s ince the 1790 s than a change in that policy. A ss ess the validity of thi s generalization with reference to the moral, politi cal, con s titutional, and practical concern s that shaped national Indian policy between 1789 and the m id-1830 s . (1980)

5. Reform movement s in the United State s sought to e xpand democratic ideal s . Ass ess the

validity of thi s s tatement with specific reference to the year s 1825-1850. Use the document s and your knowledge of the period 1825-1850 in con structing your re spon se. (2002)

1850-1900

1. To what e x tent did natural environment shape the development of the We s t beyond the Miss iss ippi and the live s of tho se who lived and settled there? How important were other factor s? Use BOTH evidence from the document s AND your knowledge of the period from the 1840 s through the 1890 s to compo se your an swer. (1992)

2. By the 1850 s, the Con s titution, originally framed a s an in s trument of national unity, had

become a source of sectional di scord and ten s ion and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created. U s ing BOTH the document s AND your knowledge of the period 1850-1861, a ssess the validity of thi s s tatement. (1987)

3. In the early nineteenth century, American s sought to re solve their political di spute s

through compromi se, yet by 1860 thi s no longer seemed po ss ible. Analyze the rea sons for thi s change. U se the document s and your knowledge of the period 1820-1860 in con s tructing your re spon se. (2005 form B)

4. John Brown’ s raid on the federal armory at Harper s Ferry, Virginia, in October 1859,

involved only a handful of abolitioni s ts , freed no s lave s , and wa s over in two day s . Although many Northerner s condemned the raid, by 1863 John Brown had become a hero and a martyr in the North. To what e x tent and in what way s do the view s about John Brown e xpre ss ed in the document s illu s trate changing North- South relation s between 1859 and 1863? (1982)

5. To what e x tent wa s Pres ident-elect Abraham Lincoln re spon s ible for the defeat of the

Crittenden propo sal on the territorial e xpans ion of s lavery? (1974. Old- s tyle DBQ)

6. In what way s and to what e x tent did con s titutional and social development s between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution? U se BOTH the document s AND your knowledge of the period from 1860 to 1877 to an swer the que s tion. (1996)

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7. To what e x tent and for what rea sons did the policie s of the federal government from 1865

to 1900 violate the principle s of lai ssez-faire , which advocated minimal governmental intervention in the economy? Con s ider with specific reference to the following three areas of policy: railroad land grant s , control of i nter s tate commerce, and antitru s t activitie s . (1979. Old-s tyle DBQ)

8. Analyze the way s in which technology, government policy, and econom ic condition s

changed American agriculture in the period 1865-190 0. In your an swer be sure to evaluate farmer s ’ re spon ses to the se change s . (200 7)

9. Document s A-H reveal some of the problem s that many farmer s in the late nineteenth

century (1880-1900) saw as threat s to their way of life. U s ing the document s and your knowledge of the period, (a) e xplain the rea sons for agrarian di scontent AND (b) evaluate the validity of the farmer s ’ complaint s . (1983)

10. How succe ss ful wa s organized labor in improving the po s ition of worker s in the period

from 1875 to 1900? Analyze the factor s that contributed to the level of succe ss achieved. Use the document s and your knowledge of the period from 1875 to 1900 to con s truct your re spon se. (2000)

11. Analyze the factor s that influenced the Senate in ratifying the Treaty of Pari s in 1899 and

ass ess their relative s ignificance. You may refer to hi s torical fact s and development s not mentioned in the document s and a ss ess the reliability of the document s as hi s torical source s where relevant to your an swer. ( 1975. Old- s tyle DBQ)

1900-1950

1. To what e x tent wa s late nineteenth-centu ry and early twentieth-cent ur y United State s expans ioni sm a continuation of pa s t United State s expans ioni sm and to what e x tent wa s it a departure? U se the document s and your knowledge of United State s hi s tory to 1914 to con s truct your an swer. (1994)

