Advanced Placement United States History
DBQ
Resources Packet
2014-2015
Eisenhower High School
History/ Social Studies Department
Student’s Name _________________________________
Teacher’s Name _________________________________
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Your student will begin an Advanced Placement United States History Course (APUSH)
Document Based Question (DBQ) research paper this week in his/her APUSH class. This
research paper constitutes a percentage of your student’s final grade for first semester; it is a
mandatory requirement for ALL students. However, students were given the opportunity to take
a substitution assignment, a practice APUSH examination on 4 Oct 2014. Students with
extenuating circumstances where allowed a makeup test, the following week.
It is imperative that you and your student understand that failure to complete the assignment or a
failing grade on the assignment could result in a reduced grade for first semester. Because the
Research paper is a vital part of your student’s semester grade, your student will be given
adequate time to research and complete the assignment, 2 weeks from the date the assignment is
given. Be advised that your student will be required to conduct research on his/her own time;
please plan accordingly. Additionally, note about my Academic Dishonesty Policy LOSS OF
ALL CREDITS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT, with NO MAKE-UP PERMITTED.
Additionally, a disciplinary referral for academic dishonesty will be send to the school
administration.
You will find a PDF copy of ap-us-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf on the class website
resources page. Please look at pages 108-114 for a complete example of a DBQ.
The Assignment will be posted on our classroom website, apush.mrbelter.com
Respectfully,
H. Travis Belter
Parents/Guardians and students: Please print and sign your name below to indicate that you have
read and understand the importance of the research paper and the consequences of an incomplete
or F grade.
_________________________
_______________________
Parent/Guardian print name
Student print name
_________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature
Due__________________
_______________________
Student signature
Please choose and have approved one of the following topics. You may not use
my questions as your prompt or thesis statement.
APUSH RESEARCH TOPICS
Constitutional Issues
1. First Amendment: What have been the issues surrounding freedom of speech, press, and/or
religion?
2. Second Amendment: Why is there controversy surrounding gun control?
3. Fourth Amendment: How has the Supreme Court, through its interpretation of the
Fourth Amendment, balanced the right to privacy with the need for public safety?
4. Thirteenth Amendment: Although the Thirteenth Amendment freed the slaves, how were
African American still denied their freedom?
5. Fourteenth Amendment: How did the Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and Plessy v.
Ferguson takes away the rights guaranteed to African Americans by the Fourteenth Amendment?
6. Fifteenth Amendment: Although the Fifteenth Amendment was supposed to guarantee African
Americans the right to vote, what obstacles were put in the way to keep them from voting for
100 years?
7. Nineteenth Amendment: What struggles did women have to go through to get the
Nineteenth Amendment, a woman’s right to vote?
8. Eighteenth and Twenty-First Amendments: What were the reasons for the Eighteenth
Amendment—Prohibition—and why was it repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment?
9. John Marshall is considered one of our nation’s most influential Supreme Court Chief Justices.
What impact did three of his most important decisions have on the United States?
The Origins of a Nation, 1300-1776
10. Some European settlers used the term “savage” to describe the indigenous peoples of
North America. Choose three different American Indian peoples and show how this label is
untrue and unjust.
11. How did the Quakers stand up for their convictions despite prevailing attitudes?
12. Despite the challenges, how did the Jamestown colony survive?
13. What do the Salem Witch Trials reflect about the social, political, and religious tensions of
the day?
14. How did Roger Williams, Anne Hutchison, Peter Zenger, and Nathanial Bacon embody the
spirit of rebellion?
15. How did the French-Indian War create tensions that led to the Revolution? (Consider fighting
experience, the Proclamation of 1763, war debt.)
16. What three events were most important in building tensions between the Colonists and the
British leading to the American Revolutionary War?
17. How did George Washington’s leadership at Trenton, Valley Forge, and Yorktown bring
about the victory of the American Patriots over the British in the Revolutionary War?
18. In what ways might the American Revolution be characterized as a rebellious act of
ungrateful children against a caring and concerned parent?
→ The research paper itself must be handed in with all supplemental materials on the date
it is due; during the period you have AP U.S. History.
→ Be sure to save all support materials, including notes, outlines and rough drafts.
These materials must be turned in with your paper. These items prove that the paper is your own
original work!
→ Be sure you paper is in MLA format. Use the format your English teacher prefers.
→ If you are sick or out of school the day that the paper is due, the paper still must be
handed in on time! Papers are considered late after the period you have AP U.S. history on
the due date! A full letter grade will be deducted for every day the paper is late. Check
your computers, printers and storage devices in advance. If you are absent, make sure you
email me a complete copy of all of your packet on the due date.
EVALUATION SHEET: APUSH DBQ PAPER
Part I. EVALUATION--SUPPORT PAPERS Grade: _____ (30 points)
______ Two complete copies of the paper are included, 4-6 pages not including Title Page,
Work Cited, or other informational pages.
______ Signed parent information sheet.
______ 30 Biography cards, to prove your research, must be included, 10 of which are used in
your DBQ packet.
______ Working papers (outline, drafts, Xeroxed materials, Internet sources, and index/
bibliography cards) are included in such quantity to reflect significant research effort
______ A log of research hours are included. The library staff must verify the amount of time
spent researching, in the library. A parent may verify the amount of time the student spends
preparing and researching at home. The amount of time and effort must be done at an Advanced
Placement/Honors level
______ a copy of the presentation power point must be printed and included, six slides per page
are acceptable.
______ Project is organized in a research folder/ log, in the order of this list. A three prong
pocketed folder is fine. A folder will be provided, if the student does not have one.
