Document Based Questions (College Board AP® US History): Exam Questions

Directions: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.

1. Evaluate the extent to which economic growth led to changes in United States society in the period 1890 to 1930.

Document 1

Source: Andrew Carnegie’s “The Gospel of Wealth”,1889

“The problem of our age is the proper administration of wealth, so that the ties of brotherhood may still bind together the rich and poor in harmonious relations. The contrast between the palace of the millionaire and the cottage of the laborer with us today measures the change which has come with civilization. This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer … in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community.”

Document 2

Source: Puck, "The Bosses of the Senate", January 23, 1899

Document 3

Source: Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives, 1890

“In the tenements all the influences make for evil; because they are the hot-beds of the epidemics that carry death to rich and poor alike, they indirectly contribute to political corruption by making of their tenants a dependent class, a proletariat ready to accept the bribe that buys the vote.”

Document 4

Source: 488 Macon, GA. Lewis W. Hine, Library of Congress, January 19, 1909

Document 5

Source: Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management,1911

“The principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee. The management of men in the past has been a matter of haphazard, inefficient, and wasteful methods. But with scientific management, it is no longer a question of a manager who tries to get as much work out of the men as possible; it is a matter of ensuring that the most efficient methods are used to raise output and therefore, the profits of the company.”

Document 6

Source: Calvin Coolidge’s “Business of America is Business” speech, 1925

“The business of America is business. The man who builds a factory builds a temple—the man who works there worships there. We are the nation of the business man, the nation of the producer, the nation of the worker. … The business of the country is the production of wealth, and the highest type of the business man is the man who can manage the production of the largest amount of wealth for the benefit of the nation.”

Document 7

Source: Henry Ford’s explanation of the $5 workday, 1914

“I believe that the country will be stronger for having a great middle class of people who will live in comfort and prosperity, and it will be better for them to have a good standard of living. The question is not what is the wage that is the lowest possible, but what is the highest wage we can pay for the best work we can get.

The Ford Motor Company is not just a business enterprise; it is a movement. … We want to help the workers to buy the product they make. The $5 workday is an attempt to show that there is no conflict between employer and employee, and that both can benefit from the increase in productivity that economic growth can bring.”

Directions: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.

1. Evaluate the extent to which American foreign policy was effective at containing communism in the period 1950 to 1989.

Document 1

Source: NSC-68,1950

“The Soviet Union, by its very nature, is a political and military threat to the United States. The most immediate and pressing threat to the survival of the free world comes from the Soviet Union’s efforts to extend its power, and this extension of power must be stopped. The only way to achieve this is through the strengthening of the free world and the implementation of a policy of containment, using both military and economic means to prevent Soviet expansion.”

Document 2

Source: President John F. Kennedy's speech at Rice University on September 12, 1962

“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win... The exploration of space will provide new frontiers for our country and provide a demonstration of the strength of our democratic and free society.”

Document 3

Source: Map of countries in NATO v. Warsaw Pact

Document 4

Source: Edmund S. Valtman, “This hurts me more than it hurts you!”, The Hartford Times, October 1962

Document 5

Source: President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Domino Theory” speech,1954

“You have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the 'loss of Indochina'. … You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. … The loss of Indochina would mean the loss of the entire region, and the loss of the entire region would mean the loss of one of the most vital areas of the world.”

Document 6

Source: Paris Peace Accords,1973

“The United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam [North Vietnam] agree that Vietnam shall be a unified country, that the government of the Republic of Vietnam [South Vietnam] shall not be overthrown by force, and that any change in the political structure of Vietnam must occur through peaceful means.”

Document 7

Source: U.S. and Russian Nuclear Arsenals, from 1950 - 2020

Directions: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.

1. Evaluate the extent to which World War II shaped U.S. domestic and foreign policy period from 1941 to 1970.

Document 1

Source: Executive Order 9981, July 26, 1948; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives.

“WHEREAS it is essential that there be maintained in the armed services of the United States the highest standards of democracy, with equality of treatment and opportunity for all those who serve in our country's defense:

NOW THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, by the Constitution and the statutes of the United States, and as Commander in Chief of the armed services, it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.”

Document 2

Source: President Truman's Message to Congress; March 12, 1947; Document 171; 80th Congress, 1st Session; Records of the United States House of Representatives; Record Group 233; National Archives.

“The assistance that I am recommending for Greece and Turkey amounts to little more than 1 tenth of 1 percent of this investment. It is only common sense that we should safeguard this investment and make sure that it was not in vain.

The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife. They reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died. We must keep that hope alive.

The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms.

If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world -- and we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation.

Great responsibilities have been placed upon us by the swift movement of events.”