2. To what e x tent did economic and political developme nt s as well a s ass umption s about

the nature of women affect the po s ition of American women during the period 1890-1925? Use the document s and your knowledge of the hi s tory of the year s 1890-1925 to con s truct your re spon se. (1997)

3. Booker T. Wa shington and W. E.B. DuBoi s offered different s trategie s for dealing with the

problem s of poverty and di scrimination faced by Black American s at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centurie s . Us ing the document s and your knowledge of the period 1877-1915, a ss ess the appropriatene ss of each of the se s trategie s in the hi s torical conte x t in which each wa s developed. (1989)

4. It wa s the strength of the oppo s ition force s , both liberal and con servative, rather than the

ineptitude and s tubbornne ss of Pres ident Wil son tha t led to the senate defeat of the Treaty of Ver saille s . Assess the validity of thi s s tatement. U s ing the document s and your knowledge of the period 1917-1921, a ss ess the validity of thi s s tatement. (1991)

5. In the 20 th century, prohibition spread by s tate s pass ing local option law s, which

permitted a unit of local government, such a s a county, to prohibit the sale or con sumption of alcoholic beverage s . After an inten s ive campaign by the Anti- Saloon League and other prohibitioni st organization s and reform s group s , national prohibition was achieved by the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the federal Con s titution in 1919. What account s for the succe ss of the prohibition movement in the U. S. during

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the era of progre ss ive reform, 1900-1919? Con s ider the social compo s ition of the prohibitioni s ts , their motive s , s trategy and pre ssure-group tactic s , and the relation ship of prohibitioni s m to progre ss ive reform. (1978. Old- s tyle DBQ)

6. Evaluate the effectivene ss of the Progre ss ive Era reformer s and the federal government

in bringing about reform at the national level. In your an swer be sure to analyze the succe ss es and limitation s of the se effort s in the period 1900-1920. (2003, form B)

7. The 1920s were a period of ten s ion between new and changing attitude s on the one hand

and traditional value s and no s talgia on the other. What led to the ten s ion between old and new AND in what way s was the ten s ion manife s ted? (1986)

8. How and for what rea sons did United State s foreign policy change between 1920 and

1941? Use the document s and your knowledge of the period 1920-1941 to con s truct your respon se. (2004, form B)

9. Relying on a critical evaluation of the accompanyin g document s , analyze the factor s that

probably influenced Congre ss to pa ss the Immigration Act of 1924. (1973. Old- s tyle DBQ)

10. Pres ident Franklin D. Roo sevelt i s commonly thought of a s a liberal and Pres ident Herbert C. Hoover a s a con servative. To what e xtent are the se characterization s valid? (1984)

11. Analyze the re spon ses of Franklin D. Roo sevelt’ s admini stration to the problem s of the

Great Depre ss ion. How effective were the se respon se s? How did they change the role of the federal government? U se the document s and your knowledge of the period 1929-1941 to con s truct your e ss ay. (2003)

12. The United State s ’s deci s ion to drop an atomic bomb on Hiro shima wa s a diplomatic

measure calculated to intimidate the Soviet Union in the po s t-Second-Worl d-War era rather than a s trictly military mea sure de s igned to force Japan’ s unconditional surrender. Evaluate thi s statement u s ing the docume nt s and your knowledge of the military and diplomatic hi s tory of the year s 1939 through 1947. (1988)

13. Analyze development s from 1941 to 1949 that increa sed suspicion and ten s ion between

the United State s and the Soviet Union. U se the document s and your knowledge of the period 1941-1949 to con s truct your re spon se. (2006, Form B)

1950-2000

1. What were the Cold War fear s of the American people in the aftermath of the Second World War? How succe ss fully did the admini s tration of Pres ident Dwight D. Eisenhower addre ss the se fear s? Use the document s and your knowledge of the year s 1948-1961 to con s truct your re spon se. (2001)

2. Analyze the change s that occurred during the 1960’ s in the goal s , s trategie s , and

support of the movement for African American right s . Use the document s and your knowledge of the hi s tory of the 1960 s to con s truct your re spon se. (1995)