AP UNITED STATES HISTORY
2010 SCORING GUIDELINES
Question 1
Slavery became one of the major causes of American sectionalism in the early
19th century. Compare and contrast the common viewpoints of the North and
South with particular regards to moral views and regional economy. Use the
documents and your knowledge of the years 1820-1861 to construct your
response.
The 8-9 Essay
- Contains a well-developed thesis that examines the similarities and differences of
the northern and southern viewpoints.
- Effectively compares and contrasts the moral views on slavery, as well as the
economic effect that slavery had on the South as opposed to its relative
absence in the North
- Effectively uses a substantial number of the provided documents
- Supports thesis with substantial and relevant outside information
- May contain minor errors.
- Is clearly organized and well written/
The 5-7 Essay
- Contains a thesis that examines the similarities and differences of the northern
and southern viewpoints.
- Compares and contrasts the moral views on slavery, as well as the economic
effect that slavery had on the South as opposed to its relative absence in the
North in a limited manner.
- Effectively uses some documents
- Supports thesis with some relevant outside information.
- May have errors that do not seriously detract from the quality of the essay.
- Shows acceptable organization and writing; language errors do not interfere with
the comprehension of the essay.
-
The 2-4 Essay
Contains a limited and undeveloped thesis.
Deals with the question in a general manner; simplistic comparison and contrast
of the moral viewpoints and economic effects of slavery in the North and the
South.
May address only one category.
Merely refers to quotes or briefly cites documents.
Contains little outside information, or information that is inaccurate or irrelevant.
- May have major errors
- May be poorly organized and/or written.
-
The 0-1 Essay
Contains no thesis or a thesis that does not address the question.
Exhibits inadequate or incorrect understanding of the question.
Has no or little understanding of the documents, or ignores them completely.
Has numerous errors.
Written so poorly that it inhibits understanding
Blank or completely off task.
2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
UNITED STATES HISTORY
SECTION II
Part A
(Suggested writing time--45 minutes)
Percent of Section I1 score--45
Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that
integrates your interpretation of Documents A-I your knowledge of the period referred to
in the question. High scores will be earned only by essays that both cite key pieces of
evidence from the documents and draw on outside knowledge of the period.
1. Slavery became one of the major causes of American sectionalism in the early
19th century. Compare and contrast the common viewpoints of the North and
South with particular regards to moral views and regional economy. Use the
documents and your knowledge of the years 1820-1861 to construct your
response.
Document A
Source: South Carolina General Assembly, Acts and Resolutions of the General
Assembly of South Carolina, December, 1834.
If any person shall hereafter teach any slave to read or write, or shall aid or assist
in teaching any slave to read or write, or cause or procure any slave to be taught
to read or write, such person, if a free white person, upon conviction thereof,
shall, for each and every offense against this Act, be fined not exceeding one
hundred dollars, and imprisoned not more than six months; or if a free person of
color, shall be whipped, not exceeding fifty lashes, and fined not exceeding fifty
dollars, at the discretion of the court of magistrates and freeholders before which
such free person of color is tried
Document B
Source: Daniel Webster, "Speech of the Hon. Daniel Webster upon the Subject of
Slavery," 1850.
What, then, have been the causes which have created so new a feeling in favor
of slavery in the South--which have changed the whole nomenclature of the
South on the subject--and from being thought of and described in the terms I
have mentioned, and will not repeat, it has now become an institution, a
cherished institution in that quarter; no evil, no scourge, but a great religious,
social, and moral blessing, as I think I have heard it latterly described? I suppose
this, sir, is owing to the sudden uprising and rapid growth of the cotton
plantations of the South. So far as any motive of honor, justice, and general
judgment could act, it was the cotton interest that gave a new desire to promote
slavery, to spread it, and to use its labor. I again say that that was produced by
the causes which we must always expect to produce like effects--their whole
interests became connected with it.
Document C
Source: Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln-Douglas Debate Number 2, 1858
In regard to the other question of whether I am pledged to the admission of any
more slave States into the Union, I state to you very frankly that I would be
exceedingly sorry ever to be put in a position of having to pass upon that
question. I should be exceedingly glad to know that there would never be another
slave State admitted into the Union; [applause]; but I must add, that if slavery
shall be kept out of the Territories during the territorial existence of any one given
Territory, and then the people shall, having a fair chance and a clear field, when
they come to adopt the Constitution, do such an extraordinary thing as to adopt a
Slave Constitution, uninfluenced by the actual presence of the institution among
them, I see no alternative, if we own the country, but to admit them into the
Union.
