GED 2014 Social Studies Extended Response Prompt
Quotation
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That
whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of
the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government . . .
- Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
Speech
In this excerpt from his January 1961 inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy
describes his vision of the United States’ place in the world.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish
all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary
beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that
the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go
forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to
a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a
hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit
the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been
committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear
any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the
survival and the success of liberty.
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of
defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this
responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with
any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we
bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that
fire can truly light the world.
In your response, develop an argument about how President Kennedy’s position
in his speech reflects the enduring issue expressed in the quotation from the
Declaration of Independence. Incorporate the relevant and specific evidence from
the quotation, the speech and your own knowledge of the enduring issue and the
circumstances surrounding the Cold War to support your analysis.
Type your response in the box. This task may require 25 minutes to complete.
GED 2014 Social Studies Extended Response Prompt
Excerpt
The [Fourth] Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable . . . in the History of
America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as
the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance
by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and
Parade, with [Shows], Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one
End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
- John Adams 1776
Speech
In this excerpt from his 1852 speech, former slave Frederick Douglass describes what
July 4th means to those who are still in slavery.
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him,
more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the
constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy
license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and
heartless; . . . your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and
hymns, your sermons and thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity,
are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover
up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth
guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States,
at this very hour.
I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence
only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this
day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. — The rich inheritance of justice, liberty,
prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.
The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me.
This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.
In your response, develop an argument about how Frederick Douglass’s position
in his speech reflects the enduring issue expressed in the excerpt from John
Adams’s 1776 letter. Incorporate the relevant and specific evidence from the
excerpt, the speech and your own knowledge of the enduring issue and the
circumstances surrounding slavery to support your analysis.
Type your response in the box. This task may require 25 minutes to complete.