Part II. EVALUATION--STYLE Grade: _____ (70 points)
______ Begins with a correctly prepared title page
Contains an introduction that:
______ Gets the reader’s attention
______ Contains a clear investigatory question
______ Paragraphs are in logical sequence and paper is well organized, in alignment with thesis
statement. A road mapped thesis statement is mandatory.
______ Uses topic sentences to identify focus of paragraphs
Student’s use of citations shows an understanding of:
______ When to cite (correct locations in text)
______ How to cite
______ If used, appendices are prepared properly, support the text and are located correctly
______ Work Cited is correctly prepared
______ Pagination is done correctly
____ Paper ends with a conclusion that clearly answers the investigatory question 5
____ Uses clear, grammatically correct English that reflects Honors/AP writing ability. This
includes:
____ Capitalization
____ Transitions
____ Punctuation
____ Contraction-free writing
____ Sentence structure
____ No slang or vernacular writing
____Word choice
____ Topic, transitional sentences
____ Follows all stylistic points as set forth in MLA format
Part III. EVALUATION--CONTENT AND RE SEARCH Grade: ____ (100 points)
______ Content addresses all areas of the approved topic
______ Content answers the research question
______ Historical content is accurate
______ Research cited was done in sufficient breadth (number and type of sources)
______ Research cited was done in sufficient depth (detail from sources)
______ Internet access was to professionally acceptable sources (“.gov,” “.edu”)
______ Research was drawn overwhelmingly from print sources or subscription databases.
Papers based primarily or significantly on sources not approved by the English/media specialist,
to include random Internet sources, will lose significant points in this section
______ Research effort was done at an Advanced Placement/Honors level
Part IV. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Students will compose an original Document Based Question that addresses one of the
major issues in U.S. History. The final product should be made to look like an
official ETS document produced in conjunction with the College Board. Students will
be assigned a topic, and will be responsible for writing a prompt or question and
compiling documents that could be used by students to answer that prompt/question.
The finished product should include in this order:
1. Title page
2. A Document Based Question packet that closely models an official DBQ.
3. A supplement to the Document Based Question packet that includes analysis of
each of the documents with SOAPS, and relevant outside information.
4. A student essay that responds to the DBQ, written to conform to all of the
expectations given to a “7” essay.
5. Works cited page – MLA format
DOCUMENTS:
 Students must find ten documents that would be included with a DBQ on this topic.
Of these documents, no less than three and no more than five should be nonnarrative documents. Examples of non-narrative documents include political
cartoons, charts, graphs, photos, artwork, etc.
 Every document should include its original source and date of publication.
 Though some information (charts, graphs, etc.) will have to come from secondary
sources, students are required to include a minimum of FIVE primary sources from
that time period.
 There should be at least two documents that deviate from the predominant side of
the question.


All documents should be reproduced in the same font/size so that a uniform
presentation is created. Cutting and pasting will not be sufficient.
The format of an official DBQ should be followed to the letter, including
instructions, the prompt, and the presentation of the documents themselves.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
 In a supplement to the DBQ itself, students should include the following information
about the documents:
 Subject – The general topic, content, and ideas contained in the document.
 Occasion – The time and place of the piece.
 Audience – The reader(s) to whom the document is directed.
 Purpose – The reason behind the document. Why was it created?
 Significance – So what?
 At least 3 pieces of outside information (relevant people, places, events) that a
sophisticated student would link to that document. Each piece of outside
information should have a brief definition/identification along with its significance.
 All documents must be accounted for in a thorough works cited page that will be
included with the supplemental materials. All entries must follow MLA format.
ESSAY
 Students should then write an essay in response to their DBQ that is modeled after
the established expectations of a “7” essay, including:
 Strong thesis clearly developed; well organized, well written, and focused on the
question
 Substantial analysis of the issues involved in the question
 Sophisticated use of substantial number of documents
 Substantial relevant outside information
 May have insignificant errors
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
In addition to the requirements above, all papers will be expected to conform to the
following:
1. Example essay should be typed, double-spaced in 12-point Arial font. Margins are
not to exceed one inch.
2. Title page that includes your name and your partners name, class, period(s),
teacher(s), and date.
3. Errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation, typing and style will be substantially
penalized.
4. REMEMBER: Spell check is good – proofreading is better.
Your grade will be based on the quality of your documents, your ability to analyze and
interpret those documents, your ability to include outside information, the quality of your
essay, and the overall neatness of your product
SAMPLE ETS FORMAT:
Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that integrates
your interpretation of Documents A-H and 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.
Andrew Jackson’s adamant support of the Tariff of 1828 was in the best interest of the entire
nation.
Assess the validity of this statement, using the documents below and your knowledge of
the time period from 1828 – 1836.
Document A
Source: Representative James Strong (New York) – Speech to Congress 1828
“What then does the farmer require? What does he need, to enable him to produce and to
continue the production of wool? He obviously needs, and must have, a market. Has he any
abroad? None. He must therefore look, and can look only, to the home market. Who makes
this market? The manufacturer of woolen goods. No one else can make it How is this market
to be secured? By protecting the fabric…
“It is conceded, even by the advocates of the bill as reported, that the manufacture of woolen
goods is valuable to the country; that the business is depressed, and needs further protection.”
Document B
Source: Daily National Intelligencer – December 7, 1832
“The separation of South Carolina would inevitably produce a general dissolution of the Union,
and, as a necessary consequence, the protecting system, with all its pecuniary bounties to the
Northern states, and its pecuniary burdens upon the Southern states, would be utterly
overthrown and demolished, involving the ruin of thousands and hundreds of thousands in the
manufacturing states…
“With them it is a question merely of pecuniary interest, connected with no shadow of right, and
involving no principle of liberty. With us it is a question involving our most sacred rights – those
very rights which our common ancestors left us as a common inheritance…
”It is a question of liberty on the one hand, and slavery on the other.”