Document D
Source: “The North and South,” New York Daily Times, September 26, 1851
The South, it seems to us, has mistaken the proclamations of the few
abolitionists at the North, for Northern Sentiment. It reads in the newspapers that
the abolitionists of Boston, with Garrison and Philips at their head, held a mass
meeting and denounced the Constitution, abused the South, and demanded the
immediate abolition of slavery throughout the world, and forthwith this is regarded
as the feeling of the North.
Document E
Source: Missouri Compromise Map, 1820.
Document F
Source: E.W. Clay, America, 1841.
Here, a slave is depicted saying, "God Bless you massa! you feed and clothe us.
When we are sick you nurse us, and when too old to work, you provide for us!"
The slave owner is saying, "These poor creatures are a sacred legacy from my
ancestors and while a dollar is left me, nothing shall be spared to increase their
comfort and happiness."
Document G
Source: Senator William H. Seward, “Irrepressible Conflict” speech, 1858
To expect the Democratic party to resist Slavery and favor Freedom, is as
unreasonable as to look for Protestant missionaries to the Catholic Propaganda
of Rome. The history of the Democratic party commits it to the policy of Slavery.
It has been the Democratic party, and no other agency, which has carried that
policy up to its present alarming culmination. Without stopping to ascertain,
critically, the origin of the present Democratic party, we may concede its claim to
date from the era of good feeling which occurred under the Administration of
President Monroe. At that time, in this State, and about that time in many others
of the free States, the Democratic party deliberately disfranchised the free
colored or African citizen, and it has pertinaciously continued this
disfranchisement ever since. This was an effective aid to Slavery; for while the
slaveholder votes for his slaves against Freedom, the freed slave in the free
States is prohibited from voting against Slavery.
Document H
Source: “Forcing Slavery down the Throat of a Freesoiler,” 1856.
AP UNITED STATES HISTORY
2010 SCORING GUIDELINES
Document Information and Inferences—DBQ 2010
Document A: South Carolina General Assembly, 1834
Document Information:
- Some southerners are against slave literacy
- African Americans can be subject to corporal punishment
- Freed African Americans receive harsher punishment for the same crime
Document Inferences
- Some southerners thought that the African Americans did not deserve
literacy
- The General Assembly felt that the education of the slaves might result in a
greater questioning of the slave society.
- Some believed that whites were mentally superior, which is why whites
were literate.
- Social Darwinism
- According to some pro-slavery advocates, despite committing the same
crime, whites were superior and deserved less severe punishment.
Document B: Daniel Websterʼs speech on slavery, 1850.
Document Information:
- Daniel Websterʼs speech about the injustice of slavery
- Claims slavery is undeniably an evil
- Says that the main reason for the continuation of slavery in the South was
for economic reasons
- Much of the South sees slavery as a blessing and does not despise its
existence
Document Inferences:
- The North is not morally superior to the South, there is simply a lesser
demand of labor in the North.
- Economic success is of greater importance than moral righteousness in the
eyes of many Americans.
- The plantation economy is reliant on forced labor in order to achieve
success
- The South has increased its pro-slavery sentiment in order to combat the
anti-slavery of the North.
Document C: Lincoln-Douglas Debate Number 2, 1858
Document Information:
- Public debate with Stephen Douglas
- Lincoln is against the institution of slavery
- Lincoln says that he would accept admitting another slave state if chosen by
the people.
Document Inferences:
- Abraham Lincoln is a moderate Republican.
- Lincoln feels that being to radically anti-slavery will reduce his chances of
election.
- Lincoln views slavery as immoral but understands its benefits in the eyes of
the South.
- Lincoln wants to avoid angering pro-slavery advocates out of his desire to
preserve the peace of the Union
Document D: New York Daily Times Article, 1851
Document Information:
- The north is not entirely against slavery
- William Lloyd Garrison is widely despised by some southerners
- Newspapers read that the abolitionist view is invalid and even evil.
- The newspaper seems to defend the North, but not abolitionists
Document Inferences
- The North is not unanimously anti-slavery
- The South greatly fears the spread of abolitionist sentiment
- Many Americans see the abolition of slavery as unconstitutional
- The North generally favors containment over immediate abolition.
