PART I: CONSTRUCTED-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Directions (1–10):
For each question, write your answer in the space provided in the test booklet. You may use either pen
or pencil to write your answers. If you want to change an answer, cross out or erase your original response.
You may not know the answers to some of the questions, but do the best you can on each one.
I. Base your answers to questions 1 through 4 on the interview below and on
your knowledge of social studies.
Hanging I haven’t seen over there. Beating, yes. It was not a daily routine. It was
a constant routine. The only thing we were doing is we were making cobblestone roads and we were digging some ditches. . . . This is the only thing that
they had us do. And there were older people who couldn’t bear the burden and
they either fell out or they slowed down. And they were solidly beaten . . . I
wasn’t in Auschwitz. I was only three miles away. Birkenau, it was BirkenauAushwitz. Auschwitz was the labor camp . . . but Birkenau was the truly so–called
Vernichtungslager, that was the “camp of extermination.”
Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
—Alexander Karp
1 What is Birkenau?
2 What does Vernichtungslagerr mean?
3 When did the events that Karp describes occur?
4 Why did Germany’s Nazi government commit these crimes?
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II. Base your answers to questions 5 through 7 on the declaration below and on
your knowledge of social studies.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or
other status.
—United Nations, 1948
5 According to this document, what rights do all human beings have?
7 Why did the United Nations create this document in 1948?
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Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
6 Why is it important for the United Nations to have such a document?
General Motors Corp., 1942 / National Archives and Records Administration
Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
III. Base your answers to questions 8 through 10 on the image below and on your
knowledge of social studies.
8 Who are the two figures in the image?
9 What does the poster warn against?
10 What group or organization is most likely responsible for creating this poster?
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PART II: DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION
This question is based on the accompanying documents (1–6). Some of the documents have
been edited for the purpose of the question. The question is designed to test your ability to
work with historical documents. As you analyze the documents, take into account both the
context of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document.
Directions: This document-based question consists of two parts. Be sure to put the booklet number at
the top of each page. Use black or dark ink to answer the question.
Historical Context: World War II began for the United States when the Japanese air force attacked
the U.S. naval base in Hawaii. The United States responded militarily and with new domestic policies, both of which were, and remain, controversial.
Task: Using information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies, answer the
questions that follow each document in Part A. Your answers to the questions will help you write
the Part B essay in which you will be asked to:
Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Describe the reasons for the policy of Japanese internment in the United States and the effects of
this policy on Asian Americans.
• Identify two reasons why President Truman decided to use the atomic bomb on Japan.
• Discuss the positive and negative effects of the use of the atomic bomb.
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Part A:
Short Answer
Directions: Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document
in the space provided.
Document 1
Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States
of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the
Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the
solicitation [asking] of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its
emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. . . . The attack
yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval
and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. . . . I ask that the
Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on
Sunday, December 7th, a state of war has existed between the United States and
the Japanese Empire.
Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941
1aa According to this speech, what date will live in infamy? Why?
b What does President Roosevelt ask for as a result?
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Document 2
The evacuation was impelled by military necessity. The security of the Pacific Coast
continues to require the exclusion of Japanese from the area now prohibited to
them and will so continue as long as the military necessity exists. . . . More than
115,000 persons of Japanese ancestry resided along the coast and were significantly
concentrated near many highly sensitive installations essential to the war effort. . . .
Intelligence service records reflected the existence of hundreds of Japanese organizations . . . which were actively engaged with advancing Japanese war aims. . . .
The continued presence of a large . . . group, bound to an enemy nation by strong
ties of race, culture, custom and religion along a frontier vulnerable to attack
constituted a menace which had to be dealt with.
—Letter from Lt. General DeWitt, 1943
Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
2 According to General DeWitt, why were the Japanese evacuated from the west coast of the
United States?
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Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
Document 3
Dorothea Lange, 1942 / National Archives and Records Administration
3aa What does the photograph reveal about the number of people relocated under the JapaneseAmerican internment policy?
b Why is an armed guard at the bus stop?
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Document 4
Regarding my internment years . . . it was not a good experience. . . . All shower
and toilet stalls were without doors or curtains. Each block also had a separate
building for meals. I remember waiting in line to receive our food and lots of
organ meats . . . were served. Our sleeping quarters consisted of two large rooms,
metal cots, and army blankets. . . .
Hopefully, people will learn from this unfortunate episode in our history. People
are people; judge them as individuals, not by race, color, or creed. No Japanese
American was ever tried for espionage.
—Reiko Oshima Komoto
b What lesson does Komoto hope that Americans learn from the internment camps?
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Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
4aa What sort of conditions did people endure at the internment camps?
Document 5
If . . . the statement by Mr. Truman . . . that he felt no compunction [regret] after
directing the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that the hydrogen
bombs would be put to use in future in case of emergency be true, it is a gross
defilement [act of disgrace] committed on the people of Hiroshima and their fallen
victims.
We, the City Council, do hereby protest against it in deep indignation shared by
our citizens and declare that in the name of humanity and peace we appeal to the
wisdom of the United States and her citizens and to their inner voice for peace
that said statement be retracted [taken back] and that they fulfill their obligations
for the cause of world peace.
—Resolution by the City Council of Hiroshima, 1958
Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
5aa What is the purpose of this resolution?
b Why did the City Council of Hiroshima issue this resolution?
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Document 6
After a long conference with the Cabinet, the military commanders and Prime
Minister Churchill, it was decided to drop the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities devoted to war and work for Japan. The two cities selected were Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
When Japan surrendered a few days after the bomb was ordered dropped . . . the
military estimated that at least a quarter of a million of the invasion forces against
Japan and a quarter million Japanese had been spared complete destruction and
that twice that many on the other side would, otherwise, have been maimed for
life . . .
The need for such a fateful decision, of course, never would have arisen, had we
not been shot in the back by Japan at Pearl Harbor in December, 1941.
—Harry S. Truman, 1958
b According to President Truman, who was actually responsible for the use of the atomic bomb?
Why does he say this?
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Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
6aa What reason does President Truman give to support his decision to use the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Part B:
Essay
Directions:
• Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• Use evidence from the documents to support your response.
• Include specific related outside information.
• Use black or dark ink to write your essay.
Historical Context: World War II began for the United States when the Japanese air force attacked
the U.S. naval base in Hawaii. The United States responded militarily and with new domestic policies, both of which were, and remain, controversial.
Task: Using information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies, write an essay in
which you:
• Describe the reasons for the policy of Japanese internment in the United States and the effects of
this policy on Asian Americans.
• Identify two reasons why President Truman decided to use the atomic bomb on Japan.
• Discuss the positive and negative effects of the use of the atomic bomb.
Copyright © by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company.
Be sure to include specific historical details. You must also include additional information from
your knowledge of social studies.
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