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AP®HistoryCollege BoardUS HistoryExam QuestionsPeriod 3: 1754-1800Developing an American Identity

Developing an American Identity (College Board AP® US History): Exam Questions

3 mins3 questions
11 mark

"The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labour, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence."

J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur, Letters from an American Farmer, Letter III: "What Is an American?", 1782

According to the extract, which of the following best characterizes the transformation experienced by the American "new man"?

  • From religious persecution to spiritual freedom

  • From political oppression to democratic participation

  • From economic hardship to rewarding labor

  • From cultural isolation to cosmopolitan engagement

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21 mark

"The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labour, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence."

J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur, Letters from an American Farmer, Letter III: "What Is an American?", 1782

Crèvecœur's description of the change and continuity of American culture between 1754 and 1800 illustrates the 

  • Persistence of European social hierarchies in American society

  • Transition from Old World dependencies to New World self-sufficiency

  • Nature of labor and economic conditions in the colonies

  • Monarchical governance in American political life

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31 mark

"The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labour, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence."

J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur, Letters from an American Farmer, Letter III: "What Is an American?", 1782

Which of the following most directly explains the significance of Crèvecœur's concept of the American as a "new man" in the context of the nineteenth century? 

  • The concept of Manifest Destiny and the belief in American expansion

  • The emergence of political parties in the early republic

  • The abolitionist movement’s argument against slavery

  • The rise of industrialization in the mid-19th century

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