- The papers may be exaggerating the abolitionist extremity
- Sectionalism and generalization of the North and South are increasing.
Document E: Missouri Compromise Map, 1820.
Document Information:
- There is a general balance of slave states and free states
- Maine is admitted as free and Missouri as slave.
- Much of the territory is not explicitly slave or free
- The 37-30 line divides much of the slave vs. free territory
Document Inferences:
- the Union is trying to maintain the status quo by balancing the number of
free states and the number of slave states.
- The difference in view over the institution is almost always divided
completely between North and South.
- Much of the land from the Louisiana Purchase is undecided over proslavery vs. antislavery.
- The 36-30 line almost always separates slave state vs. free state.
Document F: Pro-Slavery political cartoon, 1841
Document Information:
- Slaves and their masters are portrayed as getting along well.
- The dialogue shows the slaveʼs dependence on the master
- The slaves are celebrating
- The master says itʼs his duty to protect and provide for his slaves.
- The slaves are not working
Document Inferences:
- Many southerners believed that slavery was a good institution for both the
slave and the master.
- Southerners often argued that the slaves were benefiting from their
bondage
- Religious southerners believed it was their responsibility to keep slaves, and
that they helped the slaves more than the slaves helped them.
Document G: Senator Sewardʼs Speech, 1858
Document Information:
- Democrats were almost all generally pro-slavery
- Seward believed that slavery was a fundamental part of the Democratic
ideal, and therefore the party could not be expected to favor abolition and
freedom of African Americans
- Because African Americans were not allowed to vote, the country never had
a significant enough anti-slavery majority.
- Some whites believed that African Americans deserved equal citizenship.
Document H: Freesoiler political cartoon, 1856
Document information:
- James Buchanan and Lewis Cass hold down a Kansas settle as Stephen
Douglas and Franklin Pierce force a slave into his throat.
- Buchanan and Cass are standing on the “Democratic platform,” as well as
Kansas.
- The Freesoiler yells for help but no one is coming to his aid
- Man hung from tree in background
Document Inferences:
- People are unhappy that the Democrats seem to be trying to force Kansas
to accept slavery.
- The Freesoilers in Kansas prefer have antislavery sentiment
- The hanging man shows the unwillingness of the Democrats to allow
Kansas to enter the union as a non-slave state.
-
Relevant Outside Information and Terms
Democratic South
Republican North
Free Soil Party
Know-Nothing Party
Free-Soil Party
Missouri Compromise
Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Crittenden-Montgomery Bill
Agrarian South
“bleeding Kansas”
Popular sovereignty
Social Darwinism
Dred Scott
James Buchanan
John Quincy Adams
Martin van Buren
Abraham Lincoln
William Lord Garrison
John Brown
The Underground Railroad
Free-labor system
slave state
free state
Bibliography
"America, a Political Cartoon Idealizing Slavery." Library of Congress. Prints and
Photographs Division. American History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=AHI0253&Single
Record=True (accessed April 29, 2010).
"Kansas-Nebraska Act: 'Forcing Slavery down the Throat of a Freesoiler'."
Library of Congress. Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Stern
Collection. American History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=3138&SingleRec
ord=True (accessed April 29, 2010).
Lincoln, Abraham. "Lincoln-Douglas Debate Number 2." 1858. Abraham Lincoln,
Speeches and Writings. American History Online. Web. 30 Apr. 2010.
"Missouri Compromise." American History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=AMHC0114&Sin
gleRecord=True (accessed April 29, 2010).
Seward, William H. "'Irrepressible Conflict' Speech." University of Rochester
Library. American History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=E10900&Single
Record=True (accessed April 29, 2010).
South Carolina General Assembly. "Law Prohibiting Slaves from Learning to
Read and Write." Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of South
Carolina, Passed December 1834, chapter 5. American History Online. Facts On
File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=E14070&Single
Record=True (accessed April 29, 2010).
"The North and South." The New York Daily Times 26 Sept. 1851: 2. Rpt. in New
York Times. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Web.
29 Apr. 2010.
Webster, Daniel. "'Seventh of March' Speech." Dartmouth College Library,
"Speech of the Hon. Daniel Webster upon the Subject of Slavery". p. 1-36.
American History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=E07720&Single
Record=True (accessed April 28, 2010).