AP Unit 2 Essay Prompts

AP U.S.
History Essay Guide for Unit II

The following DBQ (Document Based Questions) and essay questions are the actual questions that were originally found in the Advanced Placement United States History Exams that have been held since 1971. Learn from the past and anticipate answering similar questions on the AP Exam this year... 1. 1980 Exam (Question 4): "Between 1783 and 1800 the new government of the United States faced the same political, economic, and constitutional issues that troubled the British government's relations with the colonies prior to the Revolution."
Assess the validity of this generalization.
2. 1982 Exam (Question 2): "The American Revolution should really be called 'The British Revolution' because marked changes in British colonial policy were more responsible for the final political division than were American actions."
Assess the validity of this statement for the period 1763-1776.
3. 1984 Exam (Question 2): What evidence is there for the assertion that the basic principles of the Constitution were firmly grounded in the political and religious experience of America's colonial and revolutionary periods? 4. 1985 Exam (DBQ): "From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an effective government"
Using the documents and your knowledge of the period, evaluate this statement (documents from this test are not available)
5. 1986 Exam (Question 2): "Despite the view of some historians that the conflict between Great Britain and its thirteen North American colonies was economic in origin, in fact the American Revolution had its roots in politics and other areas of American life."
Assess the validity of this statement.
6. 1988 Exam (Question 2): "This history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States."
Evaluate this accusation made against George III in the Declaration of Independence.
7. 1989 Exam (Question 2): "In the two decades before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a profound shift occurred in the way many Americans thought and felt about the British government and their colonial governments."
Assess the validity of this statement in view of the political and constitutional debates of these decades.
8. 1991 Exam (Question 2): 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.
9. 1992 Exam (Question 2): Evaluate the relative importance of the following as factors prompting Americans to rebel in 1776:
o o o o
Parliamentary taxation Restriction of civil liberties British military measures The legacy of colonial religious and political ideas
10. 1995 Exam (Question 2): For the period before 1750, analyze the ways in which Britains policy of salutary neglect influenced the development of American society as illustrated in the following.
o o o
Legislative assemblies Commerce Religion
11. 1996 Exam (Question 2): Analyze the degree to which the Articles of Confederation provided an effective form of government with respect to any TWO of the following.
o o o
Foreign relations Economic conditions Western lands
12. 1997 Exam (Question 2): "Britain's wars for empire, far more than its mercantilist policies, dictated the economic fortunes of Britain's North American colonies in the eighteenth century."
13. 1997 Exam B (Question 2): 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.
14. 1999 Exam (DBQ): To what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution?
Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1750 to 1776 to answer the question.
15. 2003 Exam (Question 2): Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of Confederation were effective in solving the problems that confronted the new nation. 16. 2004 Exam (DBQ): In what ways did the French and Indian War (1754-63) alter the political, economic and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies?
Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1740-1766 in constructing your response.
17. 2004 Exam (Question 2): Analyze the impact of the American Revolution on both slavery and the status of women in the period from 1775-1800. 18. 2005 Exam B (Question 3): To what extent was the United States Constitution a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation? 19. 2005 Exam (DBQ): To what extent did the American Revolution fundamentally change American society? In your answer, be sure to address the political, social, and economic effects of the Revolution in the period from 1775 to 1800.
Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1775-1800 in constructing your response.
20. 2006 Exam B (Question 2): "The United States Constitution of 1787 represented an economic and ideological victory for the traditional American political elite."
Assess the validity of that statement for the period 1781 to 1789.
21. 2007 Exam B (Question 2): The French and Indian War (1754-1763) altered the relationship between Britain and its North American colonies. Assess this change with reguard to TWO of the following in the period between 1763 and 1775.
o o o
Land acquistition Politics Economics
22. 2007 Exam (Question 2): Settlers in the eighteenth century American backcountry sometimes resorted to violent protest to express their grievances. Analyze the causes and significance of TWO of the following:
o
March of the Paxton Boys
o o o
Regulator movement Shays' Rebellion Whiskey Rebellion
23. 2008 Exam B (Question 2): Analyze the reasons for the Anti-Federalists' opposition to ratifying the Constitution.

AP Unit 2 Essay Prompts

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

AP Unit 2 Essay Prompts

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

AP Unit 2 Essay Prompts

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

AP U.S.

History Essay Guide for Unit II

Assess the validity of this generalization.

Assess the validity of this statement for the period 1763-1776.

Assess the validity of this statement.

Assess the validity of this statement.

Legislative assemblies Commerce Religion

Foreign relations Economic conditions Western lands

Assess the validity of this statement.

Confine your answer to the period 1775 to 1800.

Land acquistition Politics Economics

March of the Paxton Boys

Regulator movement Shays' Rebellion Whiskey Rebellion

You might also like