Document 3

Source: North Atlantic Treaty, Apr. 4, 1949, 63 Stat. 2241, 34 U.N.T.S. 243

“The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments. They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area. They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security. They therefore agree to this North Atlantic Treaty:...

Article 2

 The Parties will contribute toward the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening their free institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well-being. They will seek to eliminate conflict in their international economic policies and will encourage economic collaboration between any or all of them. Article 3

 In order more effectively to achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the Parties, separately and jointly, by means of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, will maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack. 

Article 4

 The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.

Article 5 

The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”

Document 4

Source: B. Mauldin, "Man frightened by the Red scare”, 5th September 1946

Document 5

Source: National Security Council Report 68 [NSC 68]: Report to the National Security Council by the Executive Secretary on United States Objectives and Programs for National Security April 14, 1950

“The gravest threat to the security of the United States within the foreseeable future stems from the hostile designs and formidable power of the USSR, and from the nature of the Soviet system.

The political, economic, and psychological warfare which the USSR is now waging has dangerous potentialities for weakening the relative world position of the United States and disrupting its traditional institutions by means short of war, unless sufficient resistance is encountered in the policies of this and other non-communist countries.

…In summary, we must, by means of a rapid and sustained build-up of the political, economic, and military strength of the free world, and by means of an affirmative program intended to wrest the initiative from the Soviet Union, confront it with convincing evidence of the determination and ability of the free world to frustrate the Kremlin design of a world dominated by its will. Such evidence is the only means short of war which eventually may force the Kremlin to abandon its present course of action and to negotiate acceptable agreements on issues of major importance.”

Document 6

Source: First and signature pages of the United Nations Charter; June 26, 1945

“WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

AND FOR THESE ENDS

to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS.

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.”

Document 7

Source: The G.I. Bill of Rights and How It Works, by Army Service Forces, May 1, 1948

“No legislative act is of more importance to prospective veterans than “The GI Bill of Rights,” but still, no single law has been so misunderstood. Its provisions can be valuable to the future of the GI who realizes what they can do for him, but in the garbled form in which he has been receiving them, they can do him more harm than good.

        “The GI Bill” offers four major kinds of help:

1. Education and job training.

2. Guaranty of loans.

3. Unemployment allowances, including aid for self-employed

4. Job-finding assistance.”

Directions: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.

1. Evaluate the extent to which the Vietnam War impacted American society and politics from 1955 to 1980.

Document 1

Source: Tonkin Gulf Resolution; Public Law 88-408, 88th Congress, August 7, 1964

“Joint Resolution

To promote the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia.

Whereas naval units of the Communist regime in Vietnam, in violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law, have deliberately and repeatedly attacked United States naval vessels lawfully present in international waters, and have thereby created a serious threat to international peace; and

Whereas these attackers are part of a deliberate and systematic campaign of aggression that the Communist regime in North Vietnam has been waging against its neighbors and the nations joined with them in the collective defense of their freedom; and

Whereas the United States is assisting the peoples of southeast Asia to protest their freedom and has no territorial, military or political ambitions in that area, but desires only that these people should be left in peace to work out their destinies in their own way.”

Document 2

Source: John Paul Filo, Kent State, Library of Congress, 1970

Document 3

Source: Statement by SNCC on the War in Vietnam, January 6, 1966

“The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee has a right and a responsibility to dissent with United States foreign policy on any issue when it sees fit. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee now states its opposition to the United States’ involvement in Vietnam on these grounds:

We believe the United States government has been deceptive in its claims of concern for the freedom of the Vietnamese people, just as the government has been deceptive in claiming concern for the freedom of colored people in other countries as the Dominican Republic, the Congo, South Africa, Rhodesia, and in the United States itself.

….We therefore encourage those Americans who prefer to use their energy in building democratic forms within this country. We believe that work in the civil rights movement and with other human relations organizations is a valid alternative to the draft. We urge all Americans to seek this alternative, knowing full well that it may cost them their lives–as painfully as in Vietnam.”

Document 4

Source: Jimmy Carter, Veterans Day Remarks at Ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, 1977

“My son Jack served in Vietnam. And although I came back from the wars as something of a hero although I was not a hero--my son came back unappreciated, sometimes scorned by his peer group who did not join in the conflict. And I think there's a special debt of gratitude on the part of the American people to those young men and women who served in Vietnam, because they've not been appreciated enough.

It's difficult enough to fight in a war that's popular with our people because of a sense of patriotism and dedication and gratitude that is a sustaining force when one's life is threatened to the danger of combat. But to fight in a self-sacrificial way in Vietnam, when there was not this depth of gratitude and commitment on the part of the people back home, is an extremely difficult thing, even above and beyond the difficulty of previous wars.

