“The commotion in Massachusetts has been great and alarming…The men who have taken up arms in that State are, mostly, men of desperate fortunes, and light principles…They have determined to break up the courts of justice, to prevent the collection of debts, public and private, and to compel the legislature to grant their demands…What is to give security to our rights and property? The executive of the United States has no power to interpose…if the powers of the National Government are not enlarged, we shall soon fall into a state of anarchy and confusion.”

Source: Henry Knox, Letter to George Washington regarding Shays’ Rebellion, October 1786

Respond to parts A), B), and C).

A) Briefly describe ONE specific economic or social factor that contributed to the “commotion in Massachusetts” described by Knox.

B) Briefly explain ONE specific argument made by political leaders like Knox or Washington regarding the national government’s response to events like Shays’ Rebellion.

C) Briefly explain ONE major political outcome that resulted from the unrest described in the passage.

Answers – let’s take a look!

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Source 1

“The development of the first American party system was not a mere squabble between ambitious elites, but a fundamental ideological battle over the soul of the new republic. On one side stood Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists, who envisioned a centralized empire guarded by a robust federal government. On the other side, Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans championed an agrarian democracy, fearing that Hamilton’s financial programs would recreate the very British tyranny they had just fought to overthrow. Political parties emerged as essential vehicles for citizens to defend competing, deeply held philosophies about liberty and authority”

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., historian, The Age of Jackson, 1945

Source 2

“The rhetoric of liberty and tyranny used by early American politicians masked a far more practical reality: the first political parties were organized primarily to protect distinct regional economic interests. Northern merchants, speculators, and urban elites coalesced around the Federalist banner to secure federal protections for manufacturing, shipping, and public credit. Conversely, Southern planters and Western farmers aligned under the Democratic-Republican name to shield their agrarian-based economies from federal taxation and commercial interference. Ideology was the language used to mobilize voters, but regional economic preservation was the engine”

Charles A. Beard, historian, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution

of the United States, 1913

Respond to parts (A), (B), and (C)

(A) Describe one major difference between Schlesinger’s and Beard’s historical interpretations of the origins of American political parties.

(B) Explain how one specific event or development from the period from 1789 to 1800 can be used to support Schlesinger’s argument about the origins of American political parties.

(C) Explain how one specific event or development from the period from 1789 to 1800 can be used to support Beard’s argument about the origins of American political parties.

ANSWERS – Let’s take a look!

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Source 1

“The primary causes of the American Revolution were not economic, nor were they about a constitutional struggle for power. Rather, they were fundamentally ideological. The colonists had developed a radical and deeply held set of political beliefs, rooted in British Oppositon thought. This ideology emphasized the concept of ‘liberty’ being constantly threatened by ‘power,’ particularly in the form of a corrupt and conspiracy-ridden British government. When Britain began to implement new taxes and regulations after 1763, the colonists interpreted these actions through this intellectual lens, viewing them not as fiscal policies but as part of a systematic plan to destroy their freedom and enslave them. The Revolution was, at its heart, a crisis of ideas and a struggle to preserve their existing radical form of liberty.”

Bernard Bailyn, historian, The Ideological Origins of the American

Revolution, (1967)

Source 2

“To understand the Revolution, we must look beyond the abstract theories of elite intellectuals and focus on the economic and social anxieties of ordinary colonists -artisans, farmers, and laborers. The central causes of the colonial upheaval were economic, born from a growing inequality and a struggle for social mobility. Ordinary people were hit hard by a series of economic downturns, rising poverty, and a growing land crisis. Their grievances were not against an abstract concept of ‘power,’ but against a very real economic system that favored the wealthy. The protests against British policy, while initially triggered by taxes, provided a mechanism for the lower and middling classes to challenge the existing social and economic hierarchy. The Revolution was, for many, a war for social justice and economic opportunity.”

Gary Nash, historian, The Unknown American Revolution, 2005

Respond to parts (A), (B), and (C)

(A) Briefly explain ONE major difference between Bailyn’s and Nash’s interpretations of the causes of the American Revolution.

(B) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event, development, or circumstance from the period 1754 – 1776 that is NOT explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Bailyn’s argument.

(C) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event, development, or circumstance from the period 1754 – 1776 that is NOT explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Nash’s argument.

ANSWERS – Let’s take a look!

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Source 1

“The movement for the Constitution was rooted in the economic interests of the wealthy elites. The delegates at Philadelphia were not disinterested statesmen acting out of pure idealism, but rather holders of government bonds, land speculators and merchants who suffered under the weak financial system of the Articles of Confederation. They designed a strong national government with power over taxation, interstate commerce, and contract enforcement specifically to protect private property, secure their investments, and limit the influence of democratic agrarian majorities.”

Source: Charles A. Beard, historian, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, 1913

Source 2

“The Framers were driven primarily by political imperatives rather than personal economic motives. They recognized that without a strong, energy-filled federal structure, the fragile young republic would succumb to external European military threats or collapse from internal factional chaos… The compromises forged at Philadelphia were practical political mechanisms intended to balance regional interests, protect republican liberty, and preserve national unity – not a self-serving conspiracy of the propertied class.”

Source: Gordon S. Wood, historian, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776 – 1787, 1969

Respond to parts (A), (B), and (C)

(A) Describe ONE major difference between Beard’s and Wood’s historical interpretations of the motives behind the Constitutional Convention.

(B) Briefly explain how one event or development from 1781 to 1787 not directly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Beard’s argument about the motives of the Framers.

(C) Briefly explain how one event or development from 1781 to 1787 not directly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Wood’s argument aboutthe motives of the Framers.

ANSWERS – Let’s take a look!

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A variety of geographic, economic, religious, and political forces shaped the experiences of the colonists in Virginia and Massachusetts between 1607 and 1789.

Evaluate the extent to which the Virginia and Massachusetts colonies evolved into distinct societies by 1789.

Sample Essay

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Internal migrations refer to the movements of people within the United States. These migrations have played a key role in shaping the western United States.

Evaluate the extent to which internal migrations influenced the western United States from 1840 to 1980.

Sample Essay

In the early 1800s most Americans knew very little about the land and people between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The public assumed that savage Indian tribes occupied a region the poet Walt Whitman described as “vast, treeless spaces.” Most Americans seemed content to leave the region to the roaming tribes of Indians and the vast herds of buffalo. But four events sparked a series of major internal migrations that dramatically changed the American West. The appeal of Manifest Destiny, the discovery of gold in California, the construction of the transcontinental railroads, and the widespread adoption of air conditioning in the Southwest dramatically transformed the population, economy, and political orientation of the western United States.

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During the period from 1870 to 1980, the United States developed a distinctive national culture.

Evaluate the relative importance of the causes of the growth of a national culture in the United States from 1870 to 1980.

SAMPLE ESSAY

Prior to the Civil War the United States consisted of a fragmented mosaic of regional communities. For example, New England and the Deep South both had distinctive regional identities. The Southern way of life featured a plantation economy based upon slavery while the New England way of life featured Puritan values and the beginning of an industrial revolution based upon factories and wage labor. During the century following the Civil War a combination of shared national crises, the creation of a standardized consumer economy, and the development of mass media galvanized a unified national identity. Although national emergencies such as the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II played important unifying roles, in the end the relentless expansion of mass consumerism and mass communications served as the primary causes of a shared national culture in the United States.

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The College Board has now released the free-response questions used on the 2019 APUSH exam. Here is a link that provides the full text of the DBQ for that year. Read the 7 documents and the following sample essay.

https://pub-309627a4b35a4d56b9c2c5dc71e64ebf.r2.dev/courses/AP%20United%20States%20History/2016/Free-Response%20Questions.pdf

DBQ

Evaluate the causes of the rise of a women’s rights movement in the period

1940 – 1975

INTRODUCTION: THESIS

Three powerful forces combined to cause the rise is a second wave in the women’s rights movement. First, economic disparities in salaries and discriminatory practices in employment fueled resentment among women workers. Second, demeaning experiences with male dominance and stereotyping in the peace, Civil Rights and Chicano movements radicalized a young generation of female activists. And finally, a growing sense of solidarity or “sisterhood” helped inspire a second-wave of feminists to initiate collective action on a broad range of issues.

INTRODUCTION: CONTEXT

American women have confronted inequality since Abigail Adams’ famous but futile admonishment to her husband the future President John Adams to “remember the Ladies.” The first feminist wave began with the Seneca Falls convention in 1848 and ended 72 years later with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. Despite this landmark success, women continued to face widespread inequalities and discrimination.

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The College Board has now released the free-response questions used on the 2019 APUSH exam. Here is a link that provides the full text of the DBQ for that year. Read the 7 documents and then read the following sample essay.

https://pub-309627a4b35a4d56b9c2c5dc71e64ebf.r2.dev/courses/AP%20United%20States%20History/2019/Free-Response%20Questions.pdf

DBQ

Evaluate the extent to which the Progressive movement fostered political change in the United States from 1890 to 1920.

INTRODUCTION: CONTEXT and THESIS

The presidential election of 1896 led to the demise of the Populist Party. However, the party’s reform message did not die. The reforming spirit spread to cities where a new generation of well-educated middle-and-upper-middle class reformers focused on a broad range of unresolved problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, and immigration. Unlike the Populists, the Progressives did not initially form a third party. Instead, they embraced a widespread and multifaceted movement that rejected Gilded Age laissez-faire economic policies while attempting to build a just society and rejuvenate democratic institutions. Although the Progressives accomplished an impressive range of achievements, in the end they did not confront while supremacy and racial injustice.

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The College Board has now released the free-response questions used on the May 6, 2021 APUSH exam. Here is a link that provides the full text of the DBQ. Read the7 documents and then read the following sample essay.

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Evaluate the extent to which the growth of civil rights activism contributed to the changes in government actions from 1940 to 1980.

African Americans and middle-class white women became activists in civil rights movements that brought significant changes to government action during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Both groups used legal cases and nonviolent demonstrations to galvanize public support for watershed government actions. However, both groups also experienced disappointing setbacks.

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Evaluate the extent to which migration influenced the western United States from 1820 to 1898.

In the early 1800s most Americans knew very little about the land and people between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The public assumed that savage Indian tribes occupied a region the Walt Whitman described as “vast, trackless spaces.” Most Americans seemed content to leave the region to the roaming tribes of Indians and the vast herds of buffalo. But a series of events caused this view to dramatically change. The appeal of Manifest Destiny, the discovery of gold in California, the passage of the Homestead Act, and the construction of transcontinental railroads sparked a series of migrations that transformed the population and economy of the western United States.

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Evaluate the extent to which debates over slavery in the period 1830 to 1860 led the United States into the Civil War. (2019)

The period from 1830 to 1860 witnessed a series of historic debates over the morality, economic impact, and political consequences of slavery. Although moral and economic issues were important, the debates failure to resolve political issues led the United States into a bloody Civil War.

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 defused the political crisis over the status of slavery in the Louisiana Territory. The compromise resolved the immediate problems by maintaining a sectional balance of power in the Senate and by forbidding slavery north of the 36 – 30 line. However, the Missouri Compromise debates did not address the underlying cultural and economic differences between a Southern plantation economy that depended on slave labor and a Northern commercial economy that relied on free labor. As a result, increasingly contentious debates over the moral, economic, and political consequences of slavery repeatedly threatened to disrupt national unity.

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Evaluate the extent to which ideas of self-government influenced American colonial reactions to British imperial authority in the period 1754 to 1776. (2019)

Ideas of self-government played a decisive role in shaping colonial reaction to British imperial authority. Republican ideas based on the natural rights of the people provided revolutionary leaders with a language of liberty that expressed their growing opposition to British taxes. A commitment to self-government also overcame the opposition of Loyalists who valued tradition and allegiance to the Crown.

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