AP U.S. HISTORY EXAM
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Scoring Guidelines for
Document-Based QuestionPeriod 8
(Adapted from 2006-Form B DBQ)
0–7 points
Evaluate the causes of the beginning of the Cold War between
the US and the USSR from 1945 to 1950.
Learning Objective
Historical
Thinking Skill
Key Concepts in
the Curriculum
Framework
WOR-7: Analyze the goals of
U.S. policymakers in major
international conflicts, such
as the Spanish-American
War, World Wars I and II, and
the Cold War, and explain
how U.S. involvement in
these conflicts has altered
the U.S. role in world affairs.
Causation
8.1.I
Scoring Notes
Thesis (1 point)
An acceptable thesis statement would need to take a position
on the causes of the beginning of the Cold War. Some examples
of possible thesis statements could include, but are not limited
to, the following:
Å
“The start of the Cold War resulted from the threat of Russia
spreading communism, the U.S.’s attempts to aid Europe and
repel communism, and the formation of NATO and the Warsaw
Pact.”
Å
“The three main factors that contributed to the start of the Cold
War were social, such as controlling communist propaganda;
economic, such as rebuilding the shattered economies of many
European countries; and political, such as the containment
policy enacted by George Kennan.”
Analysis of Documents (3 points)
To earn full credit for analyzing documents, responses must
include at least one of the following for all or all but one of the
documents: intended audience, purpose, historical context,
author’s point of view. Although examples of these elements
are listed below, these examples must also explicitly be used in
support of a stated thesis or a relevant argument.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
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AP U.S. HISTORY EXAM
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Document 1: Statement by Joseph Stalin, 1945
Components of document analysis may include the following:
Å
Intended audience: FDR, Churchill, and diplomats.
Å
Purpose: To explain the Soviet position on Eastern Europe.
Å
Historical context: 1945. Students could discuss how Allied
leaders, shortly before the end of World War II, met to discuss
the shape of postwar Europe following the fall of Hitler.
Å
The author’s point of view: Stalin, the Soviet leader, argues that
control of Poland is vital to Soviet security.
Document 2: Gallup Poll data on opinions about the Cold War
Components of document analysis may include the following:
Å
Intended audience: Reading public.
Å
Purpose: To present public opinion data about the U.S. attitude
toward the Soviet Union.
Å
Historical context: 1945-48. Students might discuss specific
events that affected U.S. opinion at the time, such as the allied
victory over Japan (August 1945) or the Marshall Plan (early
1948).
Å
The author’s point of view: The data, created by an independent
polling company in an attempt to objectively measure American
opinion, show a rise in hostility toward Russia on the part of the
American public during these years.
Document 3: Statement by George Kennan, 1946
Components of document analysis may include the following:
Å
Intended audience: Audience interested in foreign affairs.
Å
Purpose: To convince listeners to take a hard diplomatic line
against the Soviets.
Å
Historical context: 1946. Students could discuss the “Iron
Curtain” speech and rising concern of U.S. leaders about
conflicts in places such as Indochina and Greece.
Å
The author’s point of view: Kennan, a diplomat pushing
to influence American public policy, argues that Soviet
expansionism needs to be met with force, not attempts to
persuade Soviet leaders.
Document 4: Speech by Harry Truman, 1947
Components of document analysis may include the following:
Å
Intended audience: Congress and the general public.
Å
Purpose: To convince congressional leaders to act.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
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AP U.S. HISTORY EXAM
Å
Historical context: 1947. Students could mention that Truman
had devised a plan to financial and militarily assist countries
and needed Congressional backing.
Å
The author’s point of view: President Truman, as the leader of
the most powerful democratic country, articulates his “Truman
Doctrine” arguing that the U.S. needs to aid countries resisting
Communism.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Document 5: Broadcast by V. Molotov, 1947
Components of document analysis may include the following:
Å
Intended audience: Russian public.
Å
Purpose: To articulate the Soviet position on Western actions.
Å
Historical context: 1947. Students might mention Soviet beliefs
that the allies violated the agreements made concerning the
partitioning of Berlin.
Å
The author’s point of view: Molotov, the Soviet foreign minister
and architect of Russian foreign policy, argues that Western
nations desire world domination and are to blame for rising Cold
War hostilities.
Document 6: Low cartoon on Stalin, 1948
Components of document analysis may include the following:
Å
Intended audience: Reading public.
Å
Purpose: To attack and caricature Soviet actions in Eastern
Europe.
Å
Historical context: 1948. Students might mention the recent
establishment of Soviet-style republics in the countries of
Eastern Europe.
Å
The author’s point of view: Low, a prominent political cartoonist
who lampoons Stalin’s actions as cynical and random.
Document 7: Whitaker Chambers, testimony to HUAC, 1948
Components of document analysis may include the following:
Å
Intended audience: Congress and the public.
Å
Purpose: To convince a congressional committee of the author’s
beliefs concerning Communism in America.
Å
Historical context: 1948. Students could discuss the growing
fear that Communism was infiltrating America.
Å
The author’s point of view: Chambers is a former communist
agent with firsthand knowledge of the Soviet’s espionage
system within the United States who believes that Communists
form a conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
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AP U.S. HISTORY EXAM
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Analysis of outside examples to support thesis/argument
(1 point)
Essays can receive a point for including examples of information
not found in the documents that could be used to support
the stated thesis or a relevant argument. Examples of such
information could include, but are not limited to:
Å
Potsdam and Yalta conferences
Å
Establishment of United Nations
Å
Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech
Å
Berlin crisis
Å
Marshall Plan
Å
Unrest in Greece and Turkey
Å
Conflict in Indochina
Å
Israel’s independence and first Arab-Israeli War
Å
UN Declaration of Human Rights
Å
Formation of North American Treaty Organization
Å
Fall of China to Communists
Å
Successful Soviet test of an atomic device
Å
Arrest of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Å
“Wheeling Speech” by Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Å
Outbreak of the Korean War
Contextualization (1 point)
Essays can earn a point for contextualization by accurately
and explicitly connecting historical phenomena relevant to the
argument to broader historical events and/or processes. These
historical phenomena may include, but are not limited to, the
following:
Å
Western and Soviet policies regarding the rise of fascism in the
1930s (Spanish Civil War, Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact).
Å
Personal tensions among Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill during
the Second World War.
Å
Agreement among the Allies on the division of Germany,
Austria, and Korea into different occupation zones in 1945.
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AP U.S. HISTORY EXAM
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Synthesis
Essays can earn a point for historical synthesis by crafting a
persuasive and coherent essay with a conclusion that extends
or modifies the analysis in the essay; by introducing another
category of historical analysis; or by making a connection to
another historical period or context. Examples of these could
include:
Å
The student extends or modifies their position. This would
include use of counterarguments or “except” positions that
provide evidence in opposition to the thesis position. For
example, a student could consider the argument that the
creation of a military alliance in NATO was a provocation aimed
directly at the Soviet Union.
Å
The student provides contradictory evidence from primary or
secondary sources the student has studied during the year.
An example of this might be using the specific arguments or
positions of different historians in contradiction to the position
taken in their text or the documents.
Å
The student connects the thesis to other historical periods,
geographic areas, contexts, or circumstances. For example,
in answering this question, a student might make parallels
between the “witch hunt” of the HUAC hearings and the Red
Scare of the post-World War I period.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
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