I have a deep sense of this responsibility on me as President. And we've tried, since Max Cleland has been in office and since I've been in office, to recommend-and the Congress has responded well -- to increase Veterans Administration compensation, to increase Veterans Administration pensions, to increase GI bill coverage, and to reverse the effort that had been made to reduce the time during which Vietnam veterans would qualify for the GI bill.”

Document 5

Source: The Pentagon Papers, Part IV. A. 2., 'Evolution of the War. Aid for France in Indochina’, 1950-54

“It has been argued that even as the U.S. began supporting the French in Indochina, the U.S. missed opportunities to bring peace, stability and independence to Vietnam. The issues arise from the belief on the part of some critics (a) the U.S. made no attempt to seek out and support democratic-nationalist alternative in Vietnam; and (b) the U.S. commanded, but did not use, leverage to move the French toward granting genuine Vietnamese independence. 

… The Eisenhower Administration filled the basic policy of its predecessor, but also deepened the American commitment to containment in Asia. Secretary Dulles pursued a forthright, anti-communist policy and it was clear that he would not permit the “loss” of Indochina, in the manner Democrats had allegedly allowed the “loss” of China.”

Document 6

Source: Joint Resolution of November 7, 1973

“Joint Resolution

Concerning the war powers of Congress and the President.

Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in

Congress assembled,

SHORT TITLE

SECTION 1. This joint resolution may be cited as the "War Powers Resolution".

PURPOSE AND POLICY

SEC. 2. (a) It is the purpose of this joint resolution to fulfill the intent of the framers of the

Constitution of the United States and insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicate by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations.

(b) Under article I, section 8, of the Constitution, it is specifically

provided that the Congress shall have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution, not only its own powers but also all other powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

(c) The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States

Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its

territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”

Document 7

Source: Statement by John Kerry of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, 1971

… In our opinion and from our experience, there is nothing in South Vietnam which could happen that realistically threatens the United States of America. And to attempt to justify the loss of one American life in Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos by linking such loss to the preservation of freedom, which those misfits supposedly abuse, is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy, and it is that kind of hypocrisy which we feel has torn this country apart.

…We watched the United States falsification of body counts, in fact the glorification of body counts. We listened while month after month we were told the back of the enemy was about to break. We fought using weapons against “oriental human beings.” We fought using weapons against those people which I do not believe this country would dream of using were we fighting in the European theater. We watched while men charged up hills because a general said that hill has to be taken, and after losing one platoon or two platoons they marched away to leave the hill for reoccupation by the North Vietnamese. We watched pride allow the most unimportant battles to be blown into extravaganzas, because we couldn’t lose, and we couldn’t retreat, and because it didn’t matter how many American bodies were lost to prove that point, and so there were Hamburger Hills and Khe Sanhs and Hill 81s and Fire Base 6s, and so many others.

Directions: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.

1. Evaluate the extent to which activism shaped the United States from 1826 to 1861.

Document 1

Source: Picnic Songs, Song for Independence Day, 1842

“Some love to swig New England rum,

And some do Cider choose, sir; 

But, so they only make "drunk come," 

No matter what they use, sir. 

But I'll not touch the poisonous stuff, 

Since all the brooks are free, sir; 

Give me cold water, 'tis enough, 

That cannot injure me, sir.”

Document 2

Source: Report of the Woman's Rights Convention, held at Seneca Falls, New York, July 19th and 20th, 1848. Proceedings and Declaration of Sentiments, published by John Dick at the North Star Office, Rochester, New York, July 19-20, 1848

“The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.

He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.

He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men - both natives and foreigners.…

Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation, - in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States.

In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We shall employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the State and national Legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pulpit and the press in our behalf. We hope this Convention will be followed by a series of Conventions, embracing every part of the country.”

Document 3

Source:  Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 1845

“I had not long been a reader of the “Liberator,” before I got a pretty correct idea of the principles, measures and spirit of the anti-slavery reform. I took right hold of the cause. I could do but little; but what I could, I did with a joyful heart, and never felt happier than when in an anti-slavery meeting. I seldom had much to say at the meetings, because what I wanted to say was said so much better by others. But, while attending an anti-slavery convention at Nantucket, on the 11th of August, 1841, I felt strongly moved to speak, and was at the same time much urged to do so by Mr. William C. Coffin, a gentleman who had heard me speak in the colored people’s meeting at New Bedford. It was a severe cross, and I took it up reluctantly. The truth was, I felt myself a slave, and the idea of speaking to white people weighed me down. I spoke but a few moments, when I felt a degree of freedom, and said what I desired with considerable ease. From that time until now, I have been engaged in pleading the cause of my brethren—with what success, and with what devotion, I leave those acquainted with my labors to decide.”

