Recent AP Essay questions

DBQ
Antebellum
With respect to the federal Constitution, the Jeffersonian Republicans are usually characterized as strict constructionists who were opposed to the broad constructionism of the Federalists. To what extent was this characterization of the two parties accurate during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison

Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur?

To what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution?

"Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals." Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to the years 1825-1850.

Since Reconstruction & Mixed Questions
How successful was organized labor in improving the position of workers in the period from 1875 to 1900? Analyze the factors that contributed to the level of success achieved.

To what extent was late 19th and early 20th U.S. expansionism a continuation of past U.S. expansionism and to what extent was it a departure?

In what ways and to what extent did constitutional and social developments between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution?

To what extent did economic and political developments as well as assumptions about the nature of women affect the position of American women during the period 1890-1925?

Analyze the changes that occurred during the 1960s in the goals, strategies, and support of the movement for African American civil rights.

To what extent did the natural environment shape the development of the West beyond the Mississippi and the lives of those who lived and settled there? How important were other factors? (1840-1890)

"It was the strength of the opposition forces, both liberal and conservative, rather than the ineptitude and stubbornness of President Wilson, that led the Senate to defeat the Treaty of Versailles." Assess the validity of this statement.

What were the Cold War fears of the American people in the aftermath of the Second World War? How successfully did the administration of President Eisenhower address these fears?

Regular Essays
Antebellum

Compare the ways in which religion shaped the development of colonial society to 1740 in TWO of the following regions: NE, Chesp. Mid-Atl

Analyze the contributions of TWO of the following in helping to establish a stable government after the adoption of the Constitution: Adams, Jefferson, Washington

"The Bill of Rights did not come from a desire to protect the liberties won in the American Revolution, but rather from a fear of the powers of the new federal government." Assess.

Analyze the cultural and economic responses of TWO of the following groups to the Indians of North American before 1750. (British, French, Spanish)

Assess the moral arguments and political actions of those opposed to the spread of slavery in the context of TWO of the following. (Missouri Compromise, Mexican War, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act)

How did TWO of the following contribute to the reemergence of a two party system in the period 1820 to 1840?
(Major political personalities, States' rights, Economic issues)

Analyze the extent to which the American Revolution represented a radical alteration in American political ideas and institutions. Confine your answer to the period 1775 to 1800.

Discuss the impact of territorial expansion on national unity between 1800 and 1850.

Compare the expansionist foreign policies of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James K. Polk. To what extent did their policies strengthen the U.S.?

In what ways did the early 19th reform movements for abolition and women's rights illustrate both the strengths and the weaknesses of democracy in the early American Republic?

Evaluate the relative importance of the following as factors prompting Americans to rebel in 1776: (Parliamentary taxation, restriction of civil liberties, British military measures, legacy of colonial religious and political ideas)

"Although historically represented as distinct parties, the Federalists and Whigs in fact shared a common political ideology, represented many of the same interest groups, and proposed similar programs and policies." Assess

"From the 1840s to the 1890s, women's activities in the intellectual, social, economic, and political spheres effectively challenged traditional attitudes about women's place in society." Assess

For the period before 1750, analyze the ways in which Britain's policy of salutary neglect influenced the development of American society: Legislative assemblies, Commerce, religion

Analyze the ways in which supporters of slavery in the 19th century used legal, religious, and economic arguments to defend the institution of slavery.

Analyze the degree to which the Articles of Confederation provided an effective form of government with respect to any 2 of the following: foreign relations, economic conditions, western lands

Analyze the extent to which 2 of the following influenced the development of democracy between 1820 and 1840: Jacksonian economic policy, changes in electoral politics, 2nd Great Awakening, Westward movement

Analyze the extent to which religious freedom existed in the British North American colonies prior to 1700.

Since Reconstruction & Mixed Questions
Compare and contrast United States foreign policy after the First World War and after the Second World War. Consider the periods 1919-1928 and 1945-1950.

How did the African American Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s address the failures of Reconstruction?

"1968 was a turning point for the United States." To what extent is this an accurate assessment. Discuss 2 of the following: National politics, Vietnam War, Civil Rights

To what extent and why did the US adopt an isolationist policy in the 1920s and 1930s?

Analyze the impact of any 2 of the following on the American industrial worker between 1865-1900: government actions, immigration, labor unions, technological changes

Analyze the influence of 2 of the following on American-Soviet relations in the decade following WWII: Yalta Conference, Communist Revolution in China, Korean War, McCarthyism

Analyze the ways in which the Great Depression altered the American social fabric in the 1930s.
Assess the relative importance of 3 of the following in the American decision to declare war on Germany in 1917: German naval policy, American economic interests, Wilson's idealism, Allied Propaganda, America's claim to world power.

Analyze the reasons for the emergence of the Populist movement in the late 19th century.

"Although the economic development of the Trans-Mississippi West is popularly associated with hardy individualism, it was in fact largely dependent on the federal government." Assess with specific reference to western economic activities in the 19th century.

"Although the 1960s are usually considered the decade of greatest achievement for Black civil rights, the 1940s and 1950s were periods of equally important gains." Assess.

"From the 1840s to the 1890s, women's activities in the intellectual, social, economic, and political spheres effectively challenged traditional attitudes about women's place in society." Assess

Compare the debates that took place over American expansionism in the 1840s with those that took place in the 1890s, analyzing the similarities and differences in the debates of the two areas.

Discuss the political, economic, and social reforms introduced in the South between 1864-1877. To what extent did these reforms survive the Compromise of 1877?

In what ways did the Great Society resemble the New Deal in its origins, goals, and social and political legacy? Cite specific programs and policies in support of your argument.

In 1945, Winston Churchill said that the United States stood at the summit of the world. Discuss the developments in the thirty years following Churchill's speech which called the global preeminence of the United States into question.

Analyze the ways in which state and federal legislation and judicial decisions, including those of the Supreme Court, affected the efforts of any TWO of the following groups to improve their position in society between 1880 and 1920. (African Americans, Farmers, Workers)

Identify THREE of the following New Deal measures and analyze the ways in which each of the three attempted to fashion a more stable economy and a more equitable society. (Agricultural Adjustment Act, Securities and Exchange Commission, Wagner National Labor Relations Act, Social Security Act)

Describe THREE if the following and analyze the ways in which each of the three has affected the status of women in American society since 1940: (Changing economic conditions, Rebirth of an organized women's movement, Advances in reproductive technology, Persistence of traditional definitions of women's roles)

Analyze the economic consequences of the Civil War with respect to any TWO of the following in the U.S. between 1865 and 1880. (Agriculture, Labor, Industrialization, Transportation)

How do you account for the appeal of McCarthyism in the U.S. in the era following the Second World War?

How were the lives of the Plains Indians in the second half of the nineteenth century affected by technological developments and government actions?

In what ways did economic conditions and developments in the arts and entertainment help create the reputation of the 1920's as the Roaring Twenties?

Assess the success of the U.S. policy of containment in Asia between 1945 and 1975.

To what extent did the U.S. achieve the objectives that led it to enter the First World War?

Discuss, with respect to TWO of the following, the view that the 1960's represented a period of profound cultural change. (Education, Gender roles, Music, Race relations)