Document 4

Source: Wood engraving of a pro-slavery riot in Alton, Illinois on November 7, 1837 

Document 5

Source: The seal on an American Colonization Society membership certificate, 1833 

Document 6

Source: Angelina Grimké Weld's speech at Pennsylvania Hall, 17th of May, 1838 

“As a Southerner I feel… it is my duty to stand up here to-night and bear testimony against slavery. I have seen it -- I have seen it. I know it has horrors that can never be described. I was brought up under its wing: I witnessed for many years its demoralizing influences, and its destructiveness to human happiness…

Women of Philadelphia! allow me as a Southern woman, with much attachment to the land of my birth, to entreat you to come up to this work. Especially let me urge you to petition. Men may settle this and other questions at the ballot-box, but you have no such right; it is only through petitions that you can reach the Legislature. It is therefore peculiarly your duty to petition…

Men who hold the rod over slaves, rule in the councils of the nation: and they deny our right to petition and to remonstrate against abuses of our sex and of our kind. We have these rights, however, from our God. Only let us exercise them: and though often turned away unanswered, let us remember the influence of importunity upon the unjust judge, and act accordingly.”

Document 7

Source: Advertisement in the July 6, 1850 publication of the New York Tribune for a production called The Drunkard, a temperance play.

“The evening performance commences at 7 o'clock with the quintet of that sterling Moral and Domestic Drama of THE DRUNKARD, repeated on this occasion after its immense success, with a completely new cast. Mr. C. W. Clarke as Edward Middleton, Miss Alexina Fisher as Mary, Mr. Edwards as Bill Dowton, Mr. Hockins as Cribbs, Mr. Stanhope as Miss Spindle.”

Directions: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.

1. Evaluate the extent to which land ownership fueled conflict in North America from 1754 to 1815.

Document 1

Source: The Royal Proclamation of 1763, October 7, 1763.

"And We do further declare it to be Our Royal Will and Pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under our Sovereignty, Protection, and Dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all the Lands and Territories not included within the Limits of Our said Three new Governments, or within the Limits of the Territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, as also all the Lands and Territories lying to the Westward of the Sources of the Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West and North West as aforesaid.

And We do hereby strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our loving subjects from making any purchases or settlements whatever, or taking possession of any of the lands above reserved, without our special leave and license for that purpose first obtained."

Document 2

Source: Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763.

"His Most Christian Majesty cedes and guarantees to His Britannick Majesty, in full right, Canada, with all its dependencies, as well as the island of Cape Breton and all the other islands and coasts in the gulph and river of St. Lawrence, and in general, everything that depends on the said countries, lands, islands, and coasts, with the sovereignty, property, possession, and all rights acquired by treaty or otherwise, which the Most Christian King and the Crown of France have had till now over the said countries, islands, lands, places, coasts, and their inhabitants."

Document 3

Source: Pontiac, “Pontiac Calls for War", 1763.

" This land, where you live, I have made for you and not for others. How comes it that you suffer the whites on your lands? Can you not do without them? I know that those whom you call the children of your Great Father supply your wants, but if you were not bad, as you are, you would well do without them. You might live wholly as you did before you knew them. Before those whom you call your brothers come on your lands, did you not live by bow and arrow? You had no need of gun nor powder, nor the rest of their things, and nevertheless you caught animals to live and clothe yourselves with their skins, but when I saw that you inclined to the evil, I called back the animals into the depths of the woods, so that you had need of your brothers to have your wants supplied and I shall send back to you the animals to live on. I do not forbid you, for all that, to suffer amongst you the children of your father. I love them, they know me and pray to me, and I give them their necessities and all that they bring to you, but as regards those who have come to trouble your country, drive them out, make war on them. I love them not, they know me not, they are my enemies and the enemies of your brothers. Send them back to the country which I made for them. There let them remain."

Document 4 

Source: Map of the Old New York Frontier showing the line set by the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix.

Document 5

Source: Tecumseh's Speech, “Address to the Osage”, 1811.

"Brothers,—The white men are not friends to the Indians: at first, they only asked for land sufficient for a wigwam; now, nothing will satisfy them but the whole of our hunting grounds, from the rising to the setting sun.

Brothers—The white men want more than our hunting grounds; they wish to kill our warriors; they would even kill our old men, women, and little ones.

Brothers—Many winters ago, there was no land; the sun did not rise and set: all was darkness. The Great Spirit made all things. He gave the white people a home beyond the great waters. He supplied these grounds with game, and gave them to his red children; and he gave them strength and courage to defend them.

Brothers—My people wish for peace; the red men all wish for peace; but where the white people are, there is no peace for them, except it be on the bosom of our mother"

Document 6

Source: Benjamin Franklin, “Join, or Die.”, The Pennsylvanian Gazette, May 9th, 1754.

Document 7

Source: Excerpt from the Northwest Ordinance (1787)